Chapter 5: The Strongest of the Year

With my naked eyes, I saw vines sprouting from Andrew's body, forming a thin wall right in front of him. His eyes were focused on his opponent, Maximilian, through a small hole intentionally created in the vine wall.

Even as the excited cheers subsided and silence returned to the arena, Max remained motionless. He maintained his stance, his superior vision allowing me to see him calmly observing his opponent, a faint smile playing on his lips.

What's going on, Max? I wondered what he was doing in this battle. However, I quickly regained composure. Anyway, my wish was that Max lost this battle.

I composed myself, leaned back in my seat, and continued watching the match.

"Why isn't Andrew attacking?" I exclaimed, realizing that even though Max seemed inactive, Andrew continued to maintain his defense. Normally, Lucy would immediately respond to me, but all I noticed was silence. Surprised, I looked at her and became even more astonished by her shocked eyes.

"What's happening, Lux?" I asked puzzled.

Lucy sighed, "Well, you haven't watched Max's previous battles, have you?"

"What do you mean?" Lucy's response only increased my confusion.

Lucy spoke with evident pride on her face, "I, as someone who has watched all of Max's battles, will enlighten you."

"What? All of Max's battles?" I was surprised to learn that Lucy hadn't mentioned this earlier.

She stammered, "Trina, I..."

Her worried expression accused me of making things more serious than necessary. There was nothing wrong with her being a devoted fan of Max or watching all his battles. It's just... Max was one of my enemies, and I didn't like Lucy being associated with him.

"Trina, sorry, I..." Lucy tried to explain.

"No, Lux," I looked at her and smiled. "I'm sorry for blowing it out of proportion. But next time, if there's something of yours that is related to Max, let me know, okay?"

With the naked eye, I saw Lux's eyes widen. Perplexed by her incomprehensible reaction, I urged her, "Can you tell me what you saw?"

"Oh, of course," she nodded. "His past battles all prove one thing: his strength is extraordinary."

I frowned. Wasn't that common knowledge?

Lucy, noticing my confusion, became even more enthusiastic, "His strength is indescribable or unimaginable. Max always defeats his opponents with just one punch. It seems to be his style. It's really cool!"

I realized I didn't know as much about Max as I thought. The praise for Max's strength made me even more worried. His seemingly divine strength made him look like a formidable enemy in my eyes.

Cheers erupted, and I looked at the arena. Andrew flashed a challenging smile. New vines sprouted from his skin and rushed towards Max at an incredible speed.

But Max remained calm. Until the vines were just inches away, he jumped and moved with incredible speed. My eyes couldn't keep up with him; he became invisible to me.

"Don't be complacent, Maximilian. My vines can still sense your presence," Andrew shouted excitedly.

Andrew's vines continued to move through the air to chase Max. How could Andrew keep up with Max's astonishing speed?

The fight continued, and I saw nothing except the twisting vines. People cheered as Max landed on a large green vine. He smirked mockingly at his opponent and immediately approached Andrew with his terrifying speed.

The vines spread across the arena suddenly turned back towards Andrew, forming circles to protect him. I couldn't take my eyes off the battle, even though my eyes couldn't match Max's speed.

Suddenly, I saw Max appear right behind Andrew with my naked eyes. The vines immediately rushed to protect their master. But Max disappeared right after.

Realizing his opponent was a dangerous monster, Andrew skillfully controlled his vines to form a barrier, enclosing him inside because Max could attack unexpectedly.

As the barrier was completed, I saw Max back in his initial position. Looking at the sturdy barrier, Max wasn't worried but smiled in amusement.

"It ends here, Andrew. Don't worry; I won't make it too painful," Max said.

Andrew yelled from inside the barrier, "Don't boast; the fight isn't over yet. Try your best to break through my defense."

I completely agreed with what Andrew said. Andrew's abilities allowed him to excel in both defense and offense. He had the ability to stand against the onslaught of arrows raining from enemies.

In the previous life, he became a legend in our pack thanks to that feat.

Max tightened his fist, assuming an attacking posture. The crowd erupted as they saw energy concentrating in Max's clenched fist.

What is this? Isn't he supposed to be unable to use magic?

The energy gathering in his fist, what was it?

From the surface of the barrier, enormous vines continued to reach toward Max to attack him.

Max dodged the vines with his extraordinary speed once again. I couldn't take my eyes off the battle. Max approached Andrew, but this time, even though I still couldn't see him, I could follow his footsteps on the arena floor.

Oh, my Moon Goddess, how much force did he use to leave footprints on the stone floor?

A loud explosion echoed, and great pressure emanated from the arena, spreading throughout the stands. Instinctively, I hugged Lux tightly and closed my eyes.

Until the pressure subsided, I slowly opened my eyes. Before I could see what was happening in the arena, the audience's cheers erupted.

Everyone was calling Maximilian's name with unparalleled excitement.

In the arena, Andrew's massive vines were paused in mid-air. Max stood just inches away from Andrew's solid barrier, his hand piercing through it.

"No way," I murmured under my breath. "He did that with just his fist."

I pursed my lips, unwilling to accept that Andrew was defeated so easily. But the truth slapped me in the face. Andrew's large vines fell to the ground and disappeared. His barrier gradually turned into magical dust, revealing that Andrew had passed out from the impact of Max's punch.

The entire auditorium erupted in cheers once again. Everyone in the stands, including Lucy, united in calling out the name of the victorious one, Maximilian.