"What happened, Lucia?" Jaden asked when he noticed that she did not look even remotely as excited as she should have been about the bet, her gaze fixed on the arena with an unease that stood out sharply against the surrounding chatter and anticipation.
"The person Raul is battling is Max, right?" Lucia asked quietly as she turned toward Jaden, her tone careful as if she were testing a thought she did not fully want to voice.
"Yeah, what about him?" Jaden replied, frowning slightly as he tried to read her expression.
Lucia frowned deeper, her brows knitting together as a vague sense of familiarity stirred in her mind, and she wondered if this was the sa Max she had once encountered during one of the mortal worlds she had visited long ago, a mory so distant and unclear that it felt foolish to cling to it, prompting her to murmur to herself that she was probably overthinking things.
Jaden watched her in confusion, unable to grasp what had suddenly unsettled her when monts ago she had been confident and relaxed.
"The two warriors co to the arena," the announcer's voice rang out, spreading through the stands and instantly drawing everyone's attention as the noise of the crowd surged in response.
At the sa mont, Max muttered that it was his turn as he moved forward, only to pause when the sa man who had spoken to him earlier reached out and tapped his shoulder with a grave expression.
"Do not take it seriously if you lose this battle," the man said solemnly, his voice low but firm.
"Why is that?" Max asked, turning to look at him with mild curiosity rather than concern.
"Because this Raul has won all three of his battles yesterday and he is not soone to be taken lightly," the man replied seriously, making no attempt to hide the weight behind his warning.
"I will keep that in mind," Max said with a small smile before stepping onto the arena floor, his deanor calm as he took his place opposite his opponent.
Soon, both Max and Raul stood face to face, and while Raul appeared to be in his thirties, his handso features and youthful complexion made his true age difficult to judge, whereas Max looked undeniably young, barely in his early twenties, a contrast that did not go unnoticed by the spectators.
"No, we are damned. We are going to lose this bet," Lucia suddenly said from the stands, her face draining of all color as dread washed over her.
"What do you an we will lose? The battle has not even started yet," Jaden said with a deep frown, completely baffled by her sudden certainty.
"Haven't I told you about a young man I once lost a bet to in a mortal world?" Lucia said in a low voice as she slowly raised her hand and pointed toward Max, her eyes fixed on him with a mixture of disbelief and lingering unease. "That is him."
"What, that guy is Max? That Max?" Jaden was completely taken aback, her eyes widening as mories from years ago resurfaced with startling clarity.
She still vividly rembered how furious Lucia had been when she returned from that mortal world, her mood dark and unapproachable for days, and when Jaden had finally managed to ask what had happened, Lucia had grudgingly admitted that she had lost a bet to a re mortal.
The shock of that confession had been so great that Jaden had never forgotten the na Max, because defeating Lucia in anything was sothing only a handful of beings across countless realms could ever claim to have done.
"If he is Max, then it makes sense," Jaden said slowly as her eyes narrowed, her gaze sharpening as she studied Max more carefully. "He might have ascended just like the other mortals here, but I still think you are overthinking this. Even if Max is strong and even if he is a genius, he is only at the sixth level of Divine Rank, and he should not be able to last even a single move against Raul, who stands at the tenth level of Divine Rank."
"I hope you are right," Lucia replied quietly as she turned her full attention back to the arena, her heart beating faster than she liked as the battle was about to begin.
On the arena floor, Raul looked at Max with undisguised disdain, his eyes filled with contempt as he wondered how soone like Max had even managed to ascend to the Divine Realm, let alone stand before him now.
"Make your move," Raul said arrogantly, his tone dripping with confidence as if the outco had already been decided.
Max smiled faintly, clearly understanding the thoughts running through Raul's mind, yet caring little for them as his figure suddenly flashed with crackling blue lightning and vanished from his original spot, reappearing directly in front of Raul in the blink of an eye.
At that mont, the 1200 Draconic Essences within Max surged violently as he unleashed all of them without restraint, his fist driving forward with terrifying force toward Raul.
Raul did not give the attack much thought, dismissing it as a simple punch from soone he believed to be at the sixth level of the Divine Rank, and he casually extended his own fist to block, only for his expression to twist in shock in the very next mont as his body was hurled out of the arena like a broken doll, crashing into the crowded stands with explosive force.
A heavy silence fell over the entire colosseum, stretching for a brief heartbeat as everyone struggled to comprehend what they had just witnessed, before the crowd erupted into absolute frenzy, their shocked roars and cries shaking the arena to its core.
"What? He defeated a tenth level Divine Rank warrior so easily despite being only at the sixth level himself," soone shouted in disbelief, and that single cry seed to ignite the entire colosseum as voices rose from every direction, each filled with shock and excitent that could no longer be contained.
People stared toward the arena with widened eyes as they tried to process what they had just witnessed, struggling to reconcile Max's cultivation level with the overwhelming strength he had displayed in that single punch.
"Damn, who the hell is this Max? I am hearing his na for the first ti in the colosseum and his strength is beyond shocking," another voice rang out, echoing the thoughts of countless others who had never seen him fight before today.
"True, they are just mortals, and yet his strength is absurd. Defeating Raul, who won all three of his matches yesterday, with just one move is insane," soone else added, their voice trembling with excitent as the image of Raul being sent flying replayed in their mind again and again.
"He is too strong. Using only one move to defeat a peak Divine Rank warrior has never happened here before. Is this Max really a mortal?"
The discussions grew louder and more frantic as people turned to each other, their words tumbling out in a frenzy, because that single punch had not only won their admiration but had also shaken them to their very core.
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