Chapter 100: Awakened Tournament Crisis (6)

Another thirty minutes passed.

By now, the audience had grown accustomed to the strange rhythm of the third round.

Fight.

Destruction.

Thirty-minute restoration period.

Then another fight.

The arena itself had already become something of a spectacle.

Every battle had left behind increasingly severe damage, forcing the restoration systems beneath the battlefield to work continuously. Yet each time the next match was announced, the arena was returned to nearly perfect condition.

The spectators didn’t seem to mind waiting.

If anything, the anticipation only made them more excited.

The previous battle had been spectacular.

Sonne had revealed an SS-Rank skill and overwhelmed Alexis after his strongest attack had failed to finish her.

Now, however, the crowd was waiting for something else.

A matchup that had been discussed almost immediately after the bracket was revealed.

The giant holographic screen above the stadium flickered.

The crowd erupted.

"Finally!"

"This one’s going to be insane!"

The announcer’s voice rang across the stadium.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have one of the most highly anticipated matches of the entire third round!"

The screen updated.

Elio - A-Rank

A wave of shocked murmurs spread through the stadium.

"A-Rank?!"

"Another one?!"

"Wasn’t he also a B-Rank during the first round?!"

The announcer continued.

"And his opponent..."

The screen changed.

Jax - B-Rank

The reaction was just as strong.

"The Martial God?!"

"He’s B-Rank now!"

"He’s still one rank below Elio, though!"

That last statement caused a few people to murmur.

On paper, the match looked straightforward.

Elio was an A-Rank.

Jax was a B-Rank.

A full rank separated them.

And everyone knew just how significant that difference could be.

But Eden wasn’t convinced.

He watched the arena silently.

There was something about Elio that bothered him.

Not in a bad way.

It was simply difficult to explain.

Elio didn’t feel like the other Awakened.

Even before Eden had reached A-Rank himself, he had noticed it.

There was something dense about Elio’s Essence.

Something unnatural.

Eden narrowed his eyes.

’What exactly is he hiding?’

The arena gates opened.

Elio walked out first.

He looked calm as always.

His silver hair swayed slightly in the wind.

His purple eyes were relaxed.

In his right hand was a sword.

At first glance, it looked like an exceptionally high-quality weapon.

Long, slender and slightly curved, the blade shimmered with a faint purple sheen.

But Eden immediately realized it wasn’t an ordinary sword.

The weapon suddenly shifted.

The blade separated into dozens of connected segments.

It extended.

Then curved.

Within seconds, the sword had transformed into a whipblade stretching several dozen meters.

The crowd gasped.

"A whipblade?"

"That looks like a high-rank weapon!"

"Look at the quality of that thing!"

Elio casually flicked the weapon.

The segmented blade snapped through the air with a sharp crack.

Across the battlefield, Jax entered.

His red hair was slightly messy.

His crimson eyes were full of excitement.

Unlike Elio, he carried no weapon.

He walked approximately a hundred meters away and stopped.

Elio looked at him.

"You’re not using a weapon?"

Jax grinned.

"Oh, I am."

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a single golden brass knuckle.

It wasn’t ordinary metal.

Even from a distance, the weapon radiated Essence.

A high-rank weapon.

Jax slipped it onto his right hand.

His left remained completely bare.

He looked down at the brass knuckle for a moment.

Then smiled.

"This is just how I like it."

Jax’s grin widened.

"Don’t worry."

"I’ll make sure you get a good fight."

The announcer raised his hand.

"Both contestants are ready!"

The stadium quieted.

"BEGIN!"

Jax disappeared.

Eden’s eyes sharpened.

[Burst-Step]

Jax crossed the hundred-meter distance in less than a second.

Elio’s eyes widened.

"Fast."

Jax’s fist connected with his face.

Blood sprayed from Elio’s nose.

His body was launched backward.

The crowd erupted.

"HE HIT HIM!"

"JAX GOT THE FIRST HIT!"

Elio barely had time to recover.

Jax appeared directly behind him.

He smiled.

"Don’t worry."

His fist pulled back.

"I’m going easy at first."

Elio’s eyes widened.

"Sportsmanship?"

"Something like that."

Jax struck.

One.

Two.

Three.

A Four-Hit Combo.

The combination happened so quickly that the sounds of the impacts came almost simultaneously.

Elio’s body twisted from one strike to the next.

Jax didn’t simply punch aimlessly.

He changed angles between every movement.

A straight punch became an elbow.

The elbow became a knee.

The knee became a hook.

Each attack flowed naturally into the next.

Elio was unable to recover.

Then Jax disappeared.

He reappeared above him.

"Down you go."

His heel slammed into Elio’s back.

Elio was driven toward the ground.

The impact destroyed the arena floor.

A gigantic crater formed beneath him.

Stone erupted into the air.

The shockwave raced outward for hundreds of meters.

Jax landed farther away.

He casually dusted off his shoulder.

He smiled.

"Don’t tell me you’re done already..."

"Prodigy."

The audience screamed.

Elio slowly climbed out of the crater.

Blood ran from his nose.

His clothes were damaged.

But his expression remained calm.

He wiped the blood away.

Then looked at Jax.

"You really are fast."

Jax laughed.

"That’s kinda my gimmick."

Elio raised his whipblade.

The segmented sword extended.

Within moments, the weapon had become a massive whip stretching dozens of meters.

Elio swung.

The weapon tore through the air.

Jax simply stepped aside.

The whipblade struck the ground, splitting the arena floor.

