Blackout Ascension: Return of Primordial Heir-Chapter 9: Brawl of Ogres

The floating white marbles of the Luminary Colosseum began to change with a crackling sound once again. High above the mana remnants left by Ignis and Daemon are slowly fading away. The arena is waiting for more power with hunger.

The shining white marbles suddenly darkened, transformed into a dark grey granite. The jagged rocks of granite were built strong and polished, and the air in the arena felt thick and heavy with the smell of iron and granite rocks.

The fifty thousand spectators murmured in sudden realisation of a shift in the air.

"An earth-type arena," a veteran with a scar whispered to his friend, "they changed the entire state of the battlefield."

Grand Chancellor Vaelon had an idea of who was walking to the battlefield next. This match is a pure test of endurance and raw strength. It can’t be easily decided by magic and precision itself.

The grand announcer’s voice, magically enhanced, cut through the waving murmurs in the arena.

"The arena is set! We move to the Third Match of the Luminary Bracket: Teravauros Solaris versus Breinstein Dreyr."

Both sides of the arena stadium felt completely silent. This was not a duel of flashy magic or speed. This was a brutal fight between two gigantic men.

The East Gate rumbled open. Teravauros Solaris walked out with pride. He was a giant of a man, known as unmovable and unbreakable across the continent. He stood nearly seven feet tall, with shoulders broad enough to block a doorway. His eyes were the dull color of sand, looking calm and steady. He wore thick brown armor. His armor has dents, which were formed by many experiences in border wars and training.

Across the arena, the West Gate slid open. Breinstein Dreyr entered from the Sylphyros side. He was not a member of the Sylphyros bloodline, but a high-ranking lord of House Dreyr, an ancient household which was famous for the manifestation of great gravity magic. His physical body was not as wide as Teravauros’s, but it had power flowing out from his muscles. Every single footstep he took on the floating granite felt so heavy because it was enchanted by gravity magic. His expression was entirely cold, highly focused on Teravauros.

The two thick-armored warriors walked out and stopped at the center of the largest granite cliff in the arena.

They didn’t exchange gazes at each other with hatred. They were simply two men who had sworn their lives to be the ultimate shields of their respective kingdoms. They were the defensive walls with destructive power between enemies and allies in war. As they stared at each other for some time, they both knew that only one Wall would remain standing today.

The massive bronze bell rang from the high towers.

GONGGGGG!!

For a long ten seconds, neither of them didn’t moved a bit. They simply stood unmoved, with pride. The high-pitched wind howled violently around the floating rocks, but their heavy cloaks barely even moved, as they were weighed down with sheer pressure by both of them.

Both warriors waited for a tiny moment, where the opponent makes a slight mistake or lowers their guard. Breinstein took a slow breath, which was like steam coming from lava hissing on water.

He lifted his heavy, steel boot and stomped down hard.

CRACK!

The arena erupted with the impact. Entire cliffs rose rapidly behind him, like hearing to this command. Massive, jagged slabs of granite, each the size of a small house, floated by gravity magic enchanted behind his shoulders.

With his wrist, he broke a small piece of rock and watched it and threw it with sheer pressure towards Teravauros, along with all the slabs of granite fired towards him.

Teravauros didn’t try to dodge. He simply raised his arms slowly. Thick vines of glowing, green mana wrapped tightly around his forearms, quickly hardened into thick gautlents made of rock.

He punched. He simply stomped his feet to be steady and punched the incoming slabs.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He punched every stone slab that came for him. He landed devastating punches on them, which disintegrated the slabs into ash immediately.

The shockwave generated by the impact of the punches reached the audience. The magical barriers protecting the crowd hummed with a loud sound caused by the impact hitting the barrier. Fine granite dust fell across the arena like grey snow.

Breinstein narrowed his pale eyes, peeking into the grey dust. "Solid!" he said in a bare voice with calm.

Without a second of hesitation, Breinsten completely changed his way of attacking. He bent down and placed his open palm on the stone floor. "Quicksand Void."

The solid granite beneath the Teravauros’s heavy boots instantly liquefied into quicksand. It turned into a swirling sand, sucking everything down by gravity pulling down.

Teravauros sank immediately. The swirling sand swallowed him up to his waist and then rapidly reached up to his armored chest, dragging him into the ground.

The crowd shook in horror. "He’s trapped! He’s going to be crushed!"

Teravauros did not resist the downward pull. He simply allowed himself to fall deeper into the trap. But just as his head was about to disappear beneath the sand, the ground deep below him violently erupted with blasting sound.

"Eruption." Teravauros aggressively pressed the earth under his boots and used force to come up, used it like a spring. He erupted upward from the sand like a cannonball blasted up.

He flew high into the air, looking like an entire mountain being raised. He reached the right above Breinstein’s position. Gravity took hold, and he dived downward, enraging a powerful punch.

Breinsten rapidly crossed his heavy gauntlets over his head, enhancing them with gravity magic as defense.

BANG!!

The collision between them created a dust cloud and a glowing shockwave in the arena. Breinstein’s knees bent down with the sheer pressure. The solid granite floor beneath him cracked, creating a spider-webbed structure. With a groan, he pushed Teravauros back. Both massive warriors slid across different floating platforms, their boots scratching into the stone.

The audience cheered in a sudden moment. Two giants are sigils of absolute endurance.

Breinstein stood up slowly, "Your fist was like a meteor," Breinstein said, with a rare grin on his chaotic face.

"Because it’s a meteor," Teravarous answered with a steady voice and a faint smile on his face.

They rushed forward towards each other as fast as they could. The fists clashed, and the sheer force from the clash destroyed the boulders that surrounded them into ash.

THUD! CRACK! THUD!

