14 years ago, Carnage Island, Anatan Union
"DIMENSIONAL PUNCH!"
A loud slap echoed through the ring, followed by a moment of absolute silence. Fearlessly scanning his opponent's movements watched a young Tarsa, bashing his fists in gruesome excitement. "I'm the best in all of Carnage Island!" he claimed, proudly raising his arms into the air. "I am Tarsa the Strong!"
Carnage Island, one of the Anatan Union's smallest islands. This civilization undergoes constant praise due to its strong fighters and unique battle-style, making it one of the most famous fighting hubs in the entire entity world. Tarsa the Strong, a rising star within the village's community, grinned at the overwhelming praise given by the crowd. "A new star is born!" "The next generation of our fighters looks bright!" "T-A-R-S-A! TARSA!"
Little did anyone know, in a matter of seconds, their praise would come to a sudden halt. Tarsa's bruised opponent advanced from behind, plunging his glove right into Tarsa's face. Thudding head-first against the concrete surrounding the ring, the crowd's screams faded into a mixture of questioning murmurs and startled gasps. Alongside this shift swayed the young fighter's head, suffering from the concussion growing within.
"It seems like Tarsa has faced a KO from AFT!" the announcer exclaimed, restoring the crowd's cheers.
The young man slowly succumbed to the concussion, fading into extensive unconsciousness. "A..F..T.."
---
"A few months had passed since Tarsa the Strong's career-ending knockout," an Anatan news reporter claimed. "We have yet to learn the boy's whereabouts - will his return to fighting happen, or will the crowd's words of encouragement be in vain?"
On a small balcony sat Tarsa, thriving in the moon's limelight with a small newspaper. His finger soared across the front page's bold headline reading "AFT WINS CARNAGE ISLAND'S THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP." His eyes shut for a moment, reliving the final punch that brought an end to his career. "All of those fans were once in my crowd. Tarsa the Strong, what the hell happened to you?"
"The unforgiving qualities of society… make a single mistake, and your relevance will fade," a voice echoed from above. Tarsa's fists clenched, shooting his eyes towards the sudden voice. "W-Who the hell are you, and why are you here!?"
A man with a gray, facial tattoo slid off the roof and landed perfectly onto the ground below. His head rose, observing the fighter's trembling pupils. "My name's Chrome, nice to meet you."
His introduction is followed by a moment of awkward silence. "Chrome…?"
"That's right. My name is just Chrome - no family name, no background, just Chrome. I've come from Anata's mainland with a special request."
Tarsa's eyes illuminated with a smile of excitement. "A special request? Elaborate, if you will."
Chrome grew quiet as his pupils met the luminous moon. "I want to assemble a group of people who strive to make this world a better place. Society in the entity world is growing bland and unforgiving qualities - I'm afraid if nobody acts now, those characteristics will leave more of a negative impact on our world."
"So?" Tarsa interrupted, loosening the grip in his fists. "What are you proposing?"
Chrome's eyes dropped onto the moonlit city. "I want you to join me, Tarsa. Together, we can make this world a better place."
Volume 13, Chapter 77 - Determination and Strength
Eclipse Ritual Site, Fire Moon's Catacombs
Tarsa scanned the catacombs' dark, chilling atmosphere with his bloodshot eyes. "The air's growing rich with pristine firepower," he observed, pivoting backwards with a sharp turn. From the distance emitted a pulsing red glow, brightening the hallways with its blood-colored silhouette. Across the hallway lived the deepest room within Fire Moon's hideout - the Eclipse Ritual site. With a satisfied smirk, he continued into the shrouding darkness. As Tarsa walked, the air began to grow heavy - hundreds of empty rooms, and only a handful of enemies. This thought fed his raging inferno of confidence, opposed by a small flare of doubt. The embers clashed against one another, exerting all their strength until the weaker one was gone - just like what had happened on Carnage Island against AFT. The occasional pain hit Tarsa like a falling anvil. If he had won against AFT, he wouldn't have joined Chrome. If he had, he would've been the best of the best.
In that instant, a raspy scream poured into the quiet chamber. "GRAVITATIONAL PUNCH!" Kevin's fist erupted with a purple glow as it crashed into Tarsa's stiff palms, sending a shockwave into the veiling darkness. Ending the clash with a demanding push, Tarsa's eyes followed Kevin through the pitch-black room. His shoes dragged against the patterned tiles, greeting his opponent with a hopeful gaze. Kevin's courage struck Tarsa like a thrusting needle, forcing a sudden jolt through his muscle-coated body. "So you pulled through after all." Tarsa brought his fists together with a mighty slam, filling the room with a deep, echoing chuckle. Kevin's gaze extended beyond Tarsa and onto the burning scent enmating in the distance. He detected the sloped shadows of glowing crimson, reverting his focus back onto the grinning beast. "That devilish scent is easy to recognize - Pyron's firepower is surging in the distance. Not only that, but…"
Rattling the room with a fierce stomp, Tarsa's fist pierced through the air like a thrusting blade. "Soul Body…"
"Gravitational PUNCH!" Their fists collided with a deafening blast, unleashing a shockwave of rustling lightning. A frenzy of pressure developed between their fists, splitting them apart with a stubborn burst. The moment Tarsa lunged forward with a dissatisfied grunt, Kevin raised his arms, grunting as Tarsa's fist rattled his bones. "Don't hold back against me - FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE BEFORE I MAKE YOU!" A bubbling coat of scorching, orange flames coated his skin with a devilish scent, mixed with the universal force of Tarsa's power. Before he could react, Tarsa penetrated Kevin's defense with a ruthless uppercut. Kevin's arms flew upward at the sudden blast, forcing his torso backward with a fearful tremble. Tarsa's sadistic laugh echoed through the room as his fist plunged into Kevin's stomach. "It's a miracle you've made it this far, but it's time to put you down FOR GOOD!" Kevin's body arched backward at the thundering force. The coming seconds felt like hours - small strands of shining, red blood escaped his outstretched mouth, splattering onto the dust-covered tiles below. Pyron's demonic flames bloomed across Tarsa's arms, armored by the core of his belligerent rage. "UNIVERSAL PUNCH OF ENDING FLAME!" A jolting pain rushed through Kevin's back as his body slammed into the concrete walls, trapping him in a shroud of expanding dust. For the first time, a feeling of satisfaction was brought alongside the memory of Tarsa's knockout on Carnage Island. The moment of unfolding silence and the screams of his prey drowned out by the fading blast unveiled his hysterical laugh. "I'm not just strong - I'm an absolute beast."
