Rise Of The Lesser-Blood

The double impact of their fists sent a shuddering shockwave through the black sand, but neither boy relented.

They fought on fiercely, trading blows at a speed that left shimmering trails of violet electricity and distorted air in their wake. Karen was pushing his vessel to its absolute physical limits, his silver eyes completely white with determination as he unleashed a constant flurry of lightning-infused strikes. Every kick and punch he threw carried enough kinetic energy to shatter solid steel.

Yet, from the highest rows of the spectator benches, Thomas watched the brutal exchange with a sharp, piercing focus. Through the raw tracking of his vision, he noticed something that the thousands of cheering high-bloods completely missed. Julian was not taking this fight too seriously. Even as Karen pushed his Stormcaller talent into overdrive, Julian’s movements remained entirely too relaxed. He was letting Karen exhaust his reservoir, casually deflecting the most lethal strikes with minor, effortless spatial tilts. Julian was merely playing with his food.

Suddenly, the ambient temperature in Arena plummeted. The cold indifference on Julian’s face hardened into a terrifying, absolute focus.

”This match is over,” Julian said.

Before Karen could even attempt to vault backward or re-establish his vacuum defenses, Julian thrust his right hand forward, his long fingers snapping into a tight, recursive geometric pattern. He didn’t target the space around Karen’s body. Instead, his Crimson Void talent bypassed the physical exterior entirely, directly targeting the coordinates inside the boy’s torso.

Vrk-t!

A hollow, sickening sound echoed through the open sky. Julian collapsed the space directly inside Karen’s mana core and his internal mana circuits.It was a quiet, microscopic execution. Instantly, the roaring hurricane spinning above the academy tower violently flatlined, the roiling purple clouds dissolving into thin grey mist in a heartbeat. The brilliant violet lightning dancing around Karen’s limbs vanished, leaving his body completely hollow. Karen froze mid-stride, his silver eyes widening in sheer, primal horror as he felt his entire spiritual reservoir get compressed and swallowed into an absolute gravity void.

Karen suddenly lost his power. He stumbled forward, his knees buckling beneath him as he crashed heavily onto the black sand, entirely crestfallen. He stared down at his trembling, empty hands, his pride and his soul thoroughly broken by the realization that his Grade S talent had been rendered completely useless with a single thought.

Up on the elevated platform, Instructor Cross immediately noticed the total erasure of the Stormcaller’s energy signature. He raised the dark starting flag, his scarred face hard as he looked down at the sand.

”Winner: Julian of Class 1-A!” Cross’s amplified voice boomed across the wind-swept summit, officially concluding the super-tier block of the Round 2 elimination tier.

Thomas sat back down on his wooden bench, his farm-boy mask perfectly smooth as glass as the translucent crimson runic barrier cast by the Horsemen slowly began to dissolve. The incredible display of raw power from both Grade S titans had left a deep, unshakeable impression on his mind, but his dangerous smile quietly returned. Julian had just proven that he had no equal among the High-bloods freshman which only meant his soul would provide the ultimate evolutionary data when Endless Adaptation finally caught up to his throne.