Blackout Ascension: Return of Primordial Heir-Chapter 19: Weight of Wall

The crowd in the arena were silent, their hands trembling with anxiety. The dust from the first phase clash slowly settled over the arena, coating the jagged rocks in a thick layer of dull grey ash. Both warriors stood, their eyes frantically watching each other. They were bruised, callously exhausted, and their chests thudded fast.

Their powerful auras reverberated across the arena. It was the intense, physical vibration of two unbreakable resolves immensely fighting against each other.

Velanor Banner. The Mountain.

Lumin Clint. The Lightning Star.

Two stubborn men who refused to accept defeat.

High up on the podium, the Grand Chancellor raised his golden staff, signalling the start of Phase Two.

CLANG!!

The bronze bell rang out for the Second Phase.

Lumin moved first, with the ignition of light. His body moved, blurring into a streak of chromatic gold light, that he vanished from the naked eye.

He didn’t aim for the thick center of the shield this time. He had learned his painful lesson. The center was utterly unbreakable.

Instead, he aimed monomanically for the outer edges. He predatorily targeted Velanor’s legs, his slightly exposed ribs, and the vulnerable back of his neck. He aimed for every unprotected place.

Zip! Slash! Bang!

Lumin appeared in a trice on the far left. A glowing gauntlet strike aimed viciously at Velanor’s knee.

Lumin vanished and appeared on the far right. A brutal backhand slash aimed at the lower back.

But Velanor was testing his own endurance and turned his body. Every single time Lumin appeared out of the streak, the black shield was already anchored there, like it’s silently waiting for him. It was terrifying loyalty to a single, undefying principle: I will not break.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Lumin struck the obsidian again and again. His golden fists glowed brighter and hotter with every single strike. But Velanor’s heavy boots pulverized deeper into the cracked stone. He remained fixed on his heels, strictly keeping the obsidian positioned between his bruised body and the burning light.

Lumin’s breath became wildly uneven. Thick beads of sweat dripped down on his pale cheek, glowing with leaked light energy. It steamed hissing against his skin. He was burning his own core from the inside out just to maintain this impossible speed.

He staggered backward, his beautiful golden armor was damaged and scorched.

"Why..." Lumin whispered in a breath of exhaustion. "Why are you still standing here? If I don’t break you... then I have absolutely nothing left."

Velanor just silently clenched his shield handle. His hardened fingers were bleeding, the leather grip completely soaked in burning red blood.

Lumin looked closely at him. He saw Velanor standing firmly, his eyes glowing with unbreakable resolve.

Lumin’s eyes trembled with a sudden, painful recognition.

"You’re exactly like him..." Lumin whispered into the quiet arena.

Velanor blinked slowly, salty sweat darting from eye lash, sharply into his eye. "Him?"

Lumin’s voice cracked with agonizing pain. The supreme arrogance of the Light Commander vanished entirely, replaced by the unvarnished grief of a broken brother.

"My little brother..." Lumin started to confess, his voice tight and wet with unshed tears. "He desperately wanted to protect everyone, too. He was so young. He stood bravely in front of a Grade A beast just to save his vanguard squad. He fought hard until he physically couldn’t get up again, and because he finally fell to the dirt... the beast stepped over him, and they all died."

The myriad of crowd went silent. They clearly saw the pain of the Light Commander.

Lumin concussed his radiant fists. The light around him became unstable, flickering violently.

"I swore to the gods I would never, ever lose again!" Lumin roared, his tears evaporating from his hot face. "I swore I would always be the one who protects! I have to be infinitely stronger than a simple wall! I have to be the blazing sun that burns absolutely everything away!"

Lumin screamed with an exhaustive voice.

BOOM!!

The residual flames of the Infernal Colosseum ripples expeditiously upward from the cracked stone, reacting wildly to the overwhelming surge of light mana. The air pressure dropped drastically. The ground cracked wide open.

"RADIANT OVERDRIVE: SUPERNOVA!"

Lumin lunged forward with full force accelerated at his boots.

He became a human comet, Crowd murmured. He will destroy Velanor for sure.

Lumin struck the center of the obsidian shield with everything he got.

CRACKKK!!

The ground ruptured into spider web design. Velanor staggered backward five feet, his boots trenching into the solid stone.

Then he hit again. Another powerful impact.

BAM!

Again.

BAM!

Again.

BAM!

Each devastating strike shattered the floor tiles, sent shockwaves rippling through the arena, and pushed Velanor backward inch by agonizing inch. The hairline crack in the center widened due to continuous strikes.

****

Up in the Royal Pavilion, Princess Seyana gasped loudly, covering her mouth with her trembling hands.

Down in the competitor pit, Kairos stood halfway up from his wooden seat, his knuckles gripping the bench tight. "Hold the line, Vel..." Kairos muttered.

