Lexel shrugged. He walked forward, letting the stolen blade hang loosely by his side. The den of veterans in front of him waited, their weapons raised, but there was absolutely no fear in Lexel's golden eyes.
Slowly, the remaining combatants began to encircle him again.
"Kill him, Vance!" a spectator screamed from the stands.
"End him!"
"I put my life savings on you, Klauss! Make a move and let my beating heart settle!"
The reality of the situation slapped the crowd hard. Only a handful of people in all of Einjaar had bet on Lexel, and only two of those bets were notable. To the rest of the coliseum, Lexel was a walking financial disaster.
Up in the VIP box, the Baron's quivering lips slowly curled into a wry smile. The crowd was on his side. Lexel's death was no longer just a personal necessity; it was in the public interest.
That's it, the Baron thought, his sweaty hands gripping the velvet railing. Keep screaming. Crush his mentality.
Down in the lower stands, Daren furrowed his brows in deep anxiety. He looked at the people in the neighboring seats, listening to them curse Lexel to death with veins popping in their necks.
"Ngh!"
"Hm?" Daren darted his eyes over to see Anthierin. Her nails were digging so hard into her palms they were nearly drawing blood. All the noise inside her heart, and all the venomous shouting outside her ears, made her grit her teeth in absolute frustration.
"Rin—" Daren started.
Anthierin abruptly stood up. She unhooked her heavy forging hammer from her belt and repeatedly slammed the flat of the iron head against the stone barrier of her seat, the ringing CLANG courting the attention of everyone nearby.
Rin? Kain thought, looking down from the VIP box, his blue eyes locking onto her desperate figure.
Down on the sand, Lexel glanced up at the stands, furrowing his brows. What is she doing?
"Stop dawdling and WIN, Lexel!!" Anthierin screamed over the roaring crowd, her voice cracking with emotion.
I am winning, though, Lexel thought. He snorted, a genuine smile breaking through his bored facade. The sheer volume of the crowd seemed to fade out for a fraction of a second. "I'm not planning to lose."
In the very next heartbeat, Lexel vanished.
His boot found its mark instantly, caving in the chest of the nearest combatant with a sickening crunch. With a sharp draw of breath, he sidestepped a desperate spear thrust, flipped his sword into a reverse grip, and drove it through the attacker's throat. His empty hand shot out, grabbing the face of a third man. Lexel's fingers curled, and the skull beneath them shattered.
But his smirk was suddenly swallowed by a massive, looming shadow.
[Shield Bash!]
Vance swung his colossal, expensive tower shield with the force of a battering ram. Lexel twitched his eyebrows. Realizing it was too late to dodge or parry, he anchored his feet and launched a raw, physical punch to meet the steel.
GONG!
A deafening metallic ring echoed through the arena as fist connected with the shield.
"Ngh?!" Vance gritted his teeth, the kinetic shockwave forcing his heavy boots to skid backward in the dirt.
But Lexel was pushed back as well.
Lexel shook his hand out, feeling a dull ache in his knuckles. He looked at the massive shield and saw not a single dent. Ah. So my Strength isn't high enough to pummel through that yet. At least, not in a single strike.
"Woooo!!" the crowd roared.
"Finish him, Vance!!"
[Gale Slash!]
Hmm? Both Lexel and Vance raised their brows. The furious shout hadn't come from either of them.
It came from Klauss.
A terrifying, crescent-shaped wave of compressed green wind, as wide as the entire arena, tore across the sand directly toward them.
"Aagh!" "Ugh!" "Guha!"
Blood sprayed into the air as the remaining participants caught in the crossfire were blown away, their armor shredded by the sheer cutting force of the Champion's attack.
"Lexel!" Anthierin screamed, throwing her hands onto the stone railing.
"Hahahaha!" The Baron threw his head back and laughed hysterically from his box. "Shit, you had me worried there for a minute!"
Down in the ring, Klauss casually hoisted his jagged broadsword onto his back and crossed his arms. He looked completely nonchalant about the devastation he had just caused. He tilted his head back, looking directly up at Kain in the VIP box, issuing a silent challenge to the previous winner.
The Baron's daughter, Mera, smiled in relief at Klauss. But a shadow suddenly fell over her face. She looked up to see Kain standing rigidly beside her, his eyes locked on Klauss as if answering the unspoken challenge.
"T-The winner..." the announcer stammered through the magical amplification crystal, his voice trembling as a massive cloud of dust obscured the impact zone.
Near the edge of the arena wall, Vance collapsed to his knees, vomiting a thick puddle of blood. A horrifyingly deep cut stretched across his back, pouring out thick, dark red blood.
What a monster, Vance thought, his vision swimming as he leaned heavily against the cold stone. I thought he was only brute strength! He slipped behind me, paralyzed my limbs in a split second, ripped my shield right out of my grip, and threw me to the side directly into the Gale Slash! Dammit, I can't feel my legs!
The dust in the center of the ring slowly began to settle.
It revealed a single object standing upright in the sand. Vance's pristine, oversized tower shield.
"E-hem! The WINNER of this year's Einjaar—" the announcer boomed.
The heavy iron shield was suddenly lifted effortlessly into the air by a single hand.
It revealed a deeply disrespectful, grinning face that Anthierin could recognize even if she were blind.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Baron shrieked, jumping completely out of his seat.
Kain staggered back a step, absolutely stunned that the man had just walked away from a Champion's [Gale Slash] without a scratch.
"Astonishing..." Daren gulped, his jaw practically hitting the floor.
"Lexel..." Anthierin let out a massive breath she didn't know she was holding. Her knees gave out, her rear finally meeting the stone seat once more, but her eyes remained fiercely locked on him.
The coliseum fell dead silent. The chants of Klauss's name caught in the throats of thousands of spectators.
"Hm?" Klauss turned back around, his silver pupils shrinking to pinpricks in sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
Lexel was ignoring the Champion entirely. He was busy checking the front of the massive tower shield, running his thumb over a faint, white horizontal sheen where the devastating wind skill had scraped against the metal.
He nodded in approval. "Not bad."
Lexel cracked his neck, his golden eyes finally shifting to lock onto the terrified Champion. "Now then. Looks like we're at the climax now."