Black and purple blood mist erupted from every pore, like fireworks bursting in mid-air, directly interrupting the forbidden technique.

Whoosh—the next moment, Tolein shot out from the blood mist, retreating rapidly with a look of horror and shock. He was covered in blood, a truly miserable sight.

Just a moment ago, he had felt the shadow of death.

Since entering Super-A Grade, Tolein had no longer experienced the feeling of his life being threatened. This attack instantly awakened his memories, allowing him to taste that sensation once more.

It had evaporated more than 20% of his health points. A Super-A Grade's health, at minimum, was two to three million. This attack was a heavy blow, inflicting several negative statuses. The detonating death energy within his body almost completely collapsed his cells, leaving Tolein with lingering fear and apprehension.

Hela's ability was far more powerful than he had imagined!

At this moment, Tolein gazed at Hela from afar, his eyes filled with dread.

[Death Scythe] had inflicted heavy injuries, but the detonation of all the death energy had also cleared the layers of [Death Erosion]. Tolein's recovery instantly returned to normal, and the injuries within his body gradually healed, his health slowly rising.

However, his maximum health had decreased by about 10% and could not return to its peak state.

Hela wouldn't sit by and watch her opponent recover. Taking advantage of Tolein being stunned by the blow, she immediately stopped her retreat and instead approached Tolein, launching a storm of fierce attacks, death energy sweeping across the sky.

Tolein didn't understand Hela's abilities and was filled with suspicion. He was wary of causing further damage. Seeing Hela approaching, he hurriedly retreated, not daring to attack head-on as before. He only dared to cast spells from a distance, while continuously adding layers upon layers of shields to himself, unwilling to be hit by the death energy again.

The situation instantly reversed, turning into a chase. Tolein, like a rat with its tail between its legs, was chased around by Hela.

The power of this move also startled Austin.

"This newcomer is so strong too? Huh... why did I say 'too'..."

He had worried that Hela would be tricked by the corrupted filthy blood, but he hadn't expected Tolein to be severely injured in the nick of time.

"If it were me..."

Austin couldn't help but put himself in the battlefield. He realized that his chances would also be slim. Although he had various spells to purify himself, the erosion of death energy was continuous. Even if he could purify himself ten or eight times, he would still be attached. The only solution was to try not to let the death energy hit his main body.

In that case, some Super-A Grades might not necessarily lose to Hela, but they would definitely fight cautiously, wary of causing further damage.

Tolein in the arena was currently in this state. He was frightened by Hela's sudden outburst and became extremely careful, leaning more towards defense and not daring to be reckless.

Close combat would expose his main body, making it easy to be hit again. Kiting her wouldn't work, as his ranged attacks were weaker. He was in a passive and disadvantaged position with no chance of winning, so he was in a dilemma.

Tolein secretly complained. He had run into a tough opponent!

Hela didn't care about her opponent's mental state. Since Tolein was defending, she would attack forcefully, treating the heavily shielded Tolein as a practice target, manipulating death energy to bombard him wildly.

Bang, bang, bang!

Magical shields exploded into a sky full of shattered light, peeling away layer by layer like an onion. It looked like Hela was unilaterally crushing Tolein, grinding him into the ground.

However, although he looked miserable, Tolein, as a Super-A Grade mage, was not to be underestimated. With the support of massive amounts of mana, various magical shields were continuously generated, barely withstanding Hela's onslaught.

"This has become a war of attrition, comparing whose energy is stronger. Although I'm passive, it's not without a chance of winning. It depends on whether her ability drains her energy first, or whether I run out of mana first!"

Tolein's spirits lifted.

The Demon Race's True Name Release allowed his cells to generate more energy. As a new Super-A Grade, he believed that his species undoubtedly had the advantage, with stronger endurance.

At this moment, Hela frowned slightly and also noticed this.

"Hmm... a war of attrition is not in my favor."

Death abilities were powerful but also consumed a lot of energy. Hela didn't have many energy recovery skills. Her main source of recovery was absorbing life energy by killing people, but now it was a one-on-one fight, so there were naturally no minions to become her nourishment.

