Chapter 135: Awakened Tournament Crisis (41)

Elio’s pupils contracted.

’This can’t be the way it ends—’

A red blur appeared between him and the incoming red tentacles.

Jax.

The red-haired Awakened planted his feet, his crimson eyes blazing as he pulled his right fist back. The golden brass knuckle gleamed around his hand, and his entire body seemed to become unnaturally still.

For a fraction of a second, even the chaos around him appeared to slow.

Then he punched.

[Fist That Surpassed Time]

Jax’s fist crossed the distance in an instant, and the world seemed to lose the ability to keep up with his movement.

His punch landed against the first red tentacle, and the resulting impact shattered it into countless fragments. The impact traveled to the other tentacles surrounding it before the first pieces could fall, destroying them in an instant.

When time finally caught up, the battlefield exploded with the delayed shockwaves.

Jax exhaled sharply, lowering his fist.

"Go!"

Elio didn’t waste the opportunity.

He leaped onto the remains of a shattered tentacle, using its broken surface as a foothold before launching himself upward. His body twisted through the air, purple Essence flaring around his legs as he propelled himself from one fragment to the next.

Each jump carried him higher.

The colossal skull rapidly expanded beneath him as he climbed into the air, his silver hair whipping wildly around his face. By the time he reached the height of its upper surface, he had already begun gathering the final remnants of his Essence into his blade.

’Just a little more!’

Below him, Eden faced the remaining red tentacles.

They came at him from both sides, their sharpened tips tearing through the air.

He raised his Dark Matter blade, but he knew he wouldn’t make it through all of them before they struck while still charging his attack.

Then a towering black figure appeared at his side.

Obsidian.

He swung his blade with his full strength now, cutting everything in his Masters path down.

He moved with a terrifying efficiency, each swing perfectly calculated, each strike delivering enough force to cleave through the enhanced tentacles.

Within moments, the attacks aimed at Eden had been reduced to scattered fragments.

Obsidian turned his helmet toward his master.

Eden knew exactly what he had to do, and Obsidian had already understood.

"Thanks, buddy."

Eden sprinted forward and jumped.

His boots landed on Obsidian’s enormous Dark Matter blade.

The Black Knight immediately adjusted his stance, lowering his weapon like a spring being compressed. Dark Matter gathered beneath Eden’s feet, reinforcing the blade until it could withstand the force about to be unleashed.

Then Obsidian swung upward.

The motion was explosive.

Eden was launched into the air like a projectile, soaring past the remaining tentacles and rising toward the skull’s enormous crown. The wind tore at his clothes, and the pressure of the ascent threatened to throw him off balance, but he kept his eyes fixed on the target.

Ahead of him, Elio was already waiting.

The two men reached nearly the same height, suspended against the dark sky above the battlefield. The skull’s crimson eyes burned beneath them, and countless tentacles began rising toward their position.

Neither of them paid the attacks any attention.

They had reached the point of no return.

Eden raised his Dark Matter blade.

Elio raised his purple whipblade.

The crimson Essence surrounding Eden’s weapon erupted into a vicious mass of teeth, jaws, and writhing tendrils. It crawled along the blade, gathering into a shape that resembled the head of a monstrous dragon.

At the same time, Elio’s purple Essence surged outward.

It spiraled around his sword, stretching into an enormous serpentine shape. Its body continued growing, winding through the air in countless coils until its length stretched for kilometers. Two glowing eyes opened within its head, and its fanged jaws parted in a silent roar.

The two attacks had been charging for the entire journey.

Now, at last, they were ready.

Beside him, Elio’s expression hardened. His own reserves were nearly depleted, yet the purple serpent continued growing, fed by the sheer intensity of his will.

For a moment, the two men looked at each other.

Below them, the red tentacles surged upward, their enormous spikes aimed at the two airborne Awakeneds. The skull’s crimson eyes blazed brighter than ever, and its countless mouths opened in a deafening, collective shriek.

Eden raised his sword higher.

Elio did the same.

Their combined Essence distorted the sky.

The purple serpent began to merge with Eden’s devour.

Crimson energy spread across its enormous body, coating its scales in vicious layers of Devour. Mouths opened along its length, and countless teeth emerged from its flesh, turning the already monstrous creature into something far more terrifying.

The red Essence didn’t replace Elio’s purple energy. Instead, it wrapped around it like living armor, reinforcing the serpent’s body and transforming its entire surface into an offensive weapon.

Purple and crimson intertwined.

The serpent’s eyes burned with a mixture of both colors.

Its roar shook the battlefield.

Eden could feel Devour responding to Elio’s Essence, consuming the energy around it while simultaneously strengthening the attack. It was a dangerous combination, one that might have devoured both their weapons if they had attempted it without proper control.

But they weren’t holding back anymore.

They couldn’t afford to.

"NOW!" Eden roared.

Elio screamed alongside him.

Both men swung their blades.

The enormous serpent followed.

For a fraction of a second, the world seemed to hold its breath.

Then the attack descended.

The serpent’s jaws opened wide, revealing rows of crimson teeth surrounded by a torrent of purple Essence. Its enormous body surged forward, tearing through the air with enough force to create a deafening shockwave.

The red tentacles rushing toward them were annihilated on contact, their enhanced flesh devoured and pulverized before they could even touch the serpent’s armored body.

The world turned crimson and purple.

An explosion of unimaginable proportions swallowed the skull, its surface rupturing beneath the impact. The enormous serpent drove forward, its jaws tearing into the creature’s core as Devour spread across its flesh, eating through the black mass faster than it could regenerate.

The skull split.

A gigantic slash carved through its center, cleaving the enormous structure cleanly in two.

But the attack didn’t end there.

The force continued beyond the skull, descending toward the stadium below.

The ground split apart.

A monstrous fissure tore through the arena, dividing the reinforced structure into two enormous halves. The shockwave shattered whatever had been left standing, pulverized the surrounding concrete, and sent entire sections of the stadium erupting into the air.

The devastation continued beyond the battlefield.

The slash carved through the ground for kilometers, tearing apart everything in its path. Rocks, trees, ruined structures, and the remnants of the monster’s tentacles were reduced to dust. The earth itself seemed to open beneath the attack, leaving behind a vast scar that stretched far beyond the ruined stadium.

For several seconds, there was no sound.

Only the blinding light of the explosion illuminated the night sky.