Chapter 114: Walking Arsenal
The Stadium of Ascension was louder than ever for the quarter-finals. The stands were packed wall to wall — dignitaries, military officials, clan representatives, Hunter Guild executives. The energy was different from the group stage. Heavier. More intense.
Lucian sat in the EASA section between Ryan and Clara. Rose was down near the staging area with the rest of the team.
The terrain had already been set. A ruined city — collapsed buildings of concrete and rebar, broken streets overgrown with simulated vegetation, overturned vehicles rusting in the intersections.
The two teams walked out.
Iberian Sun Academy’s six wore red and gold uniforms trimmed with sun motifs. Their captain led from the front — a tall Spanish man with sharp features, dark hair pulled back, and faint golden light radiating from his skin. S-Rank Solar Flare. The air around him shimmered with heat.
EASA’s six walked out at a measured pace.
Iris Langford carried a large black case in one hand. It looked heavy — the size of a guitar case — but she held it effortlessly. Her silver hair was tied in a tight bun. Her round glasses reflected the arena lights.
The referee announced the rules. Crystal protection. Thirty-minute limit. No killing.
"Begin."
The moment the word left his mouth, Iris set the case on the ground and stepped back.
The case disassembled.
Dozens of components — metal plates, circuits, joints, barrels, sensors — flew apart and reassembled in mid-air around Iris’s body. Chest plate. Shoulder guards. Armored leggings. A helmet with a visor that covered her eyes. Gauntlets with built-in barrels on each forearm. A compact backpack unit that hummed with stored mana.
In under five seconds, Iris was encased in a sleek, matte-black exoskeleton that looked like it belonged in a sci-fi film rather than a mana-based tournament.
The Iberian Sun captain slowed his charge. His golden glow flickered with uncertainty.
"What the hell is that?" someone in the crowd muttered.
In the stands, Lucian watched with a faint smirk. Clara leaned forward with wide eyes.
Iris’s visor glowed with data readouts. Her A-Rank Data Stream activated — invisible to everyone else, but inside her visor, she could see mana flows, ability signatures, movement patterns, and predicted trajectories overlaid on her field of vision like a targeting HUD.
The Iberian Sun captain fired a Solar Flare beam at her.
Iris’s exoskeleton thrusters fired. She dodged sideways along the precise path Data Stream had calculated as the optimal evasion route. She raised her right forearm. A mana-powered railgun barrel locked onto the captain.
Pew.
A concentrated metal slug hit the ground where the captain was about to step, forcing him to change direction. He couldn’t advance. He couldn’t attack without exposing himself.
Pew. Pew. Pew.
Three more shots — each one forcing the captain to reposition. Data Stream analyzed his Solar Flare patterns in real-time. Iris could see the mana gathering in his palms before he fired. She predicted his attacks before he made them.
The Spain captain’s expression shifted from confidence to frustration.
"You’re just an Early Core Realm," he snarled. "How are you—"
Pew. Another slug at his feet.
He roared and launched a massive Solar Flare burst — a wide cone of golden light that filled the street.
Iris’s energy shield flared to life. The solar energy washed over it, absorbed and dissipated by the shield’s mana circuits. Her visor flickered with data.
Mana expenditure: 14% per burst. Cooldown: 3.2 seconds. Pattern: right palm dominant. Next attack predicted in 1.8 seconds.
She was holding off the captain of Spain’s top academy. An Early Core Realm holding off a Mid Core Realm.
On the other side of the ruined city, Ethan engaged Iberian Sun’s second Mid Core Realm fighter — a close-quarters combat specialist with enhanced physical stats. The man was fast, aggressive, and hit hard.
Ethan took a punch to the chest. Bam. The kinetic energy sank into his body. He grinned.
"Thanks."
He hit back harder.
BOOM.
The fighter staggered. Ethan absorbed the next strike — a knee to the ribs — and returned it with interest. A straight punch that sent the man crashing through a collapsed wall.
Crash.
The fighter pulled himself out of the rubble, blood running from his lip. He was tough. But Ethan was a nightmare for anyone who relied on physical attacks.
Bruno took on two Early Core Realm fighters at once near a destroyed intersection. His body strengthening ability had boosted every physical stat — he was faster, stronger, more durable than both of them combined. One fighter used a fire whip. The other threw condensed light projectiles.
Bruno tanked the fire whip on his forearm — his enhanced skin absorbing the heat — and grabbed the light projectile fighter by the throat.
Boom.
He threw him into a car. The vehicle crumpled.
Amira and Rose held crystal defense behind a half-destroyed building. Sand barriers layered with Aegis domes created a fortress around their crystal.
Then a Mid Core Realm Iberian Sun fighter emerged from the ruins to their left — a man with fire abilities who had circled around the main battle for a sneak attack.
Amira’s sand spikes erupted from the ground. Pam. Pam. He dodged the first, burned through the second with a fire blast.
Rose’s Aegis barrier caught his next attack — a concentrated fire lance — and deflected it sideways. The lance scorched a building instead.
"Two on one?" The fighter grinned. "Fine."
He attacked relentlessly. Fire lances, fire whips, fire bursts. Amira blocked with sand. Rose absorbed with Aegis. They worked in tandem — Amira’s sand controlled the terrain, Rose’s barriers controlled the timing. The fighter couldn’t find an opening.
Carlos engaged the last Mid Core Realm fighter near Iberian Sun’s crystal — a man with A-Rank Ice Creation who had been protecting it.
Fire met ice.
Carlos launched a fire blast. The ice user created a wall. Sizzle. Steam exploded between them. Carlos pressed forward — Flame Body activated, his entire form engulfed in fire — and threw concentrated fire punches.
The ice user created ice armor, Ice attacks, ice barriers. Carlos burned through all of them. They were evenly matched — fire and ice canceling each other out.
Then the ice user realized Ethan was coming.
Ethan had broken free from his fight — the close-quarters specialist’s bracelet had activated after a devastating Kinetic Absorption counter — and was sprinting toward Iberian Sun’s crystal.
The ice user panicked.
He slammed both hands into the ground. "Ice Zone."
A wave of extreme cold radiated outward from his body. The temperature plummeted. Ice erupted from every surface — the ground, the walls, the vehicles. Ethan’s legs froze to the ground. Carlos’s flames dimmed.
"Shit," Carlos muttered. His fire struggled against the subzero environment.
Ethan strained, his legs locked in ice up to his knees. The ice user grinned and started reinforcing the zone.
Carlos’s eyes hardened. "You think ice can stop fire?"
He clapped his hands together. "Fire Zone."
Heat erupted from Carlos’s body — raw thermal energy that pushed back against the cold. Steam exploded between the two zones where they met. The ice user’s eyes widened — his Ice Zone was being eaten alive.
Ethan felt the ice around his legs weaken. He broke free with a violent shove, ice shattering around him, and charged toward the crystal.
The ice user tried to stop him. Carlos grabbed him from behind.
"Your fight is with me."
They clashed — fire and ice, point-blank — as Ethan sprinted toward the crystal.
The Spain captain saw him coming.
He disengaged from Iris — a massive Solar Flare burst forcing her shield to maximum — and intercepted Ethan mid-field.
BOOM.
Ethan skidded backward, shoes carving furrows in the frozen ground. The captain stood between him and the crystal, golden light blazing.
Ethan grinned. "Out of my way."
He charged again.