Blackout Ascension: Return of Primordial Heir-Chapter 18: Immovable Resolve

The ground of the Infernal Colosseum reverbated once again, assertively washing away the calm, cool atmosphere moisture left behind by Lucy’s water magic.

The temperature didn’t increase, but the air became staggeringly dry and hard to breathe. The audience felt like inhaling dust. A brand new terrain rose vehemently from the depths. It was a rough, substantially uneven stone surface. Jagged platforms jutted from the ground like broken teeth. It looked like a desolate battlefield that had seen centuries of endless raw warfare. The Eid Pyres are back to mighty flame pillars.

The grand announcer’s magically amplified voice echoed across the stadium.

"Fourth Match of the Infernal Bracket: Velanor Banner versus Lumin Clint!"

A low murmur went apace through the crowd. This was a highly anticipated clash of unfettered opposites.

Raw Durability versus Light Precision.

The heavy iron bars of the East Gate rumbled open. From the Zephyros entrance walked the Velanor Banner. He had changed radically since his days at the Academy. The messy-haired, arrogant boy who relied entirely on his fast, dual daggers had gone far before. In his place walked a man rightfully known as the "Wall of Zephyros." He wore only the standard uniform of a frontline Vanguard warrior. But strapped tightly across his broad back, there was a gargantuan, obtrusive shield. It was surely taller than a full-grown man, forged of obsidian and black iron, with ancient runes of earth and steel carved into its dark surface.

He reached over his shoulder, unhooked the shield, and slammed it heavily onto the jagged stone ground.

THUD!!

The sheer impact of the metal hitting the stone, with a rumbling sound shook the dust and debris across the arena. His physical presence was completely immovable. Looking at him, the crowd murmured a single thought: He isn’t a man who looks like a mountain. He is a mountain disguised as a man.

Across the broken field by impact, the West Gate opened resonantly. From the Pyrosend side appeared Lumin Clint, known as the famous "Light Commander." He wore radiant, spellbound white gauntlets that shimmering with convoluted beams of pure light. His armor was genteel gold, reflecting the Solaris’ sun so excruciatingly that it hurt the spectators’ eyes to look at him directly.

Lumin offered a confident, charming smile as he approached the dead center of the rugged battlefield. He looked at Velanor’s obsidian iron shield with a distinct hint of amusement in his bright eyes.

"So," Lumin said, his voice elegant and carrying easily over the wind, "you’re the famous, immovable man I’ve heard so many rumors about."

Velanor didn’t respond, he stood silent. He entrenched his boots into the stone platform. He looked excruciatingly tired, slightly bored and dangerous.

His voice was like a low murmur, steady, and no sound of any fragile ego.

"And you’re the blinding light that constantly tries to hide the truth," Velanor replied bluntly.

Lumin smiled subvocally, amused by the cold response. He clinked his glowing white gauntlets together, releasing flickering sparks into the air. "I don’t blind people, Banner. I reveal their weaknesses."

High above, the bronze bell reverbated, rang out.

GONG!!

Light flashed instantly.

ZING!!

Lumin disappeared flashily. He moved with the speed of light. He instantly became an incandescent streak of gold, encroaching far faster than most commoner eyes in the audience could even track. He covered the fifty-meter gap of jagged stone in a fraction of a second.

Velanor barely had time to react. He didn’t panic and tried to dodge. He shifted his ponderous weight forward and buttressed his shoulder against the obsidian shield.

BANG!!

The very first strike hit the center of the shield. A fulmination of light and a deafening sound burst outward from the point of impact, cracking the solid stone ground beneath Velanor’s boots.

Loud cheers burst out across the colosseum. "He’s fast! He’s way too fast!"

Lumin adroitly used the backlash of his own strike to ricochet toward the shield.

Zip! Zip! Zip!

He precipitously swirled Velanor in the blink of an eye. He struck ten devastating strikes from ten different angles. High, low, front, rear. Each individual punch was reinforced by concentrated light magic, making his fists heavy enough to shatter bone.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Velanor remained utterly fixed in his starting place. He moved the obsidian shield, with terrifying speed. He hovered it slightly to block the strike aimed at his skull. He dropped the base to the floor to flawlessly block the low strike aimed at his knees. He swung his body, groaned to easily catch the backstab. He didn’t move a single, solitary step from his original starting position.

Lumin staggered backward to halt ten feet away with exhaustion. He was already breathing hard, his chest heaving. Thick beads of sweat were oozing out on his forehead from the energy exhaustion.

"You block entirely on pure instinct?" Lumin asked, genuinely impressed by the flawless defense. "That’s incredibly rare for a Vanguard."

Velanor looked at him over the top of the obsidian shield.

"I don’t need instinct to fight you," Velanor answered calmly, his voice a low rumble. "I just simply don’t move."

Lumin’s breathing sharpened, and his pride was stung. "Then let’s see if I can make you fly."

Lumin moved forward again. This time, he impetuously leveraged the potentized light mana constructively bound to his knee. "Flash Knee!"

He aimed a devastating, flying knee strike at Velanor’s vulnerable jaw, moving at supersonic speed.

Velanor ultimately relinquished his guard. Instead of raising the shield to block the attack, he jerked up the massive iron shield a few inches and vehemently slammed it back down with all of his raw physical strength. "Seismic Shockwave."

BOOM!!

The rugged battlefield ruptured into a spider-web design. A physical shockwave of pure kinetic backlash exploded outward from the base of the obsidian shield. It hit Lumin orthogonally mid-air, right in the center of his golden chestplate.

