The dust of the collapsed arena was still settling, the cheers of Felix's victory echoing through the silent air. The spectators' faces were still turned to the figure standing alone in the center of the arena, their applause ringing out in unison.
Then, a thunderous crash resonated from beneath the ground, the vibrations reaching every corner of the coliseum.
The ground shivered, then convulsed violently as a massive formation of ice erupted from beneath the arena floor!
Jaws dropped in shock as a giant sword, carved of the clearest ice and glinting menacingly in the sunlight, thrust upwards into the sky!!
Astride this icy behemoth was none other than Avalanche himself, bloodied and battered, yet unbowed. His white fur was stained red, his body marred with gashes and bruises, but the fire in his eyes was stronger than ever.
"TRAVELER!!!" He roared, the sound rippling through the coliseum, causing the cheers to die abruptly.
His breath came in ragged pants, his chest heaving while his eyes were filled with an untamed fury locked onto Felix.
The coliseum fell into stunned silence, the taste of victory was swiftly replaced by the anticipation of a renewed fight.
"Avalanche hasn't given up yet!! But, how long can he last with only two hits left before his elimination?!" Mr. Sogrus commentated excitedly as he highlighted a small number on top of Avalanche's head.
It was eighteen written in red.
'He must have blocked many hits down there.' Felix frowned, knowing that the number should have been much higher.
"TRAVELER!!"
With another furious roar, Avalanche launched himself toward Felix while extending his grip forward like he wanted to choke him out.
'Sh*t!'
Felix's expression turned for the worst as the air itself around him was bent to Avalanche's psychokinetic energy before it latched onto him!
He felt like he was caught by an iron grip, invisible but unbearably strong, anchoring him to his spot as surely as chains would!
A vicious snarl twisted Avalanche's muzzle as his hands danced with a cold, eerie light, summoning his ice abilities.
Ice shards, sharp as daggers, emerged from his palms and flew towards Felix with frightening speed, crashing against his telekinetic barrier!
Felix's barrier flickered under the relentless barrage, shimmering waves of energy struggling to keep the icy onslaught at bay.
Avalanche was relentless. He raised a claw, and a frigid gust, teeming with minuscule ice particles, stormed towards Felix. The gale force wind lashed against Felix's barrier, each ice particle a hammer blow!
'Focus, focus, focus.'
Felix's face twisted with exertion, sweat dripping from his forehead as he fought to maintain his barrier while at the same time wanting to use his vibration to neutralize the telekinetic energy holding into him.
He found it already difficult to pull it off while he was at peace, don't even mention in this stressful situation.
Avalanche's barrage was relentless...His eyes were cold, unwavering in their intensity as he watched Felix's barrier begin to splinter.
"BEGONE!!"
With a roar that echoed through the silent arena, Avalanche brought down his fist. A colossal icicle, sharp and deadly, spiraled toward Felix!
It crashed against his barrier with an earth-shattering impact. The barrier rippled, flickered, and with a flash of light, shattered into a million sparks!
BOOOOOM!!
"Cough!"
The crowd gasped as they watched Felix coughing out blood while laying amidst chilling ice rubble.
"Ice Chains!"
Avalanche wasn't even close to appeasing his anger as he manifested multiple chilling chains from the rubble and controlled them to ensnare Felix's limbs.
"Traveller is in grave danger! If he can't free himself, Avalanche will reach the hit threshold in no time!" Mr. Sogrus disclosed out loud, his widened eyes affixed on Felix's starlike ensnare body.
'I am in trouble...'
Even Felix knew that his situation wasn't optimal at all.
While the chains were pretty easy to break from, the overpowering telekinesis pressure was still on him, keeping him affixed to the ground.
As much as he overestimated Avalanche and the other two monsters' telekinesis prowess, he was still caught off guard and his preparation wasn't enough to counter it successfully.
'Think...Think...There has to be a way to win this.'
Felix's new rational and ruthless personality made him incapable of having his emotions take the best of him even in such desperate situations.
So, he started calculating and thinking of a new strategy while his indifferent eyes were affixed on Avalanche in the sky.
"ICICLES RAIN!"
With arms spread wide as he manipulated the moisture in the air, Avalanche manifested countless sharp icicles, hanging above Felix like a deadly chandelier, their lethal points gleaming ominously in the arena's light!
"RELEASE!"
The moment Avalanche's hands slammed down, the sky fell.
Hundreds of razor-sharp icicles rained down on Felix, a glacial storm intent on piercing him to shreds!!
The air around Felix began to hum, a low vibration that grew into a throbbing pulse as he summoned an countermagic barrier.
Alas, there were just too many icicles, and the vibrations needed to match each icicle's frequency to nullify it in time before it landed on Felix.
