With all his senses cut off, Pompa found it almost impossible to sense Tyuk's position.
Everything seemed pitch black even with his eyes wide open, the metallic pungent smell of his blood didn't reach him, nor could he taste his own tongue or hear anything.
If that wasn't worse enough, his regeneration couldn't keep up with the Health being drained per second, leaving him a couple of seconds before he could taste a loss.
All he had to do was land one or two clean hits to win the Bout, but his attempts failed miserably due to his restricted senses.
Uneasiness and frustration clouded Pompa as his Health drained at an alarming pace.
When he had no more than two seconds left to lose the Bout, he halted in his tracks and took a deep and slow breath as he collected his composure.
Pompa sighed and muttered under his breath, "Guess I have no choice but to use that."
He then activated his 2nd Innate Exclusive skill, <REJUVENATE>.
<REJUVENATE>: For a limited duration, the user's Health remains at its brim unless the entirety of it depletes in one go.
Duration: (Base Vitality/10) =~ 10 minutes
Cooldown: 10 hrs (After the skill's effect ends, User's Health will be halved for half the Cooldown duration =~ 5 hrs)
Upon activating it, all the lost Health was refilled in an instant.
The Lifedrain Toxin lost its potency before Pompa's unfaltering Health bar, leaving Tyuk baffled.
The awaited loss didn't come to fruition as his opponent remained still in the same spot.
As time passed, Tyuk's worries accumulated when Pompa showed no symptoms of severe Health loss and instead brimmed with Vitality.
Around a minute passed by since Pompa activated <REJUVENATE>, and seeing his 'Lifedrain Toxin' had lost its effect on his opponent, Tyuk didn't bide the time anymore and attacked Pompa with his Aura-coated Metallic Whips.
With Pompa's five senses restricted, Tyuk didn't suspect his opponent to dodge them, but he found it odd when Pompa didn't even try evading his attacks.
Little did he know that Pompa didn't bother to dodge them in the first place, as none of those attacks could even leave a dent in his overall Health.
Despite being thrown around the Stage from the impact of the barrage of Tyuk's full-powered attacks, he remained unperturbed.
Although Pompa lost his five senses, he still had the other minor senses he could rely on and was, in fact, working on them.
The less bothered Senses like Thermoreception, Nociception, Chronoception, and Proprioception were dialled up higher than ever.
Proprioception allowed him to sense where his body parts were relative to each other, giving him a sense of balance more than ever with his major senses absent.
The pain from the attacks that landed on his body, along with the minute change in temperature caused by the Aura attacks and the sense of time, allowed Pompa to better understand his opponent's attack pattern.
He bore all those attacks whilst focusing on the minor senses, and the picture became clearer and clearer as time passed.
With Pompa's Health being replenished with every passing moment, he basically became undefeatable, and it didn't take long for Tyuk to realise that.
Still, Tyuk continued his barrage of attacks, although less intense than before. After all, such a powerful skill that could turn one invincible couldn't be used for too long.
If Pompa's skill had really allowed him to have limitless Health, then he would have used it at the beginning of the Bout and would not have waited until he was cornered to use it.
Around eight minutes passed since Pompa used <REJUVENATE>, and he had just two more left before the skill could enter the 10-hour-long Cooldown period.
Pompa didn't idle any more, and just as another Whip Aura attack was about to land, he caught onto it and wound it around his arm as he tugged Tyuk towards himself.
Although Tyuk expected Pompa to make his move eventually, he didn't see such a sudden and precise action coming his way.
Despite the damage caused by holding onto the Aura over the Whip, Pompa didn't leave it until he got a hold of Tyuk's arm.
He then latched onto the arm before wrapping around Tyuk's trunk with his arms, crushing Tyuk with brute strength.
If those watching from afar weren't aware of the situation, they would assume Pompa and Tyuk were hugging.
The one who was on the receiving end of the 'hug' felt like his insides were about to explode any time soon.
After all, in terms of pure Strength, Pompa was at the peak of Tier-3 High-Phase, while Tyuk was Mid-Phase.
Out of desperation, Tyuk used everything at his disposal, banging his elbows, knees, and even his head onto his opponent but to no avail.
Despite being half of Tyuk's size, Pompa was like an immovable mountain as he crushed his opponent.
Soon, bone-cracking sounds spread around Tyuk's body as he groaned in pain, and his situation worsened with every passing second.
When Tyuk realised he could escape anymore, he threw in the towel, "I....I giv….give up…."
Only then did Pompa let go of his 'bear hug crush', and Felarial announced the winner of the 1st Bout before turning to Pompa.
"As the winner of the 1st Bout, you have the option to choose your next opponent. But, if you choose to rest and instead send your team member for the 2nd Bout, that option won't be on the table anymore."
"Mr Felarial, I wish to continue for the next Bout" Pompa didn't show a shred of hesitation in his reply and wasting no time, called out for a Tier-2 member from the Tilephe Team.
To others, it seemed he was pretty confident, but in reality, Pompa was in a hurry since there were just a little more than two minutes left before the duration of <REJUVENATE> could end.
As soon as the 2nd Bout began, Pompa closed in on his opponent and took him out before the other party had the chance to retaliate.
Felarial once again announced the 2nd Bout's winner, and Pompa proceeded to the next Bout as he chose another Tier-2 team member from his opposing team.
He didn't risk choosing the Tier-3 members since he had just a minute left. The Tilephe team could only helplessly send one of their weakest members that Pompa had chosen onto the Stage.
Just like in the previous Bout, Pompa defeated his opponent right off the bat and won the 3rd Bout, winning the 4th Match.
The audience's evaluation of Pompa reached a new height since he basically defeated an entire team by himself.
Before the commotion could settle down, Felarial announced the teams from Group-E, who would have to face each other in the 5th Match.
<Atlanis> (Rank-2) vs <Ragath> (Rank-7)
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