Chapter 253: Second Round
Kai watched the flaming spectacle above him and sidestepped.
He slipped out of the flaming axe’s lethal arc and watched it hammered into the ground. The platform cracked open with a thunderclap; fire and stone erupted outward in a shockwave of raw, unrelenting destruction.
For one second, the impact surprised Kai slightly.
Mana was infused into the platform, making it harder than normal stone, but Barbara could still crack it with one attack. She was already monstrous in strength from how she dispatched that skeleton deer, but this put her on another level of strength.
A strength close to the peak of an Awakened Supernal.
But the surprise didn’t last long.
She’s got help too, I’m sure.
Kai remembered the trap, and recalled that the entire dormitory was empty.
Chester and his Ichor Legion wouldn’t be able to have enough manpower to do that, so they must’ve gotten help. And that help came from Barbara and her Auric Cabal, which means she also has contact with Ragnar.
Barbara snapped her head sharply, "I’m going to burn your body to ash, Lesser Angel!"
Swoosh—!
She pulled her battle axe from the cratered stone with a single, savage wrench, and then spun it around. The weapon orbited her body in a blur of steel and fury. It orbited over her shoulder, back, waist, and then came in a hacking arc aimed at Kai’s neck.
The flaming axe left a comet’s trail behind it, a searing red scar across the air.
It hissed and smoked long after the axe had passed.
Kai ducked, slipping the strike as the axe cut through empty air where his head had been.
But she already expected this.
Having fought Kai one time on the Dead Range, she knew that he was agile and hard to catch like an eel. Choosing an axe as her weapon might be a foolish decision, but she knew that Kai would be slower than that night.
He was extremely weakened due to the torture, so she must be able to land at least one strike.
And since it’s an axe, not a sword—one hit is enough to take him down.
Barbara continued on her relentless attack.
She let the momentum carry her; the weight of the heavy weapon became a dance partner that had been with her for years rather than a burden, and she redirected the follow-through into another strike.
Swoosh—!
And then another.
Swoosh—!
She advanced step by step, boots pounding the stone in an aggressive rhythm that carried her swing into the next one—without a single seam of hesitation. The crowd’s roar swelled, their eyes glued to every attack that drove the Lesser Angel back toward the edge of the arena.
Each of her swings was precise.
Almost like a warrior who had spent years mastering the heavy axe.
Learning to wield its weight and delivering the full brunt of it to the enemy.
On the surface, she was like any other new student—ordinary and plainly unremarkable. She had walked the mortal world less than half a year ago, and the First Sky had only claimed her for months.
By all logic, wielding an axe with this level of mastery should’ve been impossible.
At least it should normally be impossible.
However, being forced to always fight and dance with death hastened the learning process.
And without realizing it, she had become adept at using a heavy axe.
Even when the flaming axe’s arc opened a fleeting gap in her defense, exposing a part of her that could end up really badly, her free hand detached from the handle and hovered, poised to intercept any counterattack.
Then it gripped the handle again, melting seamlessly into the next strike.
As though the opening had never existed.
"In terms of close combat, she’s way above average."
"I agree—the way she moved the axe is beautiful to see."
"I thought choosing an axe was a stupid decision, but now I know why she decided to wield it."
Many seniors praised her for her combat effectiveness.
High Angels mostly rely on their superior divine bloodline to take out others.
Not that it was wrong to go with that approach, as it was usually the most efficient path to end the battle quickly. But Barbara wasn’t only another High Angel coasting on talent. She trained hard, too.
For a freshman, her combat ability was genuinely strong.
Comparable to some senior High Angels.
"Don’t run away from me!" Barbara roared as she charged again. "Attack me!"
She read his movement before he made it, bringing the axe down in a brutal overhead arc that left him no room to dodge. In that same breath, Kai dropped his stance, raised his scimitar to meet the blow—and tilted the blade.
The axe slid down the steel with a shriek and crashed into the ground beside him.
Barbara gritted her teeth.
Even though she was putting all her strength in each strike, she couldn’t budge Kai.
It almost felt like hitting a massive boulder.
No matter how hard she struck, the boulder’s weight would always win.
And seeing the cold eyes that stared at her behind the mask, Barbara grimaced. ’He’s clearly weakened. I can feel that he barely has mana in him. I’ve hit him with everything I have, and yet his eyes hadn’t changed. He’s still looking at me the same damn way. Like I’m nothing but a moving corpse.
She charged her mana into the axe.
"Flare!"
Swoosh—!