Even General Karl Wade, usually unexpressive, narrowed his grey eyes in genuine surprise. The magical output by Lumin is insane. Lumin was actively trying to vaporize the iron shield itself through sheer kinetic light. Karl thought his eyes through battlefield

****

Lumin screamed with rage, grief, and wild desperation, all unleashed at once in his luminous form. "I WILL BREAK YOU!"

He recoiled his right arm with absolute vehemence, the movement precipitously coiling his look like a spring. Every light mana remnant across the arena was commanded inward, condensing into a monolithic point of incandescence atop his knuckles.

He punched forward. A chaotic blast of pure light broke the battlefield apart.

The sound was deafening with a loud rumble. The magical safety barriers of the stadium shook off, nearly shattering under the intense pressure.

Thick smoke swallowed the center of the arena. Total silence fell over the crowd.

The spectators leaned forward anxiously in their seats. "Who fell?" a man whispered loudly.

The smoke cleared. Lumin was kneeling on the ruined stone. His head hung low. His shimmering white gauntlets were cracked. His powerful light was exhausted and extinguished. He was gasping for air, his mana veins dry and burning.

And Velanor... was still standing. His Vanguard uniform was shredded to rags. His face was covered in dark soot and dried blood.

The obsidian immovable shield was shattered. It was dented almost beyond recognition, reduced to a piece of useless metal.

Velanor whispered, his breath shallow and agonized. "I don’t stand here because I’m the strongest warrior," Velanor said softly.

Lumin looked up, his pale eyes trembling, unable to believe the sheer will of the man standing before him. "I stand here because my friends... my beloved friends desperately need me to." Velanor finished.

His knees buckled and finally dropped to one knee. Everyone in the arena knows that Velanor won the match without reading a blow on Lumin. Velanor just wanted to test his endurance, that is the reason he didn’t try to attack.

CLANG!!

The bronze bell rang out, reverberating.

"The match concludes! Velanor Banner is the winner!"

The Infernal Colosseum erupted in cheers and sheer shock. It was a fascinating, emotional battle.

"Velanor!! Velanor!! Velanor!!..." The stadium filled with single name chants.

Zephyros soldiers roared his name loudly, stomping their spears against the stone bleachers as recognition. Pyrosend warriors stood up and applauded warmly in undeniable respect. Spectators from other kingdoms nodded silently recognizing what they had just witnessed.

Down below, Lumin stared frantically at the broken ground. Then he slowly started to smile, with a weak sound. The suffocating burden he had carried for his dead brother seemed to get lighter.

"You’re the absolute strongest wall, Banner!" Lumin whispered softly with a nod of acknowledgement. "Because you won’t stand alone ever."

Velanor lifted his head, forcing his aching body to stand back up. He ignored his pain and slowly walked over to Lumin. He gently offered his hand for support. It was trembling, but it was open.

"Stand with us," Velanor said sincerely. "Instead of fighting against us. Be a sturdy shield for others, not just a sharp sword."

Lumin looked up at him, disbelieving. He keenly looked at offered hand, trembling and finally smiled a genuine grin.

"Okay," Lumin said softly. He firmly took the hand. "Then I will protect... and I will not do it alone."

Velanor pulled him up with a strong jerk. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of the ruined arena, the Broken Wall and the Burnt-out Star.

The massive golden scoreboard shifted in the sky:

Winner: Velanor Banner: Zephyros Kingdom

****

In the competitor’s area, Luna Zephyros lost his aristocratic composure. He slammed his fist to the armrest, shouting very loudly. "You got too strong, fucking monster"

Kairos smiled very quietly. He sat back down with glowing pride visible behind his calm, dark eyes. You did it, brother. You really became an unbreakable fort for us.

Suddenly some agonising ache started to begin in Kairos’ heart suddenly sensing, some otherworldly aura having an eye on the arena.

[SCREEECCHHH]

[RISE??]

[K̴i̷l̵l̸ ̶t̸h̴e̸ ̶t̷h̴r̶e̶a̶t̵]

And instantly they are gone. Kairos didn’t understand the final message.

Princess Seyana laughed warmly with pure relief, happily wiping a tear of excitement from her amber eye. "Stubborn Velanor finally won!" she whispered happily to her mother.

And Brandon...

He sat exactly like a statue. He saw Seyana cheering with deep, genuine admiration shimmering in her beautiful eyes. He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white, his short nails digging into his skin.

Why do they constantly cheer for pathetic defense? Brandon thought bitterly to himself, the rot spreading in his chest. Why do you smile so warmly for that dirty arrogant bastard?

He stood up very abruptly, turning his back on the cheering arena.

"Absolutely pathetic," he muttered darkly.

The final, bloodiest battle of the Infernal Colosseum was rapidly incoming. The ground rumbled in preparation.