Absolute Soul
77. Final Match: Finished - 2.) The Welcoming Tournament Arc (Ends)

It had been a dozen minutes since the start of the final fight, the flow of the match several times changed due to the ability of the two young men, but in the last few minutes Jack managed to wait for Haikal in a landslide.

"Your movement is too slow for someone who has defeated Edward, Haikal," Jack said as he avoided any Haikal attack.

"Whisper!" Haikal clucked resentfully in response to Jack's words, he continued to punch and kick but none of his attacks have made it in lately.

Jack sighed softly looking at Haikal's reaction which looked to be losing his composure. He then lifted his leg against a slump in Haikal's stomach, sending the young man several steps back.

"Damn it...." Haikal grimaced holding his stomach, even though Jack's kick was no harder than before but he could feel a lot of pain around his navel.

Jack narrowed his eyes to see Haikal's condition was not prime. Although mostly caused by him, Jack feels that something has been uprooting Haikal for a while now and he knows what it really is.

"You've realized why you couldn't awaken your Soul Arc until now?" Said Jack suddenly made Haikal's body shake, the audience was also surprised to hear Jack's words.

Haikal bit his lip and bled out in response to Jack's words, "Then, why? This is the only thing I can do to atone for my sins."

Jack shook his head for a moment before once again launching a kick, this time he was aiming for Haikal's cheek. Sure enough, Haikal who was completely unprepared was unable to dodge or survive so he could only accept Jack's attack.

Haikal crashed far enough and ended up on the walls of the other stadium to destroy the arena more, but he did not lose consciousness.

"Still not willing to admit your true reason?" Jack clenched his teeth feeling annoyed at Haikal who was so stubborn.

Haikal did not respond to Jack's words, he slowly got up and revealed a small smile to look at Jack, "You're so chatty, Jack. Not like you used to."

"Haikal Aldra!" Jack could not help but see Haikal's reaction, he kicked the floor and darted towards Haikal and thrust a powerful kick into Haikal's stomach, knocking the young man against another stadium wall.

"Aragh!" Haikal spewed fresh blood from his mouth as it smashed into the wall, making some of the conscious audience close their eyes not strong enough to see the one-sided fight. Haikal collapsed onto the floor shortly after hitting a wall.

No one in the audience dared to comment, whether it was because they could not watch Haikal hit by more attacks than this or were amazed by Jack who did not look tired or anything like that.

"It's...." Even the host was unable to speak, his eyes were wide open watching the condition of Haikal and the battered arena. A damage of this level of arena was probably the heaviest damage as far as the Welcoming Tournament went.

The host turned his head towards Veindal's room, hoping that the Skymaze Academy's Headmaster would stop the match, given that Haikal's condition was already so severe.

Without many realizing it, Veindal's own forehead shriveled violently watching this match. He could measure as strong as what Jack's attacks could be said to be as level as an Expert Blazer or even a Master.

"If it wasn't for Haikal's body having been trained in such a way, perhaps he was already dead or at least dying from such a powerful attack," Veindal's inner self felt awe towards Haikal who not only did not lose his consciousness, but also lost his consciousness, but also able to stand up and challenge Jack even more.

After admiring Haikal's unearthly resilience, Veindal's gaze turned to Jack as he muttered inwardly hoping that Jack would stop his brutal attack, "Wouldn't this be more than enough to resuscitate Haikal, Jack?"

Jack turned his back to walk away from Haikal, who was not on the floor, to exit the arena, cheering the remaining audience while the host announced the winner of the final.

"Winner of the final match... Jack Calvin!" The host exclaimed loudly, "Then, the final winner of the 25th Welcoming Tournament was the Verna Group; verna Galvoria, Jack Calvin, as well as Cecil Vermillion!"

The winner's announcement was met with cheers in the audience in support of Verna's group, while supporters of Salvia's group felt quite disappointed but did not blame the group members they supported.

"The winner of this tournament is indeed the Verna Group, but the Salvia Group is not bad either."

"Right, other than Salvia who was one of the four geniuses of this generation, Haikal was also not too far off his level."

"Don't forget Heru either. Although her opponent was female, successfully defeating the Blazer with the Soul Arc Jade Phoenix was a decent feat."

The sound of applause accompanied the exploding fireworks greeted the winner of this year's Welcome Tournament. Most are satisfied with the extraordinary matches presented, but others are not too accepting of such results.

That's natural considering there have been many negative views on Haikal who is a potential Blazer loser who has not been able to awaken his own Soul Arc, then the stubborn human nature of certain stigmas.

The fierce battle between Jack who is seen as one of the hidden geniuses against Haikal who is a failed loser without the Soul Arc is enough to shake the hardness of their head, especially if Haikal to become the winner of this match.

Jack did not respond too much to all the cheers, most of which praised his name, he turned his head towards Haikal who was currently clenching his hands hard and then smiled a little at Haikal's reaction which in fact did not lose consciousness.

"You hear that, Haikal?" Jack smiled softly a little much understanding of Haikal's feelings which were most likely jumbled between being upset about losing and being elated thanks to being recognized by others as a candidate for Blazer, "You don't have to blame yourself after all this, do you?"

"I'm your true passion and identity, that's the key to awakening your Soul Arc for you" Jack said, looking up at the sky, "Don't look away again."

Haikal could not comment on Jack's remarks. He refused the floor using both arms to try to get up, but thanks to Jack's all-out attack and his depleted strength after fighting with all his might Haikal could not get up.

Jack smiled wryly, then threw a card towards Haikal's body. A moment later the card decomposed into green soul energy particles that entered Haikal's body, recovering most of his injuries in just a moment.

Haikal opened his eyes wide enough to witness the supernatural happening to his body, "This...." He turned his gaze towards Jack with a look of astonishment.

"My heart card has healing power" Jack replied without needing to hear Haikal's question with his trademark smile, but moments later the smile faded, "You'll need it."

Haikal tilted his head not understanding Jack's intentions, but had not yet had time to ask Jack had turned his attention to the figure of the host who was still commenting passionately about the group of tournament winners.

"Hey, host." Jack raised his hand and pointed at the host, making the appointed as well as the remaining attendees at this time as her heroic as Haikal.

He grinned widely with an aura of non-playful intimidation, "It's time you took off your mask, isn't it?"