Blackout Ascension: Return of Primordial Heir-Chapter 26: World’s Strongest Dragon

A rageful red hue bled through the Colosseum’s crystalline structure of the arena, pulsing with the visceral color of an imminent catastrophe. Heat lingering across the arena, distorting the air like a desert mirage. Incandescent fissures leaked across the crystalline floor, hissing with vapor from the cracked floor. The atmosphere had thickened into a viscous soup of mana, so oppressive that every spectators breath suffocating, gasping for breath. Beneath the transparent floor, ancient runes that balance the arena’s temperature ignited one by one, struggling to contain the pressure that was about to be unleashed.

The entire stadium shook abruptly. It was the ear-shattering screaming of packed spectators. Their voices rose high, roaring. It was a roar of anticipation and fear. Because the strongest warrior of Drakhalmere was walking forward. Pyrix Dracortis.

The East gate of Drakhalmere cranked wide open. Pyrix Dracortis marched like pride walking forward. Each step he took made the ground rumble.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

He was a man of lean, muscular arms and sigil of ember flame. He stood nearly seven feet tall, his skin looked like molten stone scales, dark grey plates drifting over veins that glowed faintly with orange light. His eyes burned with ancient dragon fire. Twin embers of ancient wrath stared forward. His skin was harder than steel. Every breath he took made the ground sweat.

From the opposite side, West gate rumbled and entered a boy with no armor and barrier. Kairos Vedaryan. He simply walked onto the arena, without any aura. He wore a simple, dark traveler’s kimono, the left sleeve held an armored-shoulder plate. His silver sword shimmering quietly at his waist. His footsteps were light, almost careless. He walked like he was going to market rather than a battle that could kill him. His crimson eyes were calm, shimmering with the fires of the arena without fear. A relaxed smile traced across his face. It was simply an honest smile. They walked toward each other until only a few steps remained between them.

The arena was so silent and excited. A living inferno versus a quiet storm. A monster of legends versus a commoner.

Pyrix rolled his shoulders, a rattling sound of bones clanked. Flames erupted abruptly across his back like breathing scales. He looked down at Kairos, and smiled looking at him.

"So," Pyrix rumbled, his voice thundered across the arena, "you’re the one who dared to stand before the Demon General with a rusty sword."

Kairos lifted up his head slightly, darting at the scales of Pyrix. "And you’re the one who was widely known as ’Walking Calamity’ across the continent." Kairos replied.

For a heartbeat, Pyrix stared. The tension was thick enough to cut. Then, Pyrix burst into a loud laughter. "BWAHAHAHA!"

It was loud, wild, and fearless. The sound roared across the Colosseum, lingering the particles of crystal dust on the floor.

"I already like you, wind-boy!" Pyrix whispered to the air quietly. "You don’t smell like fear. You smell like comfort."

Kairos offered a genuine smile back.

"Good," Kairos said. "Let’s try not to kill each other. My girlfriend is watching."

The bronze bell rang out loudly.

GONG!!

The sound was swallowed instantly. Pyrix attacked first. For a man of his size, he shouldn’t have been that fast, but he was terrifyingly quick.

BOOM!!

The ground detonated as he moved. He closed the distance at the speed of light. A fire-coated mana infused punch unleashed through the air toward Kairos’s head. The pressure alone cracked the crystal floor beneath the warriors.

Kairos slid away past back, dodging the punch. He compressed his stance and moved like the wind. He got under the punch instantly. The heat of the devastating punch touched his hair in an inch gap.

Pyrix pursued in a blue and spun his massive frame, turning the missed punch frantically into a devastating kick. It slammed down with enough force to shatter steel.

CRASH!!

The impact fractured the arena floor. Molten lava light spilled through the cracks where Kairos had been standing a millisecond ago. The moment before the kick was unveiled, Kairos jumped away. Somehow he dodged again. Pyrix grinned. "You’re fast."

Kairos smiled, already moving again, lunged to the left. "And you’re scary."

They clashed with the brutal strength of fists. Kairos is evenly matched in the brutal brawl of raw power.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

Pyrix’s blows came like falling meteors which are heavy, brutal, and unstoppable. Each strike wielded the weight of dragons immense power refined through endless war.

Kairos dodged by inches. Left. Right. Down.

He stepped inside Pyrix’s reach.

THUD!

He drove a sharp, wind-reinforced strike into Pyrix’s ribs.