It felt like being hit by a cannonball. Lumin was volatily blown backward. He careened involuntarily through the air, tumbling abruptly across the stone. He crashed harshly through a small jagged rock, digging his glowing gauntlets deeply into the hard ground just to stop his painful slide.

The crowd grunted in absolute shock.

Lumin stood up slowly. He reached his gauntlet hand up and rubbed a drop of crimson red blood from his lip where he had bitten it during tumbling. His eyes were burning bright with adrenaline rush.

"Okay," Lumin laughed breathlessly, circumducting his aching shoulders, "you’re not just a wall. You’re an entire, armed fort."

Velanor expeditiously rolled his neck. Heavy earth energy, shimmering in a deep, vibrant green, rippled through his veins, actively enchanting his skin and muscles.

"You’re still just knocking nicely on my door," Velanor grunted, narrowing his eyes. "Come inside or go home, Light Commander."

Lumin lifted both of his hands high into the air. "Oh, believe me. I’m coming in."

Searing light converged impulsively above his head. The atmosphere grew incandescent with the shimmering heat. Dozens of lethal, glowing spears made of light mana formed perfectly midair, humming loudly with dangerous, volatile energy. "Barrage of the Morning Star."

He pointed a glowing finger directly at Velanor. "Let’s see you try to block absolutely everything."

The dozens of light spears thrusted forward like a rain of falling lasers.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Velanor relentlessly braced himself. He crouched his muscular body, hiding behind the obsidian shield, stomped his boots into the cracked stone floor.

The first five spears hit hard and completely shattered against the mighty shield.

The next ten rigidly struck, and sparks flickering, burst outward from the shield like fireworks. After the next twenty spears hit, the stone ground beneath Velanor cracked open from the immense, crushing downward pressure. He staggered backward exactly three inches.

But he still stood. Lumin’s heartbeat raced frantically. His mana consumption was rising dangerously high. If he didn’t finish this right now, his core would completely burn out.

"Fall!" Lumin shouted at the exhaustion.

He extended both of his arms straight forward. He aggressively concentrated absolutely every last bit of light mana remaining in the entire arena directly into his palms. His expression turned completely cold and ruthless. "CONVERGENCE BEAM!"

A terrifying beam of luminous light converged like a miniature sun, blasting forward from his open palms. It was the most powerful, destructive spell of his element. It was a beam of pure, highly incandescent destruction. It hit the black iron shield.

BOOMMMM!!

The explosion impact and light swallowed the entire arena.

Thousands of spectators frantically covered their sensitive eyes. High-ranking Generals sitting in the front row quickly stood up, instantly enhancing the stadium’s magical safety barrier with their own mana just to prevent the searing light from burning the innocent crowd.

The entire battlefield turned into brilliant white. The sound was deafening. It was a continuous, high-pitched screech of light energy. The fulminant eruption of light lasted for ten agonizing seconds, and it faded frantically. Thick, acrid smoke wavered from the center of the stone platform.

The crowd leaned forward in their seats, desperately clasping their hands in anxiety to see through the thick fog.

"Did he survive?"

"Absolutely no one survives a direct hit from that."

The smoke slowly cleared.

Velanor was still standing. His boots were quashed deeply down into the shattered stone. His Vanguard uniform was bruised and scorched. His thick, lean muscular arms were trembling behind the shield from the immense strain caused by the impact.

And for the first time... his unbreakable obsidian shield had a crack on it.

A jagged hairline fracture ran straight down from the center of the shield. The crowd petrified in silence.

Velanor exhaled slowly, a cloud of white steam coming from his mouth. He darted his eyes quietly at the damage on his shield.

"...You almost reached me," Velanor said in a raspy breath.

Lumin Clint stood twenty feet away. His chest heaving in exhaustion. He was drained. But he smiled a genuine, victorious smile.

"You finally admit it..." Lumin panted, his arms hanging limply at his sides. "I’m strong."

Velanor slowly lifted the shield right back into its defensive position.

"I never said you were weak, Lumin." Velanor said, his voice slowly regaining its low rumble.

Lumin let out a breathless laugh, bent and resting his tired hands on his knees. "Then why the hell didn’t you fall? That undiluted beam easily melts strong castle gates."

Velanor clenched his grip on the iron handle. He slowly looked over to the competitor’s box. He darted his eyes at Kairos and Luna.

"Because someone is depending on me to stand," Velanor said. His voice was very quiet, but it echoed clearly in the silence of the arena. "I used to run away. I used to rely on dodging. But my team... they desperately need a solid wall to stand behind. So, I simply became one."

Kairos, watching with an intense look. Velanor... you freaking idiot, Kairos thought, his eyes widening in sudden realization. You completely stopped using your dual daggers... just for us.

Lumin’s confident, playful grin shifted into something sharper. Something incredibly more determined and dangerous.

"I see," Lumin whispered softly into the dry wind. "Pure loyalty."

He slowly straightened his aching back. His white gauntlets shimmering, pulling the last remnants of mana from his exhausted core.

"If you truly fight for someone else, Banner," Lumin said, receding into a predatory crouch, "then I will just have to forcefully make you kneel for them. Because I fight for the eternal glory of the Light."

Velanor’s defensive stance lowered slightly. The green earth runes carved into his cracked shield glowed brighter than before.

"Try it!" Velanor dared him.

The bronze bell rang out sharply.

CLANG!!

End of Phase One.

The announcer’s voice made the whole arena breathless. Both warriors remained standing firmly on the ruined stone. But the entire battlefield air filled with anticipation, because the crowd knew that the next exchange of blows would permanently break someone. The unbreakable shield was finally cracked. The burning light was vehemently fading.