System Activated: Divine Talent Granted

CHAPTER 333. The Cost of Victory

The arena was silent long after the storm passed. Wind whispered across the shattered floor.

The once-golden banners of the Iron Banner faction lay in ruins, trampled and torn. The scent of smoke and burned mana hung heavy in the air.

Oliver stood at the center, surrounded by fragments of stone and steel. His uniform was ripped, his hands bleeding, but his eyes were clear.

The crowd had already gone. The cheers had faded into whispers, and the whispers into fear. He had won, but he didn’t feel like a victor.

Later, the academy’s infirmary was full of the injured. Students limped through the corridors, wrapped in bandages, whispering about the duel that had nearly destroyed everything.

Some called it justice. Others called it madness. Oliver sat on the edge of his hospital bed, head lowered, a dull ache pulsing in his arm.

Machines around him hummed quietly, measuring his vitals. His System display flickered faintly across his vision, repeating the same lines over and over:

[Quest Co