Boooommmmm!!!!!!!

An earth shaking explosion erupted, a wave of terrifying heat following right behind it...

The land had been turned into a smoldering domain of fire and ashes...

Flames so thick they had become liquid flowed through cracked, parched earth..

The air within the air was suffocated with a dense smell of sulfur and burning earth..

All around, for over what was an effective 10km radius, there wasn’t any sign of life to behold.

And right within the middle of this unholy battleground, three figures clashed, not with anything mortals could comprehend, their clash was more akin to the wrath of three flame gods punishing the soil..

All around, the remaining candidates who had successfully reached the central region, kept a safe distance of over 20km, yet even from there, they could feel the overwhelming heat and pressure given off by the combatants..

"Monsters...." A candidate whispered...

"This is what we’re meant to go up against?" One couldn’t help trembling in dread...

They were geniuses in their own right, with many being nobility of the imperial city, having bloodlines/talents that had surpassed the mortal ranks, yet even they felt an existential dread when they looked upon the three flaming monsters that were prepped for another collision..

"gods help us, the next phase has nothing to do with challenges, because I do not believe we’re ready for...that" a young man with brown hair and grey eyes couldn’t help muttering quietly..

Off to the back, a black haired young man was surrounded by a suffocating black aura that canceled out any residual heat, his dull black eyes, for the first time since this phase began, shone with an excited light..

"I...want to fight them.." the heir of shadows was excited, and the shadows beneath his feet stirred softly..

Get before he could make a move...

"Yea.. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.." a cold feminine voice sounded right beside him.

He turned, somehow, an extremely beautiful woman had appeared by his side without him noticing..

His pupils sharpened, sensing the lethal aura she gave off, one not any weaker than his..

"What do you mean?" His sluggish voice dragged on, almost as if he was forcing himself to speak..

"D seems to be in the zone right now, if you interrupt, I’m afraid you’ll be forfeiting yours and everyone else’s lives, so don’t do anything stupid" Cara’s cold reply made the young man reevaluate his decision, it didn’t take long before he came to a conclusion..

"I’ll...wait....then..." Cara flinched at the slow drag of his voice...

Boooooooommmmmmmm!!!!

Another earth shaking explosion swiftly drew her gaze towards the scarred battlefield, her eyes glowing with an intense light, a manic smile gracing her peerless face, "ahhhh....my love..." her mesmerizing blue eyes seemed to take on a dark luster as thoughts not entirely safe swirled chaotically within her head...

*********

"Yes!!!!"

"Yes....Yes!!!!!"

This was it, this was the excitement I’d been craving for...

As I steadied myself mid air, fists blazing a dark-golden luster, clawed gauntlets burning with solar-immolation flames, an uncontrollable excitement surged through me..

The battle hadn’t ended in a single punch..

I was actually being matched, barely, but matched nonetheless...

Yes, my most powerful skill sets were locked, so I was operating under intensely nerfed conditions, but it didn’t matter...

"This is EXCITING!!! Hahahahahahaha!!!!" My wild laughter resounded all over the decayed landscape...

My aura was surging, each second spent making sure I grew stronger, yet they were still matching me...

My stats were overwhelming, each punch making sure something got turned into a bloody mist, yet it seemed their mastery of Blazing Regeneration was quite high..

I didn’t know what talents they had, but it seemed to have made them a tad bit more sturdy and durable....

I wasn’t complaining, if they’d had mediocre talents, the battle wouldn’t have lasted this long..

Click!!

A soft clicking sound came from my body, almost as if something had finally been locked in place..

I already knew what it was..

Solar scale pressure- Stage III

The atmosphere around me whined and groaned from the unbearable heat being released from my body.

"Ahhhh..... such a wonderful feeling" my glowing eyes locked unto my opponents, they looked worse for wear..

Yes they had been matching me, but that didn’t come without its own costs, the first blonde youth, the loud one, had a gaping hole the size of a fist through his midsection, his flames trying earnestly to put out the Solar-immolation fire constantly eating at the wound...

The silent one, the most troublesome of the two, I’d succeeded in taking that arm that had tried, succeeding more than once, impaling me with a flaming spear that burned even with my own flame resistance...

They looked ready to collapse..

"Ahh.. don’t go out on me now, I was just getting excited..."

"Alright..." a calm, regal voice cut through my excitement..

"Huh??" I tilted my head, the silent one had finally decided to speak..

"So you do talk, and here I was feeling bad for pummeling a mute.." I grinned wickedly..

"You have a very foul mouth.." his calm authoritative voice sounded once again..

"Yea.. sure, tell me that when you aren’t bleeding to death.." I couldn’t be bothered to continue bantering..

"You seem so certain of victory"

"And shouldn’t I be?"..

"Indeed... you should, had you been facing anyone else, you would’ve certainly succeeded, but unfortunately, you chose the wrong opponent"

I tilted my head even further, not understanding what this second rate extra was on about..

It didn’t take long for me to get my answers..

"PHOENIX NIRVANA"

A roaring surge of crimson red flames soared into the sky, the flames bathing the young blonde in an ethereal glow, his already glowing eyes grew much more intense.. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The arm I’d taken earlier, regenerating within a blink, all the injuries he had sustained vanishing like they never appeared..

"Alright.. it’s time I finally get serious"

Screeeeeeeeeeee...

The screeching of a massive bird resounded all around us, the silhouette of a massive figure casting the ruined battlefield in a crimson glow, the youth’s body undergoing a transformation..

His frame became slender, crimson gold wings sprouted from his back, a crimson gold spear swirling with dizzying runes appearing within his grasps as his aura soared to impossible heights...

I watched slowly as the transformation concluded, what stood before me now felt less like a human and more like a divine beast taking human form..

And what made the transformation even more jarring was the seamless combination of the solar flames and rejuvenating phoenix flames...

"Allowing me to introduce myself, I am Blaze Calder, youngest prince of the shining sun, Helios, it is your pleasure"...

Yeah, the guy was full of himself, but I couldn’t say he didn’t have the right..

Because At this point in time, I couldn’t help taking a moment to wonder just how someone could be this ridiculously powerful at the FUCKING E-rank..

Forget about myself, I was already an anomaly, but it seemed there was indeed a lot more to unpack within this world because each moment I spent engaging in true geniuses, I realized just why talents and bloodlines were held in such reverence..

I didn’t believe for one second that someone at the S-rank with an A or even S-rank talent and bloodline would survive a single clash with the young man before me...

One would have to wield a SS or SSS-rank bloodline/Talent at the S-rank stage of power to even stand a competitive chance..

My grin widened at the thought...

"Good... you’re not disappointing me in the least"..

He didn’t bother replying, one moment he was far from from, the next he was in front me, his body reasmbling instantly in a burst of crimson gold flames, but the one thing I was confident in, was my speed..

My gauntleted fist shot out immediately..

Clanggggg!!!!!

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out clearly as our attacks collided...

The deadlock lasting only an instant, before we moved once again....

"Truly.. what an exciting moment" my wild laughter resounded clear through the ruined landscape as apocalyptic explosions resounded nonstop...

*******

A/N: these guys seem cut from a different cloth all together..

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Thanks for reading..