Khârn fell silent for a moment, but the battle lust in his eyes only burned hotter.
He broke into a grin as a golden aura erupted from his body once more. The power of his six-fold golden transformation caused his muscles to swell, and a fine, luminous light shimmered across the surface of his skin.
"Ten strikes… good! Great Lord Father, permit me to feel the extent of your power!" Since the challenge had been made, it would be unacceptable not to engage in a blood-pumping battle.
He had not fought to his heart's content, either.
The previous three matches had been crushing victories, and he had not even used his full strength. In his final duel against the recruit, he had not even bothered to use his golden transformation.
"Hahaha! That's more like it! Since you wish to feel my strength, then I shall grant your request," Axis said with a faint smile.
He clasped one hand behind his back and beckoned to Khârn with the other.
"Come," Axis offered, "Attack me as you will. I will grant you ten strikes without retaliation."
"Then I will not be courteous, Lord Father!" With a maddened expression, Khârn charged forward.
His form vanished in a flash, leaving only a golden afterimage in its wake. His speed was even greater than when he had fought the veterans, as he threw a straight punch aimed directly at Axis's chest.
The force of the blow shattered the air, compressing it into visible ripples.
However, a sharp crack echoed through the chamber.
Axis had not moved his feet at all. He had simply raised a single finger to block Khârn's fist. His expression was one of complete ease, and he even gave Khârn a playful look, as if to say, That's not enough, my son!
Khârn's pupils contracted.
Was this some kind of joke? His full-power punch had been stopped by his primarch's single finger. He had not even managed to force him to use his full hand.
Khârn took a step back and immediately changed his attack. His left leg swept out like a battle axe, aimed straight for Axis's waist.
"The second strike," Axis announced with a faint smile, thinking to himself, Cheeky boy, going for my kidneys.
The force behind that kick was enough to shatter the armor of a battle tank, yet Axis still did not evade.
He simply raised his hand and caught the blow firmly in his palm. Axis's hand clamped around Khârn's leg like a steel vise.
With just a slight application of pressure, beads of cold sweat broke out on Khârn's forehead.
"Your speed is acceptable, but your explosive power still needs improvement," Axis remarked.
Khârn let out a low growl.
The golden aura enveloping his body suddenly contracted, converging upon his right fist before erupting with ferocious intensity.
"The third strike!"
This punch surpassed the limits of his six-fold transformation, faintly touching the threshold of the seventh.
As the fist tore through the air, it created a piercing shriek.
Axis looked at Khârn with a flicker of surprise. He had not expected the juice from the Spirit Tree Fruit he had given him yesterday to produce such immediate improvements in the boy's golden transformation.
The S-Cells were clearly well-suited to him.
However, it was still of no consequence. Axis steadily blocked the attack with one hand and then sent his son flying. Khârn did not even have time to react before he felt an irresistible force send him hurtling away.
"That makes four," Axis said, beckoning to Khârn once more with his finger.
"Aaaargh!" Khârn let out a furious roar and shot forward like a cannonball.
This time, Axis neither dodged nor made any move to block. He simply took the hit squarely on his chest.
A thunderous boom resounded.
Khârn was sent flying backward, slamming violently into the training chamber wall. The blow left a massive dent in the adamantium plating.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and struggled to his feet, a look of utter disbelief in his eyes. Just now, his primarch had made no attempt to block at all. Khârn had been sent flying purely by the kinetic force reverberating from his father's body.
The gap between them was simply too vast.
He had thought himself so much stronger, perhaps more than ten times his former might, yet in the face of Lord Father, he was just as powerless.
"Again. It is time for the fifth strike," Axis said.
Khârn pushed himself to his feet, panting heavily.
His eyes remained locked on Axis with a deathly stare.
Axis stood before him, a figure seemingly riddled with openings, yet he appeared utterly invincible.
It felt as if any attack Khârn launched, from any angle, would be met with an effortless counter. There was no hope of victory, not even a remote possibility. He knew that even if his primarch did not retaliate, a few more of his own attacks would be his undoing. The sheer kinetic rebound from his primarch's body would be enough to leave him grievously wounded. The chasm in their power was as vast as the heavens and the earth.
"That will not be necessary, Lord Father," Khârn said with a resigned sigh, "No matter how ferocious my attacks, they are useless against you. My last blow was the absolute limit of my power."
"Well, guess that's it then." Axis said, turning to leave.
