"I officially challenge the Firestarter to a duel in exchange for Ares."
---
Axel had taken everyone by surprise with his boldness and audacity. It wasn’t just because he challenged a Fern to a duel, but because he challenged seniors. No sane human, in their right mind, would outright challenge a senior who also turned out to be a Firestarter. But then again... Axel wasn’t exactly human.
For a mont, nobody reacted, then the room exploded. Gasps rippled through the crowd of first-year students. So froze where they stood. Others turned their heads frantically as if they had misheard him. A few laughed nervously, waiting for soone to say this was a joke. But Axel wasn’t telling a joke.
"Are you sure about this?" Aurora asked.
"Am I sure?! Axel was almost mortifed by that question. "This was your bloody idea!! Why are you asking if I’m sure?"
Drax Tan stared at Axel in silence for a full second. Then his expression went dark.
"You just be out of your mind, freshman. Get back in line with your classmates!" Drax barked, visibly annoyed by the challenge Axel proposed.
"No," he said. "I’m being serious."
That answer hit harder than the challenge itself. Another wave of whispers rushed through the first-years.
"Is he insane?"
"Did he lose his mind?"
"Well... He’s dead..."
"That’s a Fern. An Apex."
Axel heard every word but he ignored them all. Inside though, his heart was beating far too fast. ’What in the Infernal hell am I doing?’
Aurora’s voice slipped calmly into his mind.
"Stand straight, Imp. Fear makes you look smaller."
"That’s easy for you to say," Axel thought back. "I’m about to die."
"Not if you fight correctly," she replied. "Power alone will not save you, you need to be a master of strategy."
"I want to challenge the second-years," Axel voiced out again. "If I win, Ares walks free. No punishnt and no aftermath."
"That’s suicide!"
"He thinks he’s special! Just because he managed to defeat that REIN student doesn’t an he’s tough."
Axel knew to have a chance, a Mythic weapon was required. The Godrend could have ca in handy right now.
"But you misplaced it like a fool," Aurora replied without rcy.
"Not helping," Axel muttered under his breath.
Drax stepped forward. He was tall. Much taller than Axel. His presence alone pressed down on the space around him. It felt like standing before a wall.
"Listen carefully, boy," Drax said coldly. "Stop being an idiot. Walk away now."
"You are a Lumina," he continued. "You do not challenge seniors. You do not challenge Apex mutants. And you certainly do not challenge a Fern."
"I still challenge him."
That was when Nile stepped out from the corner where she had been standing. The crowd parted slightly as she approached. She stopped beside Axel and looked at him like he was sothing disappointing.
"Don’t be stupid," Nile said flatly. "Ares got what was coming to him."
"So that’s it?" Axel asked. "You don’t care?"
She scoffed. "Why should I? He used my power against . This is karma."
Rick from nowhere suddenly grabbed Axel’s arm in a tight and very desperate grip
"Axel, stop," Rick whispered. "Please. You don’t have to do this."
"If I don’t," Axel said quietly, "he gets in so sort of trouble."
Inside the glass do, Luke Fern started laughing. Then, he stepped closer to the barrier and placed a hand against the glass as flas flickered around his fingers.
"You’re brave. Or stupid. Probably both. Co on in. I’ll send you to join your friend."
Finally, Drax raised a hand.
"Fine," Drax said. "I accept the challenge!"
The relief Axel felt was brief.
"But," Drax continued, "the stakes change."
"If you win," Drax said, "all first-year students here will walk out without consequences."
A small dark smile appeared on Drax’s face. Then he dropped a bomb.
"But if you lose. every first-year student present will be punished. Not just Ares."
"What?!" Soone shouted in the crowd.
"You can’t do that!"
"Are you insane?!"
Anger replaced fear amongst the students as they all started to turn on Axel completely.
"You screwed us!"
"You unhinged idiot!"
One boy stepped forward, pointing at Axel.
"If we get hurt because of you chucklefuck, I’ll— "
"Enough!" Drax barked. "No more talking."
The glass do opened and several people rushed inside to help Ares. He was barely conscious. They lifted him carefully and carried him out.
Axel proceeded into the do to battle his Apex opponent. Luke Fern cracked his neck all while staring down at Axel.
He looked Axel up and down and asked, "No weapon? You’re not even using a Mythic gear? Armor? Nothing??"
"Even with one," Luke continued, "you have zero chance of beating ."
Aurora’s voice whispered softly in Axel’s mind.
"He’s right... you’re dead."
The glass do sealed shut with a heavy sound that echoed through the chamber.
Axel was standing alone inside it with no sword, no armor and no backup. Just a young demon going against a mber of one of the most powerful family on the planet.
Across from him, Luke Fern rolled his shoulders as fire slowly wrapped around his arms like living things. The temperature inside the do rose almost instantly, pressing against Axel’s skin.
Then— Ding!
The sound rang clearly in Axel’s head.
