Motohama's fingers closed around the vial in his pocket, the glass cool against his skin despite the charged atmosphere of the arena. He pulled it free with deliberate slowness, letting the crowd see exactly what he held—The Honored One potion, swirling like liquid starlight.
'Why give an arrogant bastard chance to put you on the losing end, when you're obviously stronger? Let them hang themselves with their own rope while you measure out exactly how much humiliation they can swallow before they choke on it'
Riser's smirk stretched across his face like a villain of a forced plot novel, filled with hollow superiority. The Phenex heir flicked his blonde hair back, as he smirked mockingly "Does the human need a courage potion before Riser shows him his place?" He laughed, as he pointed at Motohama "But that's to be expected from a weakling like you!"
Motohama drained the vial without bothering to respond, because what was there to say to a chicken who couldn't tell the difference between preparation and desperation? The fiery jolt spread through his veins, every muscle fiber igniting with borrowed power that would last exactly one hour. One hour to put this walking flame-broiled chicken wing in his place.
His right fist clenched, and the sphere of white light that bloomed around it wasn't the usual baseball-sized glow, this one expanded like a magnified soccer ball, bigger than the arrogance of the opponent in front of him, crackling with the destructive force of tremors.
Riser's eyes widened at the sight. Whatever smug response he'd died on his tongue as his almost non existent intelligence overrode arrogance.
He immediately thrust both palms forward, and massive spheres of phoenix flame erupted from his hands, each one the size of a truck kun, screaming through the air with the sound of a forest fire compressed into blazing Phoenix flame spheres. They engulfed Motohama completely, in a sea of orange and gold that almost reached towards the reinforced walls of the arena.
WHOOOOSH!
The crowd went silent, every breath held, every eye fixed on the massive bon- fire where a human had stood moments before. Then the silence shattered.
"The match is finished!" someone screamed from the upper stands.
"That human got fucking incinerated!" another voice crowed, already counting imaginary winnings.
"Haha! That's to be expected! A human winning against a Phenex? What a joke" A devil in a gaudy suit was already pulling out his betting slip, waving it like a victory flag and grinning like he was promised a one night stand by his crush.
Riser flicked his hair back again, turning towards the audience he couldn't even see through his own flames. Supreme confidence radiated from his very existence, afterall he was someone who'd never learned that pride goes before a fall because he'd never actually fallen before.
Tap!
Then he felt a tap on his shoulder from behind, thinking it was Grayfia who came to announce his win.
But, before he could turn fully, before his brain could process the impossible fact that someone behind him was supposed to be turned into ash, a fist connected with his face.
CRACK!
The air itself fractured, visible lines like spider webs spraying outwards from the point of impact like reality had taken a blow from God itself. Riser's carefully maintained smirk faltered, his jaw snapping sideways in the helpless trajectory of a ragdoll thrown by a giant. He crashed into the arena wall with enough force to put slight cracks at the reinforced walls.
Dust billowed upon him. The crowd went silent again, but this silence was more of a shock instead of anticipation, disbelief instead of certainty.
Then one voice of the devil of working-class from the cheap seats roared: "Go human! Put that arrogant devil noble in his place!"
The sentiment spread like wildfire through the commoner section. More voices joined in, a rising tide of cheers for the underdog, for the human who'd just done what they all fantasized about during their shifts serving entitled nobles. The sound built and built until it was a roar that shook the stands, filling the whole of Bael Stadium.
Motohama barely registered their acceptance of him. His gaze stayed fixed on the rubble pile where Riser was already standing up, brushing stone dust from his suit jacket like it was dandruff. There wasn't a scratch on him, not even a bruise.
He was totally intact! because of course he was, Phenex immortality wasn't just a boast, it was written in very good writing into the bastard's DNA.
'His regeneration is one hell of a pain in the ass'
The white light sphere bloomed around Motohama's fist again, as he motioned Riser to come at him, ragebaiting him to use more of his demonic power.
Riser snarled, all pretense of civilized combat abandoned. His rainbow aura flared brighter, and he thrust both hands forward. Massive fire spheres materialized, but these ones had wind wrapped around them, green currents of air magic that made the flames spin and compress into something faster, hotter, deadlier.
Motohama punched in Riser's direction, didn't even bother to aim at the fireballs themselves, just thrust his fist toward the general area where the Phenex stood.
BOOOOOM!
The shockwave dispersed every flame sphere before they crossed the halfway point.
Riser's irritation was written all over his face. The human was literally toying with him! He snarled something in what was probably devil tongue curses, then launched himself forward on fiery wings that blazed like a fighter jet's afterburners. His fists ignited, wreathed in phoenix flames that burned hot enough to turn sand to glass.
