"Oh?"
Watching his opponent's body shift and expand, Zenkichi's expression remained completely calm.
Even though he could clearly sense it—the dragon man's strength had risen sharply, the energy flooding his body far greater than before—Zenkichi was unfazed.
So what if he had grown stronger?
Strength alone wasn't enough. The outcome was already decided. If the dragon man wished to resist, he would still fall.
Zenkichi's eyes were cold and steady as he fixed his gaze on the colossal beast before him.
"Roar!"
The dragon unleashed a thunderous bellow, its sound waves tearing through the air like a storm. The sheer force of the roar was enough to make an ordinary human's organs rupture, forcing them to bleed to death from within. Against anyone else, it would have been catastrophic.
But Zenkichi?
Other than finding it annoyingly loud, he felt no pain, no danger.
The dragon's wings snapped open, beating with blinding speed. A gale howled across the battlefield, and in a blur, the massive beast vanished from sight.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon reappeared beside Zenkichi, maw wide open, razor teeth gleaming as it lunged to devour him whole.
"Is this all?"
Zenkichi's lips curled upward in faint mockery. To him, his opponent's attacks were nothing more than primal instinct. Raw power, yes—but crude, predictable, and severely limited.
"Out of my way."
As the dragon's massive jaws descended, Zenkichi drove his fist forward in what seemed like the simplest of punches. There was no deafening boom, no explosion of sound. To the naked eye, it looked almost casual, even ordinary.
But the reality was very different.
That single punch was perfectly focused, all of Zenkichi's overwhelming strength compressed into one sharp strike. The force was absolute.
"Crack!"
The air split as his fist connected squarely with the dragon's jaw.
"Gah—!"
The dragon reeled backward, blood spraying from its mouth. Its colossal body was hurled through the air before crashing into the ocean with earth-shaking force. Water surged upward in towering waves before the beast disappeared beneath the depths, sinking into the abyss below.
Zenkichi lowered his fist, his voice calm and even.
"You are strong… but at the same time, you are weak."
He walked to the edge of the shore, his sharp eyes scanning the restless sea. The surface churned violently as though it were alive, as though something ancient was awakening beneath the waves.
The ocean's deep blue began to shift. Slowly, it turned the color of blood, as if stained by endless slaughter.
The dragon man's body was gone—completely undetectable.
Zenkichi narrowed his eyes. It wasn't that the creature had vanished. No, he had merged with the ocean itself, his essence intertwined with the vast waters.
"Hmph… as expected of someone who has lived for centuries," Zenkichi muttered. "You've learned quite a few tricks."
He raised his hand, cold power gathering in his palm. The temperature plummeted instantly, the air frosting with a sharp bite. It was a force that could freeze anything, no matter how vast or formless.
Ice crystallized and condensed at his fingertips, dense and merciless.
"Let's end this."
With a swift motion, Zenkichi unleashed his palm strike, the freezing energy surging toward the monstrous water-dragon form that loomed before him.
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