Chapter 89: Taking the Hits
Mister XD:
The name of the Immortal Flame Wings Empire has been changed to the Immortal Star Wings Empire.
That was actually its original name, but because of an error in my glossary, I forgot and ended up writing it that way.
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"Ladies and gentlemen!
Now that both opponents have gathered...
Which battlefield will you choose?!"
The announcer’s voice echoed throughout the arena once again as he pointed toward Iris.
In response to the announcer’s will, silver light gathered into a sphere before Iris.
"I choose the Plains."
The sphere amplified Iris’s voice, allowing everyone in the colosseum to hear it.
"The Plains!"
"The Plains!"
"The Plains!"
.
.
.
The crowd chanted excitedly, while the sound of countless feet stomping against the ground echoed throughout the arena.
"Our champion’s first choice is the Plains!
Now then... What will our new challenger choose?!"
The announcer shouted again as he turned toward Ricky.
A two-sided coin rested in his hand, ready to be tossed if Ricky chose a battlefield different from the Plains.
Silver light gathered into another sphere before Ricky, waiting for his choice so it could amplify his voice throughout the entire colosseum.
Faced with this enormous crowd... And surrounded by this strange tension...
Ricky tilted his head to the side, cracked his neck, and spoke with a bored expression.
"Whatever.
It doesn’t matter...
Choose whatever you want.
I’ll crush him either way."
Ricky’s indifferent voice spread throughout the entire colosseum, leaving everyone stunned.
His voice wasn’t fake... It was completely genuine.
He truly felt no excitement toward this battle...
Only complete boredom.
"Huh?"
The announcer blinked several times, unable to process Ricky’s words properly. Still, he forced a smile onto his face, put away the coin in his hand, and continued speaking.
"Since there is no conflict with the first choice...
The battlefield will be the Plains!"
The moment the announcer finished speaking, the surroundings immediately began to change.
The colosseum gradually disappeared.
A brand-new battlefield slowly appeared.
The spectator stands vanished, along with every single member of the audience.
A vast green plain appeared.
Iris and Ricky stood upon it, one hundred meters apart, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
Meanwhile, the stands transformed into countless clouds floating in the sky, where the spectators sat while eagerly waiting for the battle below to begin.
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!..."
The moment they entered this world, the spectators’ cheers erupted once more.
They slapped their hands against their legs, urging the battle to begin.
In response to their impatient demands, Iris and Ricky simply continued staring at one another.
Iris’s gaze carefully studied Ricky, trying to discover something... Any weakness.
Meanwhile, Ricky’s gaze remained as indifferent and bored as ever while looking at Iris.
"It seems the tension between our two fighters is growing.
Who will attack first...
And who will respond?"
The announcer spoke in a calm voice, as though narrating an old horror story.
In the end, Iris grew tired of the staring contest.
Golden flames erupted across his entire body as he shot toward Ricky like a beam of light.
"Let’s see how you’re going to crush me."
"He did it!"
The moment the announcer saw Iris attack, he leaped to his feet and began shouting excitedly.
"The son of the Immortal Star Wings Empire has made the first move!
It seems he’s completely confident in his own strength and abilities!
He’s decided to unleash his full power right from the very beginning!"
Iris stretched out both hands.
A strange golden flame gathered around them as he roared angrily.
Star Dragon Claw!
The golden flames condensed around Iris’s hands before solidifying into two claws covered in thick scales, radiating overwhelming power.
Iris instantly closed the distance.
He swung one claw toward Ricky’s face with all his strength, determined to tear him apart.
Ricky dodged the swing in an instant.
The bored expression on his face never changed.
His arms remained folded across his chest.
But the attack didn’t end there...
"Iris has used Star Dragon Claw!
The ability that crushed dozens of opponents the moment it was unleashed!
Even Heaven-grade geniuses were no exception!"
The announcer watched the battle while shouting passionately.
"On the other hand...
Ricky is trying to avoid the direct attack.
But unfortunately...
Things aren’t going to be that simple!"
The instant Iris swung his claw, a storm of golden flames appeared and rushed straight toward Ricky.
"Tsk."
When Ricky saw the storm of flames approaching him, he frowned.
He still didn’t move his hands.
Instead, he wrapped himself with his crimson wings.
The golden flame storm arrived in the next instant and engulfed Ricky.
"What?! What?! What?!"
"The little Fang didn’t dodge it!
Instead...
He chose to face it head-on!"
"Shhhhh!"
Ricky felt some pain in his wings as they burned beneath the golden flames.
But in the end, he merely sneered and spread his wings wide open.
The golden flames continued burning across them.
However, within moments, crimson droplets of blood began appearing around the golden flames.
The droplets increased more and more, until the golden flames began to extinguish... Or flee.
After getting rid of the golden flames, Ricky raised his eyes toward the announcer floating in the sky.
