The Author's POV

Click—!

It was very subtle, but almost everyone in the arena and the ones spectating were able to hear the sound.

Zack and Lorena, who were staring at the screen, their eyes filled with shock, suddenly stood up as they watched Ren's figure disappear from the sky.

He was already traveling at a speed that made it hard for them to follow, but the moment they heard the clicking sound, his figure, which was already a blur, completely disappeared from their vision.

What followed his disappearance was a deathly silence as Ren's figure suddenly materialized in front of Kimor.

It had to be noted that before his figure disappeared, he was still quite far from him. For him to have suddenly appeared in front of Kimor at such speed, many couldn't follow his movements.

Clink—

It was then that Ren's sword met with Kimor's axe. A loud metallic sound rang in the air, travelling through the ears of each person in the arena.

With the tip of his sword meeting the edge of Kimor's axe, time seemed to stand still as everyone kept their eyes glued on the two figures standing in the middle of the arena.

BOOOOOOOM—

The originally quiet environment was soon drowned out by the terrifying sound of an explosion as four pressurized circular energy beams shot out from the point of contact between the two weapons.

The whole arena started to crack apart as small pieces of rock flung in the air like projectiles. Unfortunately for Ren and Kimor, the projectiles quickly attacked them as even more wounds started to appear on their bodies.

It wasn't long before Ren's upper garments tore off, revealing his muscular body that was riddled with scars. The sight was deeply etched into the vision of everyone that was watching.

Soon enough, dust flew in the air, covering the vision of most spectators.

The explosion was so loud and powerful that even after it disappeared, some people had difficulty hearing.

Slowly, once the after-effects of the explosion died down and the dust slowly started to settle, every spectator leaned forward with anticipation.

Their palpitating heartbeats rang throughout their heads as they all had the same question inside of their mind.

'Who won?'

Just who had won between the two contestants?

"This…"

It wasn't long before everyone got their answer. Zack and Lorena simultaneously looked at the screen with extreme surprise.

Displayed on their screen were the images of both Ren and Kimor laying down on the ground, blood seeping from the bodies of both individuals. Neither of them was moving.

Zack and Lorena's heart squeezed the moment they saw this. Zack softly muttered in response.

"This… It looks like both contestants are knocked out cold. The match seems to be coming to end in a—"

However, just as he thought that the match was going to end in a draw, his eyes lit up as he watched both Ren and Kimor's body twitch.

His eyes isntantly lit up when he saw this.

***

"Ugh."

Everything felt like a blur to me. I don't quite remember what happened after my strike, but all I could feel at the moment was an intense pain coursing down my body.

Regaining a bit of clarity, I felt my cheek pressing against something hard.

"…ah."

Opening my eyes, I realized that I was on the ground. Blood leaked from my mouth.

Slowly lifting my head and glancing around, I could see all the spectators' eyes directed in my general direction.

I couldn't quite hear anything.

There was this constant ringing sound inside of my head that prevented me from hearing anything.

The referee was also standing not so far away from where I was, carefully alternating his head in my direction and to somewhere behind me.

"Khh…"

Placing my right hand on the ground, an electrifying pain ran through my whole body, prompting me to fall back down on the ground.

With both forearms on the ground, my eyes twitched repeatedly as my body seemed to refuse to listen to me.

Eventually, through sheer grit of will, I supported my body up with the aid of my arm.

The ringing sensation inside of my ears decreased, the noise coming from the arena becoming more discernible.

Thunderous.

It would be how I'd describe the audience once my ears returned to normal.

The noise coming from the audience was thunderous. So loud that it reminded me of a thunderbolt descending from the sky.

Drowning the noise coming from the crowd to the back kf my mind, I grabbed onto the side of my waist and forcefully suppressed myself from screaming out in pain.

Although I couldn't quite make out the extent of my injuries, from the way I was having a hard time moving and breathing, I could tell that I was severely injured.

Even then, since the referee had still not announced the victor, I knew that I didn't win yet.

Gritting my teeth hard, I slowly turned around, and it was then that I saw Kimor standing opposite me.

His current state was the same as me, or rather, he seemed to be in a worse state as his right arm hung loosely down his body. On his left was his axe. Blood dripped down from his body.

With one eye closed, he glared in my direction and took a small step forward. Then, grabbing onto a small fruit from the side of his pants, he quickly put it in his mouth. Immediately, some of his superficial wounds started to heal.

'Goddamnit, this fucker is still standing.'

I cursed inside of my mind when I saw this.

If I said that I was in a state to fight, then it would be a lie.

At the moment, every time I tried to move my body, it would ache unctrollably as all the muscles inside screamed in pain.

Not only that, my mana was completely drained. I was no longer in a state to be able to use my sword anymore.

However, if there was one thing that I could do, it was to withstand the pain.

I may scream here and there because of the pain, but that was merely something I did to distract my brain.

