Chapter 600: Individual Tournament 21

It was almost as if one could see glass shattering as Kiran appeared to have reached the core of his being. Inside, there was a baby version of himself spinning in a cocoon. To the right of baby Kiran was an image of Buddha in a benevolent pose and on his left was an old man wearing gray robes and a pointy hat stroking his beard. 

As the cocoon started to spin faster, Kiran rapidly aged until he became a young man, at which point he shattered his cocoon and a burst of energy exploded from within. It formed a white aura that manifested outside and slowly merged with his red one, this new energy enhancing him even further. 

Soon, the shockwaves and crazy wind came to an end. The crowd recovered their wits, but were soon forced to suck in deep breaths with shock as they took in the sight of the evolved Kiran. 

His hair had grown to 1.5x its former length and its spikiness was unmatched. His eyes were now a deeper shade of purple, and his face was more compact, giving him a slightly buffer look, though not by much. 

Kiran's most noticeable change was definitely his aura and his expression. The former had grown to 1.5x, towering over him as it raged in a spiky arc. However, there were now flashes of electricity around his aura that appeared every now and then. 

As for his expression, it had changed from a calm confidence to barely suppressed rage and madness, as if he was on fire but wanted to take his enemy down with him before he burned to ash. 

｢Eight Inner Gates - Gate of Healing – Active skill 

Effect: Unlock the second Inner Gate. This increases Strength by 20% and refills all stamina and mana continuously for the duration at the cost of 10% of your maximum HP. Can only be activated after the first Inner Gate. 

Duration: 2 hours 

Cooldown: 22 hours.｣ 

Kiran felt the power coursing through him, but his vitality was also leaving him. For each Inner Gate that he opened, 10% of his maximum HP would be greyed out, only returning once the skill ran out. 

The first of the Eight Inner Gates provided him with a great boost of strength by increasing it by 120%, while the second added another 20% on top of that. 

However, rather than raw power, this Inner Gate allowed Kiran to maximize his power as he technically had infinite mana and stamina during its duration. 

This naturally meant he could whale on his targets endlessly until the skill ran out, but it came at the cost of being limited to 80% of his usual maximum HP, making him far easier to kill now if one had the means. 

Essence, who was on the field, had a cold expression. For the first time since he had been in this tournament, he began to feel a slight threat from one of his foes. 

No, it was not slight, in fact, it was significant. 

Essence gauged that on a power scale of 1-100 with Draco and Eva being at a 100, he would be next at 50. Due to her Divine Class, Rina would be the follow-up at 40, whereas Kiran had been at 25. 

The rest of the core members would fall below 20, at least under normal circumstances. 

When Kiran had activated his Super Warrior form, Essence had revaluated him to 35 points. Barely enough to threaten Rina and fight her on equal terms but eventually lose, yet still far behind Essence. 

Now though, Essence gauged Kiran's power in his Super Warrior 2 form to be 45 points! 

This meant that Kiran in this form this could actually beat Rina, a Divine Class user, to death! Not only that, he was inches away from reaching Essence's own power! 

Essence's eyes narrowed as he made this analysis. A crisis formed in his heart as he realized that his unshakable position of being below two but above everyone else was being threatened by this Buddha Lineage freak. 

'No, that's not all!' Essence realized with a startle. 

That white energy that merged with his aura after the second Inner Gate had been activated was a Lineage's bloodline, and one not inferior to his own, Essence could tell. 

Thinking of Kiran's past and the various lineages, Essence's face cramped as he realized that Kiran might be a unique dual lineage inheritor, one Buddha and one… Merlin! 

'No wonder!' Essence sighed internally. 

He now understood that he had definitely gained a new rival, which excited him. He could not compete with Draco or Eva in terms of bloodline, for he didn't have the guts. 

Both were progenitors in their own right, so catching up to them was impossible, hence why they represented the ceiling. 

Nevertheless, Essence was at least confident that he might be able to catch up to Draco in terms of techniques since they both had Innate Technique Generators. 

He had all the capabilities and tools Draco had, so there was no reason for him to fall behind. As such, he still regarded Draco as his rival in terms of techniques, but not bloodline. 

Today, his rival in terms of bloodline but not techniques had appeared: Kiran! 

He was the only one in their generation who could match him, since his double Lineage Bloodline could barely be called on par with the Lucifer lineage as long as Kiran maxed out his abilities in both. 

Kiran pointed to Essence with a ferocious expression as he spoke. "I have never used this form, not daring in case it might cause problems! Since you've pushed me this far, you'll have to accept your role as my whetstone!" 

Essence felt the tremor in the atmosphere, as he quickly retreated into his void. Kiran practically appeared exactly where Essence stood in a flash, the explosive soundwave from his super-fast movement coming a few seconds after due to delay. 

