Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 65: Livestreaming the Duel[3]

Chris stared at the bubbling red liquid inside the glass vial.

After surviving a baseball swing from a literal giant, he didn’t even hesitate.

The taste was like burning paper, but the effects hit his system right away.

His muscles tightened, expanding against the heavy constraints of his dented armor.

His vision sharpened, pushing the edges of the massive training hall out of focus until only Kyle remained in his sights.

The heavy, sluggish feeling of wearing a full plate vanished, replaced by an overwhelming surge of hyper-focused energy.

Kyle watched the transformation from across the room.

The giant A-Rank hunter dropped his casual, annoyed attitude.

Seeing this random rookie withstand his best attack had triggered something dark in the veteran fighter.

A brutal, terrifying smile spread across his face.

He was no longer treating this as a minor annoyance but as a real target in front of him.

Julien leaned close to Chris, his voice dropping to a whisper so the camera microphone wouldn’t pick it up.

"Listen to me," the merchant whispered quickly.

"This is a highly concentrated berserker draft. It only gives you a five-minute boost, but it will max out all of your physical stats to their absolute limits. You cannot outlast him, but make sure every single punch lands."

Chris nodded, a strange, uncharacteristic smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

The potion was flooding his brain with raw battle craze.

Satisfied, Julien spun around and walked right up to Toby’s camera lens, cutting off Mira.

"Are you all ready to be surprised?" Julien asked the viewers, his voice ringing with pure, unapologetic confidence.

"Because this right here is our secret product. It is highly exclusive. Nobody expects a B-Rank rookie to hold a candle to an A-Rank hunter. But if you can withstand their best hit, you have a real chance to fight back. And that is exactly what we are going to show you right now."

Julien leaned closer to the lens, his merchant smile fading into something far more serious and gritty.

He spoke directly to the thousands of struggling hunters watching from the slums and lower districts.

"Let’s be honest with ourselves," Julien said, his voice echoing in the quiet arena.

"How many times are you going to hide behind the S-Ranks? How long are you going to pray to them like deities to save your ass while you struggle to clear basic dungeons? We know the potions sold at the Association Guild stores are expensive as hell. They price you out of survival. That is why we are here. To give you a chance to hold your own ground."

The camera panned away from the merchant and settled back on the arena.

Chris and Kyle both stood their ground, matching smirks on their lips as the adrenaline and battle craze pushed them to the edge.

Without warning, Kyle grabbed the hilt of his massive greatsword and hurled it across the room like a massive javelin.

Chris watched the heavy slab of steel spinning toward him.

His enhanced brain rapidly processed the threat.

He probably reduced the mass to throw it that fast, Chris thought.

Instead of dodging away entirely, Chris quickly sidestepped and reached out to grab the bottom of the hilt to stop the weapon and disarm his opponent.

He was wrong.

Kyle hadn’t used his skill.

He had thrown the raw, two-hundred-kilogram sword using nothing but his monstrous physical strength.

The second Chris’s gloves clamped around the hilt, the overwhelming weight yanked him forward, dragging his upper body down and completely ruining his fighting posture.

Kyle didn’t waste the opening.

The giant closed the distance in a blur of motion, appearing right in front of him.

Kyle pulled back his fist and unleashed a brutal right hook.

The punch slammed into Chris’s chest plate, the silver armor cracking loud enough to echo in the rafters.

Kyle followed up with a vicious left jab to the face, then a heavy knee to the ribs.

It was a one-sided slaughter. Chris was trapped against the heavy steel of the sword, taking hit after heavy hit without a chance to throw a single punch back.

The chat feed went wild again, but the tone shifted rapidly.

[xX_Hunter_Xx]: Bro is getting folded!

[Mana_Addict]: I KNEW IT WAS A SCAM.

[Slime_Killer]: Merchant is a fraud, refund my coins!

[DihSlayer99]: GG, call the medics.

On the sidelines, the temperature dropped rapidly.

Alice drifted forward, her glowing eyes flaring with genuine anger as she watched Chris get pummeled.

She raised her pale hands, ready to intervene and risk her own safety, but Kiara caught her sleeve.

"Wait," the teenager whispered, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Kiara’s mind was processing the actions of movement.

"Look at his feet and the way he keeps his guard up."

Alice blinked, focusing through the dust.

Chris was getting hit, yes, but he was subtly shifting his weight.

He was taking the strikes on the thickest parts of his armor, letting the Iron Skin and Healing potion do the heavy lifting.

He was purposefully taking the beating to gauge the mechanics of Kyle’s attack patterns and determine his combo.

Julien, however, didn’t have Kiara’s analytical mind.

The merchant stood near the camera, his fists clenched tight at his sides.

He watched the dented armor fly off his friend in multiple chunks, and a deep wave of worry washed over him.

He had pushed Chris too far just to make a sale. It should have been him taking the challenge in that ring, but his weak E-Rank body would have been crushed on the first swing.

He hated feeling useless and always risking his friend’s life.

In the centre of the ring, Kyle let out a deep grunt, dropping his shoulder to load up a massive, fight-ending uppercut.

He aimed right under Chris’s jaw, fully intending to knock the rookie unconscious.

The giant’s fist rocketed upward.

Chris finally moved.

Having mapped the A-Rank’s attack rhythm, Chris executed a flawless, razor-sharp dodge to the left.

The massive uppercut sailed past his ear, hitting nothing but empty air.

Kyle’s eyes went wide as his own momentum carried him forward, leaving his guard wide open.

Chris planted his boots on the ground.

He didn’t even use his dominant right hand but simply brought up his left fist, his weakest hand, and drove it forward with terrifying, pinpoint accuracy.

The punch landed perfectly on the side of Kyle’s face.

The impact sounded like a thunderclap.

The raw energy transferred from Chris’s magically enhanced fist right into the giant’s jaw.

Kyle’s boots actually left the floorboards.

The seven-foot-tall hunter was sent flying sideways, skidding across the floor and crashing hard into his own discarded greatsword.

Mira’s mouth fell wide open as her hands dropped the microphone.

The chat feed froze for a full second before exploding in a frenzy of all-caps text.

[DihSlayer99]: HE JUST SENT AN A-RANK FLYING!

[Healer_Girl_01]: Left hand?! He used his left hand?!

[Sword_Saint_Fan]: TAKE MY MONEY J.A.C.K MARKET!

The dust cleared in the centre of the arena.

Chris stood up straight, rolling his broad shoulders.

His armor was a wrecked mess, and his face sported a few dark bruises, but there were no serious injuries.

The potion combo had worked perfectly.

Chris raised his left hand, inspecting his knuckles for a brief second before dropping back into a tight, aggressive fighting posture.

The battle craze in his eyes burned brighter than ever.

"Time for a payback," Chris muttered as he moved first this time.