My Charity System made me too OP

The staircase ended without fanfare. No glowing arch. No vast gate. Just a wide platform surrounded by a massive ring of stone towers. Each tower bore a single banner, but none were alike. Some were tattered. Others pristine. All of them carried names—not of floors, but of people.

Leon stepped out into the open with his team behind him. The air was thinner here, but rich with pressure. Not gravity. Presence.

Kael looked around, eyebrows narrowing. "This isn't just a test floor."

"It's a battlefield," Roselia said. "But one where the fights are already written."

She wasn't wrong.

A moment later, the Tower's system spoke:

[Welcome to Floor 621 – The Ring of Provings]

Zone Type: Duel Challenge Domain

Objective: Earn Three Recognitions to Proceed

Challenge Format: 1-on-1, Sovereign Claimant Tier

Restrictions: No assistance. No retries. No death allowed—unless agreed.

Additional Rule: You may only challenge those who have already claimed a seat.

Naval stepped forward. "So this floor's about proving you belong in the ring."

Leon said nothing for a moment.

Then he turned toward the center of the courtyard—where a raised stone ring awaited.

A challenger was already standing in it.

A woman in sleek black armor, hair tied back in a silver-threaded braid. Her eyes met Leon's, calm and sharp.

"I'm the Sentinel of the Twelfth Banner," she called out. "You wear the seal, but I need to see if it fits."

[You have been challenged: Duel Format – Seal Verification]

Challenger: Eryss Halvane, Seat-Bearer of the Twelfth Banner

Power Level: Sovereign-Bound Tier (Floor 645 Cap)

Objective: Win within fifteen moves or forfeit the Seal

Leon stepped forward without hesitation.

The others started to call after him, but stopped. They could feel it too:

This was necessary.

The moment Leon entered the ring, the Tower sealed it in a dome of energy. Time shifted. Space blurred. The only constants were the two of them.

Eryss raised her hand, and a black blade shimmered into existence.

"I won't hold back," she warned.

Leon pulled the Chain of Oaths from his side. It unspooled into the air, floating like a sentient line of intent.

"Neither will I," he said. "Let's begin."

[Duel Commencing – Floor 621 Ring Match]

[Move Counter: 0/15]

Eryss vanished.

No flicker, no teleport—just gone.

Leon pivoted immediately, sweeping the chain in a wide arc to intercept—

Clang.

Blade met chain. Sparks flew. Eryss landed behind him and pivoted low, striking upward.

Move 2.

Leon leaned back, felt the strike pass inches from his ribs. He twisted the chain, wrapping it around her leg—

Eryss snapped her foot back, breaking the grip before it tightened.

Move 4.

No words.

Only focus.

Leon dropped low and fired a Shell Pulse through the floor—Force Reverb type, layered with his Drift Timing.

It cracked the ground and launched Eryss backward.

Move 6.

She caught herself mid-air and responded by lashing out with a piercing thrust.

It froze the dome for a heartbeat.

Move 7.

Leon used it.

Not to dodge.

To bind.

He let her blade strike shallow into his shoulder—gritted his teeth—and looped the chain around her torso the moment she committed.

The energy snapped closed.

Move 8.

Eryss's eyes widened. "You let yourself be hit."

"I only needed you to stop moving," Leon said—and pulled.

The chain compressed. Her blade fell.

[Victory – Leon Aetheren Wins Duel]

[Move Counter: 8/15]

[Seal Verification Successful – Twelfth Banner Recognized]

[Recognition 1/3 Acquired]

The dome shattered.

Outside, the team exhaled as one.

Eryss stood slowly, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth.

She didn't look angry.

She looked satisfied.

"You're stronger than I expected," she said. "More than that… you're focused. You didn't waste a single move."

Leon nodded. "I can't afford to."

Eryss nodded once, then returned to her tower without another word.

[Remaining Recognitions Needed: 2]

[Opponents Awaiting: 11]

[Time Limit: None. Confidence is currency.]

Roselia stepped to his side.

Roman smirked. "Alright, now it's getting fun."

Leon looked toward the second banner lighting up.

And with calm, steel in his voice, he said—

"Next."

The Tower's higher floors weren't about survival anymore.

They were about earning your place.

And Leon?

He was ready to prove he belonged—move by move.

