Blackout Ascension: Return of Primordial Heir-Chapter 24: Mountain Eater

The Crystal Colosseum trembled once more. This vibration did not come from the ancient magic of the shifting arena. It came from the undeniable fear that suddenly rose in every spectator’s body. The ambient air became heavy, suffocating the audience in the arena.

The battlefield began to rumbling, the levitating crystal rings lowered from the sky. The smooth floor expeditiously cracked and rose upward, forming a dangerous, mountainous terrain. The flat ground transmuted into sharp ridges and pointy slopes.

The grand announcer’s voice cracked with intense emotion.

"Third Match of the Crystal Bracket: Stark Dracortis versus Liora Sunflare!"

The air grew even heavier. The heavy East Gate opened with a loud thud. From the Drakhalmere entrance emerged Stark Dracortis. His height was staggering, casting a long shadow on the floor. He was a towering figure of pure muscle, walking entirely shirtless, with thick skin the dark color of bronze. Serrated scales of black obsidian lined his strong jaw, his broad shoulders, and his spine. It looked exactly like natural, unbreakable armor grown on his body. He simply walked forward.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Every heavy step left a shallow dent in the solid crystal floor.

Across the jagged terrain, the West Gate shimmering, opening with a loud rumble. From the Xynoria gate entered Liora Sunflare. She was tall, elegant, and completely radiant. Standing under the bright crystal glow of the arena, she looked like a desert mirage. Her armor was beautifully shaped from white pristine stone glowing faintly in the shadows. In her armored hands, she carried a massive, enchanted warhammer.

"I will not ever fear a dragon," Liora announced, her voice echoing bravely across the silent stadium. "I was born to break mountains."

Stark finally stopped walking. He slowly raised his head, glowing, golden reptilian eyes met hers.

"I am not a mountain, little sun," Stark rumbled. The tension elongated, then he grinned a soft, chilling smile. "I am the terrifying monster that eats mountains."

The heavy bronze bell rang out.

GONG!!

Liora charged instantly. She moved far faster than any earth mage in her kingdom. "Solar Quake!"

She vehemently stomped her iron boot down into the floor. A destructive rumble of shockwave with crystal light blasted directly toward Stark. The arena shuddered as the earth was torn by a raw, invisible force. A monolithic tide of jagged stone surged forward like a tsunami of bedrock.

Stark didn’t try to dodge. He stepped into the rushing wave. He casually reached out and caught the shockwave surge of bedrocks with just one bare hand.

CRUNCHHH!

The high-tier magic completely shattered against his rough palm, falling disintegrated to the ground.

Liora expected this early, so she didn’t pause. She spun her body, gracefully using the fast momentum of her forward charge to swing her warhammer. "Titan Breaker!"

She slammed the shiny hammer ruinously downward, aiming directly for his vulnerable collarbone.

Stark lifted his thick, scaled forearm. He didn’t even use a defensive spell. He just raised his bare arm to block the weapon.

BANG!! DOOOM!!!

The warhammer was buried brutally between hard bone and obsidian scale. The impact sound was like bottled thunderclap, the shockwave reverberating through the jagged arena with a deafening crack.

CRACK!!

The sturdy iron handle of the enchanted warhammer was damaged. The metal head of the weapon seamlessly cracked from the sheer, unyielding density of the dragon’s arm.

Liora’s bright eyes widened in absolute shock. "That’s completely impossible..."

Stark slowly grasped toward her with his other hand, firmly grabbing the warhammer. He effortlessly ripped it out of her tight grip as easily as taking a simple wooden toy from a small child.

He tossed it aside, the hammer clattered uselessly onto the crystal floor, sliding away.

"Forged weapons always break," Stark said softly, lowering his arm, "but I am not a forged weapon."

Liora staggered backward, completely disarmed. Stark pushed off the hard floor, disappearing in a heartbeat.

For a man of his extreme size, the sudden burst of speed was utterly terrifying. It was an obscuring blur and instantly he vanished from plain sight.

When he finally reappeared, he was standing behind her back. His deep voice was barely above a quiet whisper."You’re very strong."

He violently slammed his massive fist into the ground with pure, destructive force.

"Tremor."

BOOM!!

The arena excavated, the unfiltered kinetic force of the single punch turned the solid crystal ground into a rumbling shockwave.

Liora was savagely blown into the air. Red blood spit out from her mouth as the sheer, brutal impact severely damaged her internal organs. But she consciously twisted her body mid-air. She was a true, proud warrior, summoning a heavy dome of earth to protect herself from the inevitable crash. "Terra Guard!"

The solid stone shell crystallized perfectly around her falling body. But Stark was already waiting there. He jumped powerfully into the sky and slammed his heavy, scaled shoulder into the defensive barrier.

SMASH!!

He shattered the heavy stone barrier like a fragile eggshell.

