July 6th, Year 714 A.G.

[11:47am]

Grand Prix Arena was filled to the brim with thousands of spectators, and the scene inside was being broadcasted live to tens of thousands more people in Leviathan Quay and hundreds of thousands or even millions around the world.

It was almost time for the most anticipated fight of the preliminaries.

Both fighters were in different bays of the fighter's area. The promoters did everything to promote their fighters as cameras followed every of their actions, broadcasting it to the whole world and raising the hype to an extraterrestrial level.

Both fighters looked sharp and confident.

For this fight, Grand Prix Arena provided the attire to both fighters. They went shirtless with Thomas Riley wearing black shorts while King Agama wore white shorts, both with the emblem of the Geneforge Clans.

Leon's black hair was left rough and uncombed. Paired with the gauntlets on both his fists, it gave him a rugged and more menacing bearing for this fight.

Seated on a chair with no back, his black eyes were calm and filled with quiet confidence as he leaned forward and looked straight into the camera.

His black leather backpack sat just beside his right leg.

On the other side, in his white shorts, King Agama looked like a storm that was waiting to erupt.

This was a man who looked like he was already in his early 30s.

His auburn hair was braided in a bold Mohawk style. His face had a rugged but masculine beauty to it, accentuated by a blade scar that cut through his upper lip. He wore a pair of emerald earrings on both his ears.

He had a thick auburn-scaled tail extending behind him.

Just like Thomas Riley, he sat on a backless chair. Leaning his elbows on top his legs, he held his Spear with his right hand and looked into the camera with deep brown eyes that seemed eager to kill and destroy.

As the camera showed both fighters in their bay areas, the fans in the arena exploded into cheers and chants.

This time, Thomas Riley did not enjoy a clean sweep of fan support.

Thomas Riley may be the current rave in town but King Agama is an OG, a warrior who's proved his competence in the annual tournament for consecutive years. He had a cult-like following in the cities of the Geneforge Clans.

Around 11:52am, Thomas Riley stood up with his entourage- Daren, Mr. Paul, and thugs from Picasso Lifestyle as he walked out of the fighter's area towards the octagon.

As he walked out, the announcer seamlessly kicked in.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for…"

"It's Time!"

"Introducing the challenger for the no. 1 spot, hailing from the West with an outstanding record of 95 fights, 0 draws, and 0 losses, the one and only Ring Man from the West!"

"He's won 34 of his 95 fights by knockout, 12 by submission, and 18 of his opponents have forfeited!"

"He is undefeated!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome the King in the West, the secret protector of Compton District, the terror of terrorists!"

BOOM!

The crowd exploded in cheers, roaring at the top of their lungs.

"Thomas Riley!" "Thomas Riley!" "Thomas Riley!"

Leon had fought 95 fights already since joining the combat sports tournament, but none of these fights gave him the feeling like this one.

Hearing the noise that was being made as he walked out, he felt goosebumps crawl all over his skin as his adrenaline levels spiked.

'F*ck, I feel like its win or die now!'

At some point in time, he already began embracing his Thomas Riley persona as his fans grew on him. Now, he didn't want to fail them and lose.

He kept a cold and impassive look on his face as he walked and it made the spectators even more excited as they screamed.

Leon entered the ring and a few seconds later, all lights in the whole arena suddenly turned dim.

An ominous theme song started playing and instantly, the arena exploded as die-hard fans roared.

Amid the darkness, light suddenly focused on the walkway and at some point, a person already appeared there… King Agama.

BOOM!

The arena erupted and boiled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's the King".

"Let's welcome the Prowling Predator, the Dragon, the reigning Champion of Grand Prix Arena, the one and only King Agama!"

The fans went crazy as they cheered and then the lights came back on as King Agama walked towards the octagon alone.

Seeing this, Leon's blood boiled. A competitive fire already ignited inside of him and now, he really wanted to win.

When King Agama entered the octagon, the atmosphere turned electric as it became charged with negative ions.

King Agama walked around the cage like an Alpha Dog asserting dominance in his territory. This provocation made Leon's blood boil even further.

King Agama laughed. "I'm gonna kill your arrogance!"

He stared at his opponent and smirked. "You think running over those bunch of terrorists make you legit? I'll show you what true war is".

"I'll show you the difference between a real fighter and a mechanic who belongs in the workshop".

Leon didn't respond.

At that moment, the referee who was outside the cage finally repeated the rules of the octagon to both fighters, asking if they're ready.

Once both fighters gave their consent, the bell rang.

DONG!

Instantly, King Agama pounced.

Pulse Dash!

Violent ADE flared around the Cyber Gladiator's body and he turned into a blur, rapidly closing the distance to his opponent.

But having fought against a terrorist with similar powers already, Leon was calm and unfazed as he expected such speed from the very beginning.

He kept his eyes on King Agama from the beginning and the moment the bell rang, he punched forward with his right hand.

Ember Burst!

Leon's punch with the VX-09 Emberfist gauntlet triggered a powerful blazing flame-shock that covered a 2.5m cone range!

Before King Agama moved, Leon punched first.

This was why despite the ridiculous speed of this Cyber Gladiator, the flames surged towards him before he could close the distance to the Mechanist.