They clashed in the center of the arena. Fist met fist, enhanced strength against enhanced strength, and for three seconds it looked almost even. Riser's phoenix flames trying to overwhelm Motohama's blackened arms. The Honored One potion's power surged with Armament Haki through Motohama's muscles. They traded blows fast enough that the crowd couldn't track individual strikes, just saw two blurs colliding at each other with enough force to crack the ground beneath their feet.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Every time Riser's flaming fist connected with Motohama's armament haki, the flames just... disappeared. Snuffed out like candles in a hurricane, not from logia bullshit, but from overwhelming force behind each punch. And sure, Riser's knuckles healed instantly from the impact damage, but healing cost energy. Healing was a resource that was renewable for a certain limit for him.
Motohama's right fist pulled back, but this time the white sphere around it expanded, crackling with something that looked wrong in the normal physics of the arena. White fracture lines appeared in the air itself, spreading outward from his knuckles like cracks in a windshield.
Riser's eyes widened, as even without Eyes of Future, he knew what was going to happen in the next 10 seconds.
CRACK!
The shockwave hit like a massive tsunami wave made of force instead of water. Riser's body folded around the invisible impact, his back bending backward at an angle that would have killed anything mortal. Then he was flying again, across the entire length of the arena, through one reinforced wall, then another, before finally crashing into the third one hard enough to embed himself in it.
Once again, regeneration kicked in immediately. Flesh knitted. Bones reformed. He stood up, his suit somehow still intact despite being pounded into walls twice in as many minutes. The smirk on his face was long gone, replaced by the look of someone who'd expected an easy victory and gotten a dogfight instead.
The crowd murmured, a low susurrus of disbelief that rippled through every section.
Riser gritted his teeth as he launched himself skyward on wings of fire, hovered up there, and then raised both hands above his head.
Phoenix fire arrows materialized by the hundreds, each one a streak of orange-gold that hummed with deadly intent. Wind tornadoes spiraled into existence around them, green vortexes that grabbed the arrows and multiplied their speed. He released everything at once, in hopes of nuking the entire arena floor, turning every square foot into a kill zone where nothing could survive.
Motohama slammed his fist into the ground.
THUUUUUD
The entire arena quaked, a miniature earthquake that rattled the stands and made the nobles grab their armrests. Massive rock pillars erupted from the ground, dozens of them, each one as thick as a tree trunk and covered in armament haki that turned them black as iron. They rose like a forest of spears, intercepting every single phoenix fire arrow before they could reach their target, catching every wind tornado and dispersing it into harmless breeze.
Then the pillars kept rising, their tops sharpening to points, angling upward toward where Riser hovered.
The Phenex dodged, wings beating frantically as he wove between black iron spikes that wanted to skewer him. His face showed genuine confusion now, the first crack in his worldview. "This is impossible!" he shouted, with utter disbelief "A mere human cannot possess such power!!"
He dove, trying to close distance again, trying to use his superior physical abilities in close combat, as it was the only time he was able to land a 'hit' on him.
Motohama saw it coming ten seconds before it happened. His Eyes of Future showed him Riser's movements, his attack angle, the exact moment when he'd throw that right hook at his face, wreathed in phoenix flames.
He simply waited for the right moment, and punched directly into Riser's chest, for one last time.
CRAAAAACK!
This time the vibrations didn't just crack the air. They tore through Riser's internal organs, shredding and pulping and turning everything inside him into mess. The phoenix regeneration kicked in immediately, but it took longer this time, his demonic power reserves drained visibly, his demonic aura flickering like a candle in the wind.
The crowd's reaction split along class lines, with different surprises.
"This is Absurd!"
"The Phenex immortality is supposed to be superior. This cannot be happening!"
"He's ruining the honor of our blood! How shameful!"
Riser heard every word. His rainbow demonic aura flared wildly, control abandoned, pure power bleeding out in uncontrolled waves. The mocking insults from his own class, from the nobles who were supposed to support him, from the families who smiled and schmoozed at parties, cut deeper than any punch Motohama landed so far.
"RISER IS THE THIRD SON OF THE PHENEX CLAN!" His voice cracked with rage, with humiliation, with the desperate need to prove he wasn't the weakling they were all calling him "RISER WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL BY A MERE HUMAN!"
He launched everything. Massive phoenix flame spheres the size of houses. Serpents made of fire that twisted and struck like living things followed by massive wind blades. Every technique in his arsenal, was aimed at Motohama, every ounce of power he possessed.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Motohama shattered them all. Enhanced Shockwaves dispersed the spheres. Armament haki broke the serpents into scattered embers. He didn't even need his Eyes of Future to counter anymore—Riser's attack patterns were becoming predictable, desperation making him look like the ninja assassin guy trying to get a win on Saitama.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Riser landed heavily on one knee, chest heaving, sweat running down his face despite the flames that wreathed his body. His expression showed genuine frustration mixed with disbelief, the look of someone whose entire worldview was crumbling, right in front of him in 4k.
His superior phoenix flames were useless. His immortality was running on fumes. Once his demonic power hit rock bottom, that immortality would sputter out like a dying engine.
