I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 803: Stray Dog

Rhys rotated in the opposite direction and extended a spinning back kick powered by wind magic acceleration and his contracted state’s increased strength.

The heel connected with Byron’s ribs on the right side.

More ribs cracked.

The sound was audible to the entire stadium. This time, the fracture pattern was different.

These ribs did not merely crack; they splintered completely. The force of the impact drove Byron sideways, his body folding around the impact point, his arms wrapping instinctively around his damaged torso.

Byron attempted to move backward, to create distance, to recover from the assault that had transformed into systematic destruction.

Rhys pursued relentlessly like a rabid dog that refuses to stop.

He moved with the flowing grace of someone in complete control of his body and his environment.

His wind magic propelled each step. His water magic flowed around him in defensive patterns, creating barriers against any counterattack Byron might attempt.

Byron raised his hands defensively, attempting to create light magic barriers between himself and Rhys.

But the barriers were crumbling under Rhys’s relentless attacks. His Bloodrush enhancement provided a survival instinct, but it did not enable him to match Rhys’s contracted state power.

Rhys extended a left jab directly at Byron’s face. The punch was powered by his contracted state’s doubled strength, by wind magic enhancement, and by precise technique refined through training from demons.

Byron attempted to parry with his right hand; however, his timing was significantly impaired due to the damage sustained to his ribs, the concussive effects of the elbow strike, and the cumulative trauma to his nervous system resulting from the lightning strikes.

His parry was slightly late. The punch connected with his left cheekbone.

The bone shattered.

Blood erupted from the impact point like a fountain. Byron’s face twisted violently. His entire frame seized in response to the trauma.

Pieces of his cheekbone were driven inward, lacerating the soft tissue of his face, creating wounds that would scar him for the remainder of his life if he survived.

Rhys followed immediately with a right cross. A full body rotation powered this punch. His hip rotated forward, generating power that traveled up his spine and down his arm.

The punch connected with Byron’s right eye socket.

The orbital bone fractured. The impact simultaneously disrupted blood flow to his eye. Byron’s vision went black on the right side as nerve damage prevented any signals from reaching his consciousness from that eye.

He staggered backward, his hands raised in a desperate defensive posture, but he was no longer capable of defending effectively. His body was shutting down from the accumulated trauma.

His ribs were shattered. His face was broken. His consciousness was fragmenting under the intensity of the neurological damage.

Rhys continued forward.

He extended a left kick aimed at Byron’s sternum.

Byron attempted to step back to avoid the kick, but his damaged ribs limited his mobility. His breathing was labored. His coordination was gone.

The kick connected.

The impact drove Byron backward. His feet lost contact with the ground. His body flew through the air as the kick’s kinetic force propelled him. His body hurtled backward in an arc.

He crashed into the barrier.

The transparent magical wall did not yield. Byron’s body impacted it at high velocity, then rebounded backward, dropping heavily to the arena floor.

He attempted to rise.

His body would not respond.

His ribs were shattered. His face was broken. His right eye was damaged. His consciousness was barely coherent. His Bloodrush enhancement was providing enough adrenaline to keep him marginally aware, but his body had ceased functioning as a coordinated system.

He was broken.

Rhys approached him with the measured gait of someone focused on completing the task rather than engaging in an active fight.

His lightning daggers were still gripped in his hands, electricity still crackling across the metal surfaces, still ready to deliver additional electrical discharge.

Byron’s body attempted to move. His hands pressed against the arena floor in an attempt to push himself upright. His muscles responded to a survival instinct, but they lacked the structural integrity to perform the movement.

Rhys reached him.

He extended his hand and gripped Byron’s arm.

The left arm, the one that had been driving so many strikes moments before. The left arm that had been powering Byron’s assault when he appeared to be winning.

Rhys twisted.

The movement was controlled.

His arm rotated as his body twisted, his contracted state’s doubled strength concentrated on this single point of leverage.

No resistance could counter the force he was generating.

Byron’s arm snapped.

The bone broke cleanly.

The radius and ulna fractured simultaneously, with a sound like a branch snapping under weight. The break was not a simple fracture.

It was a compound fracture in which the bones separated completely, and fragments pierced the surrounding tissue.

Byron emitted a visceral scream, extreme distress that surpassed any pain he had ever experienced before.

The sound echoed through the stadium. It was the sound of a human body breaking beyond its tolerance threshold.

Rhys released him.

Byron’s body collapsed to the arena floor. His left arm was hanging at an unnatural angle, the hand connected only by tissue and tendons, the bones completely separated.

Rhys looked down at him.

“Stray dogs need to stay on their master’s leash.”

The words were delivered flatly. Not with anger. Not with triumph.

Simply as a statement of fact.

As an observation and a consequence of challenging power with false power.

Byron’s consciousness was slipping away. His body was shutting down from the accumulated trauma. His breathing was shallow and irregular. His heartbeat was becoming arrhythmic as blood loss accelerated.

Rhys turned away from him.

He moved to the center of the arena.

The green tattoos covering his body began to fade.

The inner luminescence dimmed. His presence remained dominant, but the contracted state was releasing, powering down, returning his capability to baseline levels.

Byron’s body went completely still.

He was unconscious. Broken ribs splintering his organs. Crushed sternum. Shattered cheekbone. Fractured orbital bone. Broken arm with compound fracture. Internal injuries had impacted his organs due to the repeated trauma.

He was alive. But he was defeated more thoroughly than any competitor in the tournament’s history.

The stadium remained in absolute silence.

The crowd was processing what had just occurred. Rhys had not simply defeated Byron. Rhys had demonstrated a level of capability that transcended everything they had witnessed throughout the tournament.

Rhys had been holding back throughout every match.

Leandros’s jaw was clenched so tightly that his temples throbbed. Tymandra’s hand was gripping her armrest so tightly that her knuckles had gone completely bloodless. Duke Asher’s eyes were wide. Caspian’s entire body was trembling violently.

Sylvia’s eyes were wide. Her hand had unconsciously gripped the barrier’s interior. She was processing the implication with crystalline clarity.

She could not defeat Rhys. Bastian could not defeat Rhys. Miriame could not defeat Rhys.

They were competing against someone operating at a level that was genuinely beyond their ability to fight.

Bastian’s fire magic had dimmed completely. His aggressive bearing had transformed into something more wary, more cautious.

He was recognizing that he had been fortunate throughout the tournament not to face Rhys directly. He was recognizing that every competitor he had defeated was weaker than the half-blood standing in the center of the arena.

Miriame’s exhaustion seemed even more pronounced now. Her body was swaying slightly.

She was understanding that her participation in the Finals was about to become significantly more dangerous.

She understood that she would likely be eliminated quickly if she faced Rhys directly.