Chapter 300: X-Ace Clash (Part 18)

Aarav grimaced and backed away warily as I tranformed, my wings and tail extending out of my back as horns protruded out of my head, my teeth sharpening into fangs as my nails narrowed and curved into claws before turning black.The Negative Energy jets from my feet dissipated as I spread out my wings, deactivating Devour and Drain as I cracked my neck with a tilt of my head.

He began to take aim at me with a swirling mass of blood, before stiffening as I zipped down and landed behind him before he could react, my feet hitting the floor of the arena with a soft thud, my back to his.

"<Spite>," I chanted, glancing back as he stumbled before spinning around as he extended out a hooked bone blade and slashed it at me.

I turned and swung Desecrator across, slicing his blade in half before grabbing his wrist with my tail and yanking him up and off his feet.

I swiftly fired out a blast of Negative Energy at his stomach as bone spikes before to extend out of his body, sending him hurtling away with a sharp gasp...hm?

It looks like he managed to create a layer of bone over his stomach right before my attack hit, absorbing a significant amount of the impact.

I shot towards him as his feet hit the ground and skidded back, before veering up as he fired out a barrage of bone bullets towards me, evading them with ease before zipping forward and grabbing the top of his head before he could react, pulling him off his feet before flinging him away with a sharp flick of my wrist.

As his back slammed onto the barrier before he slid down and collapsed onto the floor, I glanced at my palm as blood dripping out, a few shallow punctures across my skin.

I see, he must have started to extend bones spikes out of his skull.

I then veered across the air as he shakily sat up and raised his hand, extending a bone spike towards me, before I swooped down towards him as he began to scramble back onto his feet.

I drove my right foot forward as he stumbled, his back thudding against the barrier before he frantically rolled across to his left, narrowly evading as my foot collided against the barrier with immense force, several ripples erupting across the transparent wall upon impact, before I kicked off the barrier as he fired out a rapid blood slash towards my leg.

He unleashed a barrage of bone bullets towards me as he shakily backed away, his eyes widening as I deflected the bullets with my blade, before he leaned his right shoulder against the barrier as he raised his staff towards me, charging up a swirling mass of blood, compressing and intensifying it as it spun faster and faster.

"<Command: Don’t Move>," I chanted, the blood falling apart and splattering across the floor as he froze in place.

He could do nothing but stare helplessly as I shot towards him at full speed, trying to resist the effect of Command, but I’d already closed in on him, driving my blade towards his throat.

As the tip of my blade neared his neck, he vanished from sight as the barrier triggered and teleported him out, my blade plunging through the air.

He was still in the same pose as he reappeared outside the arena, trembling slightly before collapsing onto his knees as he broke free of the effect, letting out a strained, weary sigh as I deactivated Descent and headed for the edge of the arena as the barrier faded.

And with that, my participation in this event has concluded.

This was quite productive and encouraging, I think my performance was satisfactory, I won all three of my matches.

While I can’t say with absolute certainty that I’m the strongest in the world, I am among the top three, alongside Aria and Jaden.

They will fight in the next and final match of this event, it’s hard to say which of them will emerge victorious.

"Man, you’re crazy strong," Sighed Aarav, as I stepped off the arena, before continuing, "No matter how horny I got, I was the one getting boned."

"That’s somewhat inaccurate...I believe spiky or bony would fit better, horny doesn’t quite fit," I replied, as I began heading back.

"Wha-...come on, man, you already beat me, no need to kick me while I’m down..."

"Hm? I was doing nothing of the sort, I was simply stating a fact."

"Somehow, that makes it worse," He sighed wistfully, as a couple of the event staff jogged over towards him with a stretcher.

As the helped him onto the stretcher, I made my way back inside and to the waiting room, heading through the corridors leading to it.

The door soon came into sight, before I opened it and stepped inside, Aria bounding over to greet me with a bright smile on her face.

"Way to go, Kai! You won all three of your matches!" She grinned, holding her hand up for a high five.

Hm. How lovely.

Her eyes widened slightly as I took hold of her hand and pulled her towards me, kissing her lips.

"Wow," Remarked Beatriz in bemusement.

"U-Uh, what was that for?" Aria asked me as I pulled back, her face slightly flushed.

I see...so, if it’s in public, she still gets embarrassed.

I shall need to keep that in mind, I quite enjoy the sight of her flustered. However, I should not go any further right now, that may displease her, and I cannot knowingly allow that to happen.

"I simply felt the desire to do so when I saw you. Should I not have?"

"I, um...it’s fine, but maybe not in front of other people," She muttered with a bashful smile.

Hm, that desire is welling up again. I should resist it.

"Best clear your head, you don’t wanna be distracted during our fight. I want nothing less than your absolute best!" Chimed in Jaden.

"That did not occur to me, perhaps that was a mistake on my part."

"You know, it’s pretty chilling the way you change when you use that Enrage Skill of yours, you’re like a completely different person," Remarked Jin with a wry smile.

"How much longer for the time limit, by the way?" Aria asked me.

"A little over a minute."