"I didn't expect this generation's Red Dragon Emperor to carry Ancient Devil blood."
"Ancient Devil? That's a symbol of sin and chaos!"
"To have ancestral genes... even if it's only a thirty percent match, giving him an Earldom isn't an overstatement."
Most nobles respected the Ancient Devil bloodline as it was the origin of their race, but there were always outliers who hated the "primitive" blood. Ethan was already on their blacklists.
Ethan didn't care. He had several bloodlines, but his Demon Form was his most physically potent. It also allowed him to hide his talent-copying ability. He chose to forgo magic and engage in a brawl. Magic consumed too much mana and was less effective against a Phenex. He wanted to push his martial arts skills to the limit.
Ethan became a streak of black lightning, lunging at Riser. At the last second, Riser twisted his body, the flames of his wings scorching the air as he dodged.
BOOM!
Ethan's punch missed, obliterating a massive marble pillar behind Riser, turning it into fine powder.
"What the hell..." Riser stared at Ethan, who emerged from the dust cloud unscathed. "That speed and power... he's a monster!" Even with a rank advantage, they seemed physically equal. Riser resolved not to give Ethan a single opening to use the Boosted Gear.
Ethan patted the dust off his shoulders, looking excited. "That was my full speed, and you dodged it. I guess you really did get stronger."
Riser roared, his Phoenix fire forming a yellow 'Z' streak in the sky as he dove at Ethan with a mana-saturated fist. Ethan didn't dodge. His martial spirit was fully awake. He kicked off a piece of rubble and met the blow head-on.
The collision of two massive mana pools created a cross-shaped shockwave that bloomed from their fists, followed by a blinding white light that enveloped the arena.
The noble devils watching the broadcast had to shield their eyes. Only the truly powerful could see through the glare. When the light faded, Ethan fell from the sky, a scorched fist-print on his bare chest.
"As expected, the rank gap is too much without the Sacred Gear."
"Riser won't give him a second chance."
While the nobles gossiped, the Gremory and Phenex representatives had opposite reactions. Ravel, the blonde twin-tailed girl in a pink lolita dress, frowned.
"Sister Rias, you don't seem worried at all?"
"Worried?" Rias blinked. "Oh, sorry. Ethan rarely uses the Sacred Gear, and his relationship with Ddraig isn't what you think. I forgot people still call him the 'Red Dragon Emperor'."
She turned back to the screen. "The fight just started. You don't actually think this is Ethan's full power, do you?"
Sirzechs looked intrigued. Ethan's performance was already absurd for his rank. He had more?
In the arena, Ethan and Riser exchanged hundreds of blows. Ethan took the brunt of the damage. His clothes were incinerated by the Phoenix flames. While he wasn't shy about his body, he had no interest in fighting with his "dragon" swinging in the wind.
Ethan used his Instant Illusion talent to instantly manifest a new set of black casual clothes.
"See? Without that gauntlet, you're just trash!" Riser laughed, gathering massive mana in his palms as he mocked Ethan.
"Is this all you've got?" Ethan replied.
Riser was fighting a war of attrition, using his immortality to trade wound for wound. Only the feeling of his fists hitting Ethan's flesh could soothe his rage. Ethan was technically on the losing side of this exchange, as his wounds didn't heal instantly like Riser's.
However, Riser's "brawling" style actually neutralized Ethan's technical martial arts advantage. Ethan eventually gave up on finesse. He looked at Riser's blonde hair and decided to just go "full meathead."
Berserk mode: activated.
"If this is all you have, this fight ends in five minutes."
Ethan's physical attributes doubled. He was now significantly stronger and faster than Riser.