"Why am I doing this again?" Uriel muttered as he stood in the dark, waiting for the reflectors to be turned on.
"Look, you asked me for help and I’ll do it. But you said it yourself, you’re not my boss anymore. If you want me to do something for you, you need to do something for me." Phlox said as she rubbed Uriel’s shoulders and back before his fight.
"Why can’t you just sell the flux orbs for me and I’ll pay you?" Uriel attempted one more time to get out of that situation, but Phlox quickly shut it down.
"This isn’t about the money, that guy disrespected me as a woman and as a fighter. He humiliated me!"
"Yeah, but... what makes you think the same is not going to happen to me?"
"If you defeat him and then do what I asked you, then I’ll be happy. But if you happen to lose, I’ll have a good laugh out of it!" Phlox said with a smirk. Uriel wanted to retort, but the reflectors were turned on and the presenter appeared signaling that the time for speaking had ran out and Phlox ran towards the bleachers where the two slum dwellers Uriel met a couple days ago were waiting.
Needless to say, they all placed a bet on the challenger because they expected Uriel to at least reach the same ’step’ of the ladder Phlox did the day before and since Uriel was an ascended, a lot of people placed a bet on him too.
"Everyone welcome our champion, the one and only, the undefeated Dreeeeeadfist!" The presenter shouted and the crowd reacted in the same manner as the day before. "And on this corner, the challenger, the masked man!" The reflectors turned to him just like they did for Phlox the day before, but this time people didn’t boo at him.
The reason for that was simple, he was an ascended and he should be stronger than Phlox. That not only meant the show should be more exciting, but also that he would make them some money by defeating more people than Phlox did.
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
"Every step the challenger climbs, the bigger the winning pile will be. Will he be able to reach the highest step!? Will he!? We shall see now!" The presenter retreated amidst a thunderous clapping and Uriel stepped inside the arena.
The first opponent was the same man Phlox fought the day before. Though he wasn’t as confident when facing Uriel because he was bound to be stronger than Phlox and he didn’t want to risk getting injured. After all, he didn’t even have a trait and his only job in the ladder was to wipe out the weaker evolved as he knew he had absolutely no chance against even the weakest of the ascended hunters.
In other words, that man was only there to make the show even more morbid than it was.
As expected, the fight ended as soon as the referee gave the go with a single leg sweep. The next couple opponents were also defeated in the same manner, making it one of the most boring challenges the people in the audience had ever witnessed.
Uriel didn’t even bother trying to make it more entertaining and he wanted things to be over with as soon as possible. However, the presenter didn’t let the opportunity to hype up the crowd pass.
"This is amazing! Incredible! I can’t believe what my eyes are seeing! This man is breaking all the records. He’s speedrunning the ladder like no one has ever done before!!!"
The evolved fell like flies under Uriel’s effective, yet boring, leg sweep. Even if they knew it was coming, they had no way of dodging or blocking that attack. They tried to jump, only to be pushed to the ground, they also attempted to activate their traits, some of them had stone skin, others could manipualte the elements, but Uriel didn’t even need to adjust his move.
Then, the time for facing the ascended that defeated Phlox finally came. The fat man entered the arena causing an uproar. People knew him well because he was among the oldest champions of the ladder, back when it first started, but no one knew his trait.
Sometimes he won and sometimes he lost, but it all happened within the span of a few seconds. The fights against him were always decided after the first movement and it was impossible for people to know what made the difference.
But Uriel’s case was different, he had a theory. It not only explained why the man needed to be fat in order for his trait to work properly, it also explained why he always taunted his enemies.
"Are you so ugly you can’t even show your face?"
"That’s correct." Uriel replied under the gas mask he was wearing, prompting the crowd to burst into laughter.
"Huh? Are you an idiot?" The man scoffed.
"I am." Find your next adventure on freewebnovel
"You... what’s the matter? Are you so scared of me you don’t want to make the first move?" The man insisted on trying to provoke Uriel when he realized he wouldn’t strike first.
"Of course I’m scared!" Uriel replied with feigned honesty.
The man clicked his tongue in frustration. Because of how his trait worked, he needed his opponent to strike first but Uriel wasn’t falling for it. He tried cursing at him, provoking him and insulting him in many different ways, but Uriel kept his replies short and didn’t show any signs of being annoyed.
"Hey! We didn’t come here for a comedy show!"
"Yeah, do something referee!" People in the bleachers complained.
"C’mon! Just hit him on that smug face already!" Even Phlox shouted, but Uriel remained calm and collected waiting for his opponent to make the first move. However, things took a turn when the man unwittingly hit a nerve.
"You’re dumb as a rock, ugly as a cryptid, weak as an evolved and even a coward. No wonder you don’t have a girlfr... Mhfhfmg" The man was cut short by a powerful fist to the face so fast he couldn’t even activate his trait on time.