Following Darram to their camp, I spotted a female Giant sitting on a large boulder from afar, waiting for her two underlings to scout out and recruit teammates.
Before long, we reached them, and Darram called out, "Big Sis, I've brought back a powerhouse. At least on your level, though his exact strength is unknown."
Camearra sized me up. "An Elite Intermediate, indeed, on my level. A very good candidate. But we have to wait for Hitler to return; he went looking for people too. Just in case he brings someone back, we can have a spar—the strong stay, the weak leave. Besides, he's really handsome!"
Darram leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, "Big Sis, watch your words and actions. I lured this one back by using you as bait. He specifically told me his strength isn't weak, and if he looked down on you, he'd just walk away. When I found him, he was walking straight toward a monster infested zone. Anyone with the guts to go there alone definitely has some real strength."
Camearra replied in a low voice, "Seems his strength isn't bad then. Wait for Hitler to come back and we'll have the recruits spar. The rule remains the same: if Hitler doesn't bring anyone back, he's our guy."
Not long after, Hitler returned, bringing back someone very familiar—Tiga.
Before even reaching them, Hitler shouted loudly, "Big Sis, I've brought you a top-tier expert! Now our four-person squad is full, we can set out."
I looked closely at Tiga's strength. How interesting—both of us were Elite Intermediates. Let's see how she handles this!
Camearra was also getting a headache. For days, she hadn't managed to recruit a single person. Now she finally had, but two showed up at once, and they were identical in strength and realm. A fight was truly unavoidable.
Making up her mind, Camearra spoke up. "You are all Dark Giants, and you know the Patriarch's orders: a four-person squad cannot exceed its limit. Fight it out! The strong stay, the weak leave—old rules. How about it?"
I had originally wanted to test Tiga's strength anyway, and in the current situation, admitting I was the weak one would be too humiliating. Since I was already pushed into this corner, I might as well fight. That was fine by me. At least I wasn't about to admit I was weak, so we would let our fists decide and rely on our own abilities.
I stretched my shoulders. "I have no problem with that! A fight is simple, direct, and wonderful!"
Tiga pondered for a moment and agreed as well. "No problem. Sparring with an expert is exactly what I wanted."
Hearing our answers, Camearra said, "I'll go report to the Patriarch. Since you just arrived here, you can't start fighting without authorization; I'll send a message right away."
Before long, the Patriarch of the Dark Clan—who was also the only one who had barely reached the Legendary realm—arrived at the scene. Hearing her explanation, he looked me over carefully.
I thought to myself, "Tiga was arranged by me deliberately, but who is this unfamiliar face? His strength isn't weak, his presence is imposing, and he's almost at the Upper realm."
The old Patriarch asked, "You aren't one of our clan members, are you? Where are you from? What is your purpose?"
As for this question, even in my past life I could have given him countless answers. "I fell through a spatial rift and ended up here. When I discovered there were Dark Giants, I decided to stay. After all, since we're all Dark Giants, we're still more likable than the Giants of Light." Having said that, I stopped talking.
The old Patriarch pondered. "Arrived by accident, came through a space rift, and can't go back either. His realm isn't low; having him join us is also a gain. Besides, we get to see his strength, which isn't bad—after all, Tiga is no weakling!"
The old Patriarch announced, "We are all Dark Giants, so I approve your joining. After the spar, according to the rules, the strong stay and the weak leave. If no one has any objections, let's begin! I will witness this."
Seeing that no one withdrew, the old Patriarch led the others to step back, leaving just the two of us.
Tiga spoke very little, possessing a rather cold personality, and raised a hand to signal that we could begin.
I nodded in response.
Receiving my nod, Tiga dashed forward, throwing a punch straight at my head with considerable force. I caught the incoming punch with my left hand and smashed my right fist into Tiga's chest, sending him flying dozens of meters before he crashed heavily onto the ground.
