CHAPTER 140: TOO LATE
Oliver tensed his muscles as he entered the arena.
Since it was single combat, the arena wasn’t that big, as it looked like a coliseum, with dozens of students watching from the stands.
Music echoed through the surrounding area upon his entrance, and Oliver, instead of responding to the exclamations of his year mates, stood silently in the center of the arena.
His ears heard the shouts and exclamations of the crowd, but his mind was focused on his opponent, who was coming out the other side.
Step by step that beauty walked straight into the coliseum as if this battle was just another battle in her repertoire.
Oliver didn’t get angry or upset at this supposed belittlement Alice was revealing.
His body reacted and his muscles tensed again enough for the veins to appear and it was all because of Alice, who was watching him with an indifferent expression.
“Alice...” Oliver called as Alice was about to open her bag of chips.
The young woman turned her black eyes to him, looking at him with total indifference and calmness.
What was going through that woman’s mind? Oliver didn’t know and the only thing he was sure of was that his body was boiling with a desire to fight.
“I want you to fight with all your strength,” Oliver asked, revealing a serious expression.
He wasn’t being arrogant or anything like that, he just wanted to face Alice with all his strength and he wanted her to do the same.
Unlike how she took the other fights she seemed to want to teach with every confrontation, Oliver wanted a battle where she would give her all.
The combat aura appeared around Oliver’s fists and he watched her with such intensity and ferocity that it led to Alice nodding.
“Oh, you’re close...” Alice muttered and stowing her bag of chips in her space ring, replied. “I understand.”
Oliver didn’t understand what she meant by that murmur and instead of mulling it over, he focused on her, who had just put down her bag of chips for the first time.
That she did so showed that she was going to take this battle with total seriousness and that she would fulfill his request.
In no bout had she ever put her bag of chips aside, as she never needed to pay closer attention to her opponents.
“Let the semi-final begin!”
Oliver heard Frank’s voice in his ears and, unlike what everyone expected, he didn’t charge right away, but watched his opponent as his combat aura surrounded his fists.
The presence that emanated willing a battle as bloody as it was fierce could lead any student to feel downtrodden, however, Alice was different.
Unlike him, who showed a desire to fight with his aura, Alice pulled ten black arms from her back, which then intertwined with each other, forming two giant, thick arms, like those of a small giant.
All while using four other arms to lift herself up and use it to move.
“You better give it your all,” Alice said, giving a slight smile that was as unexpected as it was fascinating.
Finishing her warning, Alice swung her giant black arms like torpedoes and Oliver smiled like never before as he felt the power behind the attack.
*BOOM*
Oliver countered with a punch of his own and when the two arms collided, to his surprise, neither flinched, proving that they both had equal strength.
Alice continued to move, and he responded with his own fists.
The blows from both sides were too terrifying.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM!*
The collisions generated explosive sounds and shock waves that kicked up dust and created small craters proving that this was a battle, where everything was on the line.
If at first Alice matched his strength, she slowly overtook him and Oliver pulled back, leading to him taking a deep breath.
His whole body was boiling, wanting to show his full strength, and his eyes glowed with increased strength and determination.
“HAA!” letting out a scream that expressed all his emotions, Oliver exploded with all his strength and punched one of the giant black arms.
*BOOM*
The black arm recoiled and deformed from the blow... That’s what Oliver thought, but the next moment, he realized he was wrong.
The black arm transformed into some kind of liquid mass that trapped his entire arm and before he could retreat, he was raised into the air and slammed to the ground.
*BOOM*
“Ugh...”
The hit with the concrete floor led to him spitting blood, and he was lifted into the air again.
Realizing that Alice wasn’t lying when he agreed to go all in and...
*BOOM*
She hit him again.
*BOOM*
And again.
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*BOOM*
“Uhh...”
Oliver’s mind was so disoriented by the intense blows that he couldn’t escape no matter how much he wanted to break free and even though his body was bleeding, Alice didn’t flinch and continued.
Striking again and again until Oliver felt his body groan in pain and blood flowed out of his mouth, in a greater quantity than normal.
However, the barrier did not activate, and Oliver felt a fury welling up from within him.
It was a power so intense that it made him want to roar like an enraged beast.
*BOOM*
Without leaving him a chance, Alice threw him against the wall, causing his body to generate a crater in the concrete wall.
Oliver’s eyes were tinged reddish from the blood and he could still see how Alice approached, walking by showing some superiority.
“That’s all you got?” she asked in a mocking tone and a smile full of disdain.
Oliver felt his mind boil and his whole body erupt like an active volcano.
That scorn the young woman had never given, as if to say he was a mediocre opponent, was the final straw.
However, Alice waved her hand and the next thing Oliver saw was the powerful blows reaching his body.
*BOOM*
His body groaned in pain as she buried him deeper and deeper into the wall.
*BOOM*
The pain of those intense punches awakened his mind and, with his body boiling with anger, he exploded.
“GAAAAAA!”
With a scream that let out all his strength and intensity in the face of that battle, he performed his last hurrah, throwing a powerful punch.
The explosive force of his punch destroyed the floor.
It was a powerful blow that destroyed part of the arena floor and when it collided with the black fist, it shattered it into parts, scattering the black mass all over the place.
Feeling that power inside him, Oliver took a deep breath, looking at Alice coming towards him.
The black pieces moved of their own accord and returned to the black arms the young woman was using to support herself.
“Excellent work,” Alice murmured and harm an amused smile, she warned. “But it was too late.”
The next thing Oliver saw was Alice opening a bag of chips, and the next thing was a black fist that ended up burying him in the wall.
For a moment, he felt like he had a strength equal to that of his last punch... To that of a newly promoted S-Rank fighter.