King Agama's speed and forward momentum was too fast. With the flames surging towards him, there was no time to dodge, but then…

BZZZ!

His ADE flared again.

Servo Reflex!

In a display of defiance against conventional sense, despite the speed that he was moving at, King Agama managed to partially kill all the momentum in an instant and slow down, then he ducked and slid forward.

He Agama slid under the high-temperature flames from the gauntlet as he continued his high-speed charge towards his opponent.

Under the flames as he closed the distance, his brown eyes gleamed coldly as he finally set eyes on his target again.

Auto-Recoil Compensation!

His hand jerked then with pin-point accuracy, he thrust the tip of his Spear forward towards Thomas Riley's chest!

Leon's heartbeat accelerated.

His body was not fast enough to react, but something else was.

Drone Control Matrix!

A sword drone violently tore its way out of the black leather bag, speedily accelerating towards the sliding Cyber Gladiator at almost point-blank range!

Leon's immaculate reaction to his moves put him in a dilemma.

Continue with his Spear attack and both of them will be injured. But considering that his opponent was not a Gene Augur, Leon was 75% sure that King Agama would not continue with the attack and he was right.

With Servo Reflex still active, the Cyber Gladiator showcased his unreal reflex speed again as in the last millisecond, he altered the path of the Spear, then…

CLANG!

The tip of the Spear violently clashed with the tip of the Sword Drone, then…

CRKSH!

The sword drone exploded into fragments!

Despite crafting his new set of sword drones with more powerful metal and alloys, they were still not powerful nor sturdy enough to resist the sheer power of an E Rank Cyber Gladiator head-on.

But like humans, humanoid eyes have a reflexive action in the face of an external stimulus that poses a threat to the eyes.

When the brain senses danger to the eyes, one of the most delicate organs in a biological body, the eyes close instinctively.

Leon predicted this, and it happened.

As soon as the sword drone exploded, the fragments scattering everywhere dangerously close to King Agama's eyes, the Cyber Gladiator instinctively closed his eyes and that was when Leon's left hand with the gauntlet finally moved.

He didn't swing a fist to punch, instead, he flicked a finger.

Miniaturization!

What seemed like a tiny needle that was previously hidden in the grasp of the gauntlet was flicked, rapidly accelerating towards the Cyber Gladiator's face.

As it accelerated, it bulged and expanded, turning into a titanium dagger!

Not one, not two, but three daggers!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

This time, King Agama could only react to save his life by lifting his head up to avoid the daggers puncturing his forehead then his brain. He couldn't completely dodge them.

Instead of his forehead, the 3 daggers cut his face in quick succession, slicing grievous wounds on the right side of his face like tribal marks as he bled.

Leon drew first blood!

BOOM!

The arena erupted.

By now, the raging flames from the earlier Ember Burst already mostly dissipated into tiny sparks and embers, and then an already livid King Agama finally motioned to stand up as he nodded for the first time.

The moment this Cyber Gladiator nodded, Leon felt something change and instantly, he decided to use his System Snoop function.

Having used his System's Snoop function on this Ascended before the battle started, he already saw his System status and now with the Snoop function on again, his eyes constricted.

~----~

[END: 149 ~ 151]

[STR: 158 ~ 161]

~----~

King Agama's END and STR strength increased!

'What?'

When Sergeant Tyla told him about it while they conversed, Leon still felt a bit skeptical but now he was forced to believe that by nodding, this guy can indeed increase his END and STR.

'That's just…' He was speechless but he didn't focus on his shock.

'How far can he go? What's the cap?'

He dared not think too much about it because he knew that now was not the time. Also, a sentence repeated in his head.

'I have less than 3 minutes to end this fight!'

Instantly, his left gauntlet grabbed his leather bag as King Agama staggered back to his feet.

From the bag, he pulled out 2 things: a gray grenade and a pair of reflective aviator glasses.

Last night, Leon worked so late because of multiple reasons.

Apart from completing Lieutenant Johnmark's commissions, this pair of glasses was also one of the reasons that kept him up late.

Last night, he created a new blueprint- Infrared Googles. He created the blueprint from his already existing knowledge of thermography and thermal imaging, he didn't need a Knowledge Scroll for it.

With it, he finally had a solution to see through the field of his smoke bombs.

The moment he pulled out both gadgets, with one hand he wore the glasses and with his other hand, he threw the gray grenade in between them.

POOF!

Thick black smoke instantly engulfed the arena.

King Agama finally staggered to his feet but his vision was cut off. Unlike him though, with his infrared googles, Leon clearly saw his opponent.

Out of sight of the cameras, for the first time, this Cyber Gladiator showed panic as he hastily nodded his head again.

He suddenly had a realization then he charged towards the last position where he saw the Mechanist at.

Expecting this, Leon moved before him.

He kept his feet light and soundless like an assassin as he tip-toed, rapidly moving to the left and away from his previous position then he dipped his hand into the leather bag again.

He pulled out a toy-shaped Axe.

His ADE silently flared and the toy-shaped Axe turned into a massive titanium Battle Axe.

Just as King Agama charged past him to his previous location, Leon ruthlessly hacked the Battle Axe at the Cyber Gladiator's ribs!

BAM!

It connected!

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