NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1355: Crowd Demands!
"I have nothing against any of you," Max said calmly, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "But I need to win this, so I will end it quickly."
Red lightning burst forth around his body as he activated the Storm King's Inheritance, Extreme Speed, the violent arcs of crimson energy wrapping around him like a living storm. In the next instant, his figure vanished from sight, leaving only a flash of red lightning tearing through the arena.
Before anyone could even process what had happened, the four figures of Korr, Yuren, Malkor, and Selene were blasted out of the arena and hurled into the stands, their bodies sent flying as if struck by an invisible calamity.
It was over in mere seconds, so fast that most of the spectators struggled to comprehend what they had just witnessed. The four legendary warriors, each of whom had once stood before the Grim Gladiator, had been defeated before they could even make a single move.
Max had not given them the slightest chance to act, nor any opportunity to employ hidden tricks such as poison. He had learned from his encounter with Raymond, understanding that while lesser poisons were meaningless to him, a poison beyond Divine Rank could pose unnecessary complications even to his divine bloodline.
Because of that, Max chose to reveal a fraction of his true power and end the battle instantly. To him, these warriors were nothing more than obstacles delaying the inevitable. He wanted them out of the way as quickly as possible so that he could finally face the only opponent in the Divine Colosseum who truly mattered, the Grim Gladiator.
"What did I just witness, they were all blown away before they even lifted their weapons, this cannot be real," a man shouted in disbelief, his voice shaking as his eyes remained locked on the empty arena.
"All four of them fought the Grim Gladiator and survived, yet they could not even last a heartbeat against Max," another spectator said hoarsely, clutching the railing as if his legs had suddenly gone weak.
"I did not even see him move properly, there was just red lightning and then it was over, this is beyond terrifying," someone cried out, their tone filled with fear rather than excitement.
"Korr, Yuren, Malkor, and Selene were legends here, people crossed realms just to watch them fight, and now they were defeated like nothing," a woman said slowly, her words heavy as the reality finally sank in.
"This is no longer about talent or genius, this is absolute domination, the Divine Colosseum has never seen something like this," a deep voice rang out from the upper stands.
"If this is how he treats those who faced the Grim Gladiator, then what kind of monster is Max really," another spectator muttered, their voice trembling with awe.
For a moment, voices overlapped in stunned confusion, disbelief echoing through every corner of the Divine Colosseum, because no one present could comprehend how four living legends had been erased from the battle in the blink of an eye.
"No way," Jaden said as she abruptly stood up, her reaction far more intense than most in the crowd, her eyes widening as disbelief washed over her face. Unlike the majority of spectators, her cultivation was far higher than Max's, which meant she could clearly perceive what had actually happened in the arena instead of relying on fragmented impressions. Precisely because she saw it so clearly, the shock hit her even harder, leaving her momentarily unable to sit back down.
"Just speed empowered by that red lightning and the raw strength of his body was enough to defeat all four of them," Jaden said in a stunned voice, her gaze still locked onto Max as if trying to confirm that what she saw was real. "How is this even possible?"
From Max's very first battle until now, he had not used a single concept nor displayed any recognizable combat technique, and even just now, the situation was no different. There were no profound laws invoked, no domain pressure released, and no signature techniques unleashed, yet the four strongest figures of the Divine Colosseum had been defeated instantly.
Jaden could not comprehend how someone could overwhelm opponents of that level without relying on concepts or techniques, because that went completely against everything she knew about combat in the Divine Realm.
"I think his current strength has already stepped into the Rebirth Realm," Lucia said quietly, her expression solemn as she analyzed the situation with far more seriousness than before. In the Divine Realm, only a very small number of cultivators could fight above their level, and even among the most peak geniuses, crossing one level was already considered an incredible feat, while crossing two levels required exhausting everything they had.
The gap between each level in the Divine Realm was enormous, so much so that fighting across realms was almost unheard of, and even Lucia herself could not defeat someone who was a single level above her.
Yet Max had just crossed several levels within Divine Rank and defeated all his opponents effortlessly without using concepts, techniques, or even showing signs of strain.
That alone was enough to leave Lucia deeply unsettled, but what truly caught her attention was something most others failed to notice, which was the fact that Max had not used any abilities related to the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline either.
To her, that single detail spoke volumes, because it meant that what Max had displayed so far was still far from his true strength, making the existence standing in the arena far more terrifying than anyone else realized.
"Send the Grim Gladiator," Max said calmly as he turned toward the announcer, a relaxed smile on his face that carried an unmistakable confidence. "I want to fight the Grim Gladiator and end this right here and now." His words were clear and unhurried, yet the moment they left his mouth, the weight behind them struck the Divine Colosseum like a falling mountain.
For a brief instant, the crowd seemed frozen, as if everyone needed a heartbeat to process what they had just heard, and then the entire colosseum erupted in a way that surpassed everything before it.
Shouts, screams, and thunderous chants surged together as people stood up, waving their arms and shouting at the top of their lungs, their excitement no longer restrained by reason or caution. Many had come dreaming of such a moment, yet none had expected Max himself to demand it so directly.
"Send the Grim Gladiator, let him fight right now," someone roared from the lower stands, their voice filled with burning anticipation.
"Yes, this is what we came for, we want to see it happen today," another spectator shouted as the people around him echoed his words.
"Max has already defeated everyone else, there is no reason to wait any longer," a woman cried out, her face flushed with excitement.
"Grim Gladiator versus Max, this is the battle of legends, do not delay it," a deep voice thundered from the upper tiers.
"If Max wins this, the Divine Colosseum will never be the same again," someone screamed, their words drowned out by the rising chants.
"Grim Gladiator, Grim Gladiator, Grim Gladiator," the crowd began chanting in unison, only for the chant to twist moments later into a deafening roar of "Max, Max, Max," as both names echoed violently through the arena, colliding like two unstoppable forces.
The Divine Colosseum shook under the sheer intensity of the crowd's will, as thousands demanded the same thing with a single voice. In that moment, it was no longer just Max challenging the Grim Gladiator, but the entire colosseum standing behind him, urging the legendary battle to begin right there and then.