******
Aurora watched as the medical team carrying Oliver left as that young man coughed up blood while his entire body was bloodied and one arm was twisted in an inhuman way.
Her gaze shifted to Alice, who was eating her chips like it was nothing.
“You overreacted,” Aurora said with a serious expression.
Oliver had a couple of broken ribs and his arm was not only broken, but twisted.
The only thing that kept him going was Oliver’s magical energy, adrenaline and will, allowing him to resist.
Even with a healer as capable as Cithrel to avoid repercussions, she could not heal Oliver immediately and would need time for him to recover.
“He asked me to fight with all my strength,” Alice muttered and, laughing in amusement, she pointed out. “And well, he couldn’t resist it.”
That smile let it be seen that she’d had fun in beating the crap out of Oliver.
Aurora was silent.
She understood the other reason she acted that way, too.
Oliver had shown great concentration in the battle to such an extent that he was in a state that he was only paying attention to his opponent.
So much intensity and desire to fight put him close to the limit that very few could overcome.
Alice realized that limit and instead of going easy on him, she beat him up while using her words to push him further over his own limit.
She had toyed with Oliver from start to finish, getting him to move up the ranks, cornering him both physically and mentally.
Still...
“The last blow wasn’t necessary,” Aurora pointed out with a serious expression.
Her friend was strong, of that there was no doubt, and her ability was powerful.
That she was officially an A-Rank meant nothing; her strength already exceeded that rank.
For that reason, she took this as a way to have fun and agreed to fight against students for a few bags of chips.
Showing superiority, but never overwhelmingly so.
However, that last punch that had knocked down Oliver, who was already at his limit, was excessive.
“I only did it to show that there are others stronger,” Alice excused herself with a shrug, as if it wasn’t too much.
Aurora looked at her carefully, and was silent, for while she hit him hard she didn’t hit him that lethally.
If Alice wished, she could be as lethal as she was cruel to her opponents and, in a way, at the moment, she was controlling herself.
Though it was hard to accept that when Aurora could see all the destruction from the battle and the arena practically half-ruined.
Realizing Edward was approaching, she gave a sigh.
“Sorry about that,” Aurora said, lowering her head subtly on her sister’s behalf.
Edward looked at Alice who was back with her chips and looking at the destroyed surroundings, he sighed, shaking his head.
“It’s okay. It was Oliver who told me to disable the barrier to make it a more realistic fight. Besides... It’s nice that he’s becoming an S-Rank,” Edward said, and giving a pleasant smile, he pointed out. “Surely he will be happy that he got promoted, no matter if he took a beating in the process.”
Aurora couldn’t say anything at those words.
It was hard to say what it took to rise to S-Rank and cross that chasm that seemed to many to be impassable.
A goal was essential, but it was also about a mindset to cross that gap that seemed insurmountable.
Oliver had that mindset and Alice, realizing it, pushed hard enough to push him to become an S-Rank.
Had she acted differently, Oliver may not have received the feedback he needed to take that step and cross the chasm that limited the A-rank from the S-rank. So in that sense, Alice did a good job of acting so perfectly.
“By the way, are you okay?” Edward suddenly asked and looking at the destruction, he pointed.”That last blow was pretty devastating and that he endured it..."
Although Edward didn’t finish what he wished to say, it was easy to understand.
Oliver in his last hurrah showed very clear S-Rank strength and Alice received it, taking no damage, resisting it in its entirety.
It was normal to think that she had more strength than it appeared and what was officially said.
Though those who didn’t see the fight or didn’t have good senses might assume that Alice was lucky or that Oliver’s punch didn’t go full force, some would notice.
Mainly, Oliver who was the person who also took Alice’s final blow with his body.
“So?” Alice asked without giving it too much importance and looking at Edward, she added. “I’m not one to hide my strength.”
Her last words were directed at Aurora, who dodged her gaze.
She didn’t deny that she hid her strength as much now as before and in her defense; she didn’t have moments that needed her to act.
Though in a way, at this moment that she was having trouble using her sword, it wasn’t as if she wanted to hide it. She simply had her own problems.
Edward didn’t know how to respond to Alice’s answer and just nodded without asking too much.
After a brief conversation, Alice and Aurora headed for the exit of the arena.
At that place, several students were waiting for him who clapped and surrounded Alice, who was still holding her bag of chips.
Most of those who could avoid her indifferent and unfriendly personality were young ladies who were excited about the victory.
Aurora, for her part, dodged the crowd and approached Clémentine and Nicole, who were waiting.
“And are you ready?” Aurora asked with a smile.
Nicole had to face her next opponents in what were students like Frank and Jordan from the third year.
Among those, Nicole wasn’t the only first-year student present in the B-ranked bouts, as Cristian and Alexey had made a place for themselves.
Luck, skill, and their own ability made them able to achieve a place among all the upper years.
The next day would determine the champions and those who had a spot for the international tournament.
“Sure, I’m in perfect shape!” Nicole exclaimed and with a smile, commented. “Even if I don’t win, I’ll go all out!”
She was more excited about the match and not about being close to victory, very different from Clémentine, who showed a complex expression as she watched Alice.
“Can I rat Alice out to the organizers?” Clémentine asked.
Aurora and Nicole burst out laughing.
She knew Alice was stronger than her official rank, so technically it was a trap that her gluttonous friend was among the A-ranks.
Since they were now the finalists, technically, if they disqualified Alice, it would be Clémentine who would win.
So her proposal was valid, and it was entertaining, since it was just a joke.
“I don’t think I’ll win,” Clémentine said and, as her eyes filled with purple psionic energy, she announced. “But I will show her everything I have improved.”
This was a chance to face Alice without holding back and give her all to attack her, but beyond that, it was a way to show her strength to someone who helped her progress.
A chance to show all that she was capable of.