I Am a Hero With A Hundred Abilities
Chapter 89 - 89: Ch 88. Overcome

Ethan stepped into the ring, not clad in polished battle gear like many of the others, but wearing only a black hoodie and trousers, casual and unassuming.

He hadn't come prepared—he'd been teleported without warning, after all. And unlike most contestants who stored battle armor in rings or wristbands, Ethan had none.

But he didn't care.

"I can manage," he thought, rolling his neck. "My body's tough enough."

Across the ring stood his opponent.

A massive, barrel-chested man, towering over Ethan. No armor. No shirt. Just bare flesh—most notably a bulging belly that seemed to sag with weight yet radiated menace. His knuckles cracked and His eyes didn't blink.

Ethan stared, amused.

"Topless? Alright then. What kind of ability does this guy have?"

Before he could guess, the announcer's voice boomed:

"BEGIN!"

Ethan didn't hesitate.

With a surge of Meta Essence, he invoked {Force Might}, launching himself forward like a human bullet.

The floor cracked beneath his speed as he closed the distance instantly, driving his fist straight into the man's gut with crushing force.

But then—

Nothing.

The blow connected, but the man's stomach rippled like jelly, absorbing the impact.

Ethan blinked. His fist still buried in the belly as He looked up—

—to see the man grinning down at him.

"…Oh shit."

The retaliation was instant.

The large man's fist came swinging toward Ethan, coated in the exact same force Ethan had just delivered—redirected.

But Ethan was faster. He jumped back, dodging the counterblow just as it slammed into the ground with a boom.

He landed a few meters away, brows furrowed.

"What kind of shitty luck is this?" Ethan thought. "Everyone else gets normal ability users, and I get some guy with a counter ability? This match is rigged."

Before he could finish complaining—the ring quaked.

Heavy footsteps thundered across the stage.

The man was charging, a tank in motion, and then—he leapt, casting a massive shadow over Ethan.

"Screw this."

Ethan reached deep, connecting with the core inside him—Gray.

Suddenly, lightning arced from his body.

His hair turned snow-white, his muscles condensed, power boiled under his skin. In one fluid motion, Ethan fired a bolt of lightning upward, blasting the airborne man back across the ring.

The hulking figure crashed into the far edge of the platform, lying flat.

The contestants we're shocked. All eyes locked on Ethan.

Wasn't he ranked E?

How the hell did he have multiple abilities?

No one was more stunned than Sophia.

"How is this possible…? Since when did Ethan have a transformation ability ?"

Back in the ring, Ethan exhaled, eyes on his downed opponent.

"So he's immune to lightning too, huh? Of course…"

The man stirred.

Lying flat, he sat upright slowly—and licked his lips.

A low chuckle rumbled from his chest.

Ethan's expression soured.

"You just had to make this difficult."

The massive man stood, pounding his fists together with a heavy thud. He looked even more excited than before.

Ethan dropped into a stance. Logic be damned—if the guy could redirect his powers, then he'd just have to hit faster and harder than he could handle.

Did it make sense?

Not really.

But Ethan didn't care.

With a flicker of lightning, he vanished again—{Lightning Step} activated.

He appeared right in front of the man, face-to-face, electricity coiling around his fists.

Round two had begun.

****

The air inside the arena crackled with tension as the battle between Ethan and the hulking man reached a fever pitch.

Every clash between them shook the ring, reverberating with thunderous shockwaves that echoed through the stadium.

Ethan was a blur of motion, weaving in and out, fists laced with elemental fury, delivering blow after blow—each one sharp, precise, and too fast for the eye to follow.

Yet despite the storm Ethan unleashed, the man before him stood firm.

He was a walking fortress—his rubber-like skin absorbed lightning, his dense belly nullified Ethan's {Force Might}, and his resistance to wind-based attacks made it feel like Ethan was fighting himself. He didn't block, he didn't dodge—he just took it all, unflinching and enduring.

"What a shit luck…" Ethan muttered under his breath, side-stepping another wide swing from the man.

This wasn't strength—it was the worst kind of matchup.

A living counter. A nightmare.

"Why didn't Natasha put this guy's name on the list she gave me?"

"Did she want me to overcome my own weaknesses? That if I can't handle this much, I won't be worth her time…?"

It made sense.

Compared to the monsters on that list, this man was nothing.

His only threat was compatibility. But that alone was enough to make Ethan grind his teeth.

"They say it's rare to meet a hard counter to your ability… yet I've met two in two months."

Another fist slammed down as Ethan vanished, using {Lightning Step} to evade the attack.

The ground where he once stood cracked like glass.

Ethan landed behind the man and noticed it—the way his shoulders sagged, his chest heaved.

"He's running low on Meta Essence…"

Ethan grinned.

"Buddy… it's now or never," he said mentally, speaking to Gray, within his core.

Suddenly—

A burst of Meta Essence exploded from Ethan's body, the ground quaking under his power.

One hand surged with crackling lightning.

The other danced with razor-thin wind blades.

But he wasn't done.

Ethan activated {King of Force}—his strongest form of force might.

The entire arena reacted.

Wind roared across the battlefield like a vortex.

Lightning arced through the air in violent spirals.

Contestants in the stands shielded their eyes, feeling the raw pressure from hundreds of meters away.

Ethan stood in the eye of this growing tempest—calm, collected, and terrifying.

The hulking man staggered forward, fighting against the gale-force winds that now threatened to lift him off the ground. He roared defiantly, trying to reach Ethan.

Ethan stepped forward.

He brought his wrists together, channeling wind and lightning into a single, condensed sphere—then added more force with {King of Force}. The combination was unstable, raw, catastrophic.

The air vibrated with destructive intent.

"Counter this…" Ethan whispered coldly.

He thrust his hands forward.

The attack erupted from him like a collapsing star—a blast of concentrated lightning, slicing wind, and crushing force.

The man tried to absorb it—tried to brace.

But his Meta Essence was depleted.

His body couldn't take it.

The moment the attack struck, the arena's defense mechanism activated—teleporting the man out of the ring in a flash of white light just before obliteration.

Silence.

Then wind.

Ethan stood alone in the ring, his white hair fluttering, the storm dissipating around him.

His chest rose and fell. His eyes locked on the empty space where his opponent had stood.

The match was hard. The odds were unfair. But in the end—

He still won.

The pre recordings in the arena erupted in shocked applause. No one could believe it. Not even some of the stronger-ranked contestants.

And in the among them, Sophia stared in awe.

Ethan deactivated the fusion before turning and walking back toward his seat, not looking back even once.

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