Chapter 202: Sore Loser

Charles's fingers twitched first. For several seconds, his body remained motionless against the dirt, his breathing ragged as pain coursed through every part of him. Then his fingers slowly dug into the earth, gripping handfuls of soil as he forced his battered body upward. His arms trembled beneath him, but the humiliation burning inside his chest gave him enough strength to move.

Once he managed to push himself onto one knee, Charles lifted his head, and his eyes immediately blazed with intense blue light. The veins across his arms and neck bulged once again, mana circulating through his body with violent intensity as his skin began to glow faintly from the sheer amount of power being forced through it.

Ka'z did not move. He simply watched Charles rise, his expression completely devoid of concern. The transformation had given him an overwhelming advantage, but he could still see that Charles was far from finished.

Charles slowly climbed to his feet, his body swaying slightly before he steadied himself. He stomped the ground beneath him, cracking the earth around his foot as flames suddenly erupted from both of his palms. The fire illuminated his furious expression as he glared at Ka'z.

"I'll kill you!" Charles growled, his voice hoarse from the beating he had just endured.

"Shut up and come," Ka'z snarled.

Bang!

Charles charged immediately, both fists blazing as he swung one of them toward Ka'z's head with enough force to crush stone. Ka'z simply shifted his body to the side, allowing the burning fist to pass harmlessly beside his face. Before Charles could recover from the missed attack, Ka'z casually swung the back of his hand across Charles's face.

Pa!

Charles's head snapped violently to the side as the impact sent him staggering left. His cheek immediately reddened beneath the force of the slap. For a moment, he looked too stunned to react, but the humiliation quickly replaced the rage.

"You fucking..." Charles roared as he turned his face back toward Ka'z, only to find Ka'z's fist already waiting for him.

Bam!

The punch struck Charles directly in the face and sent him flying backward. His body crashed into the ground, rolled several times, then finally stopped as he forced himself onto his knees. His breathing became increasingly ragged, but instead of retreating, Charles immediately began forming hand seals.

Ka'z watched him carefully. The Halfling's movements were slower than before, but his mana was still flowing through his body with remarkable stability. Charles inhaled deeply, drawing in as much air as his lungs could hold before opening his mouth.

A fierce torrent of flames erupted from his throat.

Ka'z did not move.

The flames engulfed him almost immediately, swallowing his entire body in a sea of orange and red. Heat rolled across the battlefield, forcing spectators near the edge to shield their faces as the temperature around them suddenly rose. Charles continued spewing flames without interruption, pouring more and more mana into the attack as his eyes remained fixed on the place where Ka'z had disappeared.

Then an orange magic array appeared around his lips and the flames instantly intensified.

The temperature of the attack doubled as the fire became denser and brighter, roaring across the battlefield with enough force to scorch the earth beneath it.

"Tier One Fire Magic: Flame Breath!" Charles shouted.

The spectators could no longer see Ka'z through the flames. His entire figure had disappeared behind the overwhelming torrent, and for a brief moment, several Gnolls wondered if Charles had finally managed to injure him.

Charles continued spewing flames, refusing to give Ka'z even a moment to recover. Then something moved inside the inferno.

Swoosh!

A hand suddenly emerged from the flames.

Charles's eyes widened as Ka'z's palm shot through the fire and grabbed his face, completely covering it. His fingers wrapped around Charles's head while his palm sealed the Halfling's mouth, instantly cutting off the stream of flames.

Ka'z stepped out of the inferno.

His body was covered in what appeared to be thick layers of dark red cloth wrapped tightly around his body, forming something resembling armor made entirely from blood.

Elemental Body: Blood Armor!

Charles immediately grabbed Ka'z's arm with both hands and struggled desperately to break free. His muscles bulged as he activated his Mana Body, forcing as much strength as possible into his arms, but Ka'z's limb did not even shift.

It felt like he was trying to move a thousand year old oak tree that had been uprooted and buried deep into the earth.

Ka'z did not even appear to be trying. Without much effort, he lifted Charles completely off the ground.

Charles's feet kicked helplessly through the air as he tried to pry Ka'z's hand away from his face.

Bam!

Ka'z slammed him into the ground headfirst.

