The attention of the spectators gradually returned to the arena, where the atmosphere had changed completely during the brief lull in the fight.
Jet-black Darkness was pouring from Hector's body in greater amounts than before, seeping through the gaps between his dark scales before gathering around his shoulders and arms. His claws extended farther from his fingertips as the Darkness thickened around them, while the pressure radiating from his body caused loose fragments of stone near his feet to tremble.
Facing that growing pressure from across the arena, Knox quietly raised both gauntlets. His hands settled close to his upper body, one slightly ahead of the other, while his elbows remained tucked closer to his sides. The violet sections embedded throughout his armor continued to glow as he shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, his eyes never leaving Hector.
As Knox settled into his stance, there was no smile on his face. Hector noticed it as well, but at this point, Knox's attitude only irritated him further.
"Damn you...!"
Unable to contain that irritation any longer, Hector launched himself forward, and the floor cracked beneath his feet. His scaled right arm swept toward Knox first, five claws cutting through the air with jet-black Darkness trailing behind them. Knox moved his upper body away from their path, but Hector immediately stepped deeper into his reach and brought his other arm around, turning what had begun as a single slash into a continuous assault.
With the second claw already coming toward him, Knox kicked against the floor rather than continuing backward. His body rose just as the attack swept toward him. Knox drew his legs closer and leaned back in midair, allowing Hector's arm to pass above him before his body rolled through the motion and turned sideways above Hector's shoulder.
Following the rotation of his body, the two elongated pieces of armor behind Knox's waist spread slightly with the movement and drew two curved trails of violet light through the air. Then, as Knox completed the turn, one leg extended.
BANG!
His heel crashed into Hector's shoulder from above, and violet flames burst across the dark scales at the moment of impact. Hector was knocked sideways while Knox used the recoil to finish his rotation, landing several steps away with both hands already returning to their compact guard.
However, Hector barely gave him time to touch the ground. He rushed forward again, this time attacking with both claws in rapid succession. One came horizontally toward Knox's neck while the other followed from below, forcing Knox to move between two converging attacks.
Faced with the two attacks, Knox stepped inside the first. Then, when the second came upward, his leg rose sharply and his shin met Hector's forearm before the claws could reach his body.
BAM!
Although the impact bent Knox's knee slightly, his balance remained firm. He pushed Hector's arm outward with his leg, planted his foot beside him, and used the same shift of weight to turn his hips into a short right punch.
BOOM!
Violet fire exploded against Hector's ribs. Hector grunted from the impact and immediately swung his elbow backward, but Knox had already lowered himself beneath it. His shoulders turned as he moved around Hector's side, and for an instant, the violet light trailing behind his armor left a second silhouette beside him.
Mistaking that silhouette for Knox, Hector attacked the afterimage. His claws passed harmlessly through the fading violet figure, and by the time he realized his mistake, Knox was already on his other side.
Before Hector could turn toward him, a fist struck his jaw.
BANG!
Hector's head snapped sideways, yet Knox didn't allow the impact to create distance between them. His lead foot moved forward with Hector's retreat, his hands returning near his face for only a fraction of a second before the next combination began.
Maintaining that pressure, his left fist shot forward first. Hector raised his scaled arm and blocked it, but Knox's shoulder had already turned. The opposite fist followed immediately, forcing Hector to shift his guard before another short punch came from below and struck the exposed side of his abdomen.
Bam! Bang!
Violet flames flashed between them with the impacts. Trying to force his way out of the combination, Hector threw a heavy punch directly through Knox's assault. Knox tilted his body away from the fist, allowing it to pass beside his cheek, then rolled his shoulder and came back with a punch from the opposite side.
Hector managed to block it, but even that wasn't enough to stop Knox.
Instead, his fists accelerated.
One violet gauntlet became several overlapping images as punches poured into Hector's guard from alternating angles. The movements remained tight around Knox's upper body, with every strike returning close to him before the next was released, but their speed made it increasingly difficult to distinguish one fist from another.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BANG!
