Chapter 102: Awakened Tournament Crisis (8)

The announcer raised one hand.

The entire stadium had gone strangely quiet.

The enormous crater left behind by Jax’s final combination stretched across the arena floor, its edges fractured and uneven.

At the bottom of it lay Elio.

Motionless.

Jax stood several dozen meters away.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

Sweat ran down his face and soaked into his red jacket. His right arm hung loosely at his side, the golden brass knuckle still covering his hand. Every muscle in his body trembled from exhaustion.

For several seconds, neither fighter moved.

The announcer looked toward the crater.

Then toward Jax.

Then back toward the crater.

He raised the microphone.

"It appears that the winner of this match is—"

He suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened.

’...!’

The stadium screens zoomed in on the crater.

Something was moving.

The crowd murmured.

Jax’s expression slowly changed.

"What...?"

Elio’s fingers twitched.

Then his shoulder moved.

His body began to rise.

But there was something deeply wrong about it.

Elio wasn’t using his hands.

He wasn’t pushing himself off the ground.

He wasn’t even consciously moving.

His body simply...

stood.

His torso lifted from the crater floor as though invisible strings had been attached to him. His head hung limply, silver hair covering his face.

His legs shook violently.

One of his knees almost buckled.

Yet he continued rising.

Slowly.

Unnaturally.

Jax stared at him.

"No way."

Even more dark, purple Essence began leaking from Elio’s body.

At first, it was only a thin mist.

Then it thickened.

Small serpents began crawling through the purple energy, twisting around Elio’s arms, shoulders, legs and torso. They slithered through the air without making a sound, their tiny heads occasionally turning toward Jax.

The atmosphere in the stadium changed.

The excitement disappeared.

Even the spectators who had been screaming moments ago fell silent.

Jax’s eyes widened.

He had hit Elio more than two hundred times.

He knew it.

He had counted the combinations himself.

Four hits.

Eight.

Thirty.

Fifty.

Another fifty.

Then a hundred simultaneous strikes.

His Wild God’s Descent had been his second-strongest technique.

The crater beneath Elio was proof of the punishment he had endured.

And yet...

"How are you standing?"

Jax clenched his teeth.

His own body felt unbelievably heavy.

’The attribute drain...!

That purple Essence had been stealing pieces of him throughout the entire fight and transferring them to Elio.

He could feel the difference now.

His muscles were weaker.

Even his breathing felt heavier.

Jax had been fighting above his rank because his martial arts and natural talent allowed him to bridge the gap.

But now?

He wasn’t even sure he could put up a decent fight.

Elio finally straightened.

He remained completely still.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then his head lifted.

His purple eyes opened.

It was as if someone had suddenly turned a light on inside him.

Elio blinked once.

He looked around.

Then his gaze settled on Jax.

"...Ah."

Jax’s expression twitched.

Elio slowly touched his face.

His breathing was surprisingly calm.

Jax couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The man had just taken a hundred-hit technique that could devastate an enormous portion of the arena.

Jax’s fists tightened.

’This is incredibly bad...’

Elio’s purple Essence intensified.

The serpents around his body grew larger.

Then Elio disappeared.

Jax barely reacted.

A whipblade flashed past his face.

He ducked.

The blade changed direction in midair.

Jax twisted his body.

Another strike.

He blocked it with his brass knuckle.

The impact sent him skidding backward.

Elio followed immediately with several slashes.

Jax blocked the first with his right hand, avoided the second with Burst-Step, and barely ducked beneath the third.

Then the whipblade wrapped around his brass knuckle.

Jax’s eyes widened.

"Got you."

Elio pulled.

Jax was ripped off his feet.

His body flew through the air.

"Whoa!"

He crashed into the arena floor.

Before he could recover, the whipblade tightened.

Elio swung his arm.

Jax’s entire body was dragged across the arena.

He smashed through the ground.

Then Elio pulled again.

Jax flew sideways.

He crashed into a reinforced wall.

The impact caused a small, singular crack to spread across the surface.

Jax barely had time to recover before the whipblade yanked him away again.

He flew across the arena.

The audience could barely follow the movement.

Jax was being dragged around like a rag doll.

"He’s not even giving him a chance!"

"Jax can’t counter!"

"Elio is completely dominating!"

The announcer’s voice shook as he tried to describe the battle.

"This is unbelievable! Elio has completely reversed the momentum!"

Jax slammed into the ground again.

His vision blurred.

He gritted his teeth.

’This bastard...!’

The whipblade tightened around his weapon.

Jax suddenly twisted his body.

Instead of resisting the pull, he moved with it.

He kicked off the ground.

The sudden change in momentum caught Elio off guard.

Jax grabbed the whipblade with his left hand.

Then he pulled.

Elio’s eyes widened slightly.

Jax kicked toward him.

Elio released the weapon before the kick could connect.

Jax crashed back into the ground.

He rolled several times before finally stopping.

He stayed there for a moment.

Then slowly pushed himself upright.

His breathing was ragged.

His right arm hung by his side.

Elio approached.

But then his expression changed.

Something had been bothering him.

Jax had been fighting strangely.

Ever since Elio stood back up, Jax had never used his right arm.

Not once.

He had blocked with his left.

He had attacked with his left.

He had relied on his legs.

He had used Burst-Step.

He had even taken several attacks that he normally would have blocked with his dominant arm.

But his right arm left completely unused

Elio’s eyes narrowed.

’Why?’

’It doesn’t look broken.’

Jax slowly raised his head.

And smiled.

"Seems like you realized it too."

Elio stopped.

The crowd quieted.

Jax looked down at his right hand.

The golden brass knuckle gleamed under the stadium lights.

"I was wondering how long it would take."

Elio’s expression became more serious.

"What are you talking about?"

Jax laughed quietly.

"While you were having fun tossing me around..."

He raised his right arm slightly.

"...I was preparing something."

The atmosphere changed.

The crowd felt it immediately.

A massive amount of energy suddenly erupted from Jax’s right arm.

The stadium shook.

Dust lifted from the arena floor.

His crimson eyes burned with an intensity they hadn’t shown throughout the entire match.

Lucy, who had been watching from the competitor’s area, leaned forward.

Her eyes widened.

"That..."

Eden’s gaze sharpened.

Jax’s strength was exploding outward.

All of it was being forced into his right arm.

The muscles in Jax’s shoulder bulged.

His veins became visible.

The brass knuckle began to tremble.

Lucy stared.

"I’ve never seen a Skill like that."

Eden didn’t answer.

He was watching Jax’s arm.

Something was wrong with the space around him.

The air itself seemed to distort.

Jax slowly lowered his body.

He pulled his right arm backward.

His fist rested behind him.

Every muscle in his body tightened.

"I only get one shot at this."

Elio raised his whipblade.

Jax smiled.

"So I’d better make it count."

His voice echoed across the arena.

"My strongest technique..."