"Sirik of the Astral Fiend Lineage vs. Aion of the Human Lineage. Fight!"
Venganza's voice echoed across the sky, reaching every corner of the coliseum, but something weird happened. Neither of the fighters moved a muscle.
Everybody was already used to seeing Aion never taking the first step in a battle and waiting for his opponent. Nevertheless, Sirik's battle style was much more direct and explosive, confusing people about the sudden change.
Sirik looked around the coliseum and could see the way people looked at him. None of them believed he could come up victorious from this battle. An awkward smile appeared on his face, but he did not blame them since Aion was unlike any opponent he had faced before in his entire life.
The Neo-Demon with the Human Lineage had the ability to predict every move he made and the speed not just to avoid them but to unleash devastating counters. Spells were useless since he could simply divert them or even absorb them into his body before releasing an energy cannon that could kill Rank 9 life forms.
What had Sirik shown that could overcome any of those skills? There was no reason to think this fight would end differently than the other three.
Sirik took a deep breath, and a powerful yet calm silver flame appeared in his eye. He took out both swords and grabbed them by the blade before tightening his grip around them.
Confusion appeared on Aion's face when he saw the Astral Fiend's hands bleeding while cracks began to appear in the swords. That behavior had no logic, and he could not figure out the reason behind it.
The people in the coliseum were just as confused, with some wondering if the Astral Fiend had decided to give up the fight since he found it futile to face the unsurpassable mountain that was Aion.
Sirik did not care about those people's thoughts or even Aion's. His eyes focused on one of the Sacred Kings on the podium with great respect.
"Swords are incredibly mighty weapons capable of unleashing the full power of my energy and flesh, but they are not my path. I have been unable to advance in the Sun and Moon Sword Inheritance due to my inability to see them as more than a weapon, but I understand now that there is nothing wrong with that.
My path was never meant to rely on swords since my body is the ultimate weapon!"
Heinz heard every word of the young Astral Fiend, and a small smile appeared on his face as he nodded, showing that he respected and even admired the path this one was taking.
"CRACK!"
The moment Sirik saw that, the strength of his grip grew powerful enough to shatter the swords, unleashing an ocean of energy and soul force as the Sword Spirits lost their bodies.
Sirik would not allow the powerful spirits to simply fade. The next second, his body began to glow, devouring that soul force and grating the Swords Spirits a new host, his own body.
Shock and awe appeared in the eyes of the people watching the Astral Fiend since that was a foolish move. Even if the Swords Spirits were born using his soul force as a foundation, they were still independent entities.
A body could not handle the pressure of having three souls giving it orders. In the best-case scenario, it would lose its ability to move fluidly.
As one would expect, Sirik's body began to twitch as the muscles and flesh did not know whom to obey. But then, the eyes of the Astral Fiend shined like a sea of wisdom as runes bathed in white and black flames emerged over his skin.
Sirik used the divine wisdom his Astral Fiend Bloodline granted to give order to the two other souls inside his body, and he still had enough mental power to unleash the full power of his cultivation in a battle.
An extremely sharp aura emerged from Sirik's body, and for a second, people felt they were not looking at a man but a mighty sword bathed in white and black flames.
"Hahaha, that damn brat."
The Sacred Kings saw how Heinz laughed after seeing Sirik's transformation. Even if they did not follow the sword's path, they understood that becoming one with the sword was a state many swordsmen could only dream of, yet Sirik managed to achieve it despite just now renouncing the weapon.
Sirik felt the rise in the strength of his body and the granular control having three souls granted him. His power rose an entire level.
"Not enough!"
Sirik shouted those words as he grabbed his shoulders and began to squeeze. He did it with so much strength that they began to compress as a reddish-blue vapor emerged from his skin.
The Astral Fiend squeezed every muscle of his bulging body, adopting an extremely thin yet muscular constitution. As for the reddish-blue vapor, it became so intense that it reached all the way to the arena's sky.
Aion's eyes narrowed as he saw the change in the Astral Fiend, and a sharp light appeared when he saw that the reddish-blue vapor was actually the combustion of Sirik's soul force and vitality.
A solemn expression appeared on his face as he saw the strength of the Astral Fiend growing, but he did not interfere with it and waited.
"This is a technique unique for Astral Fiends."
Sirik saw how Aion chose to wait for his transformation to end, which is why he decided to explain what was happening.
"It focused on the compression of every muscle in my body beyond their theoretical limit while igniting my soul force and vitality in order to fuel every cell with an overwhelming amount of energy.
If I had used this form in my previous battles, I would have made everything much easier. I didn't do it because once I trigger this ability, there is no way to stop it."
The geniuses who had fought with Sirik understood the meaning behind those words, and a profound sense of respect appeared in their hearts.
That skill required Sirik to burn his vitality and soul force, and there was no way to stop it. Of course, the Emptiness Thearch would have saved the Astral Fiend's life and healed the damage, but this one refused to win a battle using an ability that activating anywhere else meant death.
"You are a monster full of secrets, so I think it is fine if I use this against you."
Sirik showed a fiendish smile as he finished with the compression of his muscles, making his skin adopt a dark tone. His vitality and soul force were burning at a shocking speed, but he showed no concern as he focused on Aion.
"I am sure you can see every move I make, but are you fast enough to react to them?"
Those words had just reached Aion's ears when his eyes widened as he saw the Astral Fiend right before him, firing a punch straight to his face.
The Neo-Demon could see every movement that the Astral Fiend made and even predict the path the fist would take, but it advanced at such a shocking speed that he had less than a fraction of a nanosecond to react.
Aion moved his head to the right in the last instant, narrowly dodging the punch, but that was just the beginning of a barrage of attacks fired with perfect synergy.
The people in the coliseum saw with awe and shock how Sirik managed to slowly push Aion back. Even if the last one managed to dodge everything, it forced his body to its limit.
After a minute and over ten thousand punches dodged, just as Aion finished dodging a blow, the Neo-Demon with the Human Lineage felt a slight burn on his cheek.
Aion's eyes widened as he understood that a blow had come so close to him that it brushed his skin, leaving a burn mark. Coldness appeared on his face as he fired a ferocious counter the next second, connecting a direct blow to Sirik's face.
Aion's counter took all the strength in Sirik's punch and made it its own, but the second his fist connected, he understood he had made a grave mistake.
That blow, which would have been enough to send nearly all the thirty-three geniuses that reached the finals flying away, failed to push Sirik back a single step.
Before Aion could do anything, a ferocious punch landed on his stomach, sending him flying away while puking blood!
People in the coliseum and all those watching around the Daybreak Universe were speechless as they processed what they just saw.
Sirik managed to hit Aion with enough power to send this one flying away. The Astral Fiend did not rely on tricks but pure brute raw strength!
"YYYYEEEAAAAHHHH!"
The entire coliseum burst into cheers as they understood that the winner of this battle was far from being certain.