The second banner lit up in a muted shade of violet. It fluttered slowly above the seventeenth tower, its fabric laced with silver thread that shimmered like starlight. A moment later, the air before the platform rippled, and another challenger stepped forward.

This one wasn't armored.

He wore a long robe, loose and marked with constellations that moved as if alive. His hair was short and silver, his expression unreadable—calm, detached. In his hand, he held no weapon, only a single floating sigil above his palm, rotating in silence.

"I am Vael of the Seventeenth Banner," he said. "Celestial Arcanist, Sovereign of Star Logic."

Leon said nothing at first. He could already feel it—this was going to be different. Not speed. Not strength. Precision.

[You have been challenged: Duel Format – Recognition Test]

Challenger: Vael, Seventeenth Banner

Power Type: Sigilcraft + Celestial Pulse Control

Objective: End the duel without being marked by three Celestial Sigils

Additional Rule: Breaking all three sigils results in instant win

Leon stepped into the ring.

The chain of Oaths pulsed at his side again. But this time, he didn't hold it tight. He let it drift around him—coiled, patient, watching.

[Duel Commencing – Recognition Match: 2nd Seat]

[Condition: Sigil Precision Engagement]

The moment the duel started, Vael didn't move.

Instead, three rings of stars appeared around him.

"First Sigil," he said.

A star blinked into existence above Leon's head.

Leon moved instantly—dodging left—but the sigil didn't follow.

It just sat there.

Waiting.

Then it activated.

A line of force tore through the air—a clean slice of spatial pressure.

Leon ducked under it. Just barely.

"Second Sigil," Vael said.

This one blinked behind Leon. The moment it activated, Leon was ready—he lashed the chain backward, striking the sigil with the sharp tip.

It flickered… but didn't break.

"Damn."

The sigils weren't just markers. They were constructs bound to Tower logic. They needed to be unraveled.

Leon took a deep breath.

Time to stop reacting.

He planted his foot and activated Shell Reverb—Tripart Echo.

Three pulses spread outward from him at staggered timings. The first scattered Vael's visual range. The second disrupted the sigil placements mid-formation. The third cracked the floor beneath both of them, forcing motion.

Vael raised his hand calmly. "Clever."

"Still figuring you out," Leon replied, already moving.

"Third Sigil," Vael declared.

This one was different. It didn't appear in the air. It wrapped around Leon's shadow.

Roselia, watching from outside, murmured, "That's—"

"An anchor sigil," Naval finished. "If it activates, Leon's movements will be locked into a single timeline for ten seconds."

Inside the ring, Leon glanced down.

Then he smirked.

"I have one rule," he said. "I don't let anyone decide when I stop."

He crouched—then surged forward at full speed, activating Echo of Origin and dragging the chain behind him.

As he moved, the chain carved runes in the floor—burning counter-sigils in quick succession.

Vael's eyes widened. "You're inscribing nullfields?"

"Not nullfields," Leon said, leaping high.

"I'm rewriting the space."

He dropped from the air like a hammer. The chain surged downward—and slammed into the third sigil just as it attempted to fully anchor.

Crack.

The sigil shattered.

The remaining two blinked erratically. The logic between them broken. The celestial code collapsed.

All three were gone.

[Victory – Leon Aetheren Wins Duel]

[Condition Cleared: Sigils Broken]

[Recognition 2/3 Acquired]

Vael didn't look angry.

If anything, he looked impressed.

"You saw the pattern fast," he said. "Most challengers don't realize the sigils interact."

Leon stepped out of the ring, not even breathing hard.

"I don't care about patterns," he said. "I care about pressure."

Vael nodded once. "Then you'll do well. Especially on the higher Throne Floors."

[Remaining Recognitions Needed: 1]

[Opponents Remaining: 9]

[Banner 3 Selecting…]

Another tower shimmered, this one behind the ring—taller than the rest.

It bore no banner.

But the ground beneath it cracked with every second.

Kael stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "That tower… isn't like the others."

"No," Roselia agreed quietly. "That one's not testing you."

Milim cracked her knuckles. "That one wants a fight."

The ground split fully open. A man walked out—barefoot, shirtless, wrapped in chains that looked like they were meant to break.

He was smiling.

Too wide.

"Leon Aetheren," he said. "They say you're the next to rise."

His hands lit with flame. "Let's find out how hard you fall."

Leon's chain lifted in the air behind him, coiling slowly, like a serpent.

He didn't blink.

"Come prove me wrong."