The next opponent he chose was a speedster with short blonde hair and a cheeky grin on his pretty face.
’I think I know that man,’ Rudy remarked inwardly as he dived into his mind and found his answer, ’Austin Gray. A breaker with a legendary attribute and the irregular who had claid the Ashsolace City.’
To prove his thoughts correct, the announcer’s voice rang throughout the grand colosseum.
"For this grand battle — at the red end, we have the Deviant Cadet, Vlad Belmont!"
"Vlad! Vlad! Vlad!" The static crowd repeated his na like a mantra.
"At the blue end, we have the Deviant Warden, Austin Gray!"
"Austin! Austin! Austin!"
Just as those words fell into his ears, Rudy’s eyes widened in disbelief. "A warden... Did he beco an ascendant?"
"Let the blood spill!"
Before he could co to his mind, Austin moved from his spot.
Tiny bursts of life essence coursed through his feet, and within a second, he appeared before Rudy and slashed forward.
Rudy gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and blocked his daggers before throwing a fist.
Austin stepped to the side and thrust forward as essence coursed through his hands.
The air before his daggers split as he plunged them into Rudy’s side before he could react to the attack.
"Ukh!" Rudy staggered back while swinging his sword, but Austin was much faster and more agile than him.
He dodged all of his attacks and danced around him like a mosquito as his daggers drew blue sparks.
’Focus!’ Rudy groaned while swallowing most of the pain, as it was nothing before the agony he had been through.
He tried his best to land a hit, but his body was too big for the strategies he had in his mind.
All of his attacks failed, and just three minutes after their battle had started, Rudy lay on the ground with blue sparks flooding out of his towering body.
As if to mock him even further, a holographic screen hung before his face.
[You have lost the simulated battle.]
[New battle]
[Redo battle]
[Leave arena]
"Haha!" He laughed at his own state and muttered as he stood upright, "Finally, sothing worth my ti."
Without any hesitation, he clicked on the second option, and the battle began once again.
The result was the sa.
Austin didn’t just defeat him — he toyed with him and played him like he was a child, which, in a way, he was.
Until now, every being that he had fought was either advantageous or equal to him, but Austin was the first to challenge his weakness.
Rudy was stronger and faster than the average human, but because of the circumstances he had put himself in, he couldn’t use his essence or skills.
His body was his main weapon, but he only knew how to move it widely, not precisely, and being so big cost agility.
These weren’t things he could fix within a day or just a few weeks; they needed ti. The ti that the syndicate itself had provided him, though it ca with a clock ticking with the impending dangers.
"Five months..." Rudy mumbled as he looked at the bright sky that had no sun, yet it shed sunlight.
He stood up on his feet, and with a clear mind, he whispered, "Redo battle."
The next few hours passed as Rudy focused on the battles, trying to dodge and deflect Austin’s attacks.
Even though Rudy knew of his eventual defeat, he fought with victory in mind, as even thinking about defeat made him feel weak.
Although he would be defeated, it would be an outco, not a choice.
By accepting that no matter what he did, only defeat awaited him, it was no longer an outco but a choice.
A choice that neither Rudric Ironwell nor Scarlet Scion would ever make.
Austin’s dagger slid off Rudy’s neck, slitting it.
Rudy gurgled as he took a few heavy steps forward and fell on his knees.
[You have lost the simulated battle.]
[Simulation duration ended.]
[You may return after 12 hours to use it again!]
Rudy’s body exploded into blue sparks, and his vision darkened.
Austin Gray’s clone still stood in the colosseum, and all of a sudden, a holographic screen appeared at the center.
[Longest Battles Against Austin Gray]
1. Vlad Belmont .....5.4m
2. Susan Heldon ...5.1m
3. Jacob Monis ...3.2m
4. Lerry White ...2.4m
5. Trina Salinas ...2.4m
– – – – – – –
The clone disappeared.
A faint sting struck Rudy’s head, forcing his eyes to shoot open.
"Huff...Huff..." he took a few quick breaths, the smoke that filled the pod entered his lungs and cald him.
His body moved as if it were relearning itself, and the pod opened with a faint hum.
The smoke flooded, and Rudy stepped out of the pod and spat with gritted teeth, "Dammit!"
"What’s wrong?" Elena, who was sitting on a chair by the white tallic wall, asked with a faint smile.
Rudy looked at her and mumbled with a disappointed expression, "I lost."
Hearing him, Elena blinked a few tis before she snapped her fingers and said, "Of course, you did. Duh!"
She stood up from her chair. "These fights weren’t useless — they taught what you lack, now you just have to work on your weaknesses."
"I know." Rudy nodded in agreent.
"What’s causing my little student to frown then?" She asked curiously.
’Little student? Really?’ He heaved a sigh and answered with a determined glint in his eyes, "I shouldn’t lose."
She looked at his face for a few monts before she stepped closer, stood on tiptoes, and grabbed his face. "Don’t worry. Didn’t I promise you that I would make you a force of nature?"
He nodded, though he didn’t believe that she could.
"You did," he answered.
She smiled, her fingertips brushing his features as she spoke with a glint of extre possession in her eyes, "Believe , Vlad. I will make you unbeatable."
His body shivered, his back went cold, and he mumbled with genuine fear, "I-Is that so...?"
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