Blood poured from the wound in Su Yang’s abdomen, hot and unrelenting as it painted the arena floor beneath him red—but Su Yang did not glance down.
He couldn’t afford to.
Not when Su Ran was still breathing, as doing so while his trash brother was still alive, would give him a moment of immense satisfaction.
*Tremble*
His sword trembled in his grip, not from fear or hesitation, but from the sheer strain of forcing his mangled body to keep moving.
His breaths came in ragged, shallow gasps, each one scraping through clenched teeth, but his eyes—they were still sharp. Still locked onto his brother with a fury that could burn through steel.
The spear wound had torn a hole straight through his abdomen, but Su Yang still stood tall with his feet planted and his sword raised, as he did not show signs of slowing down at all.
He refused to stagger.
He refused to kneel.
And that too out of sheer pride and nothing else,
Because he knew that if he did falter here—Su Ran would win.
And that… was something he would never allow.
*Surge*
His mana surged erratically now, no longer flowing smoothly but flaring in violent bursts, like sparks from a dying fire.
He could feel his body breaking down from within, muscle fibers tearing, nerves screaming—but none of it mattered.
Not anymore at least, when hatred was his painkiller and adrenaline his shield.
"You thought that would finish me?" he rasped, blood seeping down his side as he took a step forward. "Unfortunately that’s where you’re wrong, trash blood…. That’s the difference between the True heir, and trash like you."
The crowd remained silent, stunned into stillness as they saw Su Yang continue despite bleeding so profusely, while Su Ran looked pale like he had just seen a ghost.
"H-how are you still moving?" He asked in shock, as by all logical means Su Yang should have fallen down unconscious by now, however he did not.
"I’m still moving because this fight ain’t over bitch—" Su Yang said, the expression in his eyes turning near maniacal, as he did not look like someone who was hurting or afraid of death anymore.
But instead, looked like someone,who planned to burn the universe down around him, just in case he did go down.
"Are you seeing what I’m seeing Lee? There’s a hole in Su Yang’s body that we can see through, but he’s still fighting—" Derek said at this moment, as his voice sounded genuinely concerned.
"In my entire career as a commentator I’ve never seen anything like this Derek. The circuit’s are the pinnacle of gladiator sports, and we often see people with immense willpower competing here, but this is beyond willpower….. this is madness….. pure and untamed madness!" Lee added, as he clutched his hair in disbelief.
"If he pulls a win from here… t-that… I can’t even put it into words how that would be—" Derek said, sounding unsure of how to even feel about something like that, as he checked himself mid-sentence.
"No! No! No!" Su Ran suddenly screamed from the center of the arena, his voice shrill and cracked. "You’re on the verge of dying! Just one small push and you’ll fall over!"
He limped forward, dragging his injured leg as he closed the distance between them, eyes wild with disbelief and panic. His spear shot out in sharp, precise jabs—one after the other—like a man possessed, each strike aimed not to kill, but to shove, to tip Su Yang over the edge and make the nightmare end.
But Su Yang…
He didn’t block.
He didn’t parry.
He moved.
Like smoke.
Like a ghost.
Each stab missed by inches. One grazed past his cheek, another came close enough to ruffle his hair, but Su Yang glided around them—effortless, almost weightless, as if his body had transcended pain and fatigue.
His eyes never blinked. His blade never lowered. He simply kept stepping forward, dodging each thrust as though he knew exactly where they’d land before they were even launched.
And the more he moved… the more Su Ran’s confidence began to unravel.
Because Su Yang wasn’t slowing down.
He was closing in, in what seemed impossible movement for a man with as heavy an injury as him.
—--------
(Meanwhile, the Su Family Patriarch)
While the majority of the audience in the arena couldn’t fathom how Su Yang was moving so well even with such a massive injury, the Su Family Patriarch knew exactly why.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, lips curling into the faintest shadow of a smile, as he nodded in acknowledgement—
’So… it’s finally awakened.’
It was a matter of great joy for him—not because his son was surviving, but because this was the first time he had witnessed this ability naturally manifesting in one of his descendants.
There was no mistaking it. Su Yang had awakened the Su Clan’s most prestigious bloodline skill—[Unbroken].
A trait that only revealed itself when death was near… and defiance ran deeper than the marrow.
Two minutes. That’s all the skill gave.
A window of near-invincibility in a near-death state, allowing the body to keep fighting with no regard for pain, injury, or exhaustion.
But to the Su Patriarch, that wasn’t the impressive part.
The impressive part… was that Su Yang had unlocked it on his own.
He had not unlocked the skill via the clans divine skill scroll, or by forcefully stimulating a certain portion of his genetic potential, but rather through pure instinct alone.
’Good,’ the old man thought, as although he didn’t cheer for his son out loud. Deep down, a sense of satisfaction coiled inside his chest like a snake basking in the warm sun.
This—this was exactly what Su Ran had been raised for.
Although he had long allowed the illusion to linger that both his sons were candidates for the Patriarch seat, the truth was far more calculated.
Su Yang had always been the only choice. The true heir. The bloodline holder.
Su Ran… was merely the whetstone.
A necessary rival.
A narrative device.
A tool.
From the moment of his birth, the Patriarch had known the boy’s role. He lacked the blood purity, the natural instincts. But what he did have—was value.
He could grow strong. Strong enough to provoke. Strong enough to challenge. Strong enough… to push Su Yang beyond his limits.
And today, he had done just that.
"You’ve played your part well, Su Ran, for that I must commend you—" the old man muttered coldly. "But this is where your relevance ends–"
He exhaled slowly through his nose, gaze fixed on Su Yang’s relentless advance, as he already knew what the outcome of this battle was going to be from this point forward.
Su Yang’s win was a done deal, however, it wasn’t going to come without a cost.
Activating [Unbroken] came with a trade-off.
For once those two minutes of invincibility passed, assuming the user survived, their body would be crippled for six full months— where strength, speed and mana sensitivity— would all be reduced by 20%.
A heavy price to pay for surviving what should have been fatal.
But to the Patriarch, that didn’t matter, as he knew that Su Yang won’t need his full strength for the next six months anyway after the circuits were over.
And that him activating this skill on his own was already proof enough of his pure blood and sheer willpower.
Su Yang was already walking the path of a ruler. A man willing to die just to not lose.
And that… was the only kind of man fit to inherit the Su Empire.