Chapter 187: No Mercy

Kimberly shrieked in rage, her ring cracking slightly from overuse as she used her 4x stat multiplier to tank through the pain.

She took the lightning cut to her side and kept coming, her fire burning Eleanor’s shoulder, her dark ice cutting Eleanor’s leg. Both queens were bleeding heavily.

"GET LOST!" Kimberly shrieked, infuriated by the blood dripping down her arms and side, her veins popping on her neck, her eyes glowing crimson red.

Kimberly forced the obsidian ring to its absolute limit. A violent, dark aura erupted from her body as the four fold stat multiplier overclocked her mana channels to dangerous levels.

She didn’t bother dodging anymore. She used her absurdly boosted physical speed and durability to charge straight through Eleanor’s purple lightning blasts, taking heavy electrical burns to her chest.

She closed the distance in an instant, her face twisted into a vicious sneer, her big body colliding with Eleanor’s.

Her S Rank Fire and Lightning fused together in her palm, forming a dense, volatile sphere of dark plasma that crackled and burned black and red.

She slammed her palm directly into Eleanor’s chest at point blank range.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The thermal explosion happened right on her chest. It was not a far away blast. It was zero distance. The sound was like a whole mountain breaking in half. It was loud, deep, and heavy.

The entire stone floor of the stage could not take it. The stone cracked, then shattered, then turned into complete powder.

A huge cloud of dust rose into the air. The cloud was up to twenty feet high. No one in the crowd could see the stage for a second.

In the dust, purple sparks were flying everywhere. Dark plasma was floating in the air like thick smoke. The air itself was hot. The heat from the explosion was pushing everyone back.

Eleanor was still standing in the middle of it all.

Eleanor let out a sharp gasp of pain as her lightning defenses shattered under the crushing four fold force. Her golden uniform top ripped open showing bloodied skin underneath her heavy bust.

Blood sprayed from her lips in a mist as she was hurled backward seventy feet, slamming brutally into the stone barrier wall back first, her head hitting stone.

Eleanor slid down to the dirt, her golden uniform torn and scorched, her deep purple hair matted with blood and dust, her legs shaking.

She tried to force herself up on one arm, her striking purple eyes still burning with regal pride, her heavy chest heaving, but her internal mana pool were completely fried by the dark plasma, purple sparks sputtering weakly off her skin.

Her body buckled, and she fell unconscious on the dirt, face to the side, breathing weak.

"MATCH THIRTY ONE VICTOR: KIMBERLY VANE FROM VOID BLESSED ACADEMY!"

The Void enclosure erupted into arrogant cheers, shouting and stamping, as Kimberly wiped blood from her jaw, her own body bleeding from many lightning cuts, her thighs bleeding, her side burned, turning her thick hips to walk off the stage with an arrogant glare toward the Aether Enclosure, middle finger raised.

Lynx was on the floor before anyone else could move, faster than the medics. He lifted Eleanor gently into his arms, holding her battered, bloody frame against his chest, her deep purple hair falling over his arm, her full bust pressed against him.

He looked down at her pale face, his heterochromatic eyes going completely darker with cold, absolute darkness that made the air around him go freezing cold.

He didn’t say a word as he carried her to the healers, but every student who caught a glimpse of his very dark blue and silver eyes felt their blood freeze in their veins and looked away in horror.

———-

By the tenth day, the qualifying matches came to a brutal, decisive close. The rain had stopped, but the ground was thick mud and blood.

The Void Blessed Academy had systematically wiped out almost the entire roster of every other school.

Out of fifty students, nearly twenty five Void fighters qualified for the final phase, all carrying boosted stats and obsidian cheat rings, some bleeding but standing.

From Aether Blessed Academy, almost every Year 3 and Year 4 senior was completely eliminated. Julian Frostborne and his entire escort squad were out, broken and humiliated on stretchers.

Queen Eleanor and her elite squad, Layla, Iris, Rhea, and Nadia, were out, resting in the infirmary recovering from bloody injuries and broken ribs.

Kira was out with cracked ribs.

Only four fighters from Aether Blessed Academy managed to qualify for the next phase.

Lynx Azarion, Ava Musk, who had qualified on Day 1 after defeating her brother Peter, Ophelia Dragwyn, who had won her grueling twenty minute war against Valen, and Lira Verne, who had defeated James Shantel. Lynx also occupied his four more spots, making Aether total 8.

The remaining spots were filled by a few surviving Heather and Beacon fighters who had won their internal school matches but were already limping.