Hela hadn't been in the Super-A Grade for long, and she hadn't had much time to learn more energy training methods, so her energy limit was the main factor restricting her, and endurance was her weakness.

With a flash in her eyes, Hela changed her hand gestures, and a stream of death energy gathered in her palm, forming a vortex-like shape, and she cast a new skill:

[Abyss of the Dead]!

A strange mental wave suddenly spread out. Everyone present saw a flash before their eyes, and the scene suddenly changed.

Everyone around them had disappeared, leaving only themselves. The surrounding area was an incredibly dark space, with only a faint light above their heads, as if they were at the bottom of a deep well.

"Aaaaaah—"

Countless ear-piercing screams suddenly erupted from below. Everyone hurriedly looked down and saw a void beneath their feet, covered with translucent gray faces of creatures, of all species and appearances, crowded together densely.

Every face was filled with pain and horror, their expressions extremely twisted and exaggerated. Their mouths opened and closed, emitting screams of different tones. The endless faces were like an ocean, carrying an extremely strange sense of terror. This scene shocked the minds of many, causing their sanity to plummet wildly.

These faces all came from the soul fragments of the people Hela had killed. The essence had been integrated into her abilities, helping her grow, while the dregs of the soul fragments had settled down, forming this abyss composed of the dead.

Just then, these faces suddenly stopped screaming, and all their eyes stared straight ahead, constantly repeating a sentence. Tens of millions, hundreds of millions of words overlapped, forming a grand wave of sound, carrying an ethereal echo.

"Become one with us..."

The next moment, countless tentacles suddenly rolled out from the grotesque and terrifying sea of faces. These tentacles were composed of pale arms connected like chains, constantly merging, lengthening, and thickening. Hands latched onto everyone's legs, grabbing them tightly and pulling them down.

"Let go of me!"

"Help, help!"

"Don't grab that place!"

An incredibly real sense of falling attacked, and many people screamed in fright, struggling frantically.

The next moment, the scene in front of them shattered into fragments.

Many people who had covered their eyes hurriedly opened their fingers and observed the surrounding environment through the gaps, discovering that they were still in the same place as before, and everything just now was just an illusion.

Everyone was drenched in cold sweat.

However, these onlookers only suffered a weak impact from the aftermath. Tolein was the real target, and no one knew what terrifying scene he had seen. He was stunned and stopped all movements, as if his sanity had been reduced to zero.

Looking closely, everyone was stunned to find that a wisp of shadow had grown out of Tolein's body. It was his spiritual body, half of which was being dragged out by Hela from afar, and was struggling frantically.

If they could see his status bar, everyone would know that Tolein was simultaneously in multiple negative states such as [Fear], [Out of Control], and [Confusion].

Death energy had mental properties, and Hela had also obtained attack methods specifically targeting the mind. [Abyss of the Dead] was a mental control skill that could drag out the target's soul, allowing both sides to compete mentally, causing the opponent to temporarily lose control of their body.

As a result, the shields were no longer replenished, and countless death energy directly bombarded Tolein's body, instantly blasting it into a riddled mess.

"Stop it!" Tolein's spiritual body was trying to escape from the [Abyss of the Dead]. Seeing this scene, his eyes were about to split.

This was his body!

Unable to control it, he could only watch as his opponent wantonly abused it. Seeing that he was about to be beaten into a pulp, he immediately became anxious.

Hela turned a deaf ear, as if determined to beat Tolein into a paste on the spot.

Seeing this, Tolein was terrified and hurriedly shouted:

"Don't hit me, don't hit me, I surrender!"

He just wanted to get some achievements, but he didn't expect to have to fight so desperately.

Hela narrowed her eyes and spun abruptly, a stream of death energy spewing out, directly blasting Tolein away. The effect of [Abyss of the Dead] was lifted.

Tolein's spirit escaped control and hurriedly returned to his body.

The next moment, a tidal wave of pain came from all over his body, and his spirit was even more listless, obviously severely injured.

"With such injuries, I'm afraid it will take several years to recover..."

Tolein's face twitched, and he hurriedly retreated, staring warily at Hela while recovering from his injuries, fearing that she would pursue him.

Seeing this, Hela retracted the death energy into her body, glared at Tolein, and sent out a mental wave of icy emotions, concise and to the point:

"Scram."

