Villain: 10x Rewards Begins With The Protagonist's Mother

’Is he bluffing, or does the big guy actually have more in him?’ Petra had been listening in on the conversation between Dante and Nora.

Seeing him that confident made her curious.

She had originally assumed his two lackeys

were at Mana Awakening Peak Stage. So when Felix said he was at Body Reformation, it caught her off guard.

Normally, she could tell the realm of anyone below her. But she hadn’t been able to get an accurate read on Felix or Freya.

And from Dante, she felt nothing at all.

She figured it had to be one of those things he carried around. That was exactly why she tried to force his hand.

’And that idiot Troy couldn’t even play his part right.’ She clicked her tongue.

The whole point was to get the Jester in the ring, not his lackey.

***

Inside the ring, Grant went at Felix again, but this time there was no patience in his movements.

He threw everything he had, one punch after another, trying to overwhelm Felix before he could do whatever the hell he was planning.

Felix dodged the first one.

Effortlessly.

Grant’s fist cut through empty air and before he could pull it back, Felix stepped inside his reach and buried a fist into his ribs.

The sound that came out of Grant’s body made people’s hair stand on end.

Grant gritted his teeth and swung a wild backhand, but Felix was already gone.

He slipped to his blind side and drove a knee into his thigh. Grant’s leg buckled for a second.

The crowd around the ring went completely silent. The grin on Troy’s face was long gone.

Felix didn’t stop there.

He started picking Grant apart like he could see all the openings.

A jab to the jaw that snapped Grant’s head sideways. A body shot that made him hunch forward. A clean right hook to the temple that sent spit flying from his mouth. Every hit landed exactly where it was supposed to.

"What the..." Leon’s cigarette was hanging from his lip.

"He was holding back this entire time?" Miles actually spoke up for once, his eyes wide.

Claire said nothing. She was watching with her arms crossed and a look on her face somewhere between surprise and hunger.

Grant tried to reset.

He threw a massive overhand to create space, but Felix read it like he saw it coming three seconds ago. He sidestepped it, grabbed Grant’s extended arm, and used his own momentum to throw him off balance.

Grant stumbled forward and before he could turn around, Felix’s fist slammed into the side of his jaw.

Grant dropped to one knee.

The Pit had never been this silent.

Solomon stood at the edge of the ring.

He hadn’t said a word since the fight started, but behind that mask, his attention was fully on Felix. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Nora slowly turned her head to look at Dante. He didn’t look back. He was just watching the ring with a grin behind his mask.

She turned back to the fight without saying a word.

Grant pushed himself back to his feet, breathing heavily. Blood was dripping from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

His hands were still up but his guard was noticeably slower.

Felix stood a few steps away with barely a scratch on him besides the cut on his lip from earlier.

’How is this possible?’ Troy’s hands had dropped to his sides without him realizing. ’Grant is getting his ass kicked even though physical strength is supposed to be his best area.’

Felix started closing in, intending to end the fight. A jab snapped Grant’s head back, and before he could recover, a body shot folded him forward. He followed with a left hook to the temple and a straight right to the jaw. Each one landed before the last one even registered.

Grant tried to counter but Felix was already somewhere else. His guard was falling apart and he couldn’t get it back up fast enough.

Felix stepped in for the finish.

He loaded everything into a right hand aimed straight at Grant’s chin.

Grant’s body moved before his brain did.

His mana erupted on its own. It was purely his survival instinct.

The air around him turned heavy and the barrier hummed from the pressure as his realm tore past Early Stage, past Mid Stage, past Late Stage, all the way back to his real level.

Body Reformation Peak Stage.

He met Felix’s punch with one of his own.

The two fists collided and the shockwave rattled the entire barrier.

Felix was launched back across the ring, his feet dragging two long marks into the floor before his back slammed against the barrier.

His shirt ripped open from the force, the cloth shredding from his chest down to his waist.

But his feet never left the ground.

Felix stood there with his torn shirt hanging off his shoulders and his upper body was fully exposed.

Everyone raised their eyebrows at the sight.

His body had hardened like stone.

There wasn’t a scratch, a dent, or any sign of damage from the hit.

"A bloodline." Solomon looked at the scene and nodded. "That must be one of his bloodline techniques."

He was right.

The technique Felix used was called Titan Frame.

A defensive technique of the Mountain Titan bloodline. When activated, mana reinforces the entire body and turns the skin as hard as stone. Any attack that lands while it’s active does zero damage.

Felix straightened up slowly and looked at Grant through calm eyes.

Grant had put his full power behind that punch.

And he didn’t go down.

The captains were staring at the scene. Troy looked like someone had made him eat shit. He turned to look at Dante, ’If his underling is this strong, what kind of monster is that guy?’

Grant stood in the middle of the ring, breathing heavily, staring at his own fist like it had betrayed him.

He broke his own rule. And everyone saw it happening.

He slowly lowered his hand and closed his eyes.

"...I lose."