The two fighters got up from their seats before heading into the battlefield. The visible frustration on Tyler's face after his name was announced alongside X was expected and understood.
Silence filled the arena as both fighters stood opposite each other, awaiting the sound of the alarm.
"You're not gonna go easy on me, are you?" Tyler asked X with an agitated look on his face.
X's silence was expected as after a few seconds, Tyler whispered the words, "Of course," to himself, before continuing to await the alarm.
And finally, the alarm rang and the battle immediately commenced.
Immediately the alarm went off, X instantly pulled his sidearm from its holster and pointed it directly at his opponent. It didn't seem like he was looking to waste time on the battle. X instantly fired a round at Tyler, with Tyler managing to evade the fired attack in due time.
Tyler knew that he had next to zero chances of beating X from range, so immediately after realizing the battle's commencement and his dire situation of range, he immediately darted at X without hesitation.
X proceeded to fire three more shots at Tyler, but Tyler managed to evade them after stopping in one place and focusing on doing so.
Even though X was easily the best marksman on earth, and potentially among all mortal species, the idea that all the other demigods at this point were fast enough to react to bullets made it significantly difficult for him to hit his target. But he still had his secret weapon that was yet to be beaten.
As Tyler almost arrived in front of his opponent to switch the battle to close combat, he noticed that X's pupils had suddenly shrunk while still focusing on him. Upon the realization that X had activated his True Accuracy, Tyler instantly turned his body to face the opposite side before X fired his sidearm directly at Tyler's back.
The force was so intense that it sent Tyler flying far away. The demigods spectating wondered if that was it for Tyler as he fell to the ground instantly.
"I'm surprised he didn't try countering it with his Retaliation ability," Quinn mentioned in curiosity back at the spectator's area.
"He did," a voice then responded among the other demigods, revealing to be Iris as she continued to stare into the battlefield. "But it didn't seem to change anything."
Quinn had a confused look on her face as she stroked her cheek, attempting to analyze the situation.
"Interesting," she worded briefly before continuing. "Then I'm guessing that ability only works when he can truly counter the action sent to him."
"So he's basically only able to counter melee attacks?" Shade asked.
"It's a theory, but it's the best I've got right now," Quinn responded.
Iris' face as she continued to spectate the battle was very mellow. She knew that X had the potential to easily win the entire tournament after her experience with him the round before.
She had not mentioned it to any other demigod, but during the first round, when she placed the other demigods under her illusion, she was able to successfully do so for everyone, except for one... X.
Although it was potentially because she was not able to have visual contact with him due to his meditating state, she also knew that there was a possibility he was aware of her ability and simply did not allow her to do so.
The demigods continued to spectate after a few more seconds as Tyler managed to pick himself up from his fallen state. His pain was clear as he gradually got up before moving his right shoulder and elbow, which was pointed out, in a circular motion to slightly ease the pain of the shot.
Tyler had been shot directly at his back, around the right side, so the pain was not as fatal as it would have been if X had fired even milliseconds earlier.
"Oh?" X worded as he watched Tyler recover from the attack and rush directly at him once again.
And within a brief moment, Tyler and X were engaging in hand-to-hand combat against each other.
Tyler continued to launch his fists at X, with his opponent doing the same. But something seemed surprising to the rest of the demigods.
"Wait," Shade said before walking closer. "Is he keeping up with X?"
The other demigods focused more on the battle before realizing this fact. Tyler was somehow keeping up with X. His close combat was very impressive as it seemed to keep X on alert constantly with every attack he swung.
"Wow," Quinn exclaimed. "I knew his hand-to-hand was good from his battle with Lincoln, but I didn't expect him to actually keep up with X."
The demigods were very impressed with Tyler's performance and wondered if there was a sliver of hope for him, despite his injured state after taking a bullet to the back. But among all the demigods who had hope for Tyler, Klaus noticed something about the battle.
"He's not showing any signs of effort," Klaus thought to himself as he noticed X's expression in his eyes.