He looked at him with obvious annoyance.
A bloody flame ignited around his fist.
"Who are you calling the little Fang...
You nobody?"
Faced with Ricky’s threat, the announcer merely smiled at him calmly.
"That’s a bit rude...
Lord Fang."
While Ricky and the announcer stared at each other with hostility, there was someone else who was completely shocked.
"Impossible!"
Iris’s eyes trembled as he watched his golden flames retreat and disappear from Ricky’s crimson wings.
He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.
"The Star Flames are supposed to burn you...
Not go out like that!"
From the very beginning, Iris had used one of his strongest techniques.
He had hoped to defeat Ricky in one blow...
Or at the very least...
Force him to reveal his true form.
As someone who possessed a Heaven-grade mutated bloodline, he had always wanted to fight someone with an Immortal-grade bloodline.
People said that the difference between a Heaven-grade mutated bloodline and an Immortal-grade bloodline...
Was only a single step.
He wanted to measure the distance of that step himself.
He wanted to see the true difference between himself and those who possessed an Immortal-grade bloodline.
But what he didn’t know...
Was that Ricky’s bloodline had nearly become a fully mutated Immortal-grade bloodline!
Star Steps!
Iris didn’t lose heart after his previous attack failed.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and used another movement technique.
He instantly closed the distance again, appearing only a short distance away from Ricky.
"The little dragon has used another one of his incredible abilities!
Will we finally see close combat?!"
The announcer shouted as his eyes lit up after witnessing Iris’s movement.
Ricky tried to move and evade Iris’s incoming attack.
But unfortunately...
The moment he tried to move his body...
He failed.
"What?!"
"Amazing! Amazing!"
"Not only has the little dragon used one incredible technique...
He’s used three incredible techniques at once!"
The small floating platform beneath the announcer shook as he shouted excitedly.
Star Attraction!
The moment Iris activated the technique, Ricky found himself rooted in place.
Not only that...
He was being pulled toward Iris!
Star Mill!
Numerous tiny stars appeared around Iris and began revolving around him at tremendous speed, threatening to destroy anyone who came near them.
"How magnificent, son of the Immortal Star Wings Empire!
With flawless mastery and perfect coordination, Iris Lagnar first closed the distance to the Fang candidate, Ricky, by using Star Steps, a movement technique that grants its user incredible speed, reaching the speed of light once mastered to its highest level.
Then he immobilized him using Star Attraction.
After pulling Ricky toward himself...
He trapped him with Star Mill!"
The announcer shouted passionately as he explained Iris’s techniques to the audience.
"It is said that Star Mill was originally created by the Immortal Queen Pulsing Star—Iris’s mother—when she was still young.
After becoming an Immortal Queen...
She continued perfecting it even further.
It is said that at the peak of this technique...
One can create hundreds of billions of tiny stars capable of covering the entire sky.
With that level of power...
Not only can you grind planets and stars to dust...
You can even grind entire galaxies!"
The announcer’s words ignited the crowd’s excitement.
Ricky was pulled closer and closer toward Iris’s stars.
At the same time, more and more stars appeared around Iris.
Their number soon reached several dozen, and they also closed in on Ricky.
With difficulty, Ricky moved his wings and wrapped them around himself once again like a shield, preparing to collide with those tiny stars.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
One star after another slammed into Ricky’s body.
The area quickly turned into a gigantic burning crater.
A second later, a burning figure shot out from the flames and retreated away from the center of the explosion.
"My goodness! My goodness!
Will the battle end just like this?!
Is this the end of the Primordial Fang candidate in this battle?!"
The announcer’s floating platform shook as he shouted nervously.
Iris appeared dozens of meters away from the spot where the stars had exploded against Ricky’s body.
He frowned.
Something’s strange.
From the very beginning... That guy has only been defending.
There’s no way someone qualified to become a Primordial Fang doesn’t know how to attack.
Iris refused to believe that Ricky had intentionally taken that attack head-on.
Even those at Wis (5) wouldn’t dare take such an attack head-on.
"Iris Lagnar has escaped from the Star Mill...
But Ricky remained trapped inside!
So what exactly happened to him?!"
Both the announcer and the audience stared nervously toward the center of the massive explosion.
But the most nervous person among them...
Was Iris.
What is this feeling?
Where is it coming from?
And why now?!
The tension in Iris’s body grew stronger with every passing moment.
He spread his spiritual sense across the surroundings but found nothing unusual.
Then he extended it toward the center of the explosion, confirming that Ricky was still trapped inside.
He was on the verge of losing his composure.
Where was this overwhelming sense of impending danger coming from?!
As countless thoughts stormed through Iris’s mind, he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind him.
A freezing chill instantly spread throughout his entire body.
"So...
Are you finally done playing...
You half-blood?"