{Intercepting the sensation of pain and minimizing its potency,} Nova inford Aron, who was clearly not in his best condition. Although he had managed to react, albeit a fraction too late, his shield had been strong enough to block the flas that were sent back to him. However, the supplentary spatial attack shattered the shield, and the subsequent backlash from the destruction of both his modified shield and flight rune hit him hard. This forced him into a brief halt before Nova switched to the backup flight rune she had wisely advised him to cast earlier. That precautionary asure turned out to be a lifesaver, allowing Aron to avoid what could have been a fatal outco narrowly.
He managed to survive, but not unscathed. He was missing a hand and a leg—sacrifices made to shield vital parts of his body from the relentless spatial attacks. These attacks were nearly unstoppable, capable of being delayed only montarily by hitting sothing, forcing him to exploit even so parts of his body to gain the smallest fraction of ti to evade the rest of their attacks.
Despite that, the rest of his body bore the marks of destruction, with his charred flesh and ruined armor now little more than dead weight. All electronics within the armor had been fried, leaving it utterly useless. He resembled a lightning-struck figure, alive but teetering on the brink of hopelessness. While his desperate sacrifice had succeeded in preventing an untily end to the fight or his life, his current condition was far from one that could sustain further combat.
Nova wasted no ti, imdiately propelling Aron at maximum speed, intent on vacating the area without delay. She needed to create distance, allowing a brief mont to analyze the situation and determine whether Aron could continue the fight. If Aron was unable to make the decision himself, Nova was prepared to act—whether to surrender on his behalf or abandon the Colosseum entirely, knowing that doing so would automatically count as a forfeit.
Although surrendering on Aron’s behalf would an forfeiting their best chance at gaining imdiate access to cutting-edge spatial technology—a critical part of their plan—Nova understood that no information was worth sacrificing Aron’s life or jeopardizing the empire's future. While this opportunity was the most convenient and direct, there would always be other, albeit more ti-consuming and costly, ways to acquire the technology. Operating with this conviction, Nova was prepared to prioritize survival and preservation over the mission if Aron was incapacitated or unable to decide for himself.
{Sir! Sir! Sir!} Nova's voice echoed urgently, but throughout this ti, there was no response from Aron. Ever since he had left the area of the attack, he had remained completely unresponsive.
Had she been a human, her heart would have been pounding in terror, the fear of sothing catastrophic having happened to Aron's brain almost overwhelming. The system shutting her out would have only heightened her unease. However, the one glimr of hope that would have kept Nova calm was the presence of detectable brain waves—proof that Aron was still alive. The system’s lockdown appeared to be a protective asure rather than an indicator of critical failure.
Even the dynamic perception acceleration had been deactivated, that too likely for his safety. But Nova pushed those concerns aside for now; her priority was to assess his condition before worrying about the broader implications.
Never one to wait for confirmation before preparing for contingencies, Nova imdiately ordered the ship to power up and ready itself to receive Aron. Her plan was clear: conduct a swift diagnostic on his condition, and if the situation demanded it, forfeit the fight without hesitation. Survival took precedence over victory, and she was determined to act decisively when the ti ca.
………………..
"Where am I?" Aron asked, his voice laced with confusion as he scanned his surroundings. The area around him was unlike anything he had encountered before—an incomprehensible space that eluded even his heightened perception. Everything felt both infinite and confined, an abstract void that defied the very laws of reality he was accustod to.
"Is this where you go when you're dying, or is this system-related?" Aron questioned, his tone eerily calm as his sharp eyes scanned the surreal environnt. It was a practiced composure born from years of responsibility—an unconscious behavior ingrained in him. Fear or panic was a luxury he couldn’t afford; the empire needed him to act decisively, even in monts like this.
Though Aron found himself in an unfamiliar location, he wasn’t overly concerned about his physical body. He had prepared counterasures for such contingencies long ago. The only emotion he permitted himself to feel now was curiosity, as he studied his surroundings with intent, postponing any worry for a more appropriate mont.
………………..
While both Aron and Nova were preoccupied with their own thoughts, an unexpected phenonon began unfolding within his still-charred body. His heart, which typically functioned like a normal heart but pumped golden liquid in place of blood—sustaining him with a seemingly endless supply of mana—was now glowing faintly. This was far from its usual behavior, signaling that sothing extraordinary was taking place.
The hundreds of billions of runes etched into Aron's body, most of which had remained dormant since their creation, began to glow faintly. One by one, they flickered to life, as though so unseen force was awakening them all at once, signaling an imminent activation of their latent power.
The glowing of the runes wasn't a simple flicker. So parts of the intricate patterns blazed with a sudden intensity, only to dim again, returning to a more consistent luminosity. This cycle of brighter bursts followed by stabilization occurred at an astonishing speed, with most runes activating in re picoseconds, while others took slightly longer, unfolding over microseconds.
The fact that this transformation was occurring without detection from either Aron, Nova, the viewers, or even the AI referee was both perplexing and remarkable. Despite the two AIs' advanced sensors—one embedded within Aron's body and the other monitoring from external systems—nothing about this phenonon registered. It was as though the process was occurring beyond the reach of their sensors, too advanced or too subtly integrated into Aron's systems for even the most sophisticated technology to perceive.
The sheer scale of it was undeniable—sothing monuntal was taking place within Aron's body.
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