X's mask made it very difficult for the other demigods to tell that this was the case, but Klaus knew that X was not truly outputting the same amount of effort Tyler was despite their dead even state.
The two continued to clash for almost three full minutes, as the battle didn't seem to change tides at all, throughout this duration. However, after constantly swinging multiple attacks, as well as the loss of blood over time from his wound, Tyler was noticeably getting more exhausted after every swing and clash. But the same could not be said for X.
X's expression during the battle did not change once, and the amount of force he was using for each punch did not reduce over time. This made it clear to Tyler that he had no hope of winning if the battle continued in this direction.
Upon this realization, Tyler knew that he had to switch up his fighting style, so he decided to activate his retaliating ability and use it on X.
Doing this, Tyler was able to catch X off-guard as he stood in one spot after X swung a punch at him. After the ability's activation, Tyler was able to evade the punch before swinging his attack at X with the same power. In doing this, Tyler was able to successfully land a blow on X, punching his opponent on his metallic mask and moving his head a bit.
The shock from the other demigods was clear as they spectated one of them land a successful blow on X for the first time, even though it was indirectly just X punching himself.
"Wow," Quinn managed to say after the long silence that filled the spectator's area due to their focus on the fight.
X gradually moved his head back to Tyler as the pure rage in his eyes continued to grow. Tyler moved back from his opponent before taking a stance and awaiting X's next attack to counter it.
In a fit of rage, X then continued ahead as he swung at his opponent once again, expecting to land a stronger hit. But as expected, all X's rage did was make Tyler's retaliation ability stronger, causing the counter to deal even more damage on X than the previous.
X moved back a few meters after realizing what was going on. This caused X to be even more furious at the idea, but he knew that his anger was not going to help him bypass the ability.
Tyler continued to stand in the same spot as he awaited X's next move. He hoped that X's next attack would be stronger than the others so that he could turn his ability off immediately after, reducing the amount of energy he was utilizing and using that as an advantage in the battle. X then closed his eyes for a brief moment before exhaling and opening his eyes once again, revealing even more rage in them.
Tyler knew that this attack was going to be stronger so he stood and waited for X to strike. And as X moved forward to land a blow on his opponent, something surprising occurred.
"He landed a hit?" Quinn asked after watching X punch Tyler in the jaw, causing his opponent to fall once more.
"Impossible," Tyler thought to himself as he fell to the ground, almost losing consciousness from the attack. "How could this be?"
Nothing was making sense to Tyler. There was no logical way for X to bypass his ability after having such rage for his opponent. Tyler forcefully remained conscious before lifting himself to his feet after a brief moment. He then kept the same pose as he awaited X's attack once again, convincing himself that it was a fluke and that he had just accidentally deactivated the ability prior. But that was far from the case.
As Tyler awaited X's attack, X swung at his opponent once more, this time landing a clean blow to Tyler in the gut.
Tyler fell to his knees in pain as he placed both of his hands on the part of his body that was hit. But what was going through Tyler's head was how X was able to land two blows despite his ability being active.
"It doesn't make sense," Tyler thought. "His rage should've activated the ability."
A few seconds passed as Tyler knelt in confusion about what was happening. X did not even seem the least bit concerned about the fight and was not hesitant about eliminating his opponent so he simply just walked ahead of Tyler. That was when it hit Tyler.
"Wait," Tyler thought. "It's just a facade."
Tyler realized that despite X had looked furious, his heart was completely calm and his intentions were not as depicted. This meant that while he looked angry, all X did was maintain a calm mind and move his fist forward, and Tyler just so happened to be at the attack's trajectory.
Tyler gasped for air for a few more seconds as X stood ahead of him in silence and stared down at him.
"Is that all?" X asked his opponent with dissatisfaction.
Tyler continued to gasp for a few more seconds before closing his eyes in pain and reopening them.
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"I still got some fight left in me," Tyler managed to respond as he struggled to get up on his feet.