It looked like a brawl between two ogres. Heavy punches, bone blocks with a rattling sound, and counter-punches. Every hit and block was clean and precise. They took heavy steps while throwing devastating punches that shattered the platform they stood on.

****

In the Royal Pavilion, Seyana watched them with total awe and held the railing tight in tension. Seyana had high magic prowess and the strongest magic techniques, but it was the first time she was witnessing pure raw strength.

"They aren’t even using spells to directly hurt each other," she whispered to her mother, her eyes wide, "they are just using the earth mana to constantly enhance their own bodies. It’s a battle of attrition."

****

Luna and Velanor leaned forward in anxiety to see who would endure until the last, with a respectful look in their eyes.

"If I got hit by even one of those devastating stray punches," Velanor muttered with a scary face, "I’d be turned into paste. That’s not combat anymore. That’s just a masterpiece of raw violence."

Even Ignis and Daemon, still resting and healing in the medical bay, were watching the brawl in crystal monitors in front of them. True warriors always understood true warriors.

****

On the arena floor, Kairos studied the brawl with precision. He was watching how the flow of mana inside them and trying to guess how the next punch would be.

They never lost their center of gravity, Kairos analysed by watching them. No matter how hard they get hit, no matter how much the ground becomes uneven, they are always perfectly still. If I fight them, I absolutely cannot overpower them. I have to unbalance them.

Up in the Royal Box, Brandon Sylphyros had all his gaze on Seyana; he didn’t even watch the battle. He saw her amber eyes wide with genuine admiration. He saw the respect she held for her beast cousin, Teravauros.

****

Down in the arena, the brutal battle continued. Breinstein stomped the path again, concentrating all his gravity force into the stones that rose around them. Dozens of jagged slabs of granite fired toward Teravauros from all possible angles, aiming to crush him into pulp.

Teravauros just chanted one method.

"Fortress Stance."

A perfect and smooth dome terrain rose instantly around him. The incoming granite slabs slammed into the dome and instantly turned into harmless dust.

Breinstein didn’t stop. He raised both of his heavy arms high into the air. The gravity mana surrounding him turned into blue light.

The entire platform Teravauros stood on began to lift slowly. Breinstein groaned loudly, the veins in his neck bulging out. He was literally lifting the battlefield itself.

With a roar of exhaution, he lifted another slab and threw it towards Teravauros. A wave of pure shock and terror ran through the arena. This was catastrophe-level magic.

Teravauros dropped his dome. He looked up calmly at the massive slab rushing rapidly toward him. He raised his right arm and bent it back to get in a punching stance. He bent backward slightly, stepping his right leg back to perfectly anchor his weight. Then, with almighty, terrifying power rushing all the way from his heel, up through his hips, and then into his right fist.

He spoke in a low, rumbling voice.

"Earthquake Rumble: Titan Fist."

He punched the empty air between himself and the slab. A distorted shockwave of pure force hit the stone.

CRACK!!

The entire island paused mid-air, as it was suspended by the gravity itself. Then, a spiderweb fracture appeared in the center of the stone.

A second later, it exploded.

The massive slab utterly shattered into stone dust and pebbles.

But Breinstein had fully anticipated this outcome. He used the massive, falling dust cloud as cover and burst towards Teravauros, and launched a gravity-infused punch directly into Teravauros’ exposed chest.

CRUNCHH!!

The thick brown armor finally dented inward. Two ribs cracked loudly.

Teravauros groaned in pain and stepped backward, and fell back to the lower floating platform. For the very first time in the entire match, a small flow of blood dripped from the corner of Teravauros’s mouth.

The crowd gasped with shock and disbelief. The Immovable Giant had finally been moved.

Breinstein stood panting on the high granite slab, looking down at his opponent with a look of respectful determination.

"Stay down, Solaris," Breinstein said, his voice filled with exhaustion, "you’ve already proven yourself to the world today. That punch would have killed a full-grown dragon."

Teravauros slowly wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his heavy gauntlet. He calmly spat a broken tooth aside.

"I don’t fight to prove myself to anyone!" Teravauros roared, his voice steady.

He struggled and stood on his foot again with raging strength. "I fight because the people of my kingdom need me to stand."

He raised his heavy fists once again. His earth mana was enraged up than before, because he was in anger.

Breinstein’s expression darkened. He respected Teravauros more than any man he had ever met in his life. But that deep respect wouldn’t stop him from finishing the fight.

"Then I will bury you with honor!" Breinstein vowed quietly.

They charged at each other once again. Both men were exhausted, and their mana was running out. But their wills were forged like solid granite. The next attack will decide the match.

The floating tiles around them trembled under their approaching footsteps. The entire arena trembled in anxiety as they were closing.

This next, final strike could easily decide everything.

And then...

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

The heavy bronze bell rang out sharply.

Kairos blinked in surprise. Up in the stands, Seyana stood up quickly.

It was the bell signaling the End of the Round.

The two massive warriors froze instantly, their heavy fists stopped mere inches from each other’s faces. They held their positions for a second, panting heavily, their eyes filled with mutual respect.

The announcer’s voice echoed over the stadium. "Time Limit Reached! The First Phase of the match officially ends in a draw!"

The audience erupted in a mix of cheers and suspense grunts. "The Second Phase will begin in the next round! The terrain will reset!"

The two warriors slowly lowered their fists. "You are incredibly hard to break, Dreyr," Teravauros acknowledged, his broad chest heaving heavily.

"You are impossible to move, Teravauros!" Breinstein nodded, offering a tired, respectful nod.

They turned their backs to each other and walked slowly toward their respective gates to receive medical attention. They had completed the first round, but in the next round outcome will be decided.

They both knew about that. The arena is getting ready for the next round.