"Isaac Blaze! Let's get ready to rumble!" Ariston shouted in a lively and energetic voice before he raised both of his fists in the air and smirked at Blaze.
Blaze stared at Ariston before he gave him a mocking smirk and shifted his gaze towards the others.
"Hey, mage. Do you know any forms of supreme magic?" Blaze said in a casual voice, directing his words at Chiva.
"Huh? Yes, why?" Chiva replied in a perplexed voice.
"Cast a supreme protection spell around you and your friends, if you don't want to die of course." Blaze said as he cracked his knuckles.
"A supreme protection spell? Why? Supreme protection spells are only used when someone is getting attacked by an entire army." Chiva said in a positive voice.
"Safety first." Blaze stated as he gave an ominous grin to Chiva.
Chiva was nervously sweating upon hearing Blaze's statement and instantly called for the others to join her side before she opened her grimoire and cast the supreme protection spell that enveloped them like a blue ball of light.
Blaze and Ariston walked quite the distance from the others, so they can have more free space to fight in. Ariston was staring at Blaze with blazing eyes of confidence, while the other scarlet imps were watching the two with eyes of worry and concern.
"Blaze! Please fight me with everything that you have and don't hold back on me at all!" Ariston spoke in a lively voice filled with energy as he gave a confident smile to Blaze.
Blaze erupted into laughter before he took a deep breath and glared at Ariston. "Listen, Ariston. You don't need to be that confident, don't go all out. It doesn't matter how strong you are, I will definitely be stronger." Blaze answered in a serious voice as he glared at Ariston after crossing his arms.
"Shut up! It isn't about who is stronger than who! That's something that only weaklings rely on! It's all about your fighting spirit!" Ariston replied in complete confidence as he smiled and placed his hands on his hips.
Blaze stared at Ariston with a dumbfounded look, completely lost in his thoughts. "*Ahem* Anyways, let's get some distance before we start." Blaze cleared his throat and stated in a casual voice, trying to change the subject and get to the point.
"Of course! Let's get going!" Ariston said in an energetic voice before he turned around and walked quite some distance in a straight line, and so did Blaze.
The two turned around and faced each other, 100 meters apart. Blaze glared at the boy before he knelt down and dug his hands on the ground like a shovel. He then proceeded to tear a piece of the soil that was two times his size before he threw it at Ariston at an absurd speed.
Ariston stared at the rock flying towards him at an unbelievable speed, he smirked before he stood in a stance.
Suddenly, Ariston's right arm transformed its color into a dark grey skin color before spikes emerged from it. He then delivered a devastating blow to the rock and smashed it into thousands of pieces as he smiled in confidence at Blaze.
Blaze was bewildered by Ariston's power and sudden transformation as he saw the boy's arm completely change in shape, color, and strength.
"Huh? So that's what it's like. Hahaha. Well then, I'll play with you a little." Blaze said to the boy as he laughed in amusement before he also stood in a stance.
Ariston's smile stretched from ear to ear upon hearing Blaze's words. Suddenly, his brown leather boots were torn apart as his legs also transformed in shape, becoming grey with spikes emerging from them.
Ariston dashed at an exceptional speed towards Blaze and tried to punch him in the face with his demonic fist, only for Blaze to dodge like its nothing as Ariston passed by him like a speeding bullet.
Ariston kicked the ground with his demonic legs to stop himself from propelling at a high speed, which caused a small crater in the ground as he leaped towards Blaze again with the speed of a bullet.
While Ariston was flying towards Blaze at an absurd speed, the latter removed his right glove and waited for Ariston to reach him. As soon as Ariston went for the punch, Blaze dodged it before delivering a powerful slap to his face, launching Ariston towards the tree before he completely destroyed it upon impact, which created a dust screen that blocked the view.
The scarlet imps were watching with shocked expressions, completely bewildered by the enormous power of Blaze who defeated their leader in a single slap.
While Blaze was wearing his glove, he slowly walked towards the others and cleared his throat, "It was a short battle, but it's the best one that I had in so many years against so many people. I admire you, kid, that's why I gave you that hard slap, you have earned it." Blaze said in a loud and clear voice as he was walking away.