The referee stepped up to the center of the shattered, blood stained arena floor, his amplified voice echoing across the two hundred thousand man stadium that was now quiet and tired.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS ARE OFFICIALLY CONCLUDED! WE WILL NOW PROCEED TO THE FINAL MATCH OF DAY TEN!"

The scrying board overhead flickered one last time, displaying the final matchup of the day, red runes glowing.

LAST MATCH: LYNX AZARION - AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY VS. VANEK - VOID BLESSED ACADEMY

Vanek stepped onto the stage. He was one of Void’s top Year 4 fighters, a broad shouldered monster with a shaved head, wearing an active obsidian ring that pulsed with dark energy and made his muscles bulge.

Vanek cracked his neck, sneering down at Lynx as Lynx walked slowly up the stone steps, hands in his pockets, face calm, but his eyes pitch black.

"You’re the last big name left from Aether, kid," Vanek laughed, raising his hand to show off the obsidian ring glowing brighter, dark aura flaring.

"Your little Queen is broken in the infirmary. The girls glued onto you since you arrived here are bleeding on cots. In five minutes, I’m going to rip your head off and throw it to your little harem in the stands. That purple haired queen’s tits bounced nice when Kimberly smashed her."

Lynx stopped ten feet away from Vanek. His hands were casually resting in his dark trousers pockets.

His dark hair swayed gently in the cold wind. His heterochromatic eyes, his bright blue eyes now deep blue, one clear silver both ringed with gold, stared at Vanek with total, absolute void, no emotion.

Lynx didn’t speak. He didn’t answer the insult. He didn’t take his hands out of his pockets.

"Begin!" the referee shouted and jumped off.

Vanek flared his four fold ring multiplier instantly to max, veins popping. His A Rank Fire and Earth affinities ignited around his body, rock armor forming, fire covering fists, sending his physical stats soaring as he blasted forward like a meteor, his heavy fist aimed straight to crush Lynx’s skull, shouting "DIE!"

Lynx didn’t dodge.

The millisecond Vanek’s fist came within one inch of Lynx’s face, Lynx did not move his hands. His hands were still inside his pockets.

A small, sharp blade of wind formed in the air. It was almost invisible. It was thinner than paper. It was right in front of Vanek’s arm.

Vanek kept punching forward. He did not see it.

Shhhhk.

The wind blade cut clean through. Vanek’s entire right arm was cut off at the shoulder. The cut was so clean and so fast that for one second, there was no blood. Then the blood came.

Blood sprayed everywhere in the air. It painted the barrier red.

"AGHHHHHHH! MY ARM! MY ARM IS GONE!" Vanek screamed. He fell down to his knees. He was holding his shoulder with his other hand. Blood was pouring out between his fingers and falling onto the stone floor.

Lynx took one slow step forward. His boot stepped into the blood on the floor.

He lifted his right leg, which was hovering over Vanek. He made his boot heavy. Very, very heavy. Like a rock.

Then he brought his boot down hard onto Vanek’s left knee.

CRACK!

The knee broke completely. It bent the wrong way. The bone inside shattered. Vanek screamed again, but this time it was a wet, broken scream. He fell flat on his face. His body was shaking in a pool of his own blood.

Lynx looked down at him. His eyes were cold. There was no pity in his eyes. Vanek still had his obsidian ring on his other hand. The ring was still glowing black.

Lynx lifted his foot again. His boot became covered in hot, red fire. The fire was burning and cracking.

He stomped down directly onto Vanek’s hand and onto the ring.

THUMP! CRACK!

The fire and the heavy stomp crushed Vanek’s hand. The obsidian ring cracked into many small pieces. The black light inside the ring died with a small pop sound. The fire burned the crushed metal.

Vanek could not even scream anymore. His eyes rolled back. His body shook one last time and then went completely still. He was lying unconscious in his own blood.

The whole fight took less than twenty seconds.

The entire stadium with two hundred thousand people was silent. No one was talking. The Void students were standing and staring. Their faces were white. They were looking at their senior lying broken and bloody on the stage.

Lynx did not look back at the body. He kept his hands in his pockets. He turned around slowly and walked down the steps toward the exit. His bloody boot prints stayed on the floor behind him while his victory sound played across the stadium.

A/N: Characters pictures are coming soon... but I don’t know what AI app these Authors use for their characters, and I need mine to be perfect. So if you have any idea of what free AI app I could use, just comment. Thanks!