Chapter 22 Episode 21: Phoenix

  Back at the arena, Jagami began to slowly crush Xorian's chest with her foot, leading Xorian to scream in pain and Galiel to cover her mouth in horror concerning Jagami's actions.

"Tell your son to forfeit the match." Jian said.

"And have him humiliated by crawling underneath her as a dog?! No way!" Galiel said in irritation.

"This goes beyond the humiliation! I'm trying to save your son's life!" Jian replied, "We'll call off the deal! Just tell your son to forfeit!!"

"Even if we do, i doubt either of them will listen." Xoran said with his arms crossed, "Rikon, you said something about Jagami having a mental breakdown. Could you care to explain?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Rikon asked, "Her tears and her screams says it all. She's getting scared and frustrated; She is frustrated  that she cannot use her blue diamonds on Xorian because he'll end up absorbing the heat from them and become stronger, leading her to resort to only pure physical attacks but yet, he is overpowering her and scared at the part that if she loses to the child of two nobodies, she'll bring dishonor to her parents and they won't be able to look at her the same way they used to look at her, before."

"Jagami... She actually feels this way...?" Iminko asked with a sad expression while staring at his hard clenched fists.

"When they first started this match, she never took him seriously, even when she used her final form but now, after realizing that she could actually lose to him, she's giving it everything she's got but her fear keeps increasing and taking a toll on her sanity." Rikon said.

The sound of an explosion took place in the arena, catching the attention of Xorian's parents and Jagami's parents.  At the arena, Xorian and Jagami were staring at each other from afar while Xorian was breathing heavily.

"Sh*t. I'm no longer feeling that wild rush i felt earlier and plus, i can feel Guju's stability technique wearing off." Xorian said within himself, "If this fight keeps up, I'll lose but what can i do against her? I have to think of something."

Jagami advances towards Xorian at high speed and tries to punch him but Xorian evades and throws a punch of his own which Jagami blocks. As the both of them began to block and evade each other's attacks, Xorian lands a punch on Jagami's face which made Jagami glare with a wide-eyed expression along with her irises glowing brighter and immediately throws a punch at Xorian which he guards against with both arms but was repelled to the ground.

Xorian quickly stabilizes himself but is met with a running knee from Jagami to his face that sent him sliding on the ground and left him moaning in pain.  Xorian opens his eyes and wastes no time in moving out of the way, leaving Jagami's stomp from above to massively fracture the ground. Xorian quickly stood on his feet and performs to land a low roundhouse but Jagami traps his leg in between her arm and side, trips him and immediately lands a devastating punch on his chest which broke the ground and made Xorian to cough out blood.

"Get up!" Jagami said as she grabs hold of Xorian's ankle and lifts from the ground in an upside down manner, "I'm not finished with you, yet!!"

Jagami kicks Xorian's back which sent him violently tumbling on the ground but Xorian stabilizes himself and began to shoot out multiple red beams of fire from his fists. Jagami evades all of them while running towards Xorian and lands a kick which Xorian guards against but gets pushed back in the process.

  Jagami advanced towards Xorian at high speed with the attempt to punch him but Xorian evades her attack by leaping towards her side and quickly engulfs his fist with red flame.

"Burst!!!" Xorian said as he hurls his fist at Jagami and releases a large beam of red fire.

However, as the dust-clouds had cleared, Xorian and the audience became shocked as Jagami had easily caught Xorian's fist while standing unfazed by the attack.

"What the-!" Cloud said within himself.

"She stopped his burst attack in her base form?!" Rish asked, "How is this even possible?!"

"Well, so much for power scaling." Sting said.

Jagami began to slowly crush Xorian's fist, causing him to fall on one knee and scream in pain.

"Your techniques are annoying!!" Jagami said in anger and delivers an axe kick on Xorian's head, driving his face straight to the ground.

Jagami walks behind Xorian, grabs hold of his arms and sets her foot on his back, leaving Xorian to shout in pain.

"I'm going to rip out those arms of yours so that you won't be able to perform another annoying technique!" Jagami said with her irises glowing brighter.

As Jagami placed more strain on Xorian's arms, causing him to scream out in agony, the crowd became troubled at her actions.  During this incident,  Xorian suddenly yelled with anger as his eyes glowed completely red and created an explosion. Xorian stood on his feet while panting for air, but Jagami quickly emerged out of the smoke and tried to punch him only for Xorian to appear at her back.

"Flash step!" Xorian said.

Xorian drew a semi circle with his foot which drew out smoke from the ground as his eyes becomes pupilless and his clothes began to emit a flaming streak.

"Wait a minute! That move...!" Galiel said within herself in shock.

"True roundhouse kick!!" Xorian said as he delivers a roundhouse that created a powerful gust of wind, leaving the audience amazed.

However as the dusts had cleared, Xorian and the audience stared in shock as Jagami had easily stopped Xorian's kick with one hand while glaring at him.

"You never learn, do you?" Jagami asked.

