No hesitation, Arthur threw everything in one punch, connecting it with Tyrese’s knee, uncaring if his fist was weaker than a knee!
BOOOOOOOM!!
A powerful shockwave was released at contact, kicking up a cloud of dust that rushed across the arena, akin to a two-ton dynamite explosion!
Levi, Yanhuan, Mira, Blake, Jojo, and the rest of the watchers were left with breath held at such a supreme display of raw physical prowess.
’Idiot... there ish no way the Bosh will losh th...’
Before Blake could finish his thought, the cloud of dust went away, exposing Arthur still standing in his place with a completely shattered arm that was dangling on the side... his feet were dug a couple of centimeters into the ground, but he was still standing.
As for Tyrese? He was sent flying a couple of meters away, rolling three times... he lay on the ground, his limbs spread out, but one of them was deformed, a bloody bone visible to all.
"Impossible..."
Mira covered her mouth in disbelief, a reaction shared by her teammates and even the rest of the Daywalkers next to them. Although they knew that Tyrese wasn’t going all out, they still expected him to come out as a winner from this single confrontation.
"Tyrese, stop screwing around and win this... we can’t afford to lose more matches," Yanhuan said coldly, his voice resounding across the silent arena.
"Hah..hahaha...haha!"
Hearing his voice, the fallen Tyrese broke into wild laughter while slowly getting into a sitting position. He glanced at his ruined right knee and didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
Instead, he switched his focus to Arthur and showed his white blingy teeth.
"Not bad, ponytail, not bad... the moment I saw your highlights in your raid, I knew you would be an interesting challenger to my physique." He said while reaching out to the gourd and uncorking it with a soft pop... "I have to say, you’re the first person to put me in this state through pure physicality."
"You’re not so bad yourself," Arthur replied casually while changing the main gemstone to the pink one... Aurikara’s Gemheart.
"Oh, how I wish you could keep up and give me a good workout." Tyrese grinned with the gourd next to his mouth, "Bacchanalian Arts: Toast to Recovery."
The gourd was filled with green fermented liquid, and Tyrese didn’t hesitate to gulp it in one go... then, he burped loudly while smacking his chest twice.
"That’s the good stuff."
Just like taking a magical elixir, Tyrese’s bloody bone retracted rapidly into its position under everyone’s eyes... then, the wide cut was healed, leaving behind nothing but dried-up blood.
Tyrese cracked his knee and jumped back up on his feet, bouncing up and down like it was never broken in the first place.
"Whatchu gonna do about your arm?" Tyrese asked, eyeing Arthur’s shattered arm with a hint of annoyance... it was like he wanted him in peak form to beat his ass down right.
"I have my ways." Arthur uttered inwardly, ’Heavens Breaker Arts: Aurikara’s Blessing."
Under everyone’s astonished eyes, the central pink gemheart started releasing a faint halo of pinkish light around Arthur’s shattered arm, transforming the absorbed kinetic energy of their last confrontation to heal his shattered arm.
In less time than Tyrese’s healing process, Arthur’s arm was fixed of any cracks, fissures, vein implosion, or meshed flesh... his fist had a nasty bluish color to it before, but now? It looked brand new with a pinkish hue like newborn skin.
"Whoa... that’s quite cool." Tyrese raised an eyebrow in surprise, "What kind of powers do you even wield? How come you can do everything?"
This question resonated in everyone’s minds, knowing that it was quite weird for one Daywalker to be able to enhance his strength, release fiery beams, heal himself, and still act as a tank... they didn’t know if all of this was based on a single peculiar Aspect or multiple Aspects.
Meanwhile, Dominic and Feng Ling knew exactly what Arthur was wielding.
"Nine Royal Gemhearts..." Dominic murmured, "To awaken a gemheart on each rank means that his nightcrawler’s coreline somehow shares a link with all three... still, to guarantee awakening them needs perfect evolutions... or, be very, very lucky with remarkable evolutions."
Seeing that Feng Ling remained silent, Dominic narrowed his eyes in his direction.
"Be honest, did your region land on a jackpot of perfect evolutionary formulas or what? I have scanned them all, and I believe most of them have gone through at least one perfect evolution." He asked.
"Who knows..." Feng Ling shrugged dismissively, neither confirming nor denying.
He knew his friend had already arrived at the truth, as it was nearly impossible to hide it from an Ecliptic Daywalker... still, he had no plans of confirming it.
Realizing that he wouldn’t be getting anything from poking him, Dominic clicked his tongue in irritation and focused on the ongoing battle below them.
Of course, Arthur refused to answer Tyrese... Levi had taught him to keep his mouth shut about his powers, as there was no reason to air out that he could create crystals based on the extinct gemhearts.
