Blood Assimilation

Moments later, the smoke and debris finally cleared and the state of the two contenders on the stage was slowly being revealed.

Fortunately, there was a barrier around the platform to prevent any unintended accidents from happening, even if the Gladiators would not be using energy or skills. Thus, aside from being blinded by the smoke, the spectators near the stage didn't receive any damage.

Meanwhile, the spectators watched with widened eyes in suspense about the outcome of this confrontation.

However, most of the spectators, especially those that were witnessing the lanky Gladiator's fight for the first time, were shocked by this supernatural move displayed by him.

"What was that move just now?"

"That was Sir Swift Wind Chaser Dion's special move. Even I don't know what its principles are, but I heard it wasn't a skill."

"If it's not a skill, then how could it have such a powerful effect?"

"Who knows? But that new Gladiator is done for the moment that he made Sir Swift Wind Chaser Dion use his special move."

While they were discussing this, the dust finally cleared, revealing the figures on the stage. However, the spectators were shocked to find that things didn't unfold as they had imagined.

At this moment, Randy was simply standing firmly on the stage. The back of his feet burrowed a few inches into the ground of the stage after sliding backward. He had successfully managed to block his opponent's attack, but unexpectedly the force behind the fist attack was stronger than he had thought, so he was pushed back.

'Such a powerful attack! If I didn't manage to react in time or mobilize my life energy to strengthen my muscles, I would've suffered some minor damages.'

'Wait! Life energy! I can still use my Life energy, so that means the seal doesn't work on Life energy that was essentially a vital energy of the body?'

'If that is the case then I might be able to bypass the Power-Restraining Bracelet and execute my martial arts techniques!'

Although the lanky Gladiator's attack was powerful, it wasn't a threat to him enough to warrant using his martial arts or life energy. Just now, he instinctively used it to block the sudden unknown attack from his opponent.

But more than that, he wanted to confirm his doubts, so he decided to use his life energy to fight against the lanky Gladiator for a bit. At this point, he had already assessed his opponent's full combat strength so, he wasn't afraid of them. Since his opponent couldn't pose a threat to him, he secretly wanted to use them as an experimental subject to confirm his theory.

On the opposite side, the lanky Gladiator had a strange expression on his face as he watched the unscathed Randy standing with a mystifying smile on his face. He had no idea why he was smiling, but he could infer from his appearance that his attack just now didn't work on him.

With that thought, he was preparing to concede the match as it was pointless to continue fighting any longer. It was at this time that he heard a voice.

"Hey… Senior Gladiator, it is now my turn to attack."

After saying that, Randy suddenly exuded the minuscule amount of life energy in his body to cover his body without receiving any restriction from the Power-Restraining Bracelets, shocking the lanky Gladiator, who saw his aura suddenly change.

After confirming that there was no problem, Randy retracted the life energy back into his body before his figure suddenly sprinted forward. He started moving in a fast and strange pattern of movement.

Chasing Tiger Steps!

'Too fast!' The lanky Gladiator exclaimed inwardly when he saw the approaching Rand, who moved in fast and confusing steps. He then attempted to dodge by unleashing his own speed, but he failed to evade him in time, as he was caught off guard by the sudden increase in speed of his opponent.

Randy's fist struck out toward his face. The powerful rippling force caused the wind pressure to dissipate around him. The rippling force also caused his long, tied hair to become disheveled and scattered about, almost as though he had been electrocuted. He swallowed loudly and immediately said in a dispirited tone: "I-I concede defeat in this match."

'He didn't even use three moves and I lost. I guess I was the overconfident one.' The lanky Gladiator sighed dejectedly as he thought to himself.

Just now, Randy had attempted to use the Void Rippling Punch with his life energy, but the effects were less potent than when he performed it with his abundant magical energy. This was partly due to having less Life energy and also because he had not practiced using Life energy before.

Even then, the power displayed was enough to disperse whatever ability the lanky Gladiator was using with just one punch. Though it was not his intention to end the fight quickly.

Regardless, he had confirmed his doubts with this fight. For some reason, life energy wasn't restrained by the Power-Restraining Bracelet. He could only assume that it only worked on mana for now.

However, he doesn't plan on relying on life energy to fight his opponents, as it was proven that he wouldn't be able to break through his limits if he did. It was clear with the abrupt defeat of the lanky Gladiator just now.

"It ended just… like that?"

The crowd of spectators were unable to comprehend what had just happened as they had gawking expressions on their faces. Some even doubted their eyes and ears when they saw how the lanky Gladiator suddenly conceded the match. They only saw a blurry movement and when they blinked, the new Gladiator's fist was in front of the lanky Gladiator's face and then the match ended.

…

Inside the VIP booth.

At this time, while the spectators were shocked and dumbfounded by the outcome of the match, including the Crown Princess, the middle-aged man next to her, on the other hand, was greatly surprised by something as a change appeared in his indifferent expression.

Evidently, this change was not influenced by the outcome of the match. Instead, it was because of the energy that the new Gladiator, Randy, used to bypass the Power-Restraining Bracelet to defeat his opponent.

'Pure vitality… He can manipulate his own vitality to increase his combat strength...? Not only that, but he could negate the effects of the 'Supernatural Force Suppressing Bracelets' that I carefully crafted. However, such a technique is truly unheard of in this world.'

The more the middle-aged man learned about Randy, the more his worth as a valuable experimental subject increased. He was simply thrilled to come across such a specimen with so many secrets to be uncovered by his lonesome.

Although he knew how to cast spells to increase his vitality or blood activity, as a commander of supernatural forces, he wouldn't use such a spell to initiate an attack against his adversaries. After all, he could simply use a potent offensive spell. One that didn't need his physical body to exert its power to destroy them without leaving a speck of their existence behind.

Because the means used by this newcomer, from his observation, was not a spell but a technique to control the body's vital energy by will. With that being the case, it was more intricate than using spells to achieve the same effect.

However, he doesn't care about such tricks; he only wanted to find out his origin and the secret behind the mysterious, baleful aura around his body. But, for now, he plans on keeping an eye on him until he finds the opportune moment.

After all, it would be too abrupt and suspicious if he was missing or if something happened to him after his Gladiator match.