[A duel is imminent.]
[All stats are fully active.]
[Hostile mutant detected.]
[ID: Luke Fern]
[New Mission received: Survive an encounter with the Pyrokinetic Firestarter known as Luke Fern.]
[Reward: Instant Level Up.]
[Consequences for failure: Unknown.]
Axel barely had ti to skim through the ssages when he saw a bright orange glow exploding in his vision.
"Shit—!"
A fireball launched by Luke tore through the air straight at his face. Axel reacted on instinct. He twisted his body and dropped low at the last possible second. The fireball whooshed past where his head had been, the heat was so close enough that it singed his hair.
The fireball slamd into the glass behind him and detonated, sending heat and sparks everywhere.
Luke didn’t wait, he was already moving. Flas wrapped tightly around his fists as he rushed forward, closing the distance in an instant. His speed was quite terrifying. It wasn’t slow, careless fire. It was trained movent backed by raw power.
Luke threw a punch and Axel leaned back just enough for the flaming fist to pass inches from his nose. The heat still hit him and scorched his cheek.
Another punch followed imdiately, Axel twisted to the side, his boots sliding slightly against the heated floor. Luke’s fist smashed into the air where Axel’s ribs had been, flas bursting outward on impact.
Luke kept coming. Punch after punch after punch. Each strike was fast, clean, and precise. Luke didn’t waste movent. Every blow was ant to land and end the fight quickly and Axel dodged desperately.
"Don’t let him hit you!" Aurora scread in his mind.
He ducked under a hook, rolled away from a downward strike, then sprang back to his feet just in ti to avoid a kick that scorched the floor where he had been standing.
Axel was already tiring out as the fire from Luke drianed the oxygen in the glass do, making it harder for him to breathe.
Fighting a Pyrokinetic inside an enclosed space was a bad idea, especially when said Pyrokinetic seed to be doing alright.
Still, Axel was fast.
Luke seed to be getting annoyed at Axel’s constant movent. "Twist your body all you want, you’ll still fall."
Luke suddenly shifted tactics. Instead of another punch, he stepped in close and drove his knee forward.
Axel tried to move but he was too late. That attack wasn’t expected. Luke’s flaming knee slamd hard into Axel’s chest and the impact was brutal.
Axel felt the air explode out of his lungs as pain tore through his body. The fire burned through his clothes and into his skin. His feet left the ground as he was sent flying backward.
He skidded across the floor on his back with sparks and heat trailing behind him, until he slamd into the other side of the do.
[−7 HP]
[HP: 13]
Axel groaned and gasped for air as he ca to a stop. His chest felt like it had been crushed, even his vision blurred for a mont as he tried to sit up.
’One hit...’ Axel thought weakly. ’Just one hit did that...’
"Told you not to get hit... Three more hits like that, and you’re done."
Luke straightened and turned away from Axel, spreading his arms slightly as the crowd outside the do erupted and chanted his na.
"Luke! Luke! Luke! Luke!"
Luke soaked it in, smiling as flas swirled around him.
"Did you see that?"
"He’s finished!"
"That’s an Apex for you!"
Luke glanced back over his shoulder at Axel, his smile wide and confident.
"Stay down," Luke said. "This ends faster that way."
Axel’s fingers dug into the floor.
"No!"
Axel saw his opening. Luke had his back turned on his opponent.
He was too distracted relishing in the praises of the audience that, causing him to ignore Axel.
Axel forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain tearing through his chest.
"Thirteen HP..." Axel thought. "That’s all I’ve got."
Aurora’s voice whispered sharply in his mind.
"Now, Imp. Or you die. Use your skill now!"
Axel took off running.
He pushed his legs hard, sprinting across the cage as fast as he could. Luke was still facing the crowd, basking in their reactions.
Axel jumped. He planted one foot against the floor, then kicked off the glass wall, using it as an anchor. His body twisted midair as he launched himself straight at Luke. Then that familiar infernal heat surged inside his chest as lava-like energy coiled violently around his arms.
[Hellrand Slash Activated!]
Axel didn’t hesitate. He released it.
Two rings of molten red energy burst from his hands, they were nothing like the Infernal Slash. These were bigger, brighter and even hotter than an Infernal Slash that was infused with the Godrend sword.
The Hellrand Slashes spun violently as they ripped through the air, glowing like living molten tal. The heat they gave off distorted the space around them.
Luke turned just in ti to see them.
"What the—?!"
The first Hellrand Slash hit him square in the chest.
The second followed imdiately after. The impact exploded with power and the sound was deafening.
Luke’s body was blasted backward, his flas scattered wildly as he was hurled across the do. He slamd hard into the glass wall with a heavy crash. A sharp crack spread across the glass where his body hit and silence fell over the chamber.
The chanting stopped instantly as everyone took ti to process what they’d just seen
A Lumina 3 had just landed a clean hit on an Apex.
***
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