"Huuuu…"

Taking a deep breath and tapping onto my bracelet, I took out a couple potions and quickly ingested them. Slowly, some of my injuries started to heal.

Unfortunately, the effects of the potion weren't instantaneous and the extent of my injuries were just too much to heal in such a short period of time.

Fortunately, it was enough to give me that one push to fight for a bit longer.

Thump!

Kimor took another step. Raising my head and clenching my fists, I similarly took a step forward.

Thump! Thump!

Slowly but surely, we both neared each other. It wasn't long before we came face to face with one another.

His towering figure looked down on me from above as I looked back at him straight into his eyes, neither one of us giving each other an inch.

"Khrrr…khrrr..."

I could feel Kimor's breathing from where I was.

Thamp!

Suddenly, with a large sound, Kimor dropped the axe in his hand.

"Huaaaarg!!!!"

He suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. His body arched backwards, his hand curling into a fist. A dark green glow enshrouded Kimor's fist.

Seeing him prepare himself to attack, I decided to meet his attack head-on.

Channeling all the mana inside my body, I also curled my hand into a fist. A powerful glow suddenly enshrouded my hand as I breathed out and glared at my opponent.

Then, seemingly coming to an agreement, we both punched out.

Bang—

A powerful blasting sound reverberated throughout the whole arena the moment our fists connected. What followed after was a strong circular pressurized wind gale that shot outwardly, our clothes fluttering due to it.

"Khaaaa!!"

It wasn't long before our hands separated. A pained groan escaped from my lips as I felt my hand shatter apart upon meeting his fist.

Kimor let out a similar sound as his body skid back a couple of meters. However, unlike me, his hand was still intact.

Despite him being more injured than me, his body was tougher than mine. But that was the only thing I could do given my circumstances.

Ignoring everything, I clenched my left fist and followed up with another punch. Only a second had passed from the previous attack.

"Huaaag!!"

Barely managing to react on time, Kimor raised his hand and blocked the attack using his forearm.

Bang—

Another powerful blast shot out as Kimor's figure skid back even more. A pained shout escaped from Kimor's mouth as his right leg gave out for a brief moment.

"Fall, damn it!"

I screamed in frustration as I glared at Kimor who was still standing. Taking a step forward, my left leg similarly gave out, but I quickly moved my right leg and barely managed to stop myself from falling down.

Placing my left hand on the ground, I hopped forward with my right leg and continued to move forward.

"Khhhh…"

Despite the fact that every part of my being wanted me to give up, I refused to listen.

I had no choice but to do so.

I couldn't lose. No, I didn't want to lose.

So what if my opponent was stronger than me? Raising my head and staring at him who was barely holding on, I knew that this was the result of all the pain and suffering I had been going through.

Giving up now was the same as trashing all of the experiences I went through.

It wasn't long before I was once again front of Kimor.

"Haaa…haaa…"

Crack. Crack. Crack.

I clenched my right fist, the one that had shattered. Then, rotating my heel and arching my body backward, I screamed.

"Stay the fuck down, damn it!"

Bang—

Throwing a lower hook, my hand finally came into contact with Kimor's lower jaw. Whether I was able to deal significant damage to him or not, I couldn't tell as I lost complete control of my arm and I fell onto the ground.

My right leg had finally given up.

Thump—

As I fell onto the ground, I felt a slight tremble coming from opposite me. Lifting my head, I saw Kimor's figure laying down on the ground with his eyes wide open, staring into the sky.

'Still not enough!!!?'

A twisted anger suddenly rose from deep within me as I saw that Kimor had still not passed out.

Using my left hand, the only hand I could move, I dragged my body forward.

With every motion I made, an unprecedented amount of pain travelled throughout my body. But I just continued to endure.

It wasn't long before I reached Kimor and mounted him from the top.

My eyes soon met his. Raising my left hand and curling my fingers into a fist, I punched out.

Bang—

As I punched out, my hair came undone, scattering all over my face, but I didn't care. Raising my left hand again, I punched out once more.

"Give up, you piece of shit!"

Bang—!

"Fucking faint already!"

Bang—!

"Damn you!"

Each time I punched out, I cursed out loud to let go of my frustrations. At this point, I had long forgotten about my surroundings as I continued to punch and punch and punch.

Bang— Bang—

"Just fucking give up!"

Swooosh—

"Huh?"

It was only after I felt a gentle power envelope me and lift me in the air didI finally came to my senses. Soon, I fell onto the ground with both knees.

Lifting my head up and feeling the gazes of everyone present, my left hand finally lowered.

"The winner of this match is Caeruleum. He will proceed to round of 16."

The referee finally announced.

Once the referee's words faded, a brief moment of silence ensued before the whole arena exploded into a fit of cheers.

To be honest, I could barely make out what was happening.

My vision was quite blurry. The only reason why I was still conscious was because I refused to pass out.

'Not when everyone is watching.'

"Haaaaa…."

Raising my head, I gazed into the sky.

'This should be enough, no?'