There was a sudden silence all around us, the crowd held their breath in anticipation.

Though most felt I was going to get squashed like a bug, life was full of surprises wasn’t it? I was sure there was a fair bit that were wishing for an upset, not because they cared about me, but because it would be far more exciting that way..

So, the silence remained charged with excitement, many were waiting, probably for Apollo to strike down the presumptuous fool.

And he didn’t let them wait for long, white-gold flames burst out of his body, the temperature soaring once again to those unfair levels of heat, but this time, none of it reached me, they couldn’t..

"I shall return your words to you, you imbecile" the burning man said as his flames burned wilder, hotter.

"Today, I will make your end swift and painless and once I meet you on a stage that doesn’t stay my hand, I shall have your life"

He threw my words right back at me, word for word.

"Now, DIE!!!"

Swoooooshhhhhhhh!!!!!!

A column of burning hot flames surged wildly as they shot straight at me.

The air melted as they made their path towards my incineration.

"Next time, know who it is you pick a fight with" Apollo’s voice echoed all over the place, he seemst certain of victory, despite his attack not yet making contact..

It never did..

One second..

Two seconds..

Three seconds..

The crowd waited for the inevitable Boom that would signify the end of this charade, but it never came..

"He..he’s alright" an outer court student muttered in disbelief, his eyes unbelieving of what they were seeing..

His words brought the attention of his friends from the flaming youth to his opponents.

"Ho..how?" Their reactions were just about the same..

"That’s... that’s impossible"

As I heard the crowd slowly reacting to what happened, I couldn’t say I was surprised, after all, seeing the person you’d expected to have been turned into black coal, standing there, perfectly fine, not a sign of damage on him, would send your mind spiraling in doubt.. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"You... how are you still alive?" Apollo’s shocked voice reached my ears..

"You don’t get tired of saying the same things do you?"I questioned expressionlessly, "all your blubbering and this is what you’re worth... NOTHING"..

"DIEEEEE!!!!!!!" A massive ball of white-gold flames was immediately formed in the skies above, the heat rolling off of it was enough to scorch a riverbed dry, yet none of it reached me, it never would.

He condensed the ball of fire over and over again, until it was nothing but the size of a tennis ball, a very unstable, highly explosive tennis ball, that he sent crashing towards me.

The moment the ball got within 5 meters of me, pshhhhhh...

It fizzled into dying embers, going out almost instantly..

Another wave of profound silence descended on the group of gathered students..

I could feel the sheer disbelief in the air..

"You should use what you used earlier, don’t say I didn’t give you the chance to prove yourself" my face hadn’t twitched when I said those words, almost as if I was speaking to nothing worth considering...

I could see the young man gritting his teeth, his eyes spitting literal flames as his aura grew, a tremendous amount of energy leaking out of him, his voice echoing from everywhere...

"Edicts of the Solar compendium"

Once again, the world felt like it stilled, as the weight of the moment settled on everyone..

I had received everything of this particular compendium when my ability kicked in earlier, so I knew for sure how terribly deadly this ability was, I also knew that it was merely one of many other trumps that were probably too much for the young man to even consider trying..

I also knew the inhumane levels of energy it required to use a single one, the fact that he was already capable of using it again was already testament to his talents, but that wasn’t something I cared about right now.

My goal was clear, rip apart that illusion of superiority from his deluded mind..

The heat surged once more as the "sun" seemingly began falling, its descent accompanied by a creeping feeling of existential dread, at least, that’s what I’d felt the first time, but now? Nothing.

I’d already said it, Nothing was going to reach me, not this time..

So as I watched the approaching ball of devastation approaching, my mouth opened.

"Abyssal Authority".

There wasn’t any dramatic shifts, any stilling of reality, not one.

Yet merely at the sound of my voice, the approaching ball of death and carnage, twisted and folded in on itself, vanishing like it had never appeared, the golden skies regaining their midday shine.

A stream of chaos energy flowed into me, gently refilling my coffers..

I looked up, only to see Apollo’s flaming eyes shaken to the core, his flames were sputtering, almost going out.

"Let me help with that" I pointed at him, I didn’t need to, but I needed the moment to feel as heavy and belittling as it should..

"Atmospheric Erasure"

Pfttt..pshhhhh

Like dying embers, the stellar flames surrounding his form died out instantly, his body returning to normal, his pale face a testament to how much energy he’d expended, either that or he was still stunned speechless at seeing his "sun" be "deleted" from the skies..

"How—-"

I was on him before he could finish that thought, my fist already swinging for his midsection, black immolation flames burning wildly around them..

"I told you... you end would be swift and painful, so, enjoy.." saying so, I let my fist connected with his body..

BOOM...BOOOM...BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

Wooooooooshhhhhh!!!!

Three consecutive explosions sounded out from that one blow, consecutive rings of air blasting outward from his back as his body folded like a shrimp before being launched backwards at supersonic speeds...

SHATTTERRRR...

He collided with the barrier, shattering it instantly as his body kept flying backward until it collided with the walls of a building far displaced from the central plaza, his condition currently unknown..

And just like that, the battle was over.

30 seconds of blubbering and nothing to show for it..

I just stood there, still in striking posture, fist outstretched, smoke was still curling up from the friction of the punch and the flames that had been transferred into Apollo...

The silence that surrounded me was beyond profound, it was staggering.

The entire audience seemed to have forgotten how to breathe, all but one..

"THAT’S MY BABY!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Cara’s deafening cheer was louder than it should’ve been due to the petrifying quiet..

I withheld the smile that was threatening to break out on my face..

I wasn’t done yet, I still had another arrogant fool to put in his place properly...

So, as I slowly stood up, regaining my full height, my voice sounded out, still bearing that distinct robotic tone.

"Caelum Von Draken, get your snake ass down here and get your just desserts"

************

A/N: forget the long worded description of events,most of the fights are actually fast paced, given that the students are moving quite fast.

Yet regardless, knocking someone lights out in 30 seconds, with most of that time spent letting your opponent attack, has got to be some real humiliating way of teaching someone a lesson..

And if y’all remember what those flames do to not just the physical but the soul as well....

***********

Thanks for reading....