Anaxa suddenly looked up!
And stood up.
His face remained expressionless, but his cloudy green eyes were fixed on Madam Herta in the audience!
He ignored his injuries and, with slow yet determined steps, walked one step at a time towards Black Herta.
His HP bar was clearly zero, but his very "existence" exuded a will stronger than at any previous moment!
"!!!" Baiheng and Jack were stunned, instinctively wanting to stop him.
"No need," Black Herta's cold voice stopped them.
She slowly rose from her seat, looking down at Anaxa, who was approaching step by step, his HP zeroed yet still not "fallen."
"It seems that merely clearing your HP bar is not enough to 'convince' you, stubborn Scholar."
Black Herta's voice carried a hint of understanding and appreciation, "What you desire is not victory or defeat in battle, but… an answer? A… confirmation from the source?"
Anaxa stopped several meters from the audience seats, his head still raised, his cloudy eyes, as if carrying countless chaotic knowledge and obsessions, silently "gazing" at Black Herta.
The venue was silent, with only the faint glow of the fluorescent plants swaying and the subtle "sizzling" sound of data dissipating from Anaxa's body.
Madam Herta tilted her head slightly, her ash-white long hair cascading like a waterfall.
In her purplish-black eyes, data streams slowly rotated like a galaxy, meeting Anaxa's cloudy gaze.
Just as Madam Herta expected a profound spiritual confrontation, Anaxa in the arena made a new move.
He slowly turned his head, his cloudy eye sweeping over the alert Jack and Baiheng. Finally, everyone in the arena clearly saw that the HP bar above his head, which had been zero, not only instantly refilled, but the red became even deeper, and a faint golden icon, similar to an enhanced state, appeared next to it.
"Magic Skill!"
A muffled yet unusually loud, even somewhat inexplicably excited voice squeezed out from Anaxa's throat.
Immediately after, to the disbelief of everyone (especially Madam Herta), Anaxa suddenly struck an extremely exaggerated, classical sculpture-like bodybuilding pose—arms bent, biceps bulging, body slightly leaning back.
Then—
"Rip—bang!!"
The upper part of his blue-and-white striped mental patient's gown instantly burst, turning into countless shredded pieces of fabric, flying everywhere like exploded cotton candy!
Beneath the fabric, what was revealed was not the body of an ordinary Scholar, but extremely swollen, sharply defined, bulging muscles with prominent veins, gleaming like metal under the dim light of the arena.
His overall physique also grew a size larger, and his height seemed to have increased by several points.
Then, he quickly switched to a bodybuilding pose showcasing his latissimus dorsi, his entire body tensed with explosive power.
Several of the farthest flying fabric fragments "slapped" directly onto the transparent barrier in front of Madam Herta like stray bullets, then slowly slid down.
Madam Herta: "…"
Her purplish-black eyes widened slightly, a rare sight, and the corners of her usually expressionless mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Even she was stunned by this completely unexpected "transformation" scene.
(What… is going on?)
This was almost the common sentiment of everyone in the arena.
What about the serious and tragic conscious duel that was promised?
What was with this sudden, visually impactful "Magic Skill" and bodybuilding display?!
"Pfft…"
Baiheng instinctively covered her mouth, but the astonishment in her eyes and a hint of wanting to laugh but not daring to were completely undisguised.
The system puppet calmly analyzed: "Detected abnormal energy level surge in target, unknown physical structure reconfiguration. Behavioral logic confusion increased by three hundred percent. Note: This 'Magic Skill' has no reference value."
However, Anaxa apparently had no intention of giving them more time to digest this bizarre scene.
The instant Baiheng's light chuckle had not completely faded, Anaxa's figure vanished like a ghost!
Not high-speed movement, but more like a short-distance jump!
"Watch out!"
Jack's warning and attack arrived almost simultaneously.
Anaxa's massive body appeared before Baiheng as if teleporting, with no fancy moves, just a simple, direct, yet air-tearingly fast straight punch!
The force of the punch made Baiheng almost gasp for breath, her white hair blown violently backward.
Bang—!
In the nick of time, Jack swiftly moved to the side, interposing herself and blocking the baseball bat like a shield in front of Baiheng.
The collision of fist and bat no longer produced a dull thud, but a metallic explosion-like roar!
A visible shockwave spread out from the point of impact, causing the distant fluorescent plants to sway violently.
Jack was knocked off her feet for the first time by this irresistible force, sent flying backward. Although she forcefully twisted her body in mid-air and landed steadily, the arm holding the baseball bat trembled slightly, and her tiger's mouth felt numb.
Her HP bar, visibly, decreased by a small segment.
(The strength… is completely on another level!)
Baiheng was horrified and dared not be distracted for a moment longer, immediately activating her teleportation ability to create distance.
But Anaxa's attacks were like a fierce storm, relentless.
He forced Jack back with one strike, and his cloudy gaze immediately locked onto Baiheng, who had just appeared in another direction.
He stomped his feet fiercely, cracking the ground instantly, and charged forward like a cannonball, with an unstoppable momentum, the air in his path letting out a sharp roar!
Baiheng continuously drew her bow, energy arrows raining down on Anaxa.
However, these arrows, which had previously caused trouble, now mostly bounced directly off his exposed muscles, or merely left a shallow white mark that instantly disappeared!
His physical defense had also increased by several levels!
"Target's physical resistance greatly enhanced, conventional long-range attack effectiveness significantly reduced."
Jack quickly reported while charging forward again, attempting to restrain him.
However, Anaxa in this state seemed to have completely abandoned defense.
He ignored Jack's heavy blow aimed at his ribs, countering with a sweeping hook punch that carried terrifying force towards Jack.
Jack was forced to block again, and again was sent reeling backward.
The battle instantly devolved into a one-sided struggle.
Jack and Baiheng's proud coordination and tactics seemed so pale in the face of absolute strength, speed, and defense.
Anaxa's attacks had no discernible pattern, yet they were fast, accurate, and ruthless!
Every punch and kick contained the power to shatter mountains and crack stones, forcing the two to difficultly block.
Baiheng's arrows couldn't break through his defense, and Jack's heavy blows struggled to cause effective damage.
Their HP bars slowly but steadily decreased with each collision and unavoidable graze.
"Hoo… hoo…"
Anaxa again let out that bellows-like sound, which, combined with his exaggerated muscles and expressionless face, appeared even more bizarre and oppressive.
He was like a tireless machine of destruction.
In the audience, Madam Herta's brows furrowed slightly.
She watched the two struggling in the arena, data streams accelerating in her purplish-black eyes.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!