Chapter 198: Chapter 198 - Kurt VS Nakamura
["WE ARE MOVING INTO THE ELEVENTH MATCH OF THIS UNSCHEDULED SHOWDOWN, AND THINGS ARE HEATING UP! On one side, the undefeated black-horse, Kurt Rossana! On the other, the proud instructor belonging to Myria’s Skyward Academy, Nakamura Kenji!"]
Nakamura stood relaxed with his hands tucked into the wide, flowing sleeves of his traditional Myrian robes. Beneath his Geta sandals, the stone of the arena was beginning to grind and shift, turning into a swirling golden mist of sand.
"You fight with the crude and ugly violence of a cornered beast, Rossana-kun. Raw physical strength can only carry you so far. But against the majesty of a master-class mage... you are nothing but a child swinging his fist into empty air."
Staring at him blankly, Kurt didn’t answer with words.
An eager glint flashed within his eye before he planted his foot on the ground, violently cracking the stone as he channelled his mana to strengthen himself.
BOOM!
In an explosion second, Kurt vanished from his position and reappeared directly in Nakamura’s blind spot with his right fist whistling through the air, aiming squarely at the Myrian’s temple.
"Ha. Too slow, Rossana-kun."
Without even turning his head, Nakamura tapped his foot.
Tonk.
A dense wall of iron-earth shot out from the arena floor, perfectly interposing itself between them.
BAM!
Kurt’s enhanced fist slammed dead center into the barrier. A thunderous explosion of shattered stone echoed through the coliseum, but before the dust could even clear, the debris dissolved into a swirling vortex of razor-sharp sand.
"Now, sink," Nakamura commanded with a cruel smile splitting his face as he gestured downward with his sleeve.
The swirling sand shot toward ground beneath Kurt’s feet and instantly liquefied the rest of the stone into a treacherously deep quicksand trap that forcefully dragged him with it.
At the same time, a massive, multi-ton hand of compacted earth materialised above him, slamming down with the force of a falling meteor to crush him into the dirt.
At the lower VIP section, Everett Herst was practically leaning over the polished stone railing as a manic grin of pure ecstasy broke through the bloody bandages currently wrapped tightly around his shattered nose.
His eyes went wide with an unhinged glee when he watched the massive earth hand completely bury Kurt beneath the tons of debris.
"Yes! Look at that, Lord Reuben! He’s completely trapped! That arrogant fool actually thought he could stand against a true elite! It’s over for him, hahaha!"
Standing quietly next to him, Reuben remained motionless. His piercing eyes didn’t look at the arena; instead, he slowly turned his head, casting a cold side-eye.
"And what if Nakamura wins?" Reuben’s deep voice cut through Everett’s celebratory shouting.
Freezing at the question Everett slowly turned his head at the duke of Valentine. "W-What do you mean, Lord Reuben?"
"If Nakamura successfully defeats the boy below, according to the conditions set, he will have earned the right to claim my daughter as his own. So, if Nakamura stands victorious... what exactly do you intend to do about it?"
"I-Isn’t it obvious? I will simply... I’ll challenge him myself! I’ll prove that the Herst family is–"
"Hmph." Reuben let out a dismissive grunt, turning his eyes away from the noble and returning them to the fractured ring below. "Foolish."
Back on the arena floor, the cloud of dust from the earth hand’s impact slowly began to drift away. Nakamura stood a few yards away with his arms still tucked neatly inside his sleeves and an arrogant smile.
"A pity. I expected at least a brief moment of amusement from the Principal Valentine’s chosen–"
CRUNCH
The solid mounds of compacted earth suddenly trembled. Nakamura’s smile faltered slightly as a series of glowing fractures spider-webbed across the giant hand.
BOOM!
With a casual stride, Kurt slowly walked out from beneath the wreckage. His maroon blazer was completely free of dirt and tears. He didn’t possess a single scratch.
Surrounding his entire body was an incredibly dense layer of Mana Coating that was actively deflecting every single particle of sand away from his skin.
Through a combination of his unique skill Adaptation and his own growing understanding of mana, his body had already analyzed the friction and density of Nakamura’s earth magic, adjusting his own mana to completely negate the environmental hazard.
"Is that really the best your ’majesty’ can do, Ken-kun~? I’ve felt harsher breezes from a living room fan."
