The white light poured down like a waterfall, illuminating the high platform without reservation.
Below the platform, countless gasps of astonishnt erupted.
On the stage, Hades' right eye was bruised, his body suspended in mid-air. His left fist smashed directly into Branka's chin, sending Branka flying into the air as well.
Branka's body seed to hover in the air for a mont before crashing heavily to the ground, marking the end of the battle.
The outco was clear.
Even after taking Hades' full-powered strike, Branka only stayed down for a few breaths before wobbly getting back on his feet, holding his chin.
"Not bad, kid, not bad!"
Initially, during the battle between Hades and Branka, Branka had relied on his experience to predict and suppress Hades' moves. But as the duel went on, Branka realized that Hades was also predicting his attacks.
And with each strike, his predictions were more accurate!
What's up with this guy?!
Branka, with his weight and strength, was at a disadvantage compared to Hades. Now that his ability to predict Hades' moves was fading, the scales of victory were tipping completely in Hades' favor.
Damn it!
Branka suddenly rembered the ti Hades had taken down that Type-3 combat servitor. The tactics Hades used weren’t those of a typical veteran.
Normally, Terra-born veterans would just stand their ground, take a full combo from the servitor, wait for it to expose a weakness, and then strike it down.
The more experienced the veteran, the quicker and more accurately they could spot the servitor's flaws and defeat it.
But... Branka recalled that Hades chose to face the Type-3 head-on, relying on his extraordinary reaction speed, imnse strength, and sharp foresight to take it down directly.
In other words, Hades had the upper hand in that fight with the Type-3!
Branka suddenly realized that he had underestimated this rookie.
Damn it, this kid’s already this strong, yet he’s still spending his days learning High Gothic and using formal speech.
If Branka had Hades' abilities as a rookie, he would've already demanded special treatnt from their commander.
This kid is just weird!
Branka spat angrily onto the ground, looking at Hades, who was bruised around the right eye (from Branka's punch) and clearly exhausted.
Defeated by this rookie, Branka thought gloomily:
You're doing this on purpose, right? Acting weak on purpose, right?
"Fraze, you're up!"
A strong veteran from the Seventh Company jumped onto the platform.
But as if expecting Branka’s decision, the panting Hades didn't react much. He assud his fighting stance.
"Please."
Buzz—
When the third veteran was knocked to the ground by the gasping rookie, the atmosphere below the stage had reached a fever pitch.
Realizing this rookie was different from the arrogant, useless types and could actually fight—without causing trouble—made the veterans below delighted.
Let get up there and beat him!
But—
"Joze, that's your move! That punk learned it while watching from below!"
"Aim for his left side. His left arm was injured just now, no strength in it!"
"Go for his lower body! His lower body!"
"Fraze, can you not? How are you losing to an injured rookie?"
"If you're so good, you go!"
Another figure leapt onto the platform.
"I'll go!"
The figure opposite Hades had already beco a blur of colors in his mind. Hades moved right, dodging the attack once again.
He let his body move on instinct, reaching out with his right hand, then flipping his opponent over—
A beautiful shoulder throw!
He had defeated the sixth veteran as of right now.
Hades shook his head. His body was covered in bruises, and soone had just kicked him in the abdon.
But none of this was the worst part. The thing bothering Hades the most was that he felt like he had low blood sugar. The exhaustion was becoming more and more pronounced.
He was so hungry. He was running out of strength.
Another figure jumped onto the platform.
Hades assud his stance again.
"Please."
He mumbled softly.
Then—
The opponent used—
Up, down, left, right, left, right—baba!
Shoryuken!
Completely out of strength, Hades was knocked to the ground. Knowing he was defeated, Hades didn’t bother to get up. He lay there, conserving his energy.
On the opposite side, Branka stood with a deliberately exaggerated, goofy expression, raising both hands high.
The battle was over!
Cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd below. Branka stood in the spotlight, basking in the never-ending applause.
Suddenly, as if he rembered sothing, he lowered his arms and made a "shushing" motion with his hands across his face.
The cheering and excitent stopped imdiately.
A faint voice rose from the floor of the platform—
"You old guys don’t fight fair."
Branka burst into laughter and pulled Hades up from the ground, letting the exhausted rookie lean on his shoulder.
"There’s no such thing as fighting fair on the battlefield, kid."
"This is your first lesson."
"And—"
Branka raised an eyebrow.
"Welco to the Legion!"
The cheers and whistles rose once more from the crowd below.
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