Chains Of Pride

"Hohoho, someone's gotten faster since the last time, well then, let's do this!" Captain Magenai began sprinting to where the Captain knew Lanzo would be.

On a towering platform that overlooked the entire stadium stood Shepherd Hide and Siren Vizio.

"Why the hell are we standing somewhere high again?! Christ! I mean they have exclusive seats for Shepherds and look! It's in your favourite area, somewhere high! Though not as high as here." Vizio was complaining about the Shepherd's quirks that he apparently had no intention of changing.

"Vizio you're being loud again," Takeshi didn't even look in her direction, only staring at the going-on within the arena, before commenting further.

"I'll decide how to move forward with the three of them depending on how this one performs."

Vizio shrugged when she heard this, simply tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

She then proceeded to copy him and cast her gaze towards the arena as well, wondering if this one among the three could give her any surprises.

The terrain within the arena was quite massive, and the hilly nature of it made it extremely c.u.mbersome to move within.

However, this didn't stop Captain Magenai in the least. The protruding boulders only served as platforms to catapult from, which would have the fighter end up in the middle of the battlefield.

As soon as the Captain reached, all hesitation was swallowed, and the fighter let loose a full-powered punch towards the empty air.

"Hahaha, your senses are as sharp as ever Magenai!!" As soon as that was said, another fist appeared to meet the first that was thrown.

The impact alone was jarring, and those close by felt themselves jerk, by the remnant force alone. Out of thin air appeared Lanzo in his Armis, not a bit late for his date with Magenai.

After receiving and blocking that blow with his own, Lanzo jumped back, feigning pain by shaking his hands. "Damn, Tamashi! That Armis of yours got quite a kick to it, or should I say punch hahaha!"

"Your jokes are as bad as ever, and when did I give you permission to call me by my first name?! Tch, don't worry, we're just getting warmed up. So you best get serious Savage One," replied Tamashi in a provocative tone.

"Don't worry MaGeNaI, I'll get to be calling you Tamashi real soon." Lanzo jokingly fired back, drawing Magenai's name as he did so.

"Wha-...Hmph." Captain Magenai's body quivered at that remark, but it was quickly shaken off and replaced by another punch.

Bam!!

Lanzo saw this coming and guarded against it with a cross-arm block. This punch from the captain, however, sent him back several feet, and deep trenches were being dug as he was pushed back.

When Lanzo felt this blow, he knew the Captain was beginning to get serious. He once again sprinted towards Captain Magenai, each of his punches, every upper knee strike was being matched blow for blow!

It was like watching a dance, a dance orc.h.e.s.trated by destruction's hand. No restraints were being exercised here, only a hunger to fight, and they were far from being satiated.

When they saw no end to this; however, they simultaneously clutched each other's hand, trying to push the other back.

It was at a stalemate for a short while, but Captain Magenai slowly began pushing Lanzo back, much to the latter's surprise. When Lanzo saw this, he sharply drew his head back and drove it forward for a devastating headbutt!

The effects could be seen as Tamashi's entire body jerked, resulting in a release of the grip followed by staggering steps backwards.

Lanzo who saw this readied himself to execute a move that destroyed countless Armis's in the past.

"I never could hit you with this in the past, cuz you'd always see it coming after all. Let's see what happens when you take it head-on Tamashi! Hahaha!" Lanza laughed almost maniacally.

When the crowd saw this, they became even more heated, knowing that the "Savage One" was coming out. This was a moniker that he earned from both his fans and opponents alike.

Lanzo was able to tear an Armis apart, something, not even his Captain was capable of, what was more savage than this?!

In a disoriented state, Tamashi could barely make heads or tails of anything, up-down, even left and right was lost to the Captain. But every cell in the fighter's body screamed danger! So, through reflexes honed by countless sequences, the Captain's Armis's highest defences were erected.

"Turtle Shell!"

The very instant the defences went up, a shadow darted in, eyeing the reinforced mid-section that 'Turtle Shell' provided.

When Lanzo saw the fortress-like defences of Captain Magenai, his lips curled up in a slight smile. "Heh, the only one able to raise their defences in time. Damn worthy of being my rival in this world...my world! So do me a favour after this, AND KEEP ON STANDING!! Burst Impact!!"

What Lanzo activated was a simple but brutal piece of mechanism he had on his last Armis, a mechanism he gladly learnt, was on this one as well during his Engage.