"Blaze!" The same energetic and cheery voice screamed at the top of his lungs.
Blaze turned around, and to his surprise, Ariston was standing on top of the demolished tree with a smile radiating an extraordinary amount of confidence and pleasure.
"Blaze! You are, indeed, the strongest man I have fought in my life! Please, let's continue our amazing fight!" Ariston shouted in the most energetic voice humanly possible.
Blaze and the scarlet imps shared something, the look of absolute astonishment with a smile plastered on their faces as they stared at Ariston being so positive and energetic.
The scarlet imps stared at their fearless leader with a look of amazement as they felt their hope come back ten times more than what it was, while Blaze was staring at his bold opponent with complete surprise.
"Then come at me with everything you've got!" Blaze yelled as he spread his arms sideways, telling Ariston to come and attack him.
Ariston released a joyful laugh before he stood in a stance. Suddenly, his head and his other arm were changing color and transforming. His other arm changed into the same grey color with spikes coming out of it, while his head transformed into a grey skin color with black and yellow eyes before two long horns came out of his forehead, making him look like a demon, but one that radiated amusement for Blaze and hope for the scarlet imps.
Ariston dashed at a remarkable speed towards Blaze, leaving a trail of dust behind him as he fixed his sights on his target.
Ariston tried to punch Blaze again, but the latter barely dodged it due to its immense speed that has increased in an instant. At the same time, he used his right knee to try to deliver an overwhelming blow to Ariston's abdomen and launch him away, but to his surprise, Ariston didn't even flinch. Blaze was only able to stop Ariston in his tracks.
Blaze was staring in shock at Ariston's abdomen, his shirt was tattered and ripped to shreds, revealing his torso that completely changed color into the same grey color. His skin was extremely resilient too.
"Gotcha!" Ariston shouted as he retracted his fist and delivered a powerful punch right to Blaze's face, launching him away.
Blaze was launched quite a distance, but he was still standing tall before he rubbed his cheek from the pain. He turned to look at Ariston, but the latter was already inches away from his face.
"I won't let you get a moment of rest until I win this fight, Blaze!" Ariston roared with an incredible amount of confidence before he delivered a mighty upper-cut right to Blaze's abdomen, launching him a dozen meters into the air.
Blaze was floating in the air at an incredible speed, he was completely confused as to what was happening at the moment, but as he was trying to analyze the situation, Ariston used all the power and energy in his legs to propel himself upwards towards Blaze.
Suddenly, while Blaze was floating in the air with his arms spread, Ariston struck him in the face like a bullet, launching him at an inconceivable speed towards the scarlet imps, only to for his course to change after Ariston kicked the air and propelled himself like a bullet towards Blaze before he delivered a devastating kick that drilled him into the soil.
Ariston jumped back and stared at Blaze that was lying down in a crater made by Ariston's powerful kick.
"Hahaha! Ariston, I hated you at first, but my God do I love you so much! You are without a doubt the best opponent I had in so many years!" After releasing a joyous laugh, Blaze stated in an energetic voice filled excitement before he did a kick-up and stood back on his feet.
"Blaze, I am doing this for my village and for my family, but I can't help but admire how powerful you are! You are not the strongest opponent I fought by far, you're the strongest opponent that I will ever fight in my entire life, and the best one to have ever battled against me! Blaze, let's finish this amazing fight!" Ariston stated in an unusual amount of energy and admiration, impossible for any normal human to produce.
Blaze smirked before he removed both of his gloves, shoved them in his pockets, and stood in a stance as gazed at Ariston.
Suddenly, the two at an absurd speed towards each other. As soon as they reached each other, both of them delivered an overwhelming punch to each other's faces at the same time but with different levels of power.
Ariston's punch landed on Blaze and made him a little startled, but Blaze's blow knocked out almost all of Ariston's teeth from his mouth as he spat blood from the significant damage he took from it before it launched him away like a cannonball.
