Ascension of the Immortal Asura

"What's this! Even under the power of six hundred times gravity, John is still calmly withstanding it using only the power of his body and his Qi. How is this possible!" the announcer roared, her voice filled with true bewilderment.

Her words echoed the thoughts of everyone in the crowd, as well as Chloe herself. She had only ever used the seventh level of this Mage Art once against an opponent in the Dao Transformation Realm, and that opponent, Indara, the second strongest Dao Transformation genius of the Mage Dao Sect, and who was currently ranked ninth, gave up instantly despite using her full power.

This gravity art was something that was hard to unleash and even more difficult to ramp up to level seven without the opponent figuring out a way to deal with it. In her battle with Indara, it had been more of a test to see its true power, and not something that she had actually managed to accomplish in a true battle. The only reason she was able to reach level seven of this art was because John had allowed it, and she assumed that hubris would be his downfall.

If he truly wanted to, he could have used range attacks to attack the pillars or herself, possibly undoing the art. He had done nothing though, which was something Chloe could only hope for. And yet the battle was not going in her direction. It was impossible, and yet it was happening before her very eyes.

Chloe ground her teeth from anger and strain. Her Qi reserves had already dropped below half, and in this state, she could only use the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art for another minute or two before she ran out of Qi. From the ease in which John was withstanding the art, that was bound to happen unless something changed.

Her mind raced with options, at which point she came to one conclusion. She breathed in deeply, focusing her mind as much as possible for the task to come; unleashing the eighth seal. She steadied her hands before her chest, then paused as she looked at John.

"I'm going to unleash the eighth and final seal," she said, struggling to get the words out. "If that happens, you will die! Just surrender before that happens."

"I'm good," was John's only reply as he laid flat against the ground, unbothered to even move an inch to look at her. He continued to stare straight up at the sky above, waiting for this battle to be over.

A deep frown appeared on Chloe's face as she finally cast aside all worry about killing John. If she didn't defeat him, that was the same as winning and being disqualified. In that case, she would at least prefer the honor of having defeated the dark horse of the tournament.

Mind made up, a resolved look appeared on her face, her worries and doubts gone. A small smirk appeared on her strained face as her eyes were locked onto John.

"Fine," she sneered. "Since you refuse to surrender, then your death can only be blamed on yourself. And just to warn you, the eighth seal is completely different than the previous ones. Once I unlock the final seal, I won't be able to stop what's to come. And what's to come will result in your death without a doubt."

"Oh? Sounds interesting. Let me see it," John replied, his voice strained but calm.

Chloe clicked her tongue, hoping that he would have surrendered there, then cast aside all inhibitions. Her fingers moved quickly to form several hand seals, at which point her Qi exploded out with the most amount of power she had revealed thus far.

Her power immediately linked with the eighth and final pillar, which began to glow as if there was a sun shining from within. The talismans covering the eighth pillar disintegrated into ash, unlocking the final seal of the gravity art.

Boom!

The level of gravity doubled again, stepping over one thousand times normal gravity. John felt the weight of the world press down on him, its instantaneous power nearly overwhelming him. His organs were pressed and contorted within his body, while his brain felt as though it was being ground to mush. With the weight pressing down on him, he felt it impossible to move at all.

Blood began to leak out of his mouth and nose, the first sign of damage for the battle.

"Chloe has unleashed the eight and final seal, pushing her gravity art to the ultimate level! And John has finally shown signs of damage, bleeding from his mouth and nose. That can't be a good sign! Is this the end of the…what's that?!?!"

The announcer cut off as all eight pillars began to glow brightly. A beam of light then shot out of the top of each pillar, each beam meeting at the very center of the gravity art in the air directly above John. The beams of light, or Qi, began to press into each other, slowly materializing something in the middle.

"Eight beams of Qi have collided above the center of the gravity art, directly above John's position. What is going on?" the announcer exclaimed. "Wait! Is..is that. It is. The beams of power have converged to form an object! It looks like some sort of metallic object!"

The announcer continued to describe what was going on, although she had no idea what was truly happening. John stared upwards at the object materializing above him, formed by the convergence of the eight beams of power.

"This is the final stage of the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art," Chloe said to John, her face marble white and voice hoarse from the strain of activating the art to this level. Her Qi levels were nearly zero as she had used everything to unleash this final attack. "The eight beams of Qi are converted into a slab of pure Iridite metal, which weighs ten thousand pounds and can withstand the force of a thousand times gravity without breaking. As soon as the beams disappear, the slab will fall towards you, no longer weighing ten thousand pounds, but thirteen million pounds as it enters the gravity field. Combined with its momentum towards you, the slab will crush down on you with the force of over fifty million pounds!"

John's eyes opened wide, his calm look disappearing for the first time in the battle. Chloe smirked through the fatigue as she saw this look appear on his face.

"The beams of light will vanish in eight seconds, at which point I can no longer stop what is happening. Give up before that happens, or your death is certain!" Chloe said with smug confidence.

Silence filled the arena for several seconds as the announcer started counting down the time in the background. As the time ticked down, Chloe prepared to undo her art at a moments notice, waiting for the words of surrender from John.

His words came as the time hit three seconds, her eyes going wide with absolute shock by what she heard.

"Finally! Something interesting is happening!" John said, an excited look on his face.

"Wha…what are you-" Chloe's voice was cut off by a booming sound that surged from John. A primordial sound that shook the bodies and minds of all who heard it, filling them with instinctual awe and fear.

The roar of a primordial dragon. A roar that timed with the beams of light disappearing, and the slab of metal falling towards him like a meteor looking to end the world.

Dragon-God Shift!