195 THE MULTI META AUDITORIUM
"Liric, have you heard? The ninth-ranked Saye Somirac accepted Damen Dark's life-and-death challenge," Professor Keris said.
Liric was stunned. "Saye? He's already ninth-ranked…what does he gain by fighting someone in tenth?"
"It's true," Keris replied. "Perhaps he's just irritated by Damen Dark's arrogance."
Liric smiled faintly. "Then we must set up a battle arena on campus. A fight like this should be properly orchestrated."
Keris shook his head. "They're not fighting on campus."
"What? Then where are they fighting?" Liric asked.
"At the new Fighter's Multi-Meta Auditorium in the Aukouma Building," Keris said.
Liric's eyes widened. "That's a professional meta-fighting stadium! How did they even manage to book it?"
Keris hesitated. "Apparently… Damen Dark co-owns the building."
"What…?" Liric's jaw dropped. "No wonder he's so arrogant."
-----
[Multi-Meta Auditorium in Aukouma Building]
The Multi-Meta Auditorium in the Aukouma Building was an extension of the annex's booming entertainment complex. Alongside the dance clubs were fight arenas, gourmet food courts, and sprawling shopping districts.
Ever since Zairgid purchased the annex building from Trionix Corporation, he had expanded his entertainment empire, acquiring neighboring properties until the Aukouma Entertainment Mall became one of the largest in Silver City.
Tonight, the atmosphere inside the fight auditorium was electric—crowded with cheers, jeers, and the hum of anticipation from thousands of spectators.
"Are you kidding me? When did they start letting amateurs fight in this place?" one man complained from the stands.
"Amateurs?" another replied with a scoff. "These aren't ordinary students—they're the top ten ranked fighters from Silver City University of Meta Science! This might be the only time we'll ever see these geniuses fight in public."
"Yeah," someone else added. "Give it a few years and they'll be heroes—or maybe even city leaders. We'll never get a show like this again."
A deep bell rang, echoing through the vast auditorium. The fighters took turns stepping into the ring.
The first to enter was the defender, Saye Somirac.
Only eighteen, he didn't look particularly intimidating…except for the large suitcase he carried in one hand.
"What's in that suitcase?" someone in the crowd whispered.
No one knew.
Then the challenger appeared… Damen Dark.
Another boy of the same age, but taller, broader, and cloaked in a dark hood. He carried no weapons, no equipment…just confidence.
The crowd erupted the moment he stepped into view. He looked every bit like the champion they wanted him to be.
"You planning to pack yourself in that suitcase after you lose?" Damen taunted with a smirk.
"Don't be so arrogant, Damen Dark!" Saye shouted back, flipping open the suitcase.
The case unfolded with a hiss of steam.
Metallic extensions snapped outward, latching onto Saye's limbs and torso like living steel. In seconds, plates of metal assembled themselves into a full suit of armor that gleamed under the arena lights.
Damen chuckled. "So that's your trick? A mech suit?"
"You should've done your homework before challenging me!" Saye replied, his voice resonating through the helmet's modulator.
Damen tilted his head. "That metal over your body… is completely useless against my powers."
"No, it's not!" Saye barked. "This is the strongest meta-alloy in existence, reinforced with layered force fields. Even Rank-BB meta skills can't breach it!"
Damen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps. But have you ever heard of a skill that bypasses armor entirely—one that ignores force fields altogether?"
"That's impossible! There are no such meta skills!" Saye snapped.
Damen's smirk widened. "You've seen too little."
The bell rang again.
The match had begun.
Saye struck first…a shoulder-mounted cannon flared and fired a searing laser beam. Damen darted aside, the blast slicing through the air where he'd stood a heartbeat earlier.
"I like your suit," Damen said casually. "Not enough to beat me, but still impressive. How about selling me the rights to manufacture it?"
"This armor is the Somirac family's secret!" Saye shouted. "We'll never give it away!"
Damen made no move to retaliate. He just watched…studying…even admiring the armor, tracing its joints, its movement speed, its reaction delay.
From the stands, murmurs rippled.
"What's he doing? Is he even fighting?"
"He's just standing there…like the fight doesn't concern him…"
Saye's laser struck the ring's outer force field, sizzling as it missed Damen by inches.
Damen was too fast and too agile. Saye had no choice. He had to take it to close combat.
With a burst of boosters, Saye lunged forward.
"So eager to lose?" Damen smirked.
An energy blade extended from Saye's metal gauntlet, slicing through the air toward Damen. But Damen caught the blow..with his bare hands.
The crowd gasped.
"Did he just catch the mech's arm? With his bare hand?"
Damen's smirk deepened. "If you're that anxious, I'll end this quickly."
He drove his fist forward…one clean jab to Saye's helmet.
"It's usele—" Saye began, but the words died in his throat. His mech stumbled backward, systems flickering for a brief second.
"It's… not possible," he stammered. "You didn't even breach my force field!"
Indeed, Damen's strike didn't shatter the armor nor crack the shield. But something had struck deeper. The impact rippled through the suit like an invisible quake…straight into Saye's skull.
"Momentum Collapse."
He spoke calmly, as though explaining a lesson. "A fusion meta skill—the latest evolution of Strength and Meta powers. My punch hits your armor, but the meta skill doesn't stop there. The true impact happens inside, beyond the surface, right into your head."
He struck again. This time, a series of short, rapid jabs… each one almost gentle on the armor's surface.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
To the crowd, the blows looked harmless.
"What's he doing? Those punches don't even dent the mech!" someone shouted.
Another replied, voice trembling, "Then why… why is the mech staggering back with every hit?"
Saye's body jerked violently inside the armor. His sensors flared red. The crowd fell silent.
"It must be hurting inside," someone whispered.
Then it happened.
"Stop…"
Saye's mech armor shuddered, then collapsed onto the floor with a metallic thud.
The drone referee descended, its voice calm and mechanical as it began the countdown.
"Ten… nine…"
The crowd held its breath.
"Damen Dark wins."
The announcement triggered a roar across the auditorium…cheers, gasps, and disbelief all at once.
Saye Somirac's assistants rushed into the ring, quickly disengaging the mech's armor plates. When they lifted the helmet away, gasps rippled through the crowd.
Saye's head was swollen, as if he'd been struck by a train.
"How did this happen?" one of the assistants muttered, staring at Damen in horror. "It's not possible…"
Saye lay unconscious. The medics hurriedly placed him on a stretcher and carried him away.
Meanwhile, Damen stood in the center of the ring—calm, expressionless, the arena lights glinting off his hood.
That night, Damen Dark officially rose to ninth rank in the Silver City University of Meta Sciences rankings.
-----
Damen stepped into the hospital room.
Saye Somirac lay propped on pillows, bandages wrapped around his head. His eyes were open but unfocused.
"Da—men… how dar… you come…" Saye tried to force the words out.
Damen set down a fruit basket with a casual thud. "Come on, don't be a pussy. You're a grown man… can't you accept defeat?" His voice was flat, almost bored.
A middle-aged man entered behind him, concern written across his face. "Saye…do you have a friend visiting?" he asked.
Damen glanced at the newcomer. "Yes. You must be Mr. Somirac."
Eric Somirac offered a strained smile. "Ah. Saye doesn't have many friends in college."
Saye tried to shout, the sound choking into a croak. Eric leaned closer. "What is it, son?"
Damen's smile sharpened. "He wants to say I'm the one who beat him like this."
Eric's expression flipped from worry to fury.
He snapped to his feet. "You—how dare you come here. Didn't you hurt my boy enough?"