Elio immediately swung again.

Jax ducked.

Again.

He jumped.

Again.

He sidestepped.

The weapon continued tearing apart the arena around him, but Jax avoided every strike.

Then he disappeared again.

Elio’s eyes widened.

Jax was already inside his guard.

"Peekabo."

His fist struck.

Continued by a Three Kick-Combo.

Before Elio had time to even process what was going on, he was hit by an Eight-Hit Combo so quick he didn’t even know which strike hit him first.

Each one struck a different part of Elio’s body.

The final strike launched Elio across the arena.

He crashed through a massive stone wall.

Jax landed in front of the wreckage.

The audience was going insane.

"He’s destroying him!"

"Jax is a B-Rank!"

"How is an A-Rank getting beaten like this?!"

Eden didn’t cheer.

He didn’t even blink.

His eyes remained fixed on Elio.

’Strange...’

’Elio hasn’t used a single skill.’

’Not once.’

Eden’s expression slowly changed.

He remembered what Elio had told him in the hospital.

They would meet in the final.

Elio had been pretty confident about that.

He had said there was no doubt in his mind that the two of them would be the finalists.

Someone that confident wouldn’t simply be unable to deal with Jax.

Especially not someone who had reached A-Rank.

’He’s holding back.’

Lucy noticed his expression.

"Something wrong?"

"Evidently."

She looked toward the arena.

"Jax is beating him pretty badly."

"Yeah."

Eden leaned forward.

"But that’s not what I’m watching."

Lucy frowned.

"What are you watching?"

"Elio."

Jax suddenly appeared beside the rubble.

Elio stepped out.

Another punch.

Elio was sent flying.

Jax followed.

A knee.

An elbow.

A spinning kick.

A palm strike.

A straight punch.

Five more attacks.

Elio managed to blocked some this time.

But he never got the chance to counterattacked.

Jax began to notice too.

His smile slowly faded.

"You’re not even trying."

Elio remained silent.

Jax’s eyes narrowed.

"You know..."

He rolled his shoulder.

"I thought maybe you were just slow."

Elio raised his whipblade.

Jax continued.

"But you’re holding back."

Elio’s expression didn’t change.

"Just come at me."

Jax’s smile returned.

But this time, there was nothing friendly about it.

"That’s insulting."

Elio’s purple eyes sharpened.

Jax lowered his stance.

"If you think you can beat me without using your skills..."

He vanished.

"...then I’ll just have to drag them out of you."

The ground exploded beneath Jax’s feet.

He accelerated.

Elio’s eyes widened.

Jax’s fist slammed into his stomach.

Elio was thrown backward.

Jax appeared beside him.

Another strike.

Then another.

Followed by an immediate third.

Jax’s movements became increasingly difficult to follow.

He wasn’t simply moving quickly.

His body was reacting to everything automatically.

Every movement flowed into the next.

There was no hesitation.

No wasted motion.

No unnecessary movement.

’It’s similar to the Recoilless Technique.’

It was almost like watching a machine built specifically for combat.

Eden’s eyes narrowed.

’That’s his unique skill.’

He remembered the rumors surrounding Jax.

The Martial God.

A man who could supposedly copy and perfect martial arts after seeing them once.

A man whose body had no reaction time, making it almost impossible to land a strike.

’So that’s what they call God-given Talent...’

Jax wasn’t just simply fast.

He was actively becoming better with every second of the fight.

’He’s without a doubt stronger than I was at his Rank.’

Elio was being pushed further and further backward.

The arena was being destroyed around them.

Every impact created another crater.

Every missed strike shattered stone.

Jax suddenly caught Elio’s whipblade.

The segmented weapon wrapped around his arm.

Jax grinned.

"Got you."

He pulled.

Elio was dragged toward him.

Elio’s eyes widened.

Jax’s fist was already waiting.

Elio was launched upward.

Jax jumped after him.

One strike.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

The impacts came so rapidly that the audience could barely see them.

Jax appeared above Elio.

Then beneath him.

Then beside him.

Each movement was accompanied by another strike.

Elio’s body was being thrown through the air like a ragdoll.

Finally, Jax appeared above him.

"Let’s go for a thirty hit combo, shall we?!"

Elio’s eyes widened.

Jax’s body blurred.

The next sequence happened faster than sound.

Three hits.

Ten hits.

Twenty—

Thirty hits Combo!

Thirty strikes.

All in less than a second.

To the audience, it looked as though Jax had barely moved.

Then every impact landed at once.

A gigantic shockwave exploded through the arena.

Elio’s body was driven downward.

The ground beneath him shattered.

A crater dozens of meters wide formed.

The force cracked the reinforced battlefield and sent enormous chunks of stone flying.

Dust swallowed the arena.

The protective barriers surrounding the stadium flashed repeatedly.

The crowd fell silent.

Jax landed.

He stood at the edge of the crater.

His breathing was slightly uneven now.

But he was smiling.

He looked down.

"Come on."

The dust slowly cleared.

Elio was still conscious.

He was down on one knee.

Blood dripped from his mouth.

His silver hair hung messily over his face.

His breathing was rough.

For the first time, the calm expression had disappeared from his eyes.

Jax stood in front of him.

His golden brass knuckle glinted beneath the stadium lights.

He smiled confidently.

"Show me what you’ve got..."

"Prodigy."

Elio slowly raised his head.

His purple eyes met Jax’s crimson ones.

Jax’s smile widened.

"That’s more like it."

The crowd erupted again.