Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 389: Informal Tournament

Chapter 389: Informal Tournament

The tournament rules in this backwater neighborhood were simple. Fight until you dropped. Fight until a winner emerged at night.

A winner was then decreed, celebrated, and remembered. A month later, they did it all over again. Fighters could go and fight as many times as they would like, although the cost of silver coins would increase by doing so.

No one was there to tell Dasha—Leon—it was time. The crowd suddenly began to chant his name, and so, it was time to begin.

Dasha approached one of the barrier mages, a hand raised. A gap was created for him to enter and he took his place opposite his opponent. Blaze was a tall, lean man with tattoos of fire snaking up his arms and legs. Bare-footed and in grey chiton robes, his cloak dark green and demonic. Blaze had been beaten only once today due to a surprise attack when his mana was refueling.

But now, he was in the zone.

Blaze must have been related to a demon or a god. His eyes glowed with a mad, fiery light as flames flickered and danced around his fists. This wasn’t control, it was raw instinct.

"I am going to burn you until my own fingertips find marks," Blaze declared.

The magic circle underneath them shimmered brighter and the barrier re-powered itself.

That was the signal to begin.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The moment the chants began, Blaze lunged forward, his fists and feet engulfed in roaring flames. Smoke streaked behind. Dasha was unfazed. He stepped back, shifting just enough to avoid the initial punch. The second punch was avoided with a flicker of Qinggong. His movements were small, subtle—brutally efficient—but it was as if he could see Blaze’s every move before it happened.

That was because he was.

Seven, ten, twelve, twenty, thirty. Thirty punches later and not a scratch on him.

Blaze roared in frustration and kicked himself high up. He spun into a series of blazing roundhouse kicks and this time Dasha blocked. The brooch that connected the front of his invisibility cloak broke. The cloak fell and unveiled the black sleeveless gi.

Blaze grinned and upped himself into a stronger spinning kick. The heat was intense, scorching the air around him, and slammed into Dasha’s blocking left arm. He skidded across, nearly touching the barrier.

The third spinning kick arrived.

Dasha leaned out of the way, letting the flames pass by him as though they were nothing more than a slight breeze. His feet brushed the barrier and Blaze winced and ended his spinning adventure, landing with a loud thud.

Dasha went in with a Fire Fist. Blaze smirked and stood there.

Bam!

He caught the fist, the impact echoing but the flames being licked away.

"You actually thought that would work? I’m Blaze! The flames work for me!"

Dasha ducked under a swing and ripped himself away. Blaze closed the distance with a roundhouse kick. Dasha stopped short, caught the vulnerable leg, reeled Blaze in, and punched him in the nose. Punch, punch, punch. With jerk and stagger, Dasha held onto him harder. Blaze attempted to kick him with the other leg. Dasha ducked and uppercutted him.

A distinct snap echoed and Blaze was lifted off his feet. Mid-air, Blaze hurled himself back into place and then threw himself down at Dasha with even more ferocity. His legs and fists were suddenly entirely wreathed in fire, his descending being leaving trails of flame in their wake.

A leg slammed down. Dasha stepped back.

A swing came shortly afterward. Another step back. Blaze proceeded to hammer at him like an animal. Swinging his fists, lashing out, and running at him on raw instinct.

Dasha back-stepped and side-stepped. He couldn’t linger too closely or else he would burn. The intensity of the flames grew. His attacks grew exponentially faster. He swung and swung and swung—

Hissss!

His fist brushed past his shoulder.

At that moment, Dasha narrowed his Qi Sense, stepped in close, and smacked his chin with an upward palm.

Blaze staggered and the flames once enveloping him dissipated. His knees buckled and he nearly dropped to a knee.

"T-that..."

Blaze coughed up blood and crawled backwards, a hand to his nearly splintered jaw.

See, that was no ordinary strike. Dasha had swelled it with heavy amounts of Qi, more than a Fire Fist or Thunder Clap Palm, and then inserted the effect of a wave. Blaze wasn’t standing there rattled for the fun of it; Dasha had literally rattled his brain.

’Excellent instincts, incredible control of fire, but his martial arts are not up to par. Adaptable, yes, but not snappy. Not practiced with years of coaching by a master.’

Blaze swayed left and right. He needed a minute to steady himself. Dasha granted it. The concussion faded and Blaze sprang to action.

"Blaze Dance!"

Kick, kick, and an arm swing. Following those movements, the flames lit up again, darker in colour, and he extended a palm. He collected a pool of red-hot fire, letting it fester without compromising his own flames.

"Take this!" The ball of fire quadrupled in size and mirrored that of a human. "Ifrit!"

The huge ball of fire accelerated fast. Stamina Surge suddenly kicked in, heart thumping faster, and Dasha caught it with a single hand. The massive fire ball did not dissipate on contact. Dasha had to hold it back...!

"Got cha!"

Blaze appeared to his left, his knee an inch from socking him in the temple.

’Rocky Chin.’

Everything from his chin down gained a special fortification. Formed of cracks in the inside of his body, the phenomena blocked Blaze’s knee clean. Dasha crushed the Ifrit ball of fire and, in one swift move, he smacked aside the user with a devastating elbow to the heart. Crashing into the barrier, screamed howled and the great Blaze dropped to his knees.

The fire in Blaze’s eyes did not end.

"I’m gonna blow you up!"

Ah. Finally.

Now Dasha knew how to command Rocky Chin on his own. His body learned the skill without command of the System. Excellent.

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