Tyler knew he had to give the battle his all if he wanted to win against such a formidable opponent, so he knew that he had to resort to his final technique. He then immediately moved his left hand and placed it on the bandage covering his right one before ripping the bandage off, revealing his snake tattoo once again.
"He ripped it off again," Quinn stated at the spectator's area. "Interesting."
"I guess that means it actually does something when he has his tattoo open," Shade replied to her as they continued to watch to see what would happen next.
Tyler's tattoo shone a bright orange color as he stood tall, staring directly at his opponent.
"Guess this is the final stretch," Tyler said.
Both opponents stared directly at each other for a brief moment before Tyler finally rushed at X, hoping to land a single blow.
X continued to evade his opponent as he noticed that Tyler's attack potential, as well as reaction, did not seem to be heightened after revealing his mark. With this, X wondered what the reason was for Tyler to do so. He also noticed that Tyler's attacking sequence was a bit more sloppy than usual, making him even more curious about what was going on. That was when X noticed something strange about his opponent. It was almost as if he was trying to touch X with his marked arm.
Noticing this, X decided not to attempt to counter any of Tyler's attacks to be on the safe side in case his plan had something to do with contact.
"Strange," Quinn said at the spectator's area.
"What's wrong?" Siren asked in curiosity as to what Quinn had realized.
Quinn took a second before finally revealing what she had in mind.
"Well, I have a theory," Quinn stated before continuing. "From the way both fighters are moving, it's almost as if Tyler is trying to touch X, and X is trying to dodge."
"So you're saying that X is not engaging on purpose?" Klaus asked.
"Precisely," Quinn responded. "It's almost as if he's aware of something from Tyler."
Quinn then took a few more seconds as she attempted to remember what had happened during Tyler's fight with Link. She remembered that Tyler had revealed his tattoo before Link was affected by the surprising cause of his death. She also noticed that Tyler had not taken any damage before his reveal, which made her curious as to whether there was something hidden underneath that information. That was when everything hit her like a truck.
"Oh my Gods," Quinn started, attracting the attention of all the spectating demigods. "I figured it out."
X continued to evade Tyler, confirming that something was up with his actions. He knew that he had to do something about Tyler, but since did not have a full idea of what was going on, it made things more difficult for him. But as his evading continued, after a few more seconds of trying, Tyler managed to come in contact with X's right arm after his fingers grazed X on his right glove.
Immediately this occurred, X moved back a small distance before noticing that Tyler's desperate attempt to rush at X suddenly came to a stop as he let out a slight smile. X looked in confusion for a while before his eyes slightly widened at the realization of a possible outcome.
"So what you're saying is that when Tyler uses the palm of his tattooed arm to touch someone, it causes any damage he takes to be directed to that person?" Trent asked Quinn back at the spectator's area.
"Precisely," Quinn responded as the demigods turned to the screen to see the outcome of what was occurring.
X also seemed to have the same idea that Quinn had and immediately this thought entered his head, he used his left hand to reach for his right glove, pulling it off his hand. Upon doing this, X realized a mark of a skull with an orange glowing snake wrapping around and into it directly on his right hand, exactly where Tyler had touched.
X's confusion was clear for barely a second before he realized that his assumption was correct. This meant that Tyler had now marked him, meaning any damage he was to do to Tyler would ultimately happen to him. Or at least this was what he assumed.
Since he had not yet tested the theory, X rushed at his opponent to deal massive damage, especially since Tyler seemed to have stopped moving. But as X rushed in with a punch to Tyler's face, the expected outcome instantly occurred as X got pushed back a good distance, taking heavy damage to the face.
X reacted clearly to the attack, confirming that this was the same amount of damage he had outputted. This meant that his theory was true and that Tyler was truly untouchable at this moment, especially since Tyler did not show signs of reacting to his attack at all. But the big question for X was the one everyone had in mind.
How do you counter such an ability?
"I hate to sound cocky, but I can assure you that the battle is over," Tyler eventually said to X after X moved his face back to his opponent.