  Jagami tightens her grip on Xorian's leg which instantly cracks his tibia, causing Xorian to grunt in pain and delivers a powerful straight kick on Xorian belly that made him cough out blood and roll on the ground. While Xorian was holding his leg in pain, Jagami lands a double knee drop from above on his diaphragm which broke the ground and made Xorian scream in severe agony while blood and spittle flew out from his mouth, leaving the audience terrified.

"Xorian!!" Galiel screamed.

"Jagami!!" Jian shouted.

"She's going to kill him." Cloud said.

"They need to stop this fight." A Ripar man said.

"And have him crawl underneath her?!" A blonde Tenplar woman angrily asked.

"He's going to die if they continue!!" The Ripar man angrily replied.

"The question here is 'Will he able to cope with the humiliation'?" A brown haired Kenar man asked stoically with his arms crossed while staring down at the arena, "We've seen what that humiliation can do to someone. The trauma and guilt of it. For a warrior, it feels as if you are nothing... Less than nothing compared to the one that defeated you.

Many that have faced this type of humiliation, haven't recovered, some even took their own lives, only few have been able to move on with this type but they become quite aggressive if they are to be forced to suffer such humiliation again or even see others suffer it.

So, tell me, what would you have him do? Would you prefer that he keeps fighting despite how the situation seems or would you want him to give up and debase himself to her?"

The Ripar man and the Tenplar woman became mute and stared down at the arena. Meanwhile Jian was staring down at the arena, horrified.

"How could this happen...?" Jian asked.

"What do you mean? This is the result of your teachings, isn't it?" Rikon asked. "The whole, 'As long as you have greatness in your blood' thing? Well, i guess your daughter barely lost to others and if she did, it must have been to people who had 'great parents'. What about the greats whose parents were low levelled warriors? What would you say about them?

What about me? My parents were considered as a disgrace to the warriors name but did it define me? Your teachings has left a huge burden on your daughter and now she's in this state and is fighting like this because she is trying to avoid the humiliation losing to the son of two low levelled warriors."

"And you two are no better." Rikon said as he turns towards Xorian's parents with his irises glowing, "Making such a bet with your own son; What if he loses the match, what next, he'll have to crawl under her as a dog? It doesn't matter the amount of faith i have in my child, I'd never make that kind of bet."

"You're right." Xoran said while still staring down at the arena, "I shouldn't have made that bet."

Back at the arena, Jagami was holding the partly conscious Xorian's shirt with both hands while glaring at him.

"You insolent dog!" Jagami angrily said with her irises glowing brighter, "How dare you stand in my way?!"

Jagami immediately thrusts Xorian's head in between her thighs while still standing, leaving many of the audience shocked and disgusted; Jagami's parents stared with dread at the actions of their daughter and Iminko's hands began to shake.

"Wait what's this?! " Trengal asked, "Jagami just placed Xorian's head under her! Isn't this similar to her parents bet of humialtion?!!"

"Hey, assholes!" Galiel angrily said as she turns to look at Jagami's parents, "The deal was that-!"

"No! No! No! No!!" Iminko said in fear, "Jagami, what are you doing?!"

"She's seriously not using it, right...?" Raen asked with a wide-eyed expression while slightly shaking.

A blue diamond pillar suddenly sprung out underneath the two, rapidly raising them to the air.

"Huh, what is she doing?" Cloud asked.

"Oh no..." Pit said in horror with her eyes activated, "Has she lost her mind?!!"

"This technique i created, it was for a way to look down on my opponents before finishing them off..." Iminko said, "If she should use this technique on your son in his current state, then he'll..."

"Stop this, Jagami!!!" Jian shouted.

"Diamond driver!!!" Jagami said with her irises glowing brighter as she leaps in the air while having Xorian set upside down manner. Jagami dropped on the diamond in a kneeling position, driving Xorian's through the pillar at a rapid rate until they reached the ground and levelled it.

The large dusts created had cleared and the crowd stared in horror as Xorian laid still on the ground with blood flowing from his head while Jagami was standing and staring down at him.

"I don't hear a heartbeat." A Tenplar man said, "I could hear the hearts of many in this arena but i don't hear any from that boy."

"Jagami, no... What have you done?" Jian asked with a wide-eyed expression.

"Oh my, that's a lot of blood!" Trengal said, "Jagami has just delivered a devastating attack on Xorian and he is not moving at all!! Could this be the end of this match?!"

  In a moment, it seemed as if the entire court was filled with a faint heartbeat as Galiel's irises glowed in grief of what had just happened to her son.

"XORIAN!!!" Galiel screamed.

A flashback occurs as a little Kenar boy with a yellow spiky hair in red top and blue bottom was sitting beside a bald bearded Kenar old man in a brown clothing.

"Xorian, my boy..." The old man said, "My time in this life is coming to an end and because of that, I'd like to leave you with something before I go."

"What exactly are you talking about, Guju?" Xorian asked.

"Our little incident with Karis... Despite them healing my injury, i could still feel my life fleeing from my body." Guju said, "It's as if I'm aging internally at a rapid rate, so it's only a matter of time before i die."

"So, you're saying that Karis's attack is still in effect? That there's nothing that can be done?" Xorian asked while tears were flowing out of his eyes.