While Ariston was flying away, he used his powerful legs to kick the ground again and try to thrust himself upwards, but he was shocked to see Blaze coming down at him from the sky. Blaze delivered an overwhelming strike to his face, breaking his nose and launching him downwards like a bullet before he smashed into the ground and created a crater.
Ariston was almost unconscious as he stared at Blaze coming down at him, already charging up a stomp that might kill him, or worse...defeat him.
Ariston used the last embers of his energy and power to cross his arms in front of him in a defensive position, preparing for the overwhelming strike.
Ariston felt his arms shattering into millions of pieces as soon as the stomp landed on him. The impact was so powerful that it made the crater five times bigger than what it originally was. Ariston felt his consciousness fading away after receiving that unbelievable strike that made him spit out an alarming amount of blood.
After the final strike, Blaze used Ariston's arms as a stepping board and jumped out of the crater, landing on the edge of it. Then, he procced to wear his gloves back.
"Ariston, you might be unconscious right now, but I want you to know-...You are my favorite opponent in almost thirty years! You are an amazing opponent, captain of the scarlet imps!" Blaze said in a genuinely grateful voice before he released a joyous laugh that indicated his absolute satisfaction.
"Blaze!" The same voice shouted from the crater, completely shocking Blaze and making him stop his cheery laughter.
Suddenly, a pair of grey arms struggled to climb out of the crater, revealing a very bloody, injured, and bruised Ariston. His face had a black eye and blood dripping from his mouth and nose. His arms were completely broken and changed color into purple from the immense beating they took.
"Blaze! The worst thing I can do, for my and your sake, is for me to lie down in that hole and wait for my body to go unconscious. I promised that I won't ever quit this fight or go unconscious until I defeat you and bring you with me to save my village! Blaze, put your hands up, and fight me again, fight me until I defeat you!" Ariston roared in complete seriousness and confidence as he stared at Blaze and struggled with all of his might to bring his hands up in a defensive position.
Blaze stared at the boy with a blank look for a few seconds. Then, he shifted his gaze at the ground and released a light chuckle.
"I can't believe it, kid. You actually won." Blaze said in a quiet voice.
"Huh?" Ariston narrowed his eyes and looked at Blaze with confusion.
Blaze shifted his gaze back at Ariston and gave him a gentle and kind smile, one that also radiated a bit of sadness. "You won, kid." Blaze declared in a gentle and soft voice before he disappeared.
Ariston was dumbfounded by what was going on until he suddenly felt an unbelievably overwhelming strike in the back of his neck before he was knocked out cold.
Before Ariston's unconscious body hit the floor, he was picked up by Blaze and carried on his shoulder. Blaze then proceed to walk towards the scarlet imps with a wide smile plastered on his face.
The scarlet imps were in a complete state of despair. They felt great shame that their only hope of saving their leader's village was now gone, they loathed themselves to an unimaginable point.
"Heyo! Imps!" Blaze addressed the scarlet imps in a calm and casual voice.
"What do you want from us anymore?! You have ruined everything! Just fuck off and go back to your sad and depressing mid-life crisis, you shitty old man!" Lilith was losing her mind as she called out to Blaze in outrage.
"Jeez, are you on your period today?" Blaze sarcastically asked.
"Let me at him! Let go of me, Dimitri!" Lilith was enraged as she tried to leap out of the protection spell before Dimitri apprehended her again.
"Mr.Blaze, what do you want from us? You have already won." Chiva stated in a disappointed voice as she looked down at the ground.
"Nope, I lost." Blaze instantly replied, confusing the entire team, even the enraged Lilith.
"...But, Mr.Blaze, Ariston is unconscious." Fritz stated as he pointed at Ariston.
"Yes, but he actually won. This wasn't a fight based on if he can or cannot physically win through his strength, he was right, it was all about the fighting spirit. He won something more important." Blaze said as he stared at the unconscious Ariston.
"That being?" Fritz asked in curiosity.
"My trust." Blaze said in a gentle and kind voice.
"So, does that mean?" Lilith asked in wonder, her rage completely vaporized.
"Yes, I will help you save your village and defeat the wizards." Blaze smiled at the scarlet imps before he declared in a confident voice.
Ariston has scored an amazing victory.