CHAPTER 50: A NEW SKILL UNLOCKED

BOOM.

Punch reformed out of the explosion behind her, Metal folded over his body as he morphed into a colossal war titan, a brutal war axe clutched in his fist, as he looked ready to split her skull into two parts.

Jasmine landed— then dragged herself back up... recruiting back from the blast, her hair was whipped by the heat, wings flickering with dust already weak. She looked shaken, but not ready to back down.

Punch came crashing down from above, his massive iron frame shaking the sand as he landed hard. His war axe arced downward in a brutal swing, meant to cleave straight through her.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" he roared, bringing the weapon down with crushing force.

Jasmine didn’t leap away, instead— she stepped in.

Her hand shot out, seizing the haft of the axe mid-swing. The crowd gasped. Punch froze for half a heartbeat, stunned. Her wings were already damaged— shredded and useless,but her eyes held something new.

He believed he had the upper hand. He thought she was finished.

He was wrong.

With a violent wrench, she twisted the axe out of his grip. Metal scraped against metal and sand flew as he fought to hold on— but her technique was flawless. Using his own momentum against him, she tore the weapon free and spun it with a brutal snap.

Before Punch could recover, Jasmine slammed the blunt end of the axe straight into his throat.

The blow would have shattered a lesser fighter. Punch managed to throw up a quick shield just in time, but the impact still crashed through it, sending raw kinetic force into his body. He dropped to one knee, choking, sand exploding beneath him.

The arena erupted in shock.

Gasps ripped through the crowd— especially from the devil’s section. Stone leaned forward, stunned. "How the hell did she lift that massive axe... with one arm?" he muttered.

Raven’s eyes narrowed. "That shouldn’t be possible."

But before anyone could process what they had just seen, Jasmine pushed herself up from the cracked ground in slow motion...

Her eyes shimmered with awakened power. Purple energy pulsed beneath her skin like living lightning. Her wings still hung damaged behind her, feathers torn and dangling— but she no longer needed them.

She launched upward.

FWOOOOOOOSH.....

In a single burst, she broke the sound barrier, tearing through the sky and vanishing past atmosphere in seconds.

She accelerated with unimaginable force— over 70,000 kilometers per hour, breaking the Kármán line and entering space in three seconds flat. glowing like a rising goddess of war.

The shockwave split the clouds. A heartbeat passed— Then....

BOOOOOOOOM!

She returned like a meteor, crashing back into the desert arena with world-shaking force. Sand blasted outward. The entire illusion trembled under Darren’s control. Punch looked up in shock.

He shifted in a violent ripple of flesh and steel, bones cracking as scales erupted across his skin. In seconds, he transformed into a towering obsidian dragon— black armor of scales glinting like volcanic glass— and when he opened his jaws, a torrent of molten fire roared out, shaking the desert floor.

FWWWOOOSH...FWWOOOOOOSH...

He unleashed a storm of blazing hellfire— but Jasmine didn’t stop. She walked through the inferno, untouched, fury building with every step. Purple energy spiraled off her like a hurricane.

She descended from orbit with a speed exceeding 16,000 km/h, breaking the sound barrier again and again as she reentered the sky...five seconds later, she struck the arena like a falling star.

She raised both fists like a war goddess while falling down, veins glowing with power. Her voice ripped out of her in a primal scream....

"AAAAAARGHHHHHHHHH!"

CRAAAAAACK!!!

She drove both fists into the ground. A blazing purple shockwave exploded outward in a straight line. The earth split in half— ripping open beneath Punch like a tearing world.

The dragon lost his footing and crashed downward, trapped as the two plates of earth snapped around him like a coffin.

Cut off from transformation mid-motion, Punch reverted back to himself— struggling, ripping at the crushing walls of rock as he fought to break free.

But Jasmine was already running. And she was gone. With no wings, She unlocked yet another ability. PURE SPEED.

She moved like a violet storm, a streak of lightning tearing through the battlefield, circling him so fast she blurred into a ring of deadly force.

Then—

BOOM! A punch.

BOOM! Another.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Each strike shattered air, cracking bones and folding space around her fists.

She broke reality around her with a speed so fast the air ignited, over 70,000 km/h— leaving rings of violet pressure bursts as she ran circles around Punch and beat him senseless in a storm of blows.

The force of impact formed a crater beneath them. Punch couldn’t even scream— his body rattled like a rag doll under her relentless barrage.

One final blow, straight to the chest—

THOOOOOOOM!!!

Punch’s body rocketed backward— then dropped lifelessly and unconscious in the dust.

Silence followed...

For a moment, no one spoke...Then shock finally broke through the silence.

"Holy shit...Jasmine?!" May gasped, gripping Lily’s arm so hard Lily winced.

Lily didn’t respond. Her eyes were wide, reflecting the violet glow blazing around Jasmine. "That... that’s not ordinary angel power," she breathed.

Suki stepped back unconsciously, her heart racing. "When did she...since when could she move like that?! She was already strong, but this...this is something else."

Tekna’s visor glitched with static readings as she scanned the arena. "Her energy output just spiked by over six hundred percent. That shouldn’t even be possible without killing herself...how is she still moving?"

Rain swallowed, eyes never leaving Jasmine as she reappeared in front of Punch in a burst of raw speed. "She’s not just fighting... she’s overwhelming him."

Ball exhaled slowly, astonished. "No. She’s dominating him." A grin pulled at her lips, fierce and proud. "That’s our girl..."

Soda’s head snapped towards ball like she heard something wrong. "Excuse you?" she said sharply. "Our girl? Since when were you an official member of this group?"

The tension cracked instantly. Ball arched a brow, unfazed as always, lips curling into a smirk like she was just waiting to fire back politely.

But before she could— Tekna stepped in, placing a firm hand on Soda’s shoulder.

"Not now, Soda" Tekna said, voice steady but firm. "This is Jasmine’s moment. Don’t ruin it with pointless drama."

Soda held Ball’s gaze for a heartbeat longer, eyes narrowed. Then she clicked her tongue and looked away.

"Fine. But we’re not done."

Both of them turned their eyes back to the arena— because right now, nothing mattered more than what was happening in that sandstorm of power and fury.

Jasmine had become unstoppable.

"She hasn’t even broken a sweat...." Soda said, still looking stunned. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I wish Valkyrie was here to see this..." She murmured.

Darren finally exhaled, then raised a hand.

"This match is over."

The hallucination world faded. Students blinked as the desert melted away and the arena returned. Punch lay broken in the center of it all. Jasmine stood over him, shoulders rising and falling, eyes still glowing, but slowly began to fade.

There was no pity nor remorse written on her face. Only dominance.

She spoke— low but lethal. "Next time send someone who won’t waste my time."

She walked off without looking back— "I told you not to try me...next time, choose your words carefully big boy" She whispered mockingly to herself as she walked off, like a warrior who already knew she was built for war.