Under the continuous barrage, Hector's scaled arms began to shake. Violet flames burst with the heavier impacts, briefly wrapping around Knox's fists before being stretched into glowing trails by the next movement. The afterimages multiplied with them until Hector seemed to be surrounded by dozens of violet fists hammering against his defense.
"Guh...!"
Unable to defend every angle at once, Hector shifted his guard downward when one punch threatened his abdomen.
That single movement was enough to give Knox the opening he needed.
Knox changed levels with him, but instead of sending another fist toward the opening, he pivoted on his supporting foot and brought his leg around. Following the rotation, the elongated armor pieces behind his waist swept outward with him.
WHOOSH!
A broad arc of violet flame followed his leg toward Hector. Hector barely managed to raise his arm before the kick crashed into it.
BOOM!
The force shoved him several meters sideways, his claws scraping across the arena floor as he fought to keep his balance. Hector managed to stop himself, but the instant he looked up, violet light was already crossing the distance between them.
Knox had already come straight back into his reach. Seeing him approach, Hector roared and swung his clawed hand toward him, only for Knox to lower himself beneath the attack and drive a gauntlet into his abdomen. Violet flames erupted against the scales, lifting Hector's heels from the ground before Knox's other fist followed into his chest.
BANG!
The second impact pushed Hector backward again. This time, however, rather than immediately trying to strike back, jet-black Darkness suddenly gathered around his hands.
"Enough!"
With the Darkness rapidly gathering around him, Hector thrust both arms forward. The Darkness expanded between them and rapidly compressed into a thick wall, its surface growing darker as several layers formed over one another. Hector disappeared behind the barrier just as Knox stepped into striking distance.
With the newly formed wall now blocking his path, Knox drew one fist back. The violet flames around his gauntlet intensified as his waist turned, carrying the movement through his shoulder and into his arm. The moment his weight shifted forward, his fist drove into the center of the black wall.
CRAAASH!
Unable to withstand the blow, the barrier shattered. Fragments of condensed Darkness scattered outward like broken glass, briefly filling the space between them. Knox passed through the collapsing defense before the fragments could disperse, his violet silhouette appearing between them as Hector instinctively raised both arms.
The first punch immediately struck his guard, but the second came underneath it.
BANG!
Hector's body folded slightly from the blow to his abdomen, and Knox immediately stepped deeper into his reach. His fists returned near his face before shooting forward again, striking Hector's arms and body in a rapid sequence that forced the larger student to retreat.
While being driven backward, Hector attempted to answer twice. However, neither attack was allowed to develop.
Knox struck his wrist aside the first time, then caught the second against his raised leg, using his shin to hold Hector's forearm away from his body. With Hector's arm displaced, Knox stepped down and drove another punch through the opening.
BOOM!
Violet flames erupted across Hector's chest, causing him to stumble backward. Yet the moment he did, Knox moved with him.
The pressure never stopped.
Keeping pace with Hector's retreat, Knox's fists blurred into violet afterimages as he advanced, alternating between Hector's guard and every opening that appeared around it. Whenever Hector managed to protect his upper body, Knox's attacks shifted toward his ribs and abdomen; whenever his arms dropped, another gauntlet immediately came toward his head.
Despite being forced backward, Hector could still see the attacks. The problem was that he simply couldn't keep up with all of them.
"YOU...!"
Finally losing patience with the barrage, he forced his arm through it and swung. Knox's upper body folded backward, allowing the claws to pass inches above his face again. Instead of stepping away, however, he continued with the movement until one hand briefly touched the floor behind him.
Using that hand as his support, Knox's legs left the ground. His body rotated around the planted hand as Hector's second claw swept toward him. Both legs passed above the attack, the elongated armor pieces at his waist tracing a pair of violet crescents through the air before Knox twisted again and returned upright.
The moment his foot touched the floor, the other immediately followed through.
BANG!
The kick slammed into Hector's side and threw him off balance. But before his body could fully turn away, Knox caught up with him and resumed the attack. A short punch struck his ribs, another hit the center of his guard, and when Hector raised both arms to protect his face, Knox shifted his weight onto one leg.