Immediately after this statement, Tyler then reached into his pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a small knife.
Realizing this, X quickly knew that Tyler was planning to stab himself since the damage dealt would just happen to his opponent. With this idea, X then pulled out his sidearm before firing it directly at the dagger, hitting it away from Tyler.
X rushed at his opponent immediately after this action, knowing that Tyler's intention from this point would remain the same, and X knew that all he could do was try to buy time before he would figure out how to counter such an ability.
X continued to clash with Tyler, but this time completely different from before. This time, it was just X trying to stop Tyler from dealing damage to himself.
X continued to stop Tyler from doing anything harmful, but in some situations, he had to resort to dealing damage of his own, ultimately harming himself in the process.
"This is shocking, but I think X is done," Lance eventually said at the spectator's area as all the demigods turned their focus to him.
For Lance to have concluded such, it meant that the possibilities of X coming out on top were slimmer than they thought. But before anyone could say anything Lance continued.
"However, considering who we are talking about, I am certain he would find a way."
This statement couldn't be truer to the demigods. None of them had ever seen X even flinch since they met him until this moment, and the only reason he did was by unintentionally dealing damage to himself. Though the credit was still due to Tyler, X was still nothing short of a formidable fighter, as well as a tactician, so all the demigods decided not to make any assumptions and continued to spectate the battle unfold.
And unsurprisingly, X seemed to have an idea.
While still attempting to stop his opponent from damaging himself, X came up with a certain possibility that seemed to be a good idea.
As the battle continued, X suddenly moved back for a brief moment before picking up the knife that Tyler had dropped previously. X then stared at his opponent for a brief moment before doing something completely unexpected to everyone.
As X picked up the blade, he immediately lunged it directly into the inner side of his forearm. This idea was genius in the possibility that if Tyler's damage transferred to him, maybe the same occurred for his damage. But this did not seem to be the case as X held on to his arm after it started bleeding from the wound.
"Good idea," Tyler said to X after realizing what his opponent attempted to do. "I didn't know if that would work as well."
Tyler did not appear to be completely sure of the limits and nature of his ability, but it made sense considering he trained to achieve it by himself, alongside his trainer, III.
Tyler eventually noticed that his vision had started to get blurry and he was feeling more exhausted by every breath he exhaled. This was due to the tremendous amount of energy required for him to keep his mark active. It meant that he had to finish the battle as quickly as possible.
Tyler then instantly reached for his pocket once more, pulling out what seemed to be another blade.
"Another one?" X thought.
Immediately after this happened, Tyler proceeded to lunge the blade directly into his heart, to eliminate his opponent without taking any chances. Everything happened so quickly as X watched Tyler slowly move the blade to his heart.
The distance between them was too great for him to hit the blade off Tyler's hand, and by the time he had reached his sidearm and pointed, Tyler would have already completed his goal. But X did not seem the least bit worried for some reason. X took almost a millisecond to think of any other possibilities before an idea suddenly popped into his head.
X knew that this was the final chance he was going to have as immediately after, Tyler drove a dagger directly into his heart. A few seconds went by as all the demigods stared at the fighters, awaiting the outcome of what was happening. Finally, blood eventually became visible from underneath Tyler's shirt.
Tyler instantly dropped to the ground as his eyes widened in utter shock at what was happening.
"He took damage?" Rose asked. "How?"
Confusion filled the entire arena as all the demigods tried to understand how this happened. Tyler stared at the weapon for a brief moment before turning his attention to X, who was staring directly at him. That was when he noticed it, he noticed what had happened.
Earlier, as Tyler's hand inched closer to his chest with the blade, X held on to the blade he had used to stab himself earlier when attempting to check his theory on Tyler's power. Rising it swiftly, X swung the blade with incredible speed, almost imperceptible in its motion.
But instead of swinging at Tyler, X directed his attack towards himself, specifically at his right wrist where the mark of the skull was. The swiftness and force of the motion caused the immediate severing of his right hand from his arm.