Crimson flame burst from the axe head, swallowing the area, including Kai in its blaze.
Barbara vented everything—the anger was a furnace in her chest, stoked by the memory of their last encounter. The humiliation, the Pyre Overload, and the incredible strength that had shattered her vambrace and nearly taken her head.
It was scary.
Almost dying is scary.
’But that would not happen today.’ She thought, pushing more mana to make the flames even hotter. ’He was tortured for days. His body is beyond exhaustion. And since he did not have— the added power from the Pyre Overload, he’s not on my level. I’m going to win.’
She believed this fervently.
Every fiber of her being chanted the same refrain.
One hit.
One clean hit, and this battle would be over—or perhaps even this flame would drop Kai.
So, she kept going. Kept pouring more mana to increase the fire’s temperature. Kept listening to the voice that told her victory was only a single hit away. ’I’m going to win, so why? Why is it that I’m feeling like this?’
As the fire faded, a pair of black eyes emerged.
It was the same pair that looked at her as if she was already dead.
A pair that made her recoiled back. ’Why do I feel this knot in my chest telling me otherwise?’
Bam—!
Kai’s foot landed on Barbara’s chest and sent her skidding back, trying to regain balance.
And when she did, she looked up and sucked in a cold breath.
"How is this possible?!"
"I get that it’s a fire affinity without an origin, but it’s still fire from a grade-1 enchanted gear! And he’s not even using mana to block it!"
Seeing Kai take the fire with his body and survive, the crowd gasped.
It wouldn’t be impressive had he used mana, but he didn’t.
Kai stood with his back straight—the same posture as before, but now his body steamed.
One could see wisps of heat curling off his entire body. He was not burned. The Stone Ending Fragment had fortified him—and the flames that should have seared him had felt like nothing more than a sweltering summer day.
Not scorching.
Barbara bit her lower lip until she tasted blood.
She gripped her axe tightly as she couldn’t accept the fact that she was helpless to wipe that gaze from Kai’s face. A roar tore from her throat as she charged again. This time, she began to take more risks.
A brutal diagonal slash from below that left her body wide open.
She threw her axe, turning it into a wheel of fire, before lunging to tackle Kai to the ground.
Unconventional means. Desperate. Anything to hurt Kai, but none of them worked.
Kai moved through the storm with unblinking composure.
His body flowed around each attack like water around a thrusting blade. He tilted his head to let the axe whisper past. He blocked where blocking was the efficient move. He did not spend a single unnecessary drop of stamina.
Every motion was deliberate.
Another step back, and Kai felt the world tilt.
He regained balance and looked back, finding his heel was at the edge of the stone platform.
Just then, Barbara was already upon him.
"I got you now!"
She swung horizontally with vicious intent—a low, sweeping arc meant to bisect him at the waist and end it all. But Kai reacted quicker. He jumped and folded his knees tight to his chest as the flaming axe passed beneath him, close enough to singe the soles of his boots.
He then lashed his foot out, kicking Barbara’s shoulder.
The kick launched him sideways and shoved her back, buying him distance.
He skidded across the stone in a controlled slide, his heels carving twin furrows into the arena floor. When he finally drifted to a halt, he was already moving toward the center—away from the edge.
Barbara stumbled, caught herself, and turned with fire in her eyes.
"Do you think you can win like this?" Her voice cracked with barely leashed fury. "Running away doesn’t win fights! Face me! Hit me with everything you have, Lesser Angel! Don’t you dare underestimate me!"
"Underestimate you?" Kai shook his head and then looked down. "I’m not the one who dared to underestimate my enemy. You are."
Clang—!
Kai stabbed his scimitar into the arena like a declaration.
"I mined when you trained. I was wounded when you hunted. I endured torture when you grew. I was wronged from the start of the academy to the day of this tournament." He stated while looking at the palm of his hand that was still sizzling, and then he locked eyes with the High Angel before him again. "And yet, I won against you in our first battle."
A gasp spread across the crowd.
They gasped not because of how Kai was treated in the academy; that was expected for a Lesser Angel—hardship was his birthright. They gasped because he had already beaten Barbara way before this tournament, which meant his strength already rivalled High Angels.
Barbara grimaced as her insecurity was exposed.
"Knowing that, you still haven’t gone all out." Kai clicked his tongue reoeatedly and shook his head. "Do you really think because of my condition—you’re going to win easily? Do you think I entered this tournament to be killed? You’re mistaken, Barbara. I’m here to crush everyone who stood against me in front of this crowd."