"Fine, keep your answers to yourself."
Tyrese brought the gourd near his mouth again, and this time, he made a toast to Strength, leaving everyone to marvel at his bulging, veiny muscles almost doubling in size!
Yet, he wasn’t done; he made another toast, but this one was for Swiftness.
The effects weren’t noticeable, but those with piercing vision could see his pupils thinning to the limit, like a beast was awakened.
Then, to top it all off, he lifted the gourd to the air while leaning right and left off balance... he burped tipsily, his eyelids dropped.
"Idiot! Stop drinking already! You won’t be able to fight properly after you defeat him." Evangeline cursed at last, incapable of handling the bastard way of dealing with such a grave matter.
"Shut... up, Eva! You... burp, you’re not my mother." Tyrese laughed while drinking from the gourd one last time, "How can I make three toasts... burp, and leave Mr. Endurance alone?"
The moment he wiped his lips, he desummoned the gourd, not needing it anymore... he leaned slightly forward with a hunched back, appearing like he would fall at any moment.
But only a select few knew... this was the entrance to his second form of Battle Arts.
" Forbidden Drunken Arts : Nine-Cup... burp, Stagger."
As the last word left his lips, Arthur found Tyrese’s drunken, foolish face right in front of him. Before he could react, a missile of a punch smashed him on his right cheek, breaking his jaw and teeth instantly while hurling him tens of meters backward!
Thud! Thud! Thud!...
He rolled on the ground nonstop uncontrollably like he had been hit by a train. Yet, this was only the beginning of the worst beatdown of his life as Tyrese instantly appeared next to his rolling body and held him from the head, before dragging his face across the floor until both of them neared the edge of the arena... where Levi’s team stood.
He lifted Arthur from his ponytail and showed them his dirtied and bloodied face while keeping his clutch so tight, Arthur couldn’t help but groan in pain, feeling like his skull was about to shatter.
Seeing this sight, Levi tightened his fist until his fingernails dug into his palm... he knew that he could easily bring much worse fate upon Tyrese with a single decision. But he kept his emotions in control, watching his little brother getting manhandled.
He knew that if he were to help Arthur out, he would never forgive him... this was his fight, and he knew what he was doing.
’Arthur... you’re capable of more than this.’ Levi thought inwardly as he gazed at Tyrese winking at Jojo while making a call me sign with his hand.
Jojo wasn’t having it any better... her expression turned murderous, finding it harder to contain her rage... especially when she saw Arthur’s bloodied face.
But, before she could open her mouth, Tyrese threw Arthur back inside the arena like he was made out of foam... his strength was absolutely barbaric, leaving everyone to believe that it had already crossed the Solarbound rank!
Whoosh!
In no time, he chased after him and held him by the leg, then he smashed him to the ground on all sides before kicking him in the stomach, forcing him to cough out blood while flying away.
"Are you planning to keep watching until he dies or what?" Dominic frowned, noticing that Arthur’s heart rate had slowed down immensely... he might be alive and conscious, but barely.
Anymore beatings and he might die on the spot.
"Not yet..." Feng Ling replied coolly.
Tyrese continued with his rabid beating.
"Now?"
"Not yet."
"You’ve got to be kidding me... he can’t win." Dominic’s expression turned cold, "I am not having a dead body of a talented Daywalker on a bet."
Just as he was about to make his move, Feng Ling caught him by the hand and said, "Aren’t you a man of faith? Then, have some little faith."
As he said this, everyone watched Tyrese hurl Arthur into the sky like he was a lifeless doll in the direction of Feng Ling and Dominic. Then, he bent his legs until his veins were about to pop.
In a single motion, he jumped into the sky and caught Arthur by the leg right in front of the supervisors... he burped and said, "Do you want me to... kill him?"
"His... burp, funeral."
With a careless shrug midair, he swung Arthur around twice and hurled him down like a warhead crashing to earth.
BOOOOM!
Arthur’s body cracked the arena floor, bouncing once before settling in... he coughed out a large amount of blood again, but he was still conscious... barely, somehow.
To go through this entire beatdown and remain conscious went beyond human perception.
"Ponytail! Look alive, I am coming down... burp!"
’Arthur... I think it’s time you use it.’ Khu’zan said calmly.
’I think so too...argh... everything is shattered...’ Arthur replied, his vision cloudy, his body aching all over, and he could barely lift a single finger... yet, his mind was clearer than ever.
Arthur could have defended himself from the beatdown by hiding inside his fortress until Tyrese’s Toast effects ended, but besides looking like a coward doing it, he had a different reason for allowing himself to get beaten up this terribly.
Why?
Only a select few knew about it...