Chapter 103: Awakened Tournament Crisis (9)

The Energy around him compressed further.

The stadium lights flickered.

[The Fist That Surpassed Time]

For one brief moment, everything became silent.

Or rather...

Time stopped.

Jax finally moved.

The entire world froze.

Dust hung motionless in the air.

The smoke stopped drifting.

Even the tiny fragments of stone falling from the shattered arena floor remained suspended.

Elio stood frozen.

And Jax’s fist was already there.

Directly against his face.

The golden brass knuckle slammed into Elio’s jaw.

The force was incomprehensible.

His entire jaw shattered.

His head snapped backward.

His body was driven into the ground with such force that the arena floor exploded beneath him.

A gigantic shockwave tore outward.

Cracks spread across the protective barrier surrounding the battlefield.

As soon as the attack landed, time began to resume.

The stadium shook.

The protective barrier flashed violently.

Several spectators screamed.

The entire arena erupted in noise.

Nobody had seen what happened.

They had only seen Jax disappear.

Then the next moment Elio was in the ground.

Jax stood several meters away, his right arm still extended.

His body trembled.

He slowly lowered his fist.

Silence lasted for half a second.

Then the crowd exploded.

"What just happened?!"

"Did anyone see that?!"

"Where did Jax go?!"

"He disappeared!"

"No, Elio’s face just—!"

Even the announcer was speechless.

Eden stood up.

His eyes were wide.

A chill ran down his spine.

’What the hell was that?!’

He had seen incredibly fast attacks before.

He had fought opponents whose movements were almost impossible to perceive.

This was different.

Jax hadn’t simply moved faster than the eye.

For a brief moment, he had done the impossible.

He had moved faster than time itself.

Lucy immediately turned toward Eden.

"Eden! What happened?!"

Eden continued staring at the arena.

"I don’t know exactly how he did it."

He paused.

"But his attack literally surpassed time."

Lucy’s expression froze.

"It... surpassed time?"

Eden nodded slowly.

"For an instant."

His eyes narrowed.

The implications were terrifying.

Lucy swallowed.

"That’s possible?"

"Apparently."

Down below, Jax dropped to one knee.

His right hand trembled violently.

His breathing was so heavy that his entire body rose and fell with every breath.

Sweat poured from his face.

He looked exhausted.

Completely exhausted.

He slowly looked toward Elio.

Elio lay motionless in the crater.

His jaw was visibly broken.

There was no movement.

Jax stared for several seconds.

Then he exhaled.

"You were a worthy opponent."

He slowly pushed himself back onto his feet.

His legs nearly gave out.

But he forced them straight.

He turned around.

The announcer finally recovered enough to speak.

"Elio is down! Jax remains standing! After an absolutely unbelievable exchange, the winner of this match is—"

A wave of purple Essence erupted from the crater.

Jax froze.

His eyes widened.

"...No."

The crowd went silent again.

Purple serpents crawled out from the crater.

They twisted around the motionless body lying within the crater.

Then Elio’s hand moved.

Jax’s face went pale.

"You’re kidding..."

Elio’s body began rising again.

Just like before.

But this time it was slower.

Much slower.

His body pushed itself upright without consciousness.

His head remained lowered.

His arms hung at his sides.

He took one step.

Jax stepped backward.

Another step.

Jax’s breathing became ragged.

Elio’s body continued forward.

Slowly.

Weakly.

Almost mechanically.

Jax stared at him.

His right arm was completely spent.

He could barely feel his fingers.

His left arm was trembling.

His legs were exhausted.

He couldn’t use Wild God’s Descent again.

He sure as hell couldn’t use The Fist That Surpassed Time again.

He wasn’t even sure he could throw a normal punch.

’No.’

Jax clenched his teeth.

’How is he still standing?!’

Elio took another step.

His body swayed.

For a moment, it looked like he would fall.

But he didn’t.

He continued approaching.

Then Elio’s eyes opened slightly.

His consciousness was returning.

His purple eyes focused weakly on Jax.

Jax’s instincts screamed at him.

His fight of flight instinct kicked in.

’I have to—’

’Do something.’

But his body refused.

He had nothing left.

He looked at the man walking toward him.

A man who had endured hundreds of attacks.

A man who had been smashed into the ground with enough force to crack the arena.

A man whose jaw had just been shattered by an attack that literally stopped time.

And yet...

He was still walking.

Jax could only think of one word fitting that Man’s performance.

Jax’s lips parted.

"...Monster."

Elio stopped a few meters away.

His breathing was weak.

His body was barely holding together.

But he was still standing.

Jax looked at his own right hand.

The golden brass knuckle had gone completely still.

He knew the truth.

Even if Elio could barely move, Jax couldn’t fight anymore.

He had already given everything.

’How humiliating...’

He slowly raised both hands.

The entire stadium watched.

"I surrender."

A wave of disbelief swept through the crowd.

The announcer stared at him.

"Jax... has surrendered?"

Jax gave a tired laugh.

"Yeah."

He looked at Elio.

"I’ve got nothing left."

Elio remained standing, barely conscious.

Jax lowered his hands.

"Honestly..."

He smiled.

"...I’m glad I got to fight someone like you."

The announcer finally raised his microphone.

His voice boomed throughout the stadium.

"THEN IT IS OFFICIAL!"

The crowd erupted.

"THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH..."

The holographic display above the stadium changed.

"IS ELIO!"

The stadium exploded into cheers.

Jax closed his eyes for a moment.

Despite everything he had given, he had lost.

By surrendering, no less.

It was the most humiliating defeat he could think of.

Yet somehow, he couldn’t stop smiling.

He had never fought anyone like Elio before.

Perhaps that’s why the defeat motivated him moee than anything else would have.

Across the arena, Eden remained standing.

His eyes stayed fixed on Elio.

The cheers of tens of thousands of people filled the stadium.

But Eden barely heard them.

His instincts were still warning him.

’Something about Elio is wrong.’

Something far deeper than his ridiculous endurance.

And after watching him stand up three separate times from attacks that should have ended the fight...

Eden couldn’t shake the feeling that they had only seen the surface of whatever Elio truly was.