The God of Nothing.-Chapter 51: The End of the Gauntlet

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry about the hiatus! I have been going through some personal stuff, but soon I'll be back and with better quality than ever! Till then, please continue supporting my novel!

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He wondered where it had started.

His mother's death?

During life and death battles under Kaden's instruction?

Perhaps as far back as his childhood, being bullied by his siblings.

He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but at some point, Caelith had lost himself.

He had lost his ambition, his confidence, and his path as a child. Crushed by the politics surrounding him and the weight of gazes falling on him, Caelith had lost his sense of self.

After that, his life was pushed forward by one star and only that one.

His mother.

And then the world had taken her as well.

There, in that forest, Caelith had given himself purpose. He had written two graves, one for his mother and one for his past self.

Since then, life has thrown many trials toward his new identity.

The constant attacks on his life in the forest, the oppressive loneliness of the wild, and here he was once again subject to the classism of nobles.

Yet, Caelith had persevered. He had been maimed, insulted, and fought against the greatest talent of Igaria and survived.

His path had always been his own to walk. He had received help from his mentor Kaden, and his mother, Elysia, however, he would never have people fight by his side.

This was what Caelith had believed.

What Caelith had been conditioned to feel.

Despite defeating superhuman beasts, despite defeating veteran warriors, despite accomplishing the near impossible.

Caelith was still that meek boy, bullied by his family and only moving forward to stop what little he had left from being taken.

He had lost his ego.

And only with Rejection did he begin discovering himself.

However, hate was a fickle backer. Having lost everything he had discovered, one thing about himself, it was that he loathed this world.

And now, after winning his bet with the prince, he had proven to himself at long last that he could do something about it.

He, Caelith, no longer Stormont, could take out his rage on the world. He could usurp this corrupt system and stop tragedies from creating more shells like he had once been.

His family had given him hate, his power now gave him confidence, and finally, Caelith looked at the scene before him.

Farren, Jorun, and Braegor stood holding down four heirs and Vessia.

Behind them, his stepsister, Selphira, plotted some horrible trap.

Yet, despite the looming threat, Caelith felt a stir in his heart.

They had protected him, risked their lives to ensure his recovery.

Caelith was not concerned about whether this had come from goodwill or from the pragmatic bet that he would win.

Warmth spread through his being. Caelith had the power, the confidence, and now the allies to continue forth.

He now had a chance, no matter how minuscule, of achieving something great. And with this, he now had a goal.

Destroy the world.

Tear down the domain of the gods and bring about change.

Yes, that was his conviction.

The conviction of the singularity, the heir of hate, the personification of Rejection.

Caelith had the inhumane talent to achieve his conviction.

And with his next step, the first brick will have been laid.

Deep within him, he focused on the connection he shared with rejection. To him, Rejection felt like a limb; he could will it to move as he wished, and his strength with that limb was limited to his mental focus.

Rejection existed everywhere, all at once, but also nowhere.

It only existed if he wished it to. Rejection, at its core, is just the absence of mana. The effects Caelith achieves with it are just extensions of physics.

At the moment, Rejection was a closed fist to Caelith. He would move a finger or two in order to call forth rejection and fight. Rejection step was like snapping to him. Augmenting his blade was like holding something in that fist.

And what he had learned against the prince was one more step toward using his fist to destroy the world.

Gradually, Caelith relaxed his hand.

The second he had stood, all the eyes in the arena had focused on him.

The man who had matched Aurex.

Selphira was preparing to release her bloodfire as the time had finally come.

The heirs and Vessia were panicking.

Farren and his allies were cheering.

Nobles scowled, while Aurex let a faint smile grow on his face.

And in that moment, when Caelith's 'hand' relaxed, the arena was swallowed.

It started near Caelith, slowly growing and forming a bubble. Then it kept going, and going, and going.

It was as if he had a chokehold on the arena.

Selphira, was likely the most shocked.

She was the strongest there after Caelith. At least she assumed so. Farren was impressive, but he hadn't been able to defeat his opponents.

She had even been bold enough to count herself as not too much behind Caelith and Aurex.

Yet, as the familiar feeling, which she had attributed to Aurex, filled the coliseum.

She realized that it was Caelith who had caused this suppression.

And just like that, her magic dissolved.

The other competitors all experienced something similar.

Except for Farren, whose power did not come from mana.

No words needed to be exchanged.

No results announced.

It had already been decided once he had stood.

And with perfect timing, Aurex spoke.

He said only one word.

"Domain."

Everyone turned their attention toward him, no matter how fascinated they were by Caelith.

"Domains are a sign of a Mortal becoming Grand. They form naturally after the fourth star and finish at the sixth. Being mortal is about controlling your body, while being Grand is about imposing your body onto the world. Congratulations, brother, you have achieved the unthinkable. Before even turning twenty, you have formed an adolescent domain."

Gasps and shock reverberated through the crowd. After all, Domains were the techniques of legends. In Igaria, one would be lucky to witness one in one's lifetime. Perhaps in the central continent, they were more common, after all, stories of three stars awakening them existed there. Those heirs of sects and kingdoms. Even their own prince, Aurex, had achieved an adolescent domain.

Aurex spoke once again, concluding the matter with that.

"This tournament is over. If you were selected for the class, you will be notified. Besides that you are dismissed!"

And just like that, with one step from Caelith, the chaos was over.

Triumphant smiles lined the faces of his allies, while the rest were unperturbed. They had proven themselves well, there was nothing else they could do.

Everyone except for one person congregated in groups and planned to either celebrate or drink their emotions away.

And that one person was Selphira Stormont.

Shock was not enough to describe her current state.

Stormont had been undermined.

Vykrall had sided with a commoner.

Not only that, but the entire noble hierarchy was thrown into chaos.

Yes, they were naturally more powerful due to blessings yet.... Yet a commoner had defeated them.

Trash worse than an ant had disgraced what was supposed to be a facilitation of their status.

Of her status.

She would be certain to find out the truth.

She had to, unless she was going to allow things to proceed this way.

The commoners would become more outspoken.

The family would condemn her for staying passive.

Time was the only solution.

This could only be fixed with time.

And time did indeed pass.