The impact sent a violent shock through the battlefield, and the entire crowd sucked in a collective breath. Dust erupted around Charles's body as the ground cracked beneath his head.

Charles still refused to let go.

His fingers remained wrapped around Ka'z's arm as he desperately kicked and struggled, but Ka'z remained completely unmoved. He simply lifted Charles again.

Bam!

Charles was slammed into the earth a second time. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth and finally a sixth.

Each impact shook the ground beneath them, and with every slam, Charles's resistance became weaker. The Halflings who had been cheering earlier were now completely silent, their expressions growing more horrified with every impact. Even those who knew Charles's strength had never imagined seeing him treated like this.

Then Pumba abruptly stood.

"Enough!"

His voice thundered across the battlefield.

Ka'z froze while holding Charles in the air, his arm still raised in preparation for another slam. For several seconds, he remained completely still before slowly turning his eyes toward Pumba.

After a brief moment, Ka'z finally released him.

Bam!

Charles dropped heavily onto the ground, his body bouncing slightly from the impact. He immediately gasped and began greedily inhaling as much air as his battered lungs could manage. His face was covered in dirt, and a clear imprint of Ka'z's palm remained across his features. His hands instinctively reached behind his head and gripped the back of his skull because that was where the pain was worst.

Ka'z looked down at him for a moment before speaking quietly enough that only Charles could hear. "Even Grash would have done much better than you. You are no stronger than the dirty goblins you look down on."

Charles's eyes burned with humiliation.

Ka'z turned away and began walking toward the edge of the battlefield. As he moved, the thick layers of blood cloth covering his body began breaking apart. Pieces of the Blood Armor cracked and fell from his body, dissolving into liquid before disappearing into the earth. The crimson fumes pouring from him intensified, spreading outward until they formed a thick red fog around his body.

Within seconds, Ka'z's monstrous silhouette disappeared completely. Then his normal form emerged from the smoke.

His body had returned to its usual lean, muscular appearance, although his scales looked slightly paler than before. He continued walking without looking back at Charles, apparently considering the fight finished.

Then the silence was shattered.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The Gnolls erupted into a thunderous roar.

Their excitement spread through Galoria as warriors shouted, pounded their fists against their chests, and raised their weapons into the air. They had been terrified when Charles first knocked Ka'z down, but now that fear had transformed into exhilaration.

The Halflings were completely silent. Their eyes remained fixed on Charles, who was struggling just to stay on his knees.

Charles was not the strongest warrior in the Halfling army. That position belonged to Pumba. But he was still one of their few truly well rounded fighters, possessing both a powerful Silver Core and a highly refined Mana Body.

Yet the moment Ka'z activated his Elemental Body, Charles had been toyed with like a child.

The irony was impossible to miss.

At the beginning of the battle, Charles had done exactly the same thing to Ka'z. Now the roles had been completely reversed.

"Bastard..." Charles growled.

He stared at his bloodied hands, his fingers trembling as he examined the dirt and blood coating them. His humiliation quickly transformed into rage. His chest heaved as he slowly forced himself upright.

"Bastard!"

Buzz!

Mana erupted from Charles's body.

Fire spun into existence above his extended palm, beginning as a small sphere before rapidly expanding. Ka'z stopped walking.

He slowly turned his head toward the raging flames. His expression immediately became cold.

Charles continued feeding mana into the spell. The fireball grew larger and larger, its heat spreading across the battlefield. One magic array appeared behind him, spinning rapidly as the flames continued expanding.

Then a second magic array manifested behind Charles. The two arrays rotated in opposite directions, one clockwise and the other anticlockwise.

The pressure surrounding Charles suddenly intensified.

A powerful gust of wind exploded across the battlefield, whipping his hair violently around his face and forcing several spectators to shield their eyes. The fireball continued expanding until it became enormous, completely concealing Charles's body behind its blazing surface.

Yet it still did not stop growing.

The enormous sphere of fire expanded again and again until Ka'z, standing several dozen meters away, looked almost like a child standing before a massive burning mountain.

Pumba's expression changed as he watched the two rotating arrays. Even Ka'z recognized what Charles was doing.

Charles raised his burning hand toward the sky, his voice echoing across the battlefield with all the rage and humiliation he could muster.

"TIER TWO FIRE MAGIC: GREAT FIREBALL SPELL!"