Eternal Freedom's Ascension

Chapter 182: Brute

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of flesh hitting flish continuously echoed in the Arena, making a few students wince with each hit.

"Crazy..."

Someone muttered, their voice trembling with a mix of fear and awe.

Logan and Alexander had been dueling for over ten minutes, and none showed signs of growing tired or giving up.

Alexander’s strength was insane, his punches causing the air to recoil from his fist. His silver fur was also as hard as steel, completely nullifying any damage that was dealt to him.

However, Logan was equally monstrous.

His thick arms were like metal, barely affected by Alexander’s fists. His own determination and will was the only thing that kept him conscious.

He had almost fallen unconscious several times during the duel, but he would always snap himself back to reality with his goal of winning.

Seeing that the fight remained in a stalemate, Alexander grew restless. He didn’t bother holding back anymore and summoned his relics.

A heavy armor materialized on him while two sledgehammers manifested into his hands.

Hitting the weapons against each other, he grinned.

"It’s over for you, Class-E trash!"

Logan was annoyed by that and also summoned his clawed gauntlets. He didn’t have a standard armor so he didn’t bother summoning the one he had.

’I’ll tear apart that armor of yours and I will win!’

Roaring like a beast, he charged at Alexander.

Within him, his heart pulsed strangely, sending a wave of strength through his veins. His blood flowed faster, and his heart thumped harder in his chest.

Arriving before the pink-haired delinquent with startling speed, he struck the boy’s breastplate heavily.

Alexander was forced to take seven steps back, his eyes wide in shock. Looking down at the dent on his armor, he realized Logan’s strength had increased again.

’This bastard...’

Holding his sledgehammers, he shot at the boy and swung the weapons from both sides.

Logan immediately raised his arms to protect his head.

Bang!

The two weapons hit his arms, almost crushing his gauntlets and snapping his bones.

"Fuck you!"

Grunting, he pushed away one of the sledgehammers and grabbed the second one, intending to seize it from Alexander.

However, the pink-haired delinquent was smart and immediately realized this.

Holding the weapon, he released his grip slightly, then put more strength into the other arm.

Raising the second sledgehammer, he slammed it into Logan’s side.

The boy barely reacted, freeing one arm to brace for impact.

However, that decision cost him.

The sound of bone snapping could be heard as his gauntlet was shattered and he was thrown to the ground, rolling into the distance.

At this point, the winner had already been decided. Although they were both matched in physical strength, Alexander had better weapons than his opponent.

This was another factor that caused a huge disparity among Awakened—relics.

"Ugh..."

Groaning, Logan pushed himself to his feet.

His head was ringing, his left arm limp, and his vision blurry. However, that mind of his kept ringing a single word.

’Win...’

Deep inside him, something shifted. At first, it was a single pulse.

He stumbled.

It came again, louder. It passed through his whole body, reawakening his dulled senses. Slowly, his eyes changed from red to yellow.

"Grrr..."

Before Alexander could react, Logan shot at him.

It was shocking. Alexander didn’t even see Logan move. He only saw a blur, and the next moment, a hand clamped down on his head.

Bang!

He was knocked to the ground, then swung towards the wall.

Boom!

Losing his two weapons, the boy was slammed into the wall, immediately coughing out blood.

"Arghk-!"

Logan showed no mercy and rushed in, punching again and again with his intact arm.

In just a few seconds, Alexander was knocked unconscious.

That was when the surprising thing happened.

Although the boy was already unconscious, Logan grabbed him by the throat and raised him up.

Sitting beside the confused Hazel, Kaiser frowned faintly.

’Such a hassle...’

Closing his eyes, he drew his cursed essence into his vocal chords, then spoke.

"Drop him."

Those words had a clear target, and down below, Logan froze. He instinctively dropped Alexander’s body, then held his head in pain.

’Hm? A very strong will.’

Kaiser’s eyes narrowed as he felt Logan fighting against his command. It was the first time he had experienced such a thing.

His lips curled into a faint, defiant smirk.

"Fall... asleep."

Using almost half of his cursed essence reserves, he gave that simple command.

Already disoriented, Logan was overwhelmed and immediately succumbed to the order.

Finally, Instructor Natalie spoke.

"Ah... this fight was definitely the most breathtaking. The winner is Logan Fang."

Although the silver-haired boy had later fallen unconscious, he had clearly won the fight.

Back at the audience seats, Hazel turned to look at Kaiser.

"What... did you do?"

Still watching as Alexander and Logan were carried away, Kaiser tilted his head innocently.

"Do what?"

Hazel wasn’t buying his innocence. "I heard it. The two times you spoke, Logan listened. What was that about?"

Kaiser shrugged nonchalantly. "I don’t know. Maybe it’s a coincidence."

"A coincidence, huh..."

Realizing he wasn’t going to give a clear answer, Hazel decided to drop the case.

Behind her, Ariel stared at Kaiser with a calculative gaze.

’That was definitely a control ability. And since he used it while his limiter was on, it doesn’t use essence. Hmm, this guy is indeed very dangerous.’

Although he had decided to leave him for now, Ariel still didn’t forget the potential threat the Solace members carried.

"Next up, is a student from Class-E. Ariel Hilton."

Hearing Instructor Natalie’s cheerful voice, Ariel blinked, then stood up.

Walking down to the stage, he casually picked a card from the box and checked the name.

"Apollo Silverstein."

’This is going to be trouble.’

Tying his hair in a ponytail, he turned to look at the purple-haired delinquent walking down majestically.

Ariel watched Apollo with an expressionless face till he stood directly opposite him.

"My second time being called out today? What an insane luck."

Apollo snickered, then looked up at Hazel. There was a cruel smirk on his lips.

Instantly, Ariel had a bad feeling.