Taking advantage of Hector's raised guard, Knox's body turned sharply. His other leg swept around with the rotation, violet flames streaming from it in a bright circular arc.
BOOOOM!
The kick smashed into Hector's guard, throwing both of his arms aside and leaving his upper body exposed as the force spun him halfway around. He tried to plant his foot and turn back toward Knox, but before he could recover, the white-haired boy was already moving into the next attack.
Closing the remaining distance, Knox stepped in and drove his fist upward.
BANG!
The strike lifted Hector from the floor, leaving the larger student's feet completely airborne for a brief moment. As Hector continued rising from the force, Knox moved beneath him.
Positioning himself beneath the airborne Hector, Knox turned his body as Hector began to fall, and the violet glow around his armor stretched into overlapping afterimages with the motion. One of the elongated pieces behind his waist swept upward along the turn, followed by the other, creating a wing-like violet silhouette behind him for only an instant.
As Hector descended toward him, Knox's leg rose. It climbed past Hector's body as Knox completed the rotation, lifting high above him until his heel reached its highest point. Violet flames gathered along the raised leg, flowing downward from the armor around it as Knox's body aligned beneath the falling Hector.
From above, Hector saw what was coming. With no room to evade, he crossed both scaled arms above his head just as Knox brought his leg down.
BANG!
His heel crashed into Hector's guard. The impact stopped Hector's fall for the briefest instant, compressing his entire body beneath the descending strike. Cracks immediately spread across the arena floor below him as his arms trembled under the force.
Then, before Hector could recover from the initial impact, the violet flames detonated.
BOOOOOOM!
Hector's guard collapsed downward under the explosion. The force blasted through him and hurled his body across the arena, sending him flying several meters before he crashed into the floor. He bounced once, struck the ground again, and rolled violently through a cloud of dust before finally coming to a stop near the opposite end of the battlefield.
As Hector finally disappeared inside the settling dust, the sudden silence from the stands was almost unnatural. Moments earlier, he had released more Darkness than at any point in the duel and attacked Knox with everything he had. Yet after Knox began pressing forward, Hector had barely managed to regain control of the fight even once.
Now, after being overwhelmed by that relentless assault, he lay inside the settling dust. Several of the dark scales covering his body were cracked or scorched, and thin trails of steam escaped through the damaged gaps. The jet-black Darkness that had surrounded him moments earlier had almost completely disappeared, leaving only a few unstable wisps around his arms.
For several seconds, there was no movement from within the dust. Then Hector's fingers slowly curled against the broken floor.
Impossible. Impossible. Impossible!
As that thought crossed his mind, his breathing came out rough as he tried to move.
This can't be happening!
The thought refused to leave him. He had trained for this. He had strengthened his Dragon Factor, endured the training demanded of the family's heir, and prepared himself for the day he could erase the humiliation that had been left behind.
After all that preparation, today was supposed to be that day. Instead, he had been beaten across the arena in front of Kizen students, nobles, recruiters, royal families, and his own father.
NO.
The humiliation finally pushed him to move. Hector pressed his palm against the floor, and although his arm trembled violently, his upper body slowly rose.
I'm Hector Moore.
Driven by that thought, one knee came beneath him.
I'm the heir of the Moore family.
His body screamed at him to stay down, but Hector ignored it. Clinging to that identity, he forced himself upward until he finally stood again despite the weakness in his legs.
By the time he was standing again, blood was running from the corner of his mouth. Even so, his eyes remained fixed on Knox.
"No..."
Hector's claws curled into fists as his breathing became heavier.
"No! I refuse to accept this!"
WHOOOOSH!
As though responding directly to his refusal, jet-black Darkness erupted from his body. The violent surge swallowed Hector before rising several meters above him, scattering the dust around his feet and sending loose fragments of stone tumbling across the arena.
His damaged scales rattled beneath the pressure as Darkness continued pouring through their gaps, far more recklessly than before.