"Yes, there is nothing that can be done." Guju replied, "To be honest, i enjoyed every minute of your company since i was assigned as your teacher ; I've taught you a lot of things and we've had a lot of crazy adventures but this is the end of the road."

Guju touched Xorian's shoulder and a green light began to swirl round him.

"Gu... Ju..." Xorian asked in confusion, "What's going on?"

"It's something i passed down to you known as Nadak." Guju said.

"Nadak? What is that?" Xorian asked.

"If i tell you, it would take away the fun and surprise from it." Guju said while smiling with his eyes closed.

"Huh?!" Xorian said with a raised eyebrow.

"Xorian... Fight the good fight and make the best out of your life while you still can." Guju said as he stood up and began to walk away, "You are and will always be my beloved student."

Guju turned to dust while walking and was blown by the wind which made Xorian shed tears immediately after witnessing this.

After recalling this, current Xorian immediately opens his eyes which made Jagami (who was staring down at him) to instinctively hop far away from him.

"He's still conscious?!" Jagami asked within herself in shock.

As Xorian stood on his feet, he glared at Jagami while  breathing heavily as a green light was swirling around him, leaving majority of the audience stunned.

"What is that?!"

"He's still standing?!"

"Unbelievable..."

"What's going on?" Cloud asked within himself.

"What is that...?" Galiel asked.

"Oh my gosh! Do my eyes deceive me?!!" Trengal asked, "Xorian of the Kenar tribe is still standing after taking that devastating attack from Jagami!! What kind of trickery is this?!!"

"I-is your son inhuman, Xoran?" Iminko asked with a wide-eyed expression.

"No, he isn't." Xoran replied while looking shocked.

"Then why is he able to stand after taking such an attack?" Iminko asked.

"I don't know." Xoran replied.

"Im-impossible..." Jagami said in shock, "Why can't you just stay down? Why couldn't you just stay down and let me be?!"

Xorian ignored Jagami's questions and continued glaring at her.

"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, ANSWER ME!!" Jagami angrily demanded.

Xorian ripped off his red top, leaving only his sleeveless green top and started emitting a powerful flaming red aura while having his fist set back in a punching stance.

"Y-you...!" Jagami said while gritting her teeth,  "Fine! Let's do this your way!"

Jagami sets her fist back in a punching stance and a massive blue light began to swirl round her fist.

"Looks like these two have decided to end their fight right here and now with their final moves!!" Trengal said, "Who is going to win and stand out on top?!"

"Wait a minute, is Xorian planning to take Jagami's power smash head-on?!" Yulin asked in shock, "Jagami's power smash becomes deadlier and more powerful with distance! How is Xorian going to overtake her?!"

Xorian and Jagami's irises glowed and the both of them charged towards each other with a powerful outcry.

"POWER SMASH!!!" Jagami screamed as she collides fists with Xorian.

Their collision creates an explosion and the color of their auras fills the arena while these two hold their positions.

"XORIAN!!!!" Jagami shouted.

"JAGAMI!!!!" Xorian shouted.

  During the collision, Xorian's attack began to slowly overtake Jagami's power smash, leaving her father surprised.

"Huh?!" Iminko said.

Xorian screamed as his attack was slowly overtaking Jagami's power smash along with the blue Kenar markings on his body turning red and his irises glowing, and as his attack had completely overwhelmed her power smash and engulfed her entire body with his flaming red aura, Jagami became stunned with the experience.

"Wha-what the...?"

Xorian's fist slips from Jagami's fist and connects to her face which left her twitching a little.

"Meteor burst!!!" Xorian shouted with an echoing voice as his eyes glowed completely red and pushed Jagami back, releasing an extremely large red beam of flames that threw her to the far ends of the walls in the arena.

  As Jagami sat on the ground unconscious with her back leaning against the wall, the audience became amazed while Xorian was breathing heavily along with the change of  his hairstyle and his green top emitting a flaming streak.

"Did he just overpower Iminko and Jian's daughter?"

"Amazing..."

"That's not the only amazing thing. Look at his appearance, it has changed!"

"Xorian of the Kenar tribe has overpowered Jagami of the Graundar tribe and she's not moving!!" Trengal said, " This is insane!!"

"Woah, Xorian just defeated Jagami..." Idjra said with disbelief.

"I told you he is not to be taken lightly." Cloud said while smiling.

"Agreed." Sting replied while smiling.

"I don't know what that light was earlier..." Iminko said, "But what i do know is that the main reason why your son was able to defeat our daughter after seemingly killed by her was because he put everything he had into his final attack and overpowered her.

To push my Jagami to this level and yet still win..."

"I have to admit it." Iminko said with his eyes closed, " Xoran... Your son ... Is stronger than my daughter..."

"Yes, he is." Galiel said while smiling.

"There you have it!" Trengal said, "Your winner: The fire in the ice... The phoenix of the Kenar tribe.... Xorian!!!"

In that moment, the entire court was filled with the sounds of Xorian's scream of victory and the crowds massive roar.