This caused the connection between Tyler and his mark to nullify since X was no longer directly connected to the mark, causing Tyler's ability to terminate before he drove the blade into his heart.
Tyler stared down as he noticed X's arm on the floor before losing his grasp on reality and eventually perishing.
"So he actually did it?" Lance thought to himself before letting out a smile. "You truly are an amazing fighter."
The other demigod had nothing to say as they turned to each other and back to the battlefield.
"And the winner is X," XVII then announced after a few seconds.
X then used his left hand to hold on to his right forearm. He flexed his right forearm, specifically the area where his hand was severed, so he could use the muscles around to stop any more of his blood from spilling. X then reached down and picked up the part of his hand that was severed.
But instead of waiting for the transportation process to send him to the medical facility, X headed for the entrance of the battlefield, holding on to his severed arm and walking out of the battlefield, and eventually, the arena, headed for the medical facility himself while Tyler eventually got transported.
The fact that X managed to keep a normal expression in his eyes as he held on to his severed arm and walked out of the arena was beyond disturbing to most of the demigods. The idea that such pain was too little to cause a reaction made the demigods wonder what he had gone through in his life while still seventeen years old.
All the demigods awaited the arrival of X and Tyler and after a while, both demigods returned. A few of them welcomed Tyler upon arrival, but considering X's hostile glare at the demigods, it was no surprise that they did not do the same to him as he returned to his location and continued his meditation.
But this did not stop them from taking the time they had to talk among themselves.
CONVERSATION
Trent: Your performance was beyond impressive, friend.
Tyler: Thanks, man. Though I really thought I could win.
Link: Bro you did the most damage anyone of use ever dealt on him... even though, technically, HE did it to himself. Either way, you did great.
Tyler: Well, I appreciate the accolades.
Quinn then walked forward with a smile on her face as she proceeded to talk with Tyler.
Quinn: So... Now that you've been eliminated, care to share the nature of your ability?
Tyler: Going straight to it, huh?
Quinn: What can I say, I'm a very curious person.
Link: More like nosy.
Quinn: What was that, Lincoln?
Link: Okay, dude. I hope you realize I'm older by a few seconds.
Quinn: And for the six hundred and third time, I'm aware.
Tyler then gave them a few more seconds before proceeding.
Tyler: Well, the nature of the ability is already clear. Once the tattoo on my arm is exposed, it gives me the power to mark a target creating a bond between myself and them.
Quinn: And that bond causes all the damage you receive to return to the marked target, correct?
Tyler: Yeah.
Quinn: Wow, it's as if you possess the power to instantly cast divine judgment on the target. You're basically just embodying the concept of "What goes around, comes around".
Tyler: Basically. This may sound cheesy, but I call the ability Karma.
Ace: Damn, sick name.
Quinn: I guess that clarifies how X received all the damage he sent to you, and why you stabbed yourself at the end there.
Tyler: Yeah. Since I haven't really used the ability for too long, I had no idea that severing the mark would cause the ability to stop as well.
Quinn: I don't blame you, that was my seventh guess, to be honest. Another thing is that you seem to be losing a ton of stamina just by having it active. Care to elaborate?
Tyler: Well, the ability takes a lot of stamina from me when it's exposed, and the truth is that I currently have no way of turning it off, which is why the tattoo is always covered by this bandage which, oddly enough, seems to help.
Quinn: So the tattoo is the mark of the ability on you?
Tyler: Something like that. It's more like the catalyst of the ability since I was able to awaken it.
Quinn: Ah, I get it. That's honestly quite unfortunate.
Tyler: I mean I still feel fine when it's covered.
Quinn: Fair enough.
A brief moment of conversation continued before XVII finally walked ahead to announce the next fighters.
"I will now announce the next fighters."
However, considering that this was the last battle of the round and that there were only two people left to battle, the other demigods were already aware. And as they awaited his continuation, XVII then announced the final fight of the second round.