While Hector was engulfed by the violent surge, Knox remained still on the opposite side. His serious expression didn't change as he watched Hector draw in a long breath.
The moment Hector inhaled, the Darkness surrounding him immediately responded, rushing inward toward his chest before climbing along his neck. A jet-black flame appeared between his parted lips, small at first, but it rapidly expanded as more Darkness compressed into it.
As more and more Darkness continued compressing into the flame, heat began distorting the air around Hector's face. Even through that distortion, the black flame continued growing.
Then, once enough power had gathered, the spell formula appeared.
[Moore Family Original - Dragon Breath]
With the spell formula complete, Hector thrust his head forward.
FWOOOOOOOOSH!
A torrent of jet-black flame erupted from his mouth and expanded into a roaring wave. The Dragon Breath swallowed the distance between them, scorching the arena floor beneath its path as it rushed straight toward Knox.
With the Dragon Breath rapidly approaching him, Knox moved for the first time since Hector had been thrown away. Violet flames surged around his armor as the elongated pieces behind his waist shifted with him while he repositioned his body. At the same time, points of violet light began appearing throughout the air around him.
As those points of light continued appearing, one after another stretched and condensed until long spear-like shapes emerged from within the flames. Yet even after the first spears had taken shape, more continued to appear.
Within moments, dozens of violet spears were suspended around Knox at different heights, their sharpened tips gradually turning toward the approaching Dragon Breath. Violet fire flickered along their surfaces, filling the space around Knox with so much light that his white hair and armor were tinted purple.
Once every spear had turned toward the incoming attack, the entire formation moved.
FWOOSH!
The first wave of spears launched into the black flames. Several vanished inside the Dragon Breath, but violet flashes immediately erupted from within as their impacts tore openings through the torrent. Another wave followed through those gaps, then another, each barrage forcing the jet-black fire to churn and break apart around the incoming spears.
Despite the openings being torn through his attack, Hector refused to stop.
"RAAAAAAGH!"
With a roar, he forced even more Darkness into the attack. The Dragon Breath swelled again, swallowing several violet spears at once and pushing through their barrage. Black fire and violet energy scattered everywhere they collided, rapidly filling the center of the battlefield with explosions and burning fragments.
As the two attacks continued violently colliding in front of him, Knox extended one hand. Violet flame gathered above his palm, then spiraled outward and lengthened until the fire condensed into the shape of another spear, brighter and denser than those already filling the air. Knox closed his fingers around its shaft as soon as it finished forming.
The moment the spear settled into his hand, Knox's body shifted with the weapon. Rather than simply throwing it from where he stood, Knox carried the spear through the movement, turning his body as his arm drew it back.
As the rotation reached its end, Knox shifted his weight forward. His entire body moved with the motion, carrying the force from his legs through his waist and into his arm.
In the next instant, his arm snapped forward, and the spear shot from his hand.
FWOOSH!
Carrying all of that force with it, the spear shot through the air behind the surrounding barrage, spinning as violet flames wrapped around its shaft. Unlike the other spears tearing into different portions of the Dragon Breath, this one maintained a single path through the center.
As the spear continued driving through the center of the Dragon Breath, the pressure between both attacks finally reached its limit.
BOOOOOOM!
Jet-black flame and violet light erupted together. A massive explosion swallowed the center of the arena, followed by a wall of smoke that rapidly spread across the battlefield. The shockwave slammed into the protective barrier hard enough to make its transparent surface ripple, while flashes of black and violet continued flickering inside the cloud.
Then, amid the darkness of the cloud, a violet glow appeared. The glow grew brighter in an instant.
FWOOSH!
From within that violet light, the spear Knox had thrown tore through the cloud.
Hector barely had enough time to see it coming. The violet weapon crossed the remaining distance at tremendous speed, but instead of continuing toward his body, its trajectory dipped at the last moment.
Following that sudden change in trajectory, the spear plunged into the arena floor directly in front of him.
Then, the instant it struck the ground.... the violet spear exploded.
BOOOOOOM!