Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 444: It’s A Draw!

Pff... PFFFFFT! “HA! HA! HAAA!”

While the crowd laughed, Rojak felt his fighting spirit grow again and again, both due to the mockery and the new sense of rivalry.

But Warak was completely different. Warak had fallen out of his seat. Warak was curled up and pounding the balcony floor in a raging, spastic fit of laughter, “Oh, boy, Rojak! You’d better... Ha, ha, you’d better let loose!”

“Yes... I should!” Rojak roared, removing the conscious limit over his essence output. Essence scales exploded out of Rojak. It seemed like he was shedding his old scales for newer, longer scales. It made Rojak look like an enormous, fire-breathing porcupine with metal quills and merciless claws.

Suddenly, Rojak dove down with more speed than ever, forcing the fight to only last a couple of more exchanges. At the same time, Rojak seemingly stole a trick out of Tilgron’s book, tucking into a tight ball, flipping and swinging his club tail toward Bradok. However, every essence scale and hardened spine on the club burst out, launched at Bradok with more force and speed than ever. And they were far sharper, thinner, and longer than the previous essence scales, reducing the effect of Bradok’s peculiar essence armor.

...crack...

“FIIINALLYYYY!!”

.....

Bradok’s sudden roar sent chills down everyone’s spines. Treeda and Warak also felt that strange sensation overtake them, though it wasn’t as impactful due to their higher cultivations. But they both recognized that something was off. They both had a feeling that something strange had happened within Bradok’s body at the same moment that subtle crack was heard throughout the colosseum, drowned out by Bradok’s billowing roar. But how could a peak-king and an early-god not notice the peculiar crack that was both subtle yet loud enough to reach them with ease?

Just as those spines and essence scales clashed against Bradok’s essence armor, the gorilla’s essence also seemed to roar and explode in fury, shattering the attack. The tranquil aura it gave off was gone. It suddenly felt like a tempest of earthen razor blades was rolling around Bradok’s body. And even the spectators could tell that Bradok had begun to lose control over his essence.

“FOOL!!” Warak shouted from above, rushing to the edge of the viewing platform, as if ready to step in at any moment.

“TOO LATE FOR REGRET!!” cackled Bradok.

There was already a second volley of spines and scales threatening him, the last volley before the continually flipping, behemoth dragon could reach Bradok with his long, club tail. The spines on his tail club were regrown at an incredible rate, startling even the other Razor-hide Dragons.

However, Bradok didn’t seem to notice. His mad grin and bulging eyes were locked onto the dragon’s body. And, unlike every other clash, Bradok leaped into the air with all of his might. His fist rocketed forward but wasn’t fast enough to challenge the incoming scales and spines. But that didn’t matter to Bradok. Not one bit.

Bradok’s rampant essence lacerated the essence scales and broke the spines. Though some spines from both volleys still managed to stick into Bradok’s body, they didn’t have enough force to penetrate the essence armor and still deal any critical damage.

All that was left was a final clash. The spiny, club tail of the massive dragon with flip after flip of increased momentum. The savage fist covered in wild essence was about to burst out of control, coming from the mad gorilla who jumped into the head-on collision instead of preparing to deflect and prolong the battle. Those two attacks were already pressuring each other due to the equal amounts of divine energy poured into them, the energy of early-kings.

KREE-C-CRUNCH!!!

CRASH!!

CRACK!

Both combatants flew apart. The smaller gorilla was brutally thrown back into the arena walls, destroying the stands directly overhead as the cement collapsed on top of Bradok. The huge dragon was knocked backward, though not as quickly as Bradok. However, Rojak never recovered his ability to fly and soon plummeted to the ground, hard. Rojak utterly failed to soften his landing and slammed into the densely, compacted dirt with impunity, causing a tiny tremor for the spectators to feel.

“It... IT’S A DRAW!”

As the judge’s voice rang out, the three people on the upper balcony jumped into the arena.

Warak rushed to his son’s side. There wasn’t any fear of death in his gaze, but Warak was still concerned for his son’s wellbeing. “Rojak, are you alright? Rojak? Can you hear me? ... He’s unconscious... Wow...”

“OF COURSE HE IS! He fought Bradok, the Impossibly Powerful!!”

Before Zelsh or Treeda could touch the rubble burying the old gorilla, Bradok’s booming and boastful laughter rang out, loud and proud. The rubble trembled slightly, then suddenly burst apart. A lone figure was now standing there. He was barely breathing. Blood flowed down his entire body from the dozens of huge spines stabbing into him. Yet the gorilla’s grin and laughter were undeniably louder than ever before. Bradok could only stand. He had no ability to walk or move any further. But his wild grin and laughter were enough to show that his fighting wasn’t broken and that it had actually grown more than anyone else would ever know.

“WHO FOUGHT TO A DRAW?! I, Bradok, am the WINNER!!”

Thud...

Exhausted, Bradok threw up his arms for a victory pose. Then, he let himself fall onto his back, the one place where not a single spine was found. At the same time, a divine core appeared in one of his hands, the core that was formerly a part of the bet.

Bradok greedily absorbed the core’s energy as fast as possible. Only then did most people notice that, unlike the unconscious dragon, Bradok’s wild essence was still active, getting more and more out of control. Absorbing the early-king core was helping that raging essence gradually settle down. But just barely.

“You FOOL! You actually wanted to commit suicide?!” Warak shouted, rushing to Bradok. “If that’s what you wanted, then I should’ve fought you, you idiot ape!”

“Ha! Next time, then. I’d love to take a crack at a god!” Bradok laughed, searching for any kind of relief he could find while that rampaging energy assaulted his body.