The same moment his head shifted towards the Eclipse Ritual site, a weak grunt sounded from within the blinding cloud. A glowing orb escaped the dust, straining Tarsa's eyes with its ancient divinity. "That orb…" Kevin's scar-coated arms shot towards the ceiling. Tarsa felt the liberating jolt in his opponent's striking movements, blowing away at his pleasure like a destructive hurricane. Tarsa's perception of events cleared alongside the fading dust. From its wake emerged his opponent, wiping the descending streams of blood off his forehead. "So this is Will of Freedom's third orb, huh? If it didn't activate, I would've been dead…" Tarsa's eyes observed the glowing wound on Kevin's stomach as the ridges of his flesh smoothened within the radiating light. Moments later, the glow split into small, glimmering particles, drifting inward as Will of Freedom settled back into Kevin's body.
Tarsa's eyes squinted. "That was the power I was sensing… WHY WON'T YOU USE IT!?"
"I can't grow by using someone else's power." A raging ember of glowing magenta engulfed Kevin in a fierce eruption. "I'll only use it when the time is right - otherwise, my dream will never come true."
A gust of power circled Tarsa's body, melting into the comfort of his limbs with a loud hiss. "All Fire Moon members have been either defeated, killed, or drained of power. That leaves me alone to begin the Eclipse Ritual's next stage - to transform Azul Celeste once and for all, turning her into Pyron's vessel!"
"Not only did the firepower in the distance amplify, but so did his power. There has to be a connection…"
Tarsa's pupils twinkled within Pyron's blazing flames, their glow flickering with the flame's violent ruptures. "It's simple - out of both sides, we're the last ones standing!" The vortex of malicious flame dissipated with a gut-wrenching hiss, substituted with a dimming shine of pulsing gray. "With the Eclipse Ritual's surging power, our vessel will be complete in no time short!" Kevin's fist lunged forward, entering the threshold of Pyron's scorching coat. "GRAVITATIONAL PUSHING HAMMER!" Tarsa's fist crashed into the gravitational barrier, unleashing a sharp gust that whipped Kevin's hair. "No matter how hard you try, Fire Moon's victory has already been set in stone! WE'VE ALREADY WON, AND OUR REIGN IS JUST BEGINNING!"
His fist shattered the barrier like a thin panel of glass, and his hand lunged outward, locking Kevin's wrist in his iron-tight grasp. "No amount of power will free you from society's fall OR FIRE MOON'S RISE!"
For a moment, Kevin's ear-ringing screams flooded Tarsa's mind with a nostalgic rush, distorting into a hallucinated memory of Carnage Island's partly-cloudy skies. The crowd's excited screams filled his head, hammering into him like AFT's career-ending knockout. In that instant, the hallucination waned, shattered by Kevin's desperate wheeze. "GRAVITATIONAL PUSHING KICK!"
A vein-patterned stream of blood erupted from Tarsa's arm, lifting upward with an embarrassed scoff. "He broke free from my defense in such a short time!?" Kevin's focused grin struck the same nerve AFT shattered years before - the same feeling brought alongside his tragic end had resurfaced.
"This battle definitely won't get anywhere in a closed space like this," Kevin mumbled, his fist surrounded by spiraling wisps of glowing energy. "We're getting out of here - back to the Grand Province."
"To escape this dimension, you have to penetrate the very essence of space and time!" Tarsa snapped, clenching his fists with a weak smirk. For a moment, the rip of Kevin's gravity spouted a seed of deep-seated rage within Tarsa, replacing his mischievous smirk with a formal frown. His fists clenched, but Kevin's didn't - a singular look into his passionate, blue eyes enlarged the seed of rage, blooming into a blood-splattered flower of despair. "YOU'LL NEVER BECOME THE REALM GOD, NO MATTER WHAT!"
"My dream isn't to become," Kevin muttered, forming a spear with his trembling hand. "It's to surpass."
Tarsa's devilish stomps echoed through the room, drawing his flame-coated fist to Kevin's throat. With a sharp inhale, Kevin weaved the devilish sun, driving his spear into Tarsa's chest with a cracking shout. "GRAVITATIONAL PUSHING JET SPEAR!"
Tarsa's body plunged through the concrete walls and into space and time's vast threshold, shining through the hole like the sun's warm rays. Kevin leaped through the dust-shrouded hole, locking onto Tarsa with his sharp glare. "WE'RE FINISHING THIS FIGHT… BACK WHERE IT BEGAN!"
And just like that, both opponents disappeared into space and time - bound for the Grand Province.