THUD!!

Another into the jaw, with a rattling sound of teeth.

THUD!!!

A third into the stomach. They were precise, and calculated strikes, which made Pyrix stumble.

Pyrix struggled and staggered backward. The crowd gasped in absolute shock. "He hurt him?"

Pyrix touched his jaw, then he laughed harder. "You’re the first person to land good hits without using a spell," Pyrix admitted, his eyes glowing brighter.

Kairos shook his fist, blood drops splattered on the crystal floor. His knuckles were already bleeding from punching the scales of a dragon. "And you’re the first person I’ve punched, it felt like hitting a solid castle wall." Kairos muttered in sheer pain.

They rushed at each other again with a grin on their faces. Pyrix coalesced his fists in a burning flame, wrapping fire around his arms like living serpents. The heat was so intense, it worn out the oxygen around it.

Kairos stepped closer, chanting a devastating wind spell. "Gale Impact."

"Dragon Fist." Pyrix roared.

Their fists collided releasing a shockwave, reverberating across the arena.

BOOM!!

The impact thundered through the Colosseum. A visible shockwave burst outward, blowing the hair visibly back of everyone in the first ten rows. The crystal walls screamed under the strain of defending the impact.

Pyrix slid back two steps. Kairos slid back three. Both bled at the knuckles. Both were panting and smiling. But everyone else thought the same thing, How can this boy match Dragon?

SCREAMMM...

[DEFEAT THE DRAGON TO ATTAIN ’DRAGON SLAYER’ TITLE]

Arghhh.. This system bitch finally displayed a useful goal. Kairos thought, with a foxy grin tracing on his face.

Pyrix straightened and groaned, his aura expanding immensely. Flames wrapped fully around his body now, rising like a crown of fire. The air in the entire arena trembled violently.

"I’m done warming up." Pyrix said, his voice rumbling throughout the arena.

Kairos wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. His chest rose steadily. "So am I," Kairos replied, inhaling an exhaustive breath.

Pyrix stretched out his hand flat to the side of him. "Infernal Armory."

Flame condensed in his palm rigorously and hardened instantly. The fire screamed as it took a solid shape. A massive greatsword formed in his grip. It was five feet long, made of obsidian magma-stone, with incandescent runes igniting on the blade like heartbeat.

The arena took a breath. It was Drakfang: The Infernal Soul Blade, a colossal weapon born from the breath of ancient dragons passed down from ancestors to predecessors from centuries away as a tradition. Its presence alone bent the air around it. The heat radiating off from the blade turned the floor beneath Pyrix’s foot liquified.

Kairos watched with a steady expression. Slowly, deliberately, he reached to his waist. He simply unsheathed his blade.

SHINGGGGGG!!

A simple, elegant silver sword. Polished and pure shimmering silver light retracing its surface.

Asteria. The gift of his love, Seyana. The blade that symbolized her trust.

Pyrix pointed Drakfang to the ground. The tip melted the stone. "Good," Pyrix nodded slowly with acknowledgement. "Now you’re serious."

Kairos nodded once, taking a combat stance. "Let’s finish this properly."

Heat rose around Pyrix like a burning storm.

Wind circled Kairos like a graceful dancing storm.

They stepped forward together. The crowd rose to their feet. The generals in the VIP box stared in disbelief at the pressure emitted from two warriors in the arena. Seyana held her breath, clasping her hands tightly. Brandon leaned forward, his face pale, expecting Pyrix to kill Kairos in the next strike. Everyone’s eyes were on the battlefield.

But Kairos’ eyes... In the split second before the lunge, he didn’t look at Pyrix.

He blinked, his eyes narrowed. His gaze snapped upward into the sky, because he felt it. A presence. High above the Crystal Nexus. High above the cheering crowd. Something was watching. It felt cold, ancient and seemed wrong.

CREEEEEEEEEE....

[⚠️DANGER!!!!!!!!!!]

The system warned with a loud screeching sound inside Kairos’ mind.

"Who is watching us?" Kairos thought, a chill running down his spine that had nothing to do with the fight.

But there was no time to analyze. Pyrix roared like a dragon. "COME!"

He lunged forward, unleashing his full strength. Kairos charged as well, muscles screaming, blade dancing in the howling wind. He pushed the danger warning aside, ignoring it as a mere error.

Drakfang and Asteria swung toward each other. The incoming collision will be inevitable.