NOVEL NEXT Chapter 231: Heated Victory
The air shimmered, thick and acrid with the scent of sulfur and superheated rock. Jayden, a figure of lean resolve, moved with almost preternatural grace across a precarious platform of obsidian glass, the molten orange glow of lava flows reflecting in his focused eyes.
Around him, the arena was a tableau of fiery chaos: geysers of scalding steam erupted without warning, small volcanic vents spewed fiery projectiles, and vast rivers of incandescent magma snaked through the environment, casting dancing, demonic shadows.
He was currently engaged in a brutal dance with a Level 120 fire user, a titan of flame who stood on a raised cinder cone, his form wreathed in roaring infernos. The opponent, a player known only as 'Ignis,' was a master of his craft, his attacks not just powerful but relentlessly widespread.
"Tch," Jayden muttered, a barely audible sound lost amidst the cacophony of exploding flames. He twisted in mid-air, a flash of motion that narrowly avoided a colossal fireball that detonated against the obsidian just behind him, sending razor-sharp shards of volcanic glass spraying into the superheated air.
He could end this battle in seconds if he wanted to. He genuinely could. His full arsenal, his true strength, would make short work of Ignis. But he wasn't deploying it. Not yet.
He had promised himself a challenge, a limit-pushing exercise. Today, that meant restricting himself to only one of his many advanced abilities: invisibility. Even that, however, was proving more a theoretical advantage than a practical one.
The volcanic terrain itself betrayed him; the constant heat shimmer distorted the air, making even the most perfect invisibility a visible ripple to a keen eye.
And even more critically, Ignis wasn't aiming. He was blanketing the arena in fire. Pouring out endless flames in every direction.
Great gouts of flame arced across entire sections of the platform, melting obsidian into fresh, flowing lava. Waves of concussive heat washed over Jayden even as he phased in and out of sight, each dodge a desperate calculation of trajectory and timing.
Ignis, utterly uncaring of precision, would unleash a torrent of flame that would consume half the battleground, forcing Jayden to constantly reposition, his stealth utterly negated by the sheer scale of the attacks. He couldn't get close.
Every attempt to close the distance was met with another wall of fire, another cascade of magma, pushing him back, keeping him at bay.
The fight was, by all accounts, tough. Very tough. Yet, a peculiar calm settled over Jayden's features, a faint, almost sardonic smirk playing on his lips. He wasn't bothered. Not truly. Because this wasn't his first hard fight today.
This was his sixteenth match.
The day had started well enough, a string of easy victories. But after he faced a particular girl wielding a spear, one he took out with a punch to the gut… everything changed.
His victory apparently had consequences.
Because ever since that flawless victory, the matchmaking system had decided to 'calibrate' his difficulty. Drastically.
His subsequent opponents weren't just a few levels above him; they were tens of levels above him. Level 90s, Level 100s, and now Ignis, a Level 120 pyrokinetic monster. While Jayden himself was only at Level 25.
And as if the level disparity wasn't enough, the arena terrains consistently favored his opponents. Deserts for wind and sand manipulators, frozen tundras for ice mages, stormy seas for lightning and water users, and now, a literal volcano for a fire elementalist.
It was as if the game was purposely making things hard for Jayden. And he didn't know what he did to deserve such cruel bias.
THOOM!
Ignis hurled another blast. A swirling torrent of flame exploded across the ground, forcing Jayden back against a ridge. Lava hissed nearby, spitting droplets that scorched the air.
Jayden ducked low, scanning. He couldn't get close, the guy kept creating wide zones of fire, covering himself from every angle.
But…
Jayden's lips curved into a faint grin. He had seen it. A tiny opening.
The fire user's rhythm.
Every time he charged his bigger attacks, his body flared like a furnace, heat building in his chest before he unleashed it. And in that moment, just before release, he was exposed. Only for a split second, but it was there.
CRACKLE.
The next blast came… a towering geyser of fire shooting skyward, meant to corner him. Jayden didn't dodge this time. He sprinted straight toward it.
Ignis smirked, expecting him to burn.
But Jayden dropped low in time, sliding under the searing edge of the flames, the heat tearing at his skin. His hand shot out, telekinesis gripping a chunk of brittle rock. He flung it sideways, hard.. making it shatter loud against the ridge. Ignis head snapped toward the sound.
That was his mistake.
Jayden burst from the smoke, his momentum carrying him forward like a bullet.
BAM!
His fist slammed into the man's ribs, telekinesis amplifying the force. The crack echoed through the volcanic chamber. Ignis coughed blood, stumbling, his flames sputtering.
But he wasn't finished.
Snarling, he spun and hurled a desperate fire wave point-blank. The blast swallowed Jayden, heat wrapping him in blinding red.
For a moment the arena vanished under the roar of flame.
Then Jayden stepped through it.
His shirt was scorched, skin reddened by the simulation, but his eyes burned brighter than the fire. He pushed forward, ignoring the pain, closing the distance in three strides. Ignis tried to retreat, to summon another wall of flame, but Jayden was already inside his guard. His left knuckleclaws out
SWISH.
He slashed across the man's arm, breaking his stance. Ignis staggered. Jayden grabbed him by the collar, spun, and drove a knee into his stomach with enough force to fold him in half.
Ignis eyes bulged, a gasp escaping his lungs. Before he could recover, Jayden's right fist came up. He drove it into the man's chest.
BOOM.
The impact detonated like a hammer strike. Ignis body flew backward, skidding across the volcanic ground, sparks exploding around him as he hit a large rock, cracking it slightly from impact.
Silence fell. The flames that had raged moments ago fizzled and died with their master as his avatar disintegrated.
Jayden stood there, breathing steady, sweat and ash running down his face. He could have ended this match from the start. But that wasn't the point. He had forced himself to fight smart, to adapt, to win with strategy even when the arena and the opponent were stacked against him.
The victory voice boomed across the arena.
[K.O - ORION WINS]
Jayden exhaled, brushing soot from his hand. He didn't even smile. One more fight down. But he wasn't ready to stop. Not yet.
He returned to his lobby and without wasting time, initiated the next match. And after a short while, he was paired.
Jayden's gaze sharpened as the lobby vanished, transporting him to the next fight. It was undoubtedly going to be another higher-level opponent in another unfavorable arena.
"Let's see what else you've got," he murmured, a cold glint in his eyes. He was ready for the next dance.