That frustrated Pompa and he closed in on Jay to perform his usual bear hold to crush his opponent into submission.
Jay no longer evaded him and let Pompa gain a grasp around his trunk.
"Ahah! Caught you!!" Pompa squeaked in excitement before bringing his brute force into action.
However, the reaction he expected was nowhere to be seen on Jay's face. Instead, all he could find was unfathomable calmness.
When Jay brought his palm closer to the horns on his head, uneasiness filled his heart, and his instincts were proved right when Jay flicked his horn.
It was sent flying across the Stage, leaving Pompa to cry in pain and loosen his hold over Jay.
Jay then used that instance to pull Pompa up by his arm and hold him in the air.
There was still silence in the Colosseum. Almost everyone began to wonder if their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Someone as strong as Pompa was basically played around like a kid by a Tier-2 individual. Many even questioned the common sense behind Tiers.
It wasn't the first time it happened in the Tournament.
When Dante defeated Seath, there was some intensity present. But the one that was going on the Stage was nowhere near an intense match.
Everyone doubted whether Jay was a Tier-4 individual when they saw Pompa flailing around his arms, trying to free himself from Jay's grasp.
From using <Strength Boost-III>, Jay's Strength Attribute grew to the standard of a Tier-4 Low-Phase individual.
On top of that, the abnormal defence provided by the <Centauri Kavach> was something that highly dampened the damage received.
Although Jay still didn't morph it into the Full Body Armour form and had it on him as an outfit, the defensive capacity was not something to scoff at.
Thanks to that, Pompa's attacks barely brought any harm to Jay.
Soon, the scene on the Stage turned awkward when Pompa began pleading, "Ahh! I surrender!! Please don't eat me. I am not tasty at all."
The smug confidence that Pompa had before was nowhere to be seen.
All he was left with was utter helplessness against the overwhelming strength. In the beginning, he attributed Jay managed to dodge him out of pure luck, but it became crystal clear it was not the case as the Bout went on.
The strength behind Jay's grip made Pompa realise the difference between them.
He was genuinely afraid Jay would eat him if he didn't surrender then and there.
Much to his fear, Jay didn't lose his grip over Pompa's nape.
At that moment, Pompa really feared for his life, and for some reason, his instincts screamed of danger.
He turned his head around to call out for Felarial to intervene and save him, but was shocked to find the Tournament Manager, who was supposed to save him, didn't move from the spot and didn't even pay attention to what was happening on the Stage.
Instead, Felarial frowned while looking far into the west. It wasn't just him, but Jay also had a similar expression as he ignored Pompa and stared far into the western part of the sky.
Just as Pompa followed the line of sight, a log-sized beam of pale-orange Energy entered his vision. It was so fast and unexpected that Pompa felt it was impossible to dodge even if he wasn't confined within Jay's grasp.
Right then, Felarial's apprehensive yell resounded in the Colosseum, "Jay, Watch out!!!"
The warning was of no help as it was less likely to dodge the incoming attack for Jay with the little to no time he had left.
The danger emitted from the energy attack was more powerful than anything he had ever encountered.
In a split second, he activated everything essential in his arsenal in one go.
The first skill he activated was <Slow-mo>, which quadrupled his time perception and activated all other skills in quick succession.
He first activated <Ice Martial Aura> before casting <Acceleration Buff> on himself.
The Stage-3 Ice Martial Aura brought a boost of 15% in Strength, Agility and Endurance Attributes.
Jay didn't activate <Agility Boost-III> like he usually did and instead chose not to use it since it wouldn't be effective when used alongside the Pseudo-Speed Energy.
Once the Pseudo-Speed Energy enveloped him, his base movement speed quadrupled, bringing his speed to a new height, even higher than what Rex was capable of.
Even then, the attack reached so close that Jay couldn't dodge it, no matter what.
That left him to defend himself, and for that, he initiated the Centauri Kavach to morph into its Full Body Armour form, increasing the defence provided by three times than when in outfit form.
The next instant, the golden blazing sun at the centre of his chest spun at incredible speeds, transforming the garment into full-body armour.
Just as the attack was a meter away from colliding with him, Jay concentrated most of it in one place and morphed the armour on his left forearm into a shield-like structure.
From the moment the attack was identified by Jay, and it reached him, the span was too short that no one else could realise what happened.
Only due to the quadrupled time perception did Jay react the way he did.
As soon as the attack landed, the impact alone sent a massive shock wave that broke the barrier encasing the Stage.
A barrier strong enough to withstand even the most powerful attack of a peak Tier-3 lifeform was shattered just like that, and a blinding light erupted with the collision point as the center.
The shockwave sent all the participants sitting by the Stage crashing into the Colosseum walls except for the strongest bunch among them.
The dust started to settle down, and the situation at the Stage was about to unravel for everyone else.