No matter how much I suppressed my strength, my fundamental nature as a lifeform was still at the Ultimate Realm. His own carelessness and misjudgment of my strength were what caused him to be sent flying. Left unsuppressed, a single hit from me could kill even a Legendary being outright.
Perhaps shocked by that punch of mine, he stopped fighting in close quarters and began bombarding me with continuous beams of light. I shattered the incoming beams punch by punch; combined with my energy-focusing mastery, minor attacks couldn't harm me at all.
After trading blows for a while, it was my turn. I activated my Arm Blades, and two long blades extended from the outer edges of my wrists. Wielding both hands, I cleaved through the incoming light beams and charged rapidly toward Tiga.
My speed was faster than Tiga's, making it easy to catch up to him, and I threw a punch at him. He actually managed to take it head-on, twisting his fist as his Arm Blade slashed toward my chest.
Tiga retreated swiftly, narrowly dodging the slash. He said, "You are the strongest opponent of the same rank I've ever encountered. I will use my full strength to fight you."
In the distance, Camearra asked, "Father, who will win? Neither of them looks weak at all!"
The old Patriarch explained gravely, "It looks like Tiga is completely suppressing him with a frenzied attack. But there's no substantial damage. This guy sent Tiga flying with a single punch, and when Tiga took the second blow head-on, his energy was in turmoil, so he's just buying time with talk. Logically speaking, he can see that too—why give him recovery time? Or does he still overestimate his own strength?"
I could naturally see the state Tiga was in. I had experienced plenty of battles myself; I simply wanted to make him lose willingly.
I asked, "Are you done recovering? If so, I'm continuing."
Tiga nodded. I channeled dark energy through my Arm Blades and slashed at him; he still tried to take it head-on. I noticed that the power of my slash seemed to be partially absorbed—how interesting, isn't that a trick I know too? Though it was far too crude compared to my mastery.
Immediately, I withdrew the power from my Arm Blades, deciding to rely purely on hand-to-hand combat. If you're going to ask for punishment, don't blame me; I even retracted the Arm Blades altogether. For an occasion like this, the principles of Tai Chi Chuan could not be more appropriate.
This discipline relies on using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds, blending deflection with counterattacks. As long as you make the enemy lose their balance and drag them into your rhythm, you have already won half the battle.
Seeing that I wasn't moving, Tiga flew up and threw a punch, using the downward momentum of his descent to smash toward my chest. The opportunity had arrived. I staggered my feet and bent my knees, grabbed his incoming punch, and smoothly executed a shoulder throw. My body rotated along with the throw, directly slamming him into the knee I had prepared in advance.
He crashed down heavily, rebounding off the impact. I seized the momentum to drive my knee upward, striking the exact same spot once more. Twisting my body again, I used my strength to swing Tiga around, conveniently adjusting his back position.
Everything was ready. I exerted force in the opposite direction of the spin, thrusting my knee out with a loud *bang* to strike the exact same spot a third time. The dual impact forces were hardly any lighter than the first blow. I released Tiga, laid him gently on the ground, and stopped moving.
It wasn't that I didn't want to continue, but Tiga had already passed out cold. To keep attacking would be murder.
I waved at the people in the distance, and the old Patriarch walked over with the others to check on the injuries. He said, "Fortunately, there are no fatal wounds. The shock of the immense pain knocked him unconscious. You win. What's your name? Welcome to the Dark Giant clan."
I introduced myself in turn. "My name is Cesia, a Dark Giant, well-rounded with no shortcomings."
The old Patriarch said, "Cesia, from now on you are a member of the Dark Giants. I'll take Tiga away for medical treatment." With that, he hoisted Tiga over his shoulder and flew off.
Darram watched the two departing figures and remarked, "This warrior named Tiga is terrible at taking hits. Only three strikes and he went down. What a loser!"
Camearra explained, "Those three heavy strikes had plenty of force behind them, and they all hit the exact same spot. If it were you, you wouldn't even survive three hits! You'd have been knocked out sooner! Even if you wake up, you won't be able to get out of bed for days!"