Chapter 156 - Wonders Of The Stars - Part 1
"Don't worry, I promised not to kill anyone ever again, so I will stop when you can't move anymore.
" Pio turned towards his opponent and called out expressionlessly, without any ill intent in his voice. He was forced to fight on with no chance to resist and he could only blame himself for entering the Central Region.
He just wanted to improve himself more with the better resources of the Central Region but ended up falling into the current mess. It was a good opportunity to increase his strength but with those rules, he would rather enjoy the free life he had without any obligations instead.
"Hahaha, you are talking as if you already won! Maybe the arena believes in you but I will prove to them that they were wrong! Star Shaper my ass, let me show you the real power!
" Seven Beasts laughed maniacally at Pio's shameless statement before he shouted while distancing himself from Pio and activated his famous ability.
Seven Beasts' muscular chest began expanding and his skin started turning brown. His legs and arms also increased in size by multiple times while his fingers turned into black claws. If one asked why the stage in the arena was this big, having more than one hundred meters in diameter, this was the answer.
Sever Beasts was a Fate Fragment Holder whose main ability allowed him to turn into a giant brown bear. There were a few types of Fate Fragments and this one was a transformation type. He also had a collection of other beasts abilities which he managed to obtain in other battles or simple bought, hence why the name Seven Beasts.
There are not that many Fate Fragments but with each death, the abilities pool was increasing. After many years of this organisation running, they gathered a significant amount of abilities. You could even sell the powers you obtained in your travels and buy the one you want.
After a Fate Fragment Holder dies, he will lose his ability to the killer, but the Fragment itself will survive and return after being reborn into another human. This was why after so many years there were many repetitions. Unfortunately, only the main ability would be reborn and that's why the special rules were incorporated to prevent that.
Fighting between the Fate Fragment Holders inside the Central Region was banned and was only allowed inside the arena during a challenge. If someone died by accident, the referee could still obtain all of his abilities before they disappeared.
"Roaaar!
" Seven Beasts roared after he finished his transformation into a Brown Bear and started running towards Pio on his four legs just like a normal wild bear.
Pio didn't panic and even waited for his opponent to finish his transformation without attacking midway. He knew the scope of his abilities and didn't feel any pressure seeing Seven Beasts charging at him.
Feeling it was the right time to show his skills, Pio reached out towards his forehead and touched his star-shaped mark. It instantly lit up with bright light and he somehow pulled it out from his forehead, without leaving no trace or wound.
Pio raised it in front of his face with two fingers without worrying about the Wild Bear coming at him, as if he was admiring the star's beauty before he sighed, saying in low voice,
"Stars are everlasting, but sometimes, to be reborn, the star needs to go through... its death.
"
With those last words, Pio crushed the star which exploded, covering the whole stage with blinding white light. The Stardust after the explosion started spreading all around them, creating a pearl-white translucent mist. There was no place on the stage that wasn't contaminated with the weird dust.
Seven Beasts stopped seeing the light as he didn't have any other details about Pio's ability than what he heard from the rumours, but after he realised that Pio didn't move from his position at all and the Stardust wasn't hurting him in any way, he continued his charge.
To his surprise, Pio didn't move and even his weapon was not drawn by him which made Seven Beasts even angrier. Not only he didn't show him any respect to a senior before the fight, his actions right now showed that he also thought nothing of him.
"Roar!
" The Brown Bear finally reached Pio's position and didn't hesitate to swing with his massive paw while roaring furiously. The situation where he sees Pio's body flying to the other side of the stage didn't happen and instead, he saw even more pearly white dust.
Instead of being crushed under bears raw power, he turned on impact into a pile of Stardust which scattered into the air. Sever Beasts knew that it was not an accident and started looking around in his surroundings afraid of a sneak attack, but when he looked behind him, he froze when he saw Pio standing right there as if nothing happened.
"Haha!
" The Referee laughed before he thought to himself, 'What a marvellous ability. As expected of one of the top ten strongest abilities. Too bad almost none of the top ten Fate Fragment Holders were ever defeated, else we would be having a lot more of them.'
It was quite regretful in his opinion but there was nothing he could do. Those with top ten Fate Fragments were just too strong and each time one died, it was only because they wanted to or their lifespan was reaching the end. Many tried to find an window for an attack in that particular moment but it never happened.
"You should surrender. There is no way you can beat me. If you give up now, I will spare you and decline taking any of your abilities. I didn't want to fight in the first place. I will only take your Fate Stones from the bet, as I need those. What do you think?
" Pio sighed and tried to warn his opponent before he turned serious.