Hearing this, Tolein was furious, but when he caught sight of Hela's indifferent face, his dread immediately overwhelmed his anger, and he dared not act.

"Hela, is it? I'll remember you!"

He gritted his teeth, turned around and left, flying towards the Void Church's fleet.

It was impossible not to be annoyed. Tolein originally wanted to obtain a Super-A Grade victory here and use Ames as a stepping stone, but he didn't expect to encounter a formidable enemy here. Instead, he became someone else's stepping stone, giving someone else an achievement to make a name for themselves.

He got nothing but a defeat on this trip. His spirit was damaged, and it would take several years to recover. He tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice, which made Tolein very angry.

Since he had already lost, Tolein was too embarrassed to say hello. Moreover, he didn't dare to say anything harsh in front of Black Star – what if Black Star took it seriously? So he simply retreated.

The Void Church fleet picked up Tolein and turned around and warped away in a dejected manner. Their escape posture was very elegant and skillful.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" Ames glanced at Han Xiao.

"He lost, so I won't make things difficult for him." Han Xiao shrugged.

Tolein was a strange combination of arrogance and cowardice, and he didn't give Han Xiao a reason to attack. Moreover, the damage caused by Hela was enough for Tolein to suffer. Just the reduction in lifespan alone was a huge loss for Tolein... when he knew the truth, he would probably regret his decision today.

Since the unlucky one was the opponent, Han Xiao was in a good mood and didn't bother to argue with him.

Looking at Hela, who was slowly flying back, Han Xiao smiled and said to Ames beside him:

"News of this battle will spread quickly. Other forces will soon know that there is a new Super-A Grade in the universe."

"It's finally your turn to have a headache." Ames chuckled.

"Why would I have a headache?"

"Hehe, after you became a Super-A Grade, you became independent directly. Now, what do you think is the probability that you can keep Hela?" Ames's lips curled up. "People's thoughts will change with strength and status. Can you make a Super-A Grade willingly work for you?"

"I'd say it's fifty-fifty." Han Xiao remained noncommittal. "Even if she becomes independent, her relationship with us will be the same, still allies. The worst-case scenario is still a good thing."

At this moment, a teleportation gate appeared next to the two of them, and Austin flew out of it with a smile on his face:

"Black Star, congratulations. Your cadre has been promoted to Super-A Grade. Now there are a total of six Super-A Grades in the Shattered Star Ring. I think Sisko will be depressed."

"Hasn't he been depressed for a long time?" Ames smiled.

The three chatted for a few words before Hela landed on the dock and walked over. Austin's eyes lit up, and he took the initiative to start a conversation. He liked to get to know newcomers the most.

Hela also knew Austin, but before today, due to the gap in strength, the two only had an impression of each other. Now, they could finally communicate on an equal footing.

She responded a few words, as cold as ever. Austin didn't mind. After laying the foundation for friendship, he said goodbye to everyone and left with the Arcane Church.

The rubberneckers are finally gone... Han Xiao looked at the shrinking teleportation gate and couldn't help but complain inwardly.

At this moment, Hela turned to look at Han Xiao's clone, paused, and said slowly: "When I get back, I'll have a good chat with you."

"I'll wait for you at headquarters." Han Xiao nodded.

He knew that what Hela wanted to talk about was probably related to her future plans. For this oldest of old friends, it was not appropriate to talk about such important matters with a clone.

Hela nodded and then walked away. She felt that there was nothing to say to a clone. After all, a metal疙瘩was not as handsome as the real person.

At the same time, Bennett, who was waiting for news in the Haellan Star government building, finally received a report that the enemy had been repelled by Hela, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

After reading the battle report, the ease on Bennett's face gradually turned into emotion and satisfaction.

Hela had also become a Super-A Grade?

Didn't that mean that Haellan Star had produced two Super-A Grades?

What a small probability event!

"This is Haellan Star's good fortune!"

Bennett couldn't help but sigh and thought of the old opponent who had been entangled with him for half his life. His mood was complicated.

"Although you've done a lot of wrong things, you bastard has cultivated two protectors for our planet. Your merits are immeasurable..."