Ethan's eyes locked on the masked man as he summoned his Tenebris Gauntlets, obsidian shadows swirling and hardening over his arms. He didn't wait for an opening. He didn't fall back.
He charged.
The masked man's eyes squinted behind his veil, momentarily stunned by the audacity.
"Is he brain-dead?"
"Why would he charge head-first into me? He should be trying to preserve his life, not throw it away."
A sneer curled beneath the mask.
"No matter. If he wants to die faster, he's just saving me the trouble."
From the stands, the other contestants could hardly believe what they were seeing. Ethan, a Level 3, was charging head-on toward a man emanating Overlord-tier power.
They whispered, gawked, some even assumed it was a suicide run.
But Ethan didn't stop.
He didn't hesitate.
He collided with the masked man in the center of the arena—
—a thunderous boom shook the air, a flash of power lighting up the field like a meteor strike.
And then—