In short, he throws a punch like any other; then, a short rod with a flat head extends from his elbow. The nano-second before his punch lands on any target, it would slam down on the elbow of his Armis with blinding speed and devastating power!

This, in turn, magnified the power of this punch many times over. When the blow, dubbed Burst Impact, struck that single area on Magenai's Armis. The eyes of everyone within the arena, both the fighters and the audience unanimously looked to where that odd sensation came from, or maybe it was a sound? Hold on, a sound that they felt?

It was a sound that lasted only for a brief moment, but it was commanding enough to demand their attention. For what they saw, would be etched in their memories, much like it was imprinted on Captain Magenai's midsection.

The Captain's entire body warped in the shape of a U bent at the abdomen. The massive boulders within the arena were all but useless in stopping the momentum of Lanzo's greatest rival.

BOOM!!

A massive explosion took place at the far end of the arena. The shockwave came after would shake the common sense of the common man. Is this the type of effect a person's body is supposed to produce?

The waiting room for Team Proelius …

'Sigh' "Why is that idiot not using the Temporal Gate? Kia, why is that idiot not using the Temporal Gate?" Gero asked himself out loud and then inquired the same to the one who stood beside him as annoyance and impatience seeped in.

Kia shrugged when he heard the question, "I dunno why the idi- …Uh I mean Lanzo isn't using the primary power source maybe he just needs to build up to it or something. Still, that secondary power source sure is something, I'm pretty sure we diluted its effectiveness, and yet it's still holding up."

"Build up to it? What do you think this is, Dragon Ba -… You know what forget it. Based on what I'm what seeing, he doesn't have that much power left anyway, not that it matters. That Captain Magenai's not so simple, he'll be forced to use it in this round if he wants to win this thing. Gero deduced how everything was going to play out.

Kia was still reeling from the something the normally apathetic youth said. "Time out! Were you just about to reference Drago -…"

"In any case, this is about to get interesting,¬¬don't ignore me!" Gero stared at the screen with knitted brows.

Somewhere really high …

"That idiot is still holding back, even I have to admit that Armis is a force to be reckoned with, and yet he's just scratching the surface. What does he think he's doing?" Shepherd Hide was surveying the Sequence from up above.

"Hey I know, let's figure that out by going somewhere, not high …eh, eh, pretty smart plan huh?" Vizio proposed while standing beside him, her purple hair fluttering in the wind.

"You're welcome to leave, I didn't invite you, you just followed me here." The stern Shepherd was as curt as ever.

"Hmph, how rude, stop acting so cold! You know I add colour to your day, just admit it. Hey, wait a minute what's happe¬¬ ."

"Shush! I was waiting for this; hopefully, this will knock some sense into him."

Back in the arena …

On the far side of the arena, among the suspended battle royale taking place within

"Oi! I thought I told you to keep standing Tamashi! You better plant those feet back on the ground right no-"

Before he could finish speaking, however, the area where Captain Magenai landed started to shake. The area around and behind it began to distort, like a mirage in a desert.

Boom!!

The rocks, dirt and debris that lay atop the Captain all blew apart with a thunderous crash!

That Crimson Armis stood there, and though Lanzo was quite some distance away, he could feel the gaze the Captain levied at him.

'Cough ack!'

Drops of blood dripping from below the chin of the helmet showed that punch did a whole lot of damage.

"Oh shit!" One of the fighters from Team Reiger exclaimed when he saw the condition of his Captain. "That ain't good."

"What are you talking about, Captain Magenai's still standing, right?" The fighter opposite him stated.

"I'm not talking about the wounds, I'm talking about what Cap's gonna do." The fighter started to shiver, a movement that was obvious even with the Armis.

"All fighters from Team Reiger fall back now!!" This order of withdrawal came from Civik as he was one of the only people privy to his Captain's nature, and this was one that he knew meant, shit hit the fan.

The Crimson Armis stood above the rubble like a harbinger of death, steam began to escape from the figure, while the surrounding temperature began to rise at an alarming rate.

A voice, so calm it was frightening came from the Armis, "I should have known that keeping hidden this for the final match was foolish since I was going to fight you. So take this Setamaru Lanzo, my final gift to you, before I stand above you."

A billowing heatwave washed over the members of Proelius who had stayed where they were, nearly setting them ablaze.

They quickly retreated, but Captain Magenai started walking towards Lanzo with a cadence of calm and indifference. Before the Captain disappeared from everyone's view, one final phrase was roared.

"Ignition!"