"HIDING IN THERE WILL NOT SAVE YOU!" Kiran bellowed as he punched into the mirage of Essence, which through the same method, reached the fellow within. 

This time, Essence's mirage was blown back, coughing three wads of blood as his armor was dented heavily. That attack alone had made him lose 10% of his HP, which was extremely high due to his Draconic nature and that was after it had traveled through the void. 

Essence glared at Kiran as he decided to show the fellow that his new power-up was nothing before absolute might. Kiran roared and charged again, punching at Essence within his void, but Essence who was there actually avoided with a smile. 

This begot the question as to why he got hit the previous two times, but the answer should be quite obvious given Essence's nature. He wanted to feel the power of the attacks for himself to better gauge the power of Kiran. 

Using eyes and senses alone was not nearly enough if one wanted precise measurements. Now that he had, Essence would not allow Kiran to hit him again. 

After all, even if Kiran was quick enough to catch up to his external image, when he punched through the entrance of the void, it would head in a straight line towards Essence. 

Since his void was not 1 or even 2 dimensional, but 3 dimensional, he could literally just juke to the left or right, up or down to avoid it. It would only hit Essence if he stood there unmoving, or if Kiran added a homing trait to his fist's force. 

Since the first was optional and the latter was not possible at this time, the battle had returned to a stalemate. Essence too did not stand there taking hits, but often retaliated using his halberd which he would allow to re-enter reality to strike Kiran, or using void energy. 

These hits were either ignored by Kiran and negated by his aura or directly blocked by him since his aura could not negate physical force. 

The battle was intense as both sides struck at each other hundreds of times within a second, creating such force and such a display that all onlookers were riveted. 

None had been able to push Essence this far, so the crowd had not been able to truly enjoy his martial skill, especially his mastery of the halberd arts. 

Kiran too was showing a new level of unarmed combat skill with his movements, dodges, and strikes that seemed to be layered on each other. 

For a short while, the two fighters were lost in their own little world as they continued to battle it out brutally, until a particularly heavy clash split them apart. 

As if rehearsed, both sides decided to pause here and glare at the other while regaining their bearings and planning their next course of action. 

"Hmm.." Essence grunted as he prepared an attack that he had only used once in the previous fights, but would use again now. 

"Ha, your void is great for negating damage and staying safe… but can it protect you from this?" Kiran asked with a wicked smirk as his fist glowed with his blood-red aura condensed. 

Essence sensed imminent danger, and noticed that Kiran had long left him no time to think on what to do as he appeared before him. He punched out once again, striking the chest of Essence's mirage, though this time, instead of using fist force, he used something more tangible. 

"Ultra Kiai Cannon!" 

｢Qi Wave – Active skill 

Effect: Send out a wave of condensed Qi made through cultivation to damage all enemies within 5 miles. This deals 700% special damage. 

Cooldown: 20 hours.｣ 

A huge wave of reddish energy blasted through the stage, entering Essence's mirage form, and only intense air passing through the back. However, the Essence within the void beheld a huge and all-encompassing wave of energy that could not be avoided tearing towards him. 

He knew that now was the time, and so activated his skill he had kept on hold until now. He clapped his hands together and spread them apart, creating a huge portal before him in which about half of the power of the skill entered. 

The rest struck him and his void, severely damaging Essence as it took away another 40% of his HP. He then emerged from his void as he could not retaliate using this skill without doing so. 

This strong core member fell to his knees and coughed out a thicker wad of blood, making Kiran above him smirk viciously as he raised a hand to punch down and end Essence Stalker. 

The hair on both core members and the audiences' heads and bodies stood up, wondering if the ranking and a legend was going to be overturned this day. 

However, they all seemed to have forgotten that the legend of Essence Stalker was one that was written by absolute dominance and a bit of cleverness, not just absolute dominance alone. 

Essence raised his head and smiled towards Kiran, snapping his finger lightly. The next moment, Essence disappeared from where he was kneeling without even moving, making use of one of his passive skills. 

｢High-Speed Movement – Passive skill 

Effect: Space is just the flow of the world, never static and always changing. You now have the ability to walk through folds in space, moving through shortcuts in the very essence of reality to achieve movement that is instantaneous in the eyes of space-locked creatures.｣ 

Kiran was startled by Essence's sudden disappearance, and wanted to locate him before he escaped once again. However, his path was cut off by a portal that appeared above him like a rain cloud hovering over his head. 

Out of confusion, Kiran paused and looked up, which was a horrible mistake. For what came from the portal was a huge red wave that blasted down upon Kiran like an orbital laser cannon. 

It went on for a few seconds due to the sheer volume of the attack, and the remnants of the arena's foundation below cratered Kiran stood were cratered immediately. 

When the blast stopped and the portal closed, Kiran's form became visible. He looked a little different, with his powerful red aura blazing around him. However, he was kneeling down on one knee while his whole body trembled. 

