"Are we equal now?" Gael muttered with a slight smile on his face, "Well, I hope that's exactly what happens. I made a promise, so you better be confident in your abilities. I wouldn't want to kill you."

Ereg smiled, pointing a thumb at his muscular chest, "Don't worry, I'm confident in my abilities, but I'm not arrogant! I just want to see if I'm worthy of having my eye healed!"

Gael nodded and with slow steps headed towards the colosseum. Ereg smiled and followed his opponent.

A moment later, all the spectators had gathered, waiting for the fight to begin. Everyone was outside the barrier of the colosseum, no one wanted to get hit by a random attack.

Ereg looked around, "I hope you don't mind that our fight is getting so much attention?"

Gael shook his head, "No, in fact, my friends are here as well, so it's only fair that many of the inhabitants of your world look at me that way."

"Hah, don't blame them, they're just worried about me." Ereg smirked as he extended his hand forward and his ring shone brightly. A massive axe made entirely of black metal appeared in his hand.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Then, his axe erupted with black flames, drawing everyone's attention.

"Let's see whose flame is stronger, my black or your white?" Ereg exclaimed, pointing his axe at Gael.

At the same moment, the flames from the axe turned into a powerful stream quickly heading towards Gael.

Gael took a light breath and with a wave of his hand, created a wave of white flames. Two kinds of fire collided with each other, creating a marvelous scene of black and white streams of flames.

Part of the fire reached the massive stones of the colosseum, and the runes on them shone brightly. The flames vanished and ended up somewhere in the open space, disappearing into the void.

"Not bad, but I don't think you're fighting seriously. Maybe it's your turn to get your sword out? What do you think?" Ereg asked with an excited expression.

Gael shook his head, "Don't worry. I'm not going to renege on my promise, it's just that I didn't need a sword to repel that attack. Moreover, this is my main weapon, and your axe is just an addition, isn't it?"

Ereg didn't answer anything, he just smirked and leaned his body forward.

Axalts had the best physical stats of all the Pillars, however, Beasfolks were not far from their level. Moreover, given their instincts, they were better at reacting and dodging dangerous attacks, though their movements were a bit slower and weaker.

Gael took a step back, as his hands flashed with white flames. Unlike most Ashens, he could easily use both ways, though flames were not his primary use.

"Be ready! I won't hold back!" Ereg exclaimed before tearing forward.

In a heartbeat, he turned into a flash that quickly appeared in front of Gael. A sharp axe blade came down on Gael, but he easily deflected the attack with his palm, pushing the axe aside.

Ereg was prepared for such a development, so he immediately attacked again, with his left foot.

A crack.

Gael raised his hand with a clenched fist, stopping Ereg's powerful kick, which sent a shockwave that kicked up dust from the ground.

The flames on Gael's hands tried to harm Ereg, but despite his entire body being covered in thick fur, the flames did not affect him. It couldn't damage someone with such a high and practically impenetrable defense.

"Not bad, but now it's my turn to attack." Gael said calmly before stepping forward.

His fist was clenched tightly, like a lightning strike plunging into Ereg's stomach. He aimed a weak point, at the solar plexus that should have made Ereg squirm in pain.

However, Ereg only winced slightly, but he recovered quickly. Also, Gael's blow couldn't move him, as Ereg easily absorbed all the momentum.

Gael with wide-open eyes looked at Ereg. He was surprised and puzzled, as he knew that his punch was powerful enough to throw Liang or Nitra back a few meters.

"Damn... His body is actually that strong...?" Nitra muttered in disbelief, looking at Ereg, who stood with a confident smirk on his face.

"Yeah, he was able to handle it without difficulty." Liang nodded.

"Hah, just look at Gael's face! He doesn't realize what's going on! Hahaha!" Alucard exclaimed happily.

Nila glanced at him, "You seem to be enjoying this, don't you? Isn't Mr. Gael your friend? I thought you were supposed to be worried about him."

Alucard waved his hand, "Don't be ridiculous, nothing serious has happened yet. None of them have even shown their weapons, so this is just the beginning. If Gael wants to he can hit much harder. Also, don't forget he's a swordsman, not a hand-to-hand fighter."

Wain grinned as she turned to Osvald, "What do you think of that punch? Would you be able to take it as well as Ereg?"

Osvald's face paled, "Hah, you shouldn't joke like that. If Gael were to hit me with that kind of speed and force right in the solar plexus, I'd be rolling around on the floor with my face twisted in pain. At best, it would only take a few seconds for me to recover and get to my feet."

"Yeah, I agree." Sven nodded, "Gael gave his word, so he doesn't cheat and seriously attack. Ereg, actually did a good job, after their last fight."

Marlis didn't say anything, she just watched Ereg closely, especially his muscles. She wondered how his body was able to distribute all the damage.

"Wow... That's something I didn't expect..." Gael muttered with a dazed expression.

Ereg smirked, "It's my turn, you said that didn't you?"

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Ereg immediately attacked, bringing his fist down on Liang's face.

Liang didn't have time to react and defend himself, so the impact threw him to the other side of the arena, causing his back to hit the massive rocks.

Gael's body was also very strong, and most rocks or even metals would have collapsed under the pressure, but the colosseum was unshakable. Because of the runes that absorbed damage, this arena could withstand an almost limitless amount of energy.

Ereg swung his axe, throwing it over his shoulder, and took a slow step towards Gael. He realized that this strike did little to no damage to Gael, as he was using pure physical force without any energy.

Gael shook his head, slowly rising from the ground. His white mantle was now dirty and covered in dust.

"Is there something wrong? Weren't you prepared to get dirty? I don't believe it!" Ereg smirked, gradually approaching Gael.

"Agh... Well, I thought I could spend a little more time getting our fight in this shape, but you actually managed to surprise me." Gael sighed, then he took off his mantle and turned to Alucard.

Whoooooooooooooooooooosh.

Gael tossed his Mantle to Alucard, who caught it with one hand.

"Damn, what kind of attitude is that anyway?" Alucard grinned, "Although, considering I get to see you fight, it's worth it."

Then, several scars appeared on Gael's flawless body. They were tiny, barely noticeable, but his aura immediately increased so much, as if he had used some powerful artifact.

Ereg became wary as he clenched his axe tightly, and streams of black flames appeared beside him.

Everyone who knew Gael, or had ever heard his name. knew that his greatest strength was his scars.

They were special to him because, somehow he was able to put a certain amount of power into each of his scars. His scars worked like seals.

The more scars Gael revealed, the more serious his opponent was and the more dangerous the situation. Each scar contained a large amount of energy and could raise his absolute strength to the next level.

Step.

Gael stepped forward as the ground beneath him cracked. His silhouette turned into a blur as he, in a heartbeat, found himself in front of Ereg.

Whoooooosh.

Ereg immediately attacked, bringing his axe down directly on Gael. However, Gael's fist had already reached its target, and this time, it was Ereg's stomach.historical

"You won't be able to stay on your feet this time." Gael muttered, curling his fist and making Ereg feel all the power that was coming at him in a powerful stream.

The impact with a powerful momentum threw Ereg dozens of meters back, and when he reached the walls of the colosseum, he bounced off them like a ball because of the great speed.

Ereg didn't expect the blow to be so powerful, but he quickly got up to counterattack. But, a shadow had already fallen on him from Gael's high silhouette, who sharply kicked him right in the face.

A powerful stream of blood spurted from Ereg's mouth as his eyes went blank for a moment. Gael wasn't going to stop there and loomed over Ereg like something inevitable.

"Hah, Gael's scars are something incredible, but... Ereg should have something extraordinary too, shouldn't he?" Alucard smirked and glanced at Nila.