The golden ape's massive chest rose and fell slowly as it studied Arthur. The beast was intelligent, not on the level of a human, but intelligent enough to recognize when something impossible was happening.
For nearly an hour it had beaten the human relentlessly. It had shattered his bones, crushed his organs and yet the creature standing before it now felt stronger and more dangerous. The ape couldn't understand how such a transformation had occurred, but every instinct in its body warned it not to underestimate the human anymore.
Arthur felt that change in the ape's attitude immediately. The beast's posture shifted and its movements had become more cautious. The dismissiveness from earlier had disappeared entirely.
He rolled his shoulders and felt muscles flex beneath his skin, they were much denser and powerful. Every cell in his body seemed overcharged with energy. Reactive Evolution had gone into overdrive throughout the battle. The endless stream of injuries and attacks from the ape had provided exactly what the ability needed to strengthen his body.
The ape roared and the sound of its roar shook the forest. Then it moved at an extremely fast speed, the ground beneath its feet exploded as the giant beast launched itself forward. It was faster than previously as the ape was finally taking Arthur seriously
Previously Arthur would either have relied on teleportation to avoid the attack the moment he saw that charge. This time he remained exactly where he was as his eyes locked onto the incoming fist.
Everything seemed slower now. Not because the ape had become slower, but because Arthur's body could finally keep up with its movements. He twisted his body in a proper position and threw a punch of his own and the two fists one small and another the size of a barrel collided.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A shockwave erupted outward and split the clouds above. The ground beneath both combatants collapsed creating a massive crater around them. This time he hadn't been sent flying, he only skidded on the ground for a short distance, and this exchange showed they were almost evenly matched. The realization hit both combatants simultaneously.
In this exchange he utilized both Telekinesis and Density Manipulation so that he was not thrown back as he was much lighter than the ape. This caused him to tank the full power of the ape but he was strong enough to shrug them off now.
A savage grin spread across his face. The ape's eyes narrowed, then the giant beast attacked again. This time Arthur slid backward several hundred meters before stopping himself and the ape was pushed back as well.
The ape was still a bit stronger than him but not by much and when he looked at his arm he found no bones were broken. There was only a bruise for a split second before regenerating. The beast roared again, but this roar sounded different. It no longer carried dominance, it carried a challenge.
The next exchange escalated instantly. The ape attacked with all four arms simultaneously. Each of these punches contained enough force to annihilate continents in the lower realm. Arthur met them head on, his fists blurred through the air as he exchanged blow after blow.
Shockwaves detonated continuously across the battlefield. Every collision generated earthquakes and every missed attack carved canyons across the planet's surface. Mountains shattered like sandcastles caught in a hurricane and rivers evaporated beneath the sheer force being released from their attacks.
Arthur could feel his blood boiling with excitement. It had been a long time since he had fought like this, without the use of any sophisticated techniques and trump cards. Both him and his opponent were utilizing raw physical strength. And from the looks of it the apes in this forest heavily focused on physical enhancement likely due to the Golden Apple.
His fist slammed into the ape's jaw, the impact finally forced the beast's head to snap sideways. The ape responded immediately with a backhand strike that sent him crashing through a mountain. Before he could emerge, the ape was already above him. Four fists descended simultaneously on him as he crossed his arms and endured the attack.
The mountain beneath him vanished and millions of tons of rock erupted into the sky. Yet when the dust cleared, he was still standing. The ape froze for the briefest moment and Arthur laughed