*Tsk* "Arrogant worm... Let us see how long your little shield lasts against this!"
Nakamura slammed both of his palms flat against the ground.
Snap—BOOM!
The entire coliseum rumbled as five humungous pillars of jagged bedrock shot out from the earth. They twisted together like the jaws of a beast and violently snapped shut around Kurt from all directions, trapping him within a claustrophobic spiked tomb.
"Ha! I have you now–!"
SHING—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A single, blinding flash of blue light effortlessly sliced through the stone tomb.
The pillars of bedrock were cleanly bisected into two perfectly smooth halves. Kurt stood at the center point of the tomb with his mana coated black blade finally drawn from its scabbard.
["WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE TURN OF EVENTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Just like with Nichole Firestar and Izumi Ayako, Kurt is demonstrating a legendary technique that millions of people train their entire lives to master, yet ninety-nine percent can never achieve! MANA COATING!"]
"""YEEAAAHHHH!!!"""
"No... no way... that’s impossible!" Everett’s jaw dropped to the floor. "An F-rank shouldn’t be capable of such high-tier mana manipulation!"
Ayako slowly pulled her oversized dark sunglasses down to the bridge of her nose. Her grey eyes flared with a borderline obsessive battle-thrill as she watched Kurt begin to get serious.
"Yes... Show me, Rossana-sama..." she whispered to herself. "Show me exactly what you can do once you truly stop playing around..."
Emelie, who was sitting right beside her, slowly turned her head and stared at the Myrian with an expression of creeped-out discomfort. She quietly shuffled her way to the next seat over, trying her best to ignore Ayako’s weird behavior as she clutched her bucket of popcorn.
Back in the center of the ring, Nakamura was backpedaling. His hands beneath his sleeves shook as he frantically channeled his mana to summon dozens of smaller, rapid-fire stone projectiles to throw at the approaching Kurt.
"A fluke! That was nothing but a fluke! You cannot possibly possess nor sustain that level of precise mana manipulation! Now stay back and die!"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With effortless strides, Kurt walked directly through the barrage of stone projectiles. Every time a pointed rock flew toward his face, a quick flick of his blade instantly sliced the attack into harmless dust.
His Enhancement kept his movements fluid, his Adaptation made him aware of where to strike, and his superior instinct as a combatant allowed him to read Nakamura’s trajectory before the Myrian could even throw the next stone.
"Looks like your time is up, Ken-kun," Kurt murmured with a victorious smile.
"Shut up! Diana Valentine will be mine! I will not allow you to take her from me!" Nakamura screamed.
He then gathered every single ounce of his remaining reservoir to summon a towering tidal wave of razor-sharp sand to swallow the arena whole.
But right before the wave could fully crest, Kurt blitzed through the gathering sandstorm and reappeared directly inside of Nakamura’s personal space. He slid his blade back into its scabbard while at the same time, equipping one brass knuckle onto his left hand.
"... Huh?" Nakamura blinked.
One moment, victory was assured, the next, Kurt’s mana coated left fist drove straight forward, connecting itself hard onto the Myrian’s sharp jawline.
Crack—BOOOOOOM!!!
The sheer impact and devastating shockwave ripped through Nakamura’s body, instantly shattering through his two factor protection barriers made of enhanced sand and strengthening magic.
Nakamura’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his mouth flew open as his elegant form was launched backward like a broken ragdoll, flying a full fifty feet across the arena before crashing heavily onto the concrete floor outside the ring.
He was knocked out cold, unable to move a single muscle.
"""".... Y-YEEEEAAAHHHHH!!!!""""
The coliseum fell into a sudden, stunned silence before their thunderous roar of cheers erupted.
Kurt slowly lowered his fist and exhaled a calm stream of breath as he adjusted the collar of his blazer. He then turned his attention around the stands, looking directly toward the VIP section.
He locked his fierce gaze straight onto the trembling figure of Everett Herst. Then, in a typical crazy fashion not new to him – in front of the thousand screaming witnesses – Kurt pointed the tip of his knife at the silver-haired noble and slowly brought it to his throat, sliding it across his neck in a gesture of death.
All of this while having the most infuriating smirk plastered on his face.
Everett’s veins bulged against his temples as he slammed his fist against the stone railing in pure rage. He was trapped, and he knew it. One way or another, the lowly F-rank was coming for him.
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