With Felix's current understanding and mastery of the vibration element, he wasn't yet at the level to nullify anything in his path.
Thus, the barrier rippled and faltered, managing to deflect only a fraction of the icicle onslaught, leaving the audience gasping in collective horror as the remainder of the icy barrage showered Felix, each hit resonating like a chilling death knell...
Five...Seven...Twelve...
The number of direct hits with required damage kept increasing on top of Felix's head, making him and everyone else understand that he was merely a few seconds away from elimination.
While the pain was extremely intense and his body was riddled with chilling bloody holes, Felix's expression remain as stoic as ever like he had no pain receptors.
'I guess there is no other option left.'
Instead, his mind was occupied with a method to save himself. In the end, he realized that his mastery of the vibration element was still not enough to deal with those monsters and he had to improve his whole strategy.
'I have one chance to pull it off and end this.'
Felix closed his eyes, his face a picture of intense concentration...His fists were clenched tightly at his sides, each finger vibrating slightly.
Suddenly, a flicker of flame sprang to life around his hands, dancing and crackling as it began to grow in intensity and volume.
At his command, the vibrations within his hands rapidly escalated, causing the flames to surge and grow brighter.
Before Avalanche and the viewers could react,in a flash, the fire vibration mixture spread into his entire body and it exploded!!
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The shockwave was so devastating, it spread outwards like a small star had ignited in the heart of the arena!!
The ice chains were no more and what's more surprising, the telekinetic hold Avalanche had on Felix was immediately shattered!
'The hell!'
The raw, brute pressure of the blast was too overwhelming, and it forced him to focus completely his telekinesis on his protection, which weakened his hold on Felix!
"..."
"..."
"..."
As the shockwave died down and the atmosphere began to return to normal, there, at the epicenter of the explosion, stood Felix, his once vibrant aura now replaced by a chilling calm.
His clothes were singed, tattered, hanging off his frame like the remnants of a battle long fought. His skin was bloodied, peppered with tiny cuts from the shockwave, each wound a stark contrast against the pale pallor of his skin.
His hair, now wild and disheveled from the blast, framed his face, casting dark shadows over his piercing eyes.
Despite his injuries, his stance was unwavering, defiant against the brutal aftermath of his own creation.
It was a sight that sent a collective shiver down the spine of the onlookers.
"Wha..What a madman..."
"He actually tried to blow himself up..."
"Dear Lord, does he not feel pain?! How can he not pass out?!"
Whether it was the sponsors, the fighters, or the viewers, none of them managed to process the current situation before them.
Felix wasn't planning to give anyone time to do so.
Channeling his vibrational power into his palm, Felix introduced the element of fire.
The bullets, once simply silver and metallic, now glowed with a fiery intensity, a deadly combination of vibration and fire, ready to be launched!
Without any hesitation, Felix let out a low growl, "Burning Quake Bullets."
In an instant, the bullets shot forward with a sonic speed, their trajectory a deadly dance of vibrational energy and crackling fire!
The air around them distorted due to the immense heat and pulsating vibrational energy, leaving a trail of flickering embers and trembling air in their wake.
Not expecting an immediate retaliation after such an overwhelming explosion, the fire bullets struck the stunned Avalanche, their vibrational energy allowing them to penetrate his icy exterior with ease.
Each hit was like a mini-explosion, a burst of fiery flames and crippling vibrations, causing Avalanche to be pushed higher and higher into the sky, his mighty form wracked with pain!
Crack Crack....Shatter!
'Oh no!'
The relentless barrage of the burning quake bullets proved too much for his incomplete telekinesis barrier, shattering into pieces after the tenth bullet.
The immediate Felix saw his barrier fading away, he fired two more fiery bullets, and the moment they were about to land on Avalanche, he muttered, "Ignite."
Then, as if reacting to Felix's will, the vibration stored inside those bullets agitated the frequency of the fire bullets, causing them to explode simultaneously!
An earth-shaking boom echoed throughout the arena, followed by a blinding flash of fiery light.
The force of the explosion was akin to that of two grenades, a devastating surge of energy that tore through Avalanche's body!
Arggh!!!!
A roar of pain echoed through the coliseum, quickly followed by the sound of a heavy body colliding with the protective barrier of the arena.
When the dust settled, the audience could see Avalanche's enormous form slumped against the barrier, his eyes showing only white.
While Felix was able to handle such a enormous explosion on a close range without passing out, the same didn't apply to the others...
While he kept calling them monsters, in reality, the only monster in this entire tournament was no one else but him.
This conclusion seemed to have taken root inside everyone's minds as the echo of the explosion still rang in their ears, a reminder of everything that transpired before them...
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