Chapter 145: Chapter 145: The Sect Tournament [8]
The matches continued on as the day goes.
Damon watched each fight with half his attention, cataloging techniques, noting weaknesses, already planning.
Then the announcer’s voice cut through the arena.
"Match fifteen. Kai Reventon versus Lyle Ashford."
Damon’s eyes snapped to the stage.
The casual relaxation in his posture vanished, replaced by a sharp, focused tension that made Ariel and Mia glance at him.
Damon didn’t notice their looks.
His attention was locked on the arena floor where Kai Reventon was already striding toward the stage.
Kai moved like he owned the arena.
His white and gold robes billowed behind him, perfectly clean, perfectly pressed, like he had just stepped out of a ceremony rather than a combat tournament.
His chin was tilted up. His eyes carried the lazy arrogance of a man who had never been told no.
He didn’t walk up the steps to the stage.
He floated.
A soft gust of wind spirit energy lifted him smoothly onto the platform, his feet touching down without a sound, his robes settling around him like a king taking his throne.
The crowd went quiet.
On the other side of the stage, Lyle Ashford climbed the steps.
His hands were shaking.
Damon’s Incubus Celestial Eyes read the man instantly.
’Lyle Ashford. Earth Spirit Realm - Sixth Level.’
Lyle stopped at the center of the stage, facing Kai.
He was taller than Kai by half a head. Broader shoulders. More muscle.
None of it mattered.
Lyle’s face was pale.
His lips were pressed into a thin, tight line. His eyes kept darting to the side, toward Elder Alder, toward the exit, toward anywhere but the man standing ten meters from him.
Kai smiled.
It was a cold smile. A thin, cruel curve that didn’t reach his eyes.
"Ready to lose, Ashford?"
Lyle swallowed.
His throat bobbed visibly.
Then he opened his mouth.
"I surren—"
The words died in his throat.
Kai’s cultivation pressure slammed down like a mountain.
Heavenly Spirit Realm aura flooded the stage, thick and suffocating, pressing against Lyle’s body like an invisible hand wrapped around his throat.
Lyle’s eyes bulged.
His hands flew to his neck, clawing at nothing, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.
No sound came out.
The crowd stirred.
Murmurs rippled through the stands. People exchanged uneasy glances. They knew what was happening.
They could feel the pressure from where they sat, the weight of Kai’s cultivation pressing down on the entire arena.
But no one spoke.
No one stood up.
No one called out.
The Reventon family name hung over the arena like a guillotine blade, and everyone in that crowd knew exactly how sharp it was.
Elder Alder’s hand twitched.
His eyes flickered to Kai, then to Lyle, then back to Kai.
He didn’t stop the match.
Kai’s smile widened.
He walked forward, slow and deliberate, each step measured, each footfall landing with perfect precision.
Lyle tried to back away.
His feet wouldn’t move.
The pressure held him pinned, his body locked in place, his hands still clawing at his throat as he watched Kai approach.
Kai stopped in front of him.
He looked at Lyle like a man examining a piece of meat.
Then he threw a punch.
The first strike hit Lyle’s stomach.
Lyle doubled over, a wet gasp escaping his throat, his body folding around Kai’s fist like paper.
Kai didn’t stop.
He pulled his fist back and punched again.
And again.
And again.
Each blow landed with sickening precision. Ribs cracked. Blood sprayed from Lyle’s mouth, splattering across the stage in dark red droplets.
Kai grabbed Lyle’s hair and yanked his head up.
He looked into Lyle’s half-conscious eyes and smiled.
"You should have surrendered faster."
He drove his knee into Lyle’s face.
Bone crunched.
Lyle’s head snapped back, blood pouring from his nose, his eyes rolling into the back of his skull.
Kai let him go.
Lyle collapsed to the stage like a sack of grain, his body twitching, his fingers scraping weakly against the stone.
Kai stood over him.
He raised his foot.
"I’ll make sure you remember this, Ashford."
His foot came down on Lyle’s hand.
The crack echoed through the silent arena.
Lyle screamed.
It was a raw, broken sound, torn from a throat that had been crushed and battered, a sound of pure agony that made the crowd flinch.
Kai lifted his foot.
He brought it down again.
Another crack.
Another scream.
The crowd watched in frozen horror.
Some disciples looked away. Some covered their ears. Some opened their mouths to shout, to protest, to do something, but the words died before they reached their lips.
The Reventon family had eyes everywhere.
And the Reventon family never forgot a face.
Elder Alder stepped forward.
"That’s enough."
His voice cut through the arena like a blade.
Kai paused.
His foot hovered over Lyle’s other hand.
He looked up at Elder Alder, his expression shifting to one of mock surprise, like he had just been caught doing something naughty.
"Already, Elder?"
"Enough."
Kai shrugged.
He stepped off Lyle’s broken hand and walked toward the edge of the stage.
Behind him, Lyle lay motionless, his body twisted, his hands crushed, his face a mask of blood.
Elder Alder waved his hand.
Medical disciples rushed onto the stage, lifting Lyle onto a stretcher, carrying him away.
The crowd remained silent.
Kai reached the edge of the stage.
He didn’t jump down.
He turned.
His eyes found Damon in the stands.
Kai’s gaze locked onto Damon with the precision of a hunter spotting prey.
Killing intent radiated from his body in visible waves, thick and suffocating, carrying a clear message.
’You’re next.’
Kai smiled.
Then he stepped off the stage and disappeared into the tunnel.
The crowd slowly began to breathe again.
He stared at the tunnel where Kai had vanished, his golden eyes cold, his expression unreadable.
’This is how you want to play, huh?’
’Then I will let you experience how I deal with my enemies.’
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