Liora flew rigidly, backward again, crashing through a sharp crystal ridge. She rolled painfully, skidded making thin trenches carved across the floor.

Her white stone armor was cracked and falling apart. Her breathing was severely struggling, but her bright eyes still blazed with a fierce pride.

"You don’t..." Liora heavily gasped for air, angrily smearing a streak of blood from her chin. "You absolutely don’t get to overpower me without bleeding, Dragon!"

She channeled all her remaining, desperate mana, the veins under her skin shone a bright, burning gold. "Sunflare Mode: Overdrive."

She lunged forward barehanded. She screamed loudly at the top of her lungs, pouring every ounce of her remaining life force into one, final strike. She finally reached him. She threw a cataclysmic punch at Stark’s strong jaw.

WHAM!!

It was a solid hit. Stark’s heavy head turned slightly to the side with the impact of the punch, a tiny bead of blood dripped down from his mouth.

The massive crowd trembled in shock. The unbreakable dragon had actually bled.

Liora roared loudly. "Do you see?! Even a mighty dragon can bleed! Even a dragon can..."

Stark stopped moving, turning his heavy face slowly back to her. He calmly lifted his hand and rubbed the single drop of blood from his lip with his thick thumb. He looked closely at it for a second.

Then, a manic smile spread across his rugged face. It was absolutely terrifying. It was the undeniable, chilling smile of an apex predator.

"Good," Stark said, genuinely impressed.

His massive fist moved holding back some power. If he had actually used his full strength, he would have brutally punched a blood-hole through her chest. He simply used pure, raw beast instinct.

THUDDDDD!!

His punch struck her in the ribs. Liora’s bright eyes became pale white collapsing into unconsciousness. Her ribs loudly crunched under the pressure. She fell vulnerable to the broken crystal floor, coughing up blood, unable to breathe. Her bruised body refused to move.

Stark stood silently over her, his dark shadow covering her broken body completely.

"Stay down!" he said quietly.

Liora’s trembling hand moved. Her broken fingers clenched weakly against the cold floor. She desperately reached out.

She firmly grabbed Stark’s heavy ankle. Her grip was weak, trembling with pain, but she completely refused to let go of him.

"I... I won’t ever yield..." she whispered painfully, choking on her own blood. "Not until you fall... too."

Stark stared silently down at her, his eyes drifted at her shattered white armor. For the very first time in the entire match, the terrifying monster’s expression softened. The burning heat in his golden eyes slowly faded away into a surprising sadness.

"Do you honestly think I don’t ever fall, Liora?" Stark asked very quietly. He slowly knelt down on one knee. He leaned much closer to her. His rumbling voice was surprisingly gentle and kind.

"I fall every single time someone foolishly tries to bear their strength entirely alone," Stark said softly. "Because true strength should never hurt the person holding it. Your wild power is actively eating you alive from the inside out."

Liora looked up at him. The hot tears spilled over her bruised cheeks.

"I fought so hard..." she sobbed quietly, her voice breaking, "Because I just didn’t want to be weak anymore."

Stark nodded his head very slowly. He understood that fear far better than anyone else in the entire world. "Then absolutely don’t stop fighting," Stark said kindly. "But next time... please, you don’t have to fight alone."

He gently placed a warm hand behind her broken back. He carefully helped her kneel, preserving her warrior’s dignity in front of the massive crowd.

Liora trembled. looked deeply at the giant hand that could have easily killed her just a moment ago, which was now gently supporting her weight.

She finally lowered her proud head. "I yield."

The heavy bronze bell rang out loudly. CLANG!!

"STARK DRACORTIS IS THE WINNER!"

The massive audience roared along with ear-shattering applause that shook the glowing Nexus Crystal floating high above. But Stark’s golden eyes looked heavy, exactly like he was carrying the immense weight of the mountain he had just proudly claimed to eat.

He whispered very quietly under his breath, meant only for himself.

"Power should only ever exist to protect," Stark murmured sadly. "It is not meant to destroy."

****

Up in the competitor stands, Kairos nodded his head very slowly. He watched Stark closely with a very strange intensity, exactly as if he understood something personal in the big man’s quiet words.

He constantly holds back, Kairos suddenly realized, his eyes narrowing. Every single second of every single day, he forces himself to hold back his true power so he doesn’t accidentally break the fragile world around him. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Velanor and Aeryth stood completely quietly in the competitor’s box. Their mutual respect for the giant was deep and silent.

Lucy, Darth Clover, and Luna watched the scene silently from afar. They recognized the truth. Stark’s immense physical strength was a terrible, lonely burden.

The legendary Dracortis bloodline had officially claimed yet another brutal victory. But the heavy emotional cost of that power was written plainly on all of their faces.

The Crystal Colosseum began to rumble and shift once again. The final two battles of the arena and Crystal bracket remained, and two more ancient dragons were patiently waiting in the dark to breathe rage onto the stage.