Not only that, his upper garments had been destroyed, displaying his toned upper body to the masses as his flushed creamy skin was rippling with muscles and veins. 

Many ladies immediately had to cover the nose as they got a nosebleed, with only Sublime freely letting the blood out from both her nostrils as a lustful grin adorned her face. 

Kiran did not have the mind to notice this as his expression returned to being ferocious, but was stifled as he spat out a huge clot of blood as well. He had lost 50% of his HP in that one strike, his defense far less than Essence who had many means to protect himself compared to Kiran. 

Not to mention 20% of his HP had already been copped away, so he was now in the red. Essence on the other side rose to his feet and steadying himself, clutching his midsection with a grimace. 

"Whew, this fellow packs a wallop. Feels like being hit by Draco at 50% of his max power, urgh." Essence swallowed another wad of blood back down forcefully. 

Kiran too forced himself to his feet and glared at Essence with rage. His aura began to spike slightly until it exploded outwards in an even greater flow as he roared. 

Kiran's purple pupils disappeared, leaving only the whites of his eyes as his aura rose to 5x what it was before in terms of size. A band of red-colored energy swam from the top to the bottom of his body as his muscles expanded slightly. 

Essence's expression changed as he saw this, knowing that Kiran had gone fully berserk, and not with the help of the system. 

(Author's Note: Imagine Kiran in the same state as Broly from the new movie after Frieza killed Paragus.) 

Essence quickly re-entered his void, but the moment the entrance closed up behind him and his mirage form got displayed, he noticed that Kiran was already right in front of him with a scary expression. 

He then coated his arms with his red aura and dug in, preventing the entrance of Essence's void from closing at the last second. 

With a blow of inhuman strength and madness, he began forcing the portal open the same way the Dark Knight had done for the Void Portal in the Ruined Plains of Deriam long ago. 

Eventually, he pulled it apart enough that he was able to enter, forcibly dispelling the mirage form of Essence as a small black hole was left there. The entire arena was quiet as no quakes or shakes could be felt, just silence as everyone awaited the outcome of this brutal brawl which they regretfully were no longer able to follow. 

Soon, the entire arena shook as the portal expanded greatly, and a form blasted through it, crashing into the remaining arena floor and destroying it. Through the dust, the crowd could not see it was as they anxiously awaited the result. 

When the dust cleared, everyone's face changed when they saw that the form was Kiran, whose reddish aura had disappeared even though his hair was still red-colored and spiky. 

Also, his purple pupils had come back as sanity had been returned to him. Kiran weakly struggled to push his upper body up, and looked like he would succeed, but was knocked back into the ground by a huge claw that emerged from the portal. 

Soon, the rest of the majestic Void Dragon came out from the portal, its body sleek and unharmed as if it had never suffered any beating. 

Kiran, now locked beneath its mighty claws continued to struggle, but could only fall into unconsciousness once Essence struck down on him with his claws coated with Void Energy. 

Kiran's red hair shortened and turned back into its blond color as his eyes also regained their blue color, his body, in general, reverting to his base form as he fainted. 

The Void Dragon roared powerfully, shaking the entire stadium as many people couldn't help but kneel before the power of Draconic might, a State of Being so far above theirs that the gap was like gazing at Jupiter from Earth. 

Essence then reverted back to his human form, his body going back to perfection which was a perk of transformation. He looked completely unharmed while Kiran had his daoist robes ripped from the top and his whole body was battered. 

The crowd that had been silent unanimously got up in celebration. Not just for the winner, but for the amazing match they got to watch just now that far surpassed anything they could understand. 

Fuck, it had felt like they were watching an anime fight scene from a high-tier studio, only in fucking real life! 

This kind of experience could only be lived in something like Boundless, and it made everyone here subconsciously elevate the game on an even higher pedestal. 

Mostly because their hearts glowed with greed! 

If Essence and Kiran could do this, why couldn't they?! 

It was the same game with the same resources, so as long as they put in the work, they too could turn into Dragons or transform into a Super Saiy- *cough* Super Warrior! 

Essence lifted his foot - which had previously been a claw - off Kiran and sighed with fatigue. This had been one of the most grueling fights of his life, just below the ones he fought with the Draco clones in the Rank 7 Training Hall. 

He gazed at Kiran who turned into motes of light, only to be revived by the side, respect and rivalry burning in his eyes. 

From what Essence had seen, Kiran seemed to have been unaware of how to use his Merlin lineage properly, but once he discovered, his power was guaranteed to skyrocket. 

This caused Essence to feel an unprecedented amount of pressure as he would eventually be surpassed unless he too found a way to further increase his power. As such, he closed his eyes and warred with himself internally before making a truly shocking choice. 

"It seems like it's time to take that trial… and become the Paragon of Space!"