Chapter 106: Crimson Sweep
The referee’s hand dropped.
Ding!
Twelve fighters exploded into motion.
The Ironclad squad led the charge from the front, their boots shaking the arena floor. They locked their tower shields together into a steel wall that looked unstoppable. Behind them, Kaelen’s Royal War College squad fanned out with swords drawn, their diamond-armored leader at the front.
From the left and right flanks, the Shadow Veil assassins came in low and fast, their bodies flickering with shadow magic as they closed the distance.
Three directions. Twelve fighters. Coordinated assault.
Emric slammed his shield into the ground.
"Brace for impact at forty degrees!" he shouted. "Lyra, high left! Renna, high right! Holden, center!"
Lyra drew her spear and leveled it over Emric’s shoulder. Renna nocked three arrows at once and pulled her bowstring back to her cheek. The shield wall was solid. The angles were mathematically sound.
It was a good plan.
Holden stepped past it.
"Save your energy," he said.
"What?!" Renna yelped.
"Trust me."
He walked calmly right toward the twelve charging killers.
Kaelen saw him coming alone and laughed.
"Blazing Crescent Strike!" Kaelen screamed, swinging his glowing sword in a wide arc.
"Iron Fortress Advance!" the Ironclad captain bellowed, his squad accelerating into a coordinated shield bash.
"Phantom Edge Flurry!" the lead assassin hissed, her blades trailing dark energy.
Twelve attacks. Twelve flashy names. All of them screaming at once.
Holden reached into is inventory and summoned his Star-Forged Sword.
He then activated Hellfire Cleave.
WHOOSH!
Bright red fire shot out of his sword like an exploding volcano. The flames weren’t red-gold like his old technique. They were deep, violent crimson, so bright they turned the white arena floor into a painting of blood and fire.
The charging fighters hesitated. Just for a split second. That was all the time he needed.
Holden’s 10,000x multiplier kicked in.
The world slowed to a crawl. He could see every footfall, every sword angle, every breath the twelve fighters took. His mind processed the arena like a chessboard, calculating the exact trajectory needed to hit all of them at once.
The perfect angle was forty-three degrees horizontal, slightly upward to catch the airborne assassins.
He swung.
One clean, horizontal stroke.
BOOM!
A wall of compressed crimson fire blasted from the sword, ripping across the arena like a hurricane. A visible shockwave of blazing energy exploded outward, tearing across the entire field.
It hit the Ironclad squad first.
Clang! Crack!
Their tower shields, forged from expensive Aether-reinforced steel, didn’t just break. They exploded. The metal fragments vaporized in the heat before they could even fall to the ground. The four Ironclad fighters were lifted off their feet and launched backward like ragdolls.
The shockwave kept going.
It caught Kaelen mid-swing. His diamond armor, worth more than most families made in a lifetime, split straight down the center. The blast picked him up and threw him into his three teammates. All four of them went flying through the air, crashing down together in a tangled mess of broken gems and hurt feelings.
The Shadow Veil assassins tried to dodge. Their shadow magic let them shift sideways, but the shockwave was too wide and fast. It caught them at the edge of the blast and sent them spinning out of the arena like leaves in a windstorm.
Twelve fighters.
One swing.
All of them flew out of the ring.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Bodies hit the ground beyond the arena boundary line, one after another. Kaelen crashed into a spectator railing and lay there, his disco-ball armor in pieces around him.
Slowly, the crimson flames vanished into thin air..
Silence.
The arena floor was scorched black in a perfect horizontal line. The air shimmered with heat. And in the center of the destruction, Holden stood with his sword still extended, a faint trail of crimson smoke rising from the blade.
He flicked his wrist.
The last wisps of fire fell away like embers. He dismissed his Star-Forged Sword back into inventory.
Then he looked up.
Prince Oscar’s mouth was open in a silent shock, his eyes wide and veins popping at the sides of his head. His hands were useless and flat against the chair, completely frozen.
Holden gave him a polite bow.
"Can we bring out the actual fighters now?" he called up to the VIP box. "I’d hate to think the Capital sent its best to get blown away in one swing."
The silence broke.
The roar that hit the arena was unlike anything the Colosseum had ever heard. A hundred thousand people screaming, jumping, stamping their feet. The floating projection screens shook with the force of the sound waves. People in the highest seats were standing on their chairs, waving their arms like mad.
"TEAM SOUP! TEAM SOUP! TEAM SOUP!"
[Ding!]
[12 Combatants Ringed Out!]
[Base Reward: 600 KP]
[Multi-Kill Bonus: +600 KP]
[2x KP Booster Applied!]
[Total: +2,400 KP!]
[Current Balance: 58,790 KP]
Holden closed the notification and turned around.
Emric had lowered his shield.
Lyra stared at him with wide eyes, her spear still raised over her shoulder.
Renna’s bowstring had gone slack. Her three arrows were still nocked, completely forgotten.
"That," Emric said, speaking very carefully, "was one technique."
"Mhm."
"You wiped out twelve opponents with a single attack."
"I just knocked them out of the ring. No one died."
"Holden." Emric pushed his glasses up with a shaking hand. "The kinetic force required to launch twelve armored fighters simultaneously from a standing position exceeds what should be possible for a Rank 1 cultivator by a factor of approximately four hundred."
"Guess I’m full of surprises."
Renna found her voice. THAT WAS INSANE! Did you see them? They went flying like bowling pins! Kaelen’s expensive armor just exploded! Best day of my life, hands down!"
Lyra walked over to Holden without saying anything. She just looked right at him, seeming totally amazed, but with a softer look in her eyes too.
"We should go," Holden said, gesturing toward the competitor tunnel. "Before they think of another rule to change."
They walked off the arena as the crowd chanted their name.
Behind them, Kaelen sat in the wreckage of his armor, staring at nothing, his mouth moving but no words coming out.