Kharn breathed another sigh. He had underestimated his primarch. His Lord Father was so much stronger than he could've imagined.
At that moment, Axis, who was turning to leave, paused.
"Wait a minute!
"It was you doing the attack all this time. I didn't get to do anything."
Kharn broke out in a cold sweat. The gaze with which his primarch was now looking at him could only be described as predatory.
"I shall make one move, then," Axis replied, "Watch closely, and do everything you can to defend yourself."
Khârn stedied his stance in acceptance.
Axis's feet shifted slightly, and in an instant, he vanished.
Khârn could barely perceive a faint afterimage before an intense sense of premonition battered against his very soul.
He was fast. Unbelievably fast.
His eyes barely managed to register the fist that was hurtling toward his face, but his body felt locked in place, held fast by some unseen force that rendered him completely immobile. He could only watch helplessly as Axis's fist grew larger and larger before him.
He knew that, with this one strike, his life would be forfeit. He would, undoubtedly, irreversably, die.
A tremendous boom echoed through the chamber.
The immense pressure from the punch had created a vacuum behind Khârn. Axis's fist had not struck its target, but had instead grazed past his ear.
Drops of cold sweat mixed with trickles of fresh blood as they ran down from the cut on his ear, a wound inflicted by the sheer force of Axis's passing strike.
Khârn collapsed to his knees, great beads of sweat pouring from his brow.
His heart hammered against his ribs as if it would burst from his chest. His entire body was drenched. In that moment, he had been closer to death than ever before, as if his existence had been snuffed out for an instant.
It was a despair that could not be described with words.
He had simply not underestimated his Lord Father before, no he had compared a spec of dust to a star.
"Are you alright?" Axis asked, extending a hand to pull his son to his feet. He clapped him on the shoulder.
"I… I am fine, Lord Father!" Khârn stammered. "I… I just… it is hard to believe. My strength has clearly increased so much. Even… even against some of the Primarchs I have met, I was confident I could last a few rounds. But before you, all I can feel is despair." He took a deep, shuddering breath.
Khârn finally understood the true disparity between himself and Axis.
If he had to describe it, it was like the difference between his current self and an ordinary mortal child.
The gap was just that enormous. How arrogant he had been before, to think he could trade blows with a Primarch.
It was now clear that such a notion was nothing but a fool's delusion.
"Actually, you have done very well," Axis said reassuringly, "Your current combat power could likely overwhelm a Custodian Guard, even one I have enhanced with my own ki. If you were to encounter my brothers, I am confident you could withstand at least three of their blows, if not ten."
It was a simple fact.
The Primarchs of this timeline were entirely different from those of the original. Because Axis had shared the fruit of the Spirit Tree, all of his brothers had at least doubled their physical strength and life force.
That level of enhancement translated into terrifying gains in speed, endurance, and overall combat prowess.
So yes, the current Khârn could probably endure three of their strikes, assuming, of course, that the Primarch was not trying to kill him.
If they were, Khârn would be cut down in a single blow, unable to even perceive the motion of the attack.
Khârn stared at Axis in disbelief.
The meaning behind his words was clear. His Father was different from the other Primarchs. He was, without a doubt, the mightiest warrior among them.
"It is as you think. I have fought against Rogal Dorn, Horus, the Lion, and my foster father, Leman Russ. On Holy Terra, I even faced the combined assault of Rogal Dorn and Horus alone. Without exception, I emerged victorious," Axis stated. He omitted the details of his duel with the Emperor, which for certain reasons had to remain secret.
"Just as I suspected," Khârn exclaimed, his face lighting up with excitement, "Great Lord Father, you are the most powerful of all the Primarchs! As your son, I must become the most powerful Astartes!" To take on two Primarchs at once and win, his father was truly the first among his brothers. Therefore, he had to become the first among the Astartes.
"When you fought the other Primarchs, did you use the golden transformation to defeat them?" Khârn asked.
Some of the old veterans in the Legion had spoken of a time when Axis had manifested the same golden aura, displaying a terrifying level of power. Was that transformation the source of his unmatched supremacy among the Primarchs?
"Hahahah, no! I do not need the golden transformation to defeat those two. I defeated them both in my base form.
"Furthermore, my own transformation does not simply amplify my power by a factor of five. My combat strength increases fifty-fold. And it is a perfect transformation, without any side effects."
Khârn remained in place.
It was weird. His mind had never been this slow in processing information.
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hwehwehwe powerstones?!