The crowd went silent, stunned. Some devils began leaving, their angry muttering carrying across the stands.
"Totally one-sided"
"What a waste of money"
"Should have bet on the human"
Motohama approached confidently, white light still glowing steady around his right fist, barely winded. One or two more punches and this match would be over. And then he'd get his gacha reward, whatever that turned out to be.
Riser's hands trembled. Not from fear, but from pure rage and humiliation that boiled in his royal Phoenix blood.
The humiliation at the engagement party when this same human had spoiled it in front of everyone. The loss of face before the elite nobles of the Underworld. And now, here, before the entire Underworld watching live, this human was making him look weak. Pathetic. Inferior.
His hand went to his pocket.
'Is he going for some desperate suicide attack, some last-ditch explosion' Motohama immediately using his Eyes of Future, and what he saw made him go straight for the another Tremor punch at Riser.
But Riser flew back with vicious satisfaction, having the look of someone who'd just drawn their ace card "You should have never humiliated the name of Phenex, human!"
Then golden light erupted, flooding the entire stadium with radiance that turned everything into silhouettes and shadows. Riser's rainbow demonic aura was consumed, devoured, and replaced by pure blazing gold.
His body grew. Muscles expanded, frame towering upward, seven feet tall, then eight, then nine. Phoenix features emerged like something hatching from an egg—eyes becoming golden with slitted pupils that saw through the reality itself. Hair transformed into literal flames that crowned his head. Hands elongated into talons that could tear through high class devils. Wings expanded into massive burning appendages that spread several feet across.
A majestic crown of phoenix fire manifested above his head, rotating slowly.
The ground beneath him didn't just heat up anymore, it melted. Molten stone spread outward, slag bubbling and hissing like a witch's cauldron. The heat was so intense that the air itself ignited, spontaneous combustion turning the atmosphere into a furnace.
His demonic power signature exploded past high-class, soaring upward through ultimate-class, approaching Satan-class. Every devil in the stadium felt it pressing down on their senses like standing in front of a Satan himself.
FWOOOOOOOOSH!
The literal Phoenix had manifested in front of them.
The crowd erupted. Low-class devils in the upper stands collapsed from the pressure alone, their bodies unable to handle demonic power of this magnitude. Others screamed in excitement: "THE PHENEX! THE IMMORTAL FLAMES OF THE 72 PILLARS!"
Some fled toward the exits in genuine terror, trampling over each other in their panic.
The noble section stood as one. Lord Phenex, Riser's father, stood with his face grave but proud.
"The ring has accepted him! I knew it! The ring has acknowledged you, my boy!"
Whispers rippled through the stadium like wind.
"This is over. The human is going to be defeated very badly. Poor boy, he tried his best to give us such a good fight"
- In the Satan's section -
Sirzechs's casual demeanor vanished like smoke. His eyes sharpened, focused completely on the massive Phenex in the center of the battlefield. Beside him, Serafall was clicking pictures with her phone, starry eyes wide with excitement, probably already planning which ones to post on her Devilgram.
He simply raised one eyebrow, the closest he ever came to showing surprise. "That artifact... I remember it being used by Lord Phenex in past. I didn't think he'd actually authorize its use to his son"
"The family's future is at stake," Ajuka said quietly, his gaze shifting to Motohama "It's no surprise he'd do something like this...but, that human doesn't look that surprised"
Ajuka studied Motohama's expression, the way he stood perfectly still in the center of devastation told him that he wasn't sure if his confidence to win despite all this chaos in front of him, was true or false one.
Sirzechs didn't answer, just watched, hoping Motohama had a way out of this new predicament.
. . .
- In Battlefield -
"THE PHENEX IMMORTAL FLAME BURNS FOR ETERNITY. YOU DARED RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST RISER? NOW WITNESS TRUE POWER OF PHENEX!"
Riser in his Phoenix form spread its wings in full glory. Heat washed over the arena in waves that made the barrier flicker with strain. The very stones beneath the molten circle began to crack from thermal stress, splintering apart with sounds like lava bubbles in volcano.
Every eye in the stadium turned to the human, waiting for the inevitable, him being terrified and cowering, begging for mercy. Screaming for the match to be called before he was incinerated into nothing.
Instead, Motohama stood perfectly still in the center of devastation, a magical barrier erected around him to protect from the immense heat of massive Phoenix. The barrier did it's best, keeping the worst of the inferno at bay.
A slight smile crossed his face. Not of arrogance or false bravado. Just the calm of someone who'd been used to these kinds of situations, and knew what cards he still had to play.
He pulled out another vial, this one held a single drop of liquid and without waiting for a moment, he gulped it in one go.
White light erupted from his body, flooding the stadium, washing out even the Phoenix's golden glow.
Motohama's smile widened as he felt overwhelming demonic power flowing through every part of body.
'Time to put an end to this battle once and for all'
. . .
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