Chapter 69: The Legendary Pull

"The ultimate victory is not in defeating your enemy, but in becoming so powerful that no one dares to challenge you." — Sun Tzu.

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The wave slammed into him and knocked him off balance.

The concentrated kinetic energy slammed into Micah’s body from every direction at once.

The Phantom Carapace engaged at full capacity, its kinetic diffusion layer desperately trying to absorb and redistribute the overwhelming force across his entire body.

But the energy was too widespread and too powerful.

The suit’s diffusion layer overloaded in a fraction of a second, and raw impact of Bolton’s attack drove through the armor and into his flesh.

His ribs ached.

The recently healed bones from the Alpha fight rattled under the pressure, and fresh waves of agony rolled through his chest as the force compressed his upper body from every angle.

His lungs seized.

The impact nearly lifted him off his feet, and only the Shadow Step Boots firing at maximum capacity kept him anchored to the ground as the shockwave tore across the arena floor around him.

The concrete beneath him cracked and crumbled under the impact. Pieces of stone broke loose and were thrown into the air by the force of the blast.

The floodlights above flickered and dimmed as the energy wave disrupted their power supply. The arena walls groaned under the pressure, and the reinforced barriers at the edge of the ring developed visible fractures.

The crowd went silent. Every single person in the Coliseum held their breath, staring at the cloud of dust and debris that filled the center of the arena where Micah had been standing.

They couldn’t see him. They couldn’t tell if he was still standing or if Bolton’s attack had reduced him to a smear on the concrete.

Bolton lowered his halberd. His eyes scanned the dust cloud. He had seen this result too many times before.

The blast would have destroyed the recruit’s armor, broken his ribs, and left him on the ground, gasping and defenseless. The next strike would end it.

He began walking forward. His boots crunched on the broken concrete, and his halberd hummed with residual Flux energy as he closed the distance.

Each step was measured and deliberate, carrying the steady pace of a man who had done this enough times to know the fight was already over and only the final formality remained.

Through the dust, a shape appeared.

Through the dust, a figure appeared. He was still standing, but he was hunched over and trembling, with one hand braced against his knee and the other gripping the Widow’s Wail tightly.

The Phantom Carapace was visible through the shredded civilian clothes, its surface cracked and dented from the force of the blast.

Blood dripped from Micah’s nose and the corner of his mouth. His breathing was heavy and uneven as he struggled through the pain in his bruised ribs.

But he was standing.

Bolton stopped. His eyes narrowed, and for the first time in the fight, his expression showed something other than confidence.

It was surprise. Genuine surprise.

No opponent had ever survived his Area Crush technique. The attack was designed to be unavoidable and unsurvivable, a finisher that ended fights with absolute finality.

The fact that Micah was still on his feet meant one of two things. Either his armor was far more advanced than anything Bolton had ever encountered, or his body was significantly denser and more resilient than a recruit’s had any right to be.

Both were true, but neither was the real reason.

The real reason was sitting in the back of Micah’s mind, already activated and waiting.

[Ding!]

[Physical injury detected. Source: Jon Bolton, Area Crush, 80% Flux Equivalent.]

[Injury severity: CRITICAL. Multiple rib fractures. Internal bruising. Organ trauma detected. Phantom Carapace structural integrity compromised.]

[LEGENDARY-TIER GACHA PULL GRANTED.]

The notification broke through the pain. Micah was barely conscious, but he forced himself to focus on it.

Legendary-tier. The highest rarity the system had ever offered. Higher than critical-tier. Higher than anything he’d pulled before.

He pulled the wheel.

The golden roulette materialized in his mind. It spun with a speed and intensity that went beyond anything he’d experienced.

The colors didn’t blur together this time. They separated, each one distinct and vivid and burning with a brilliance that made his skull ache.

Gold, blue, green, purple, red, and white, each one a tier of power that flashed past his consciousness in rapid cycles.

The wheel clicked through every tier. Low-tier passed in a blink. Mid-tier flashed and was gone. High-tier slowed for a heartbeat. Critical-tier lingered for a fraction of a second, and Micah’s heart rate spiked as the wheel threatened to stop there.

Then it moved past.

The wheel locked onto a brilliant, blindingly white orb that sat in the center of the display.

It pulsed with a light so intense that it filled his entire mind, pushing out the pain, pushing out the fear, pushing out everything except the raw, concentrated power that was radiating from the orb like a second sun.

The orb shattered.

[Talent Acquired: Kinetic Reflection (Active, Legendary)]

[Kinetic Reflection: Absorbs any kinetic force directed at the user and stores it temporarily. The absorbed energy can be released through any point on the user’s body as a concentrated, amplified counterattack. Effect scales with the force of the absorbed attack. Stored energy dissipates if not used within 10 seconds.]

The knowledge flooded into his brain. He understood it instantly, completely, the same way he had understood every talent before it.

Whatever force hit him, he could absorb it, hold it, and send it back. The stronger the attack, the stronger the counter.

Bolton was already charging.

The champion had seen Micah still standing, and his reaction was immediate and brutal.

He closed the distance in three strides, his halberd raised above his head with both hands.

The Flux runes blazed with white light as he channeled everything he had into the weapon, preparing for the execution blow.

He hoped the strike would drive the halberd through Micah’s skull and into the concrete beneath him.

The crowd screamed.

A hundred thousand voices rose around the arena, some in excitement and others in horror, as they watched the tournament’s most powerful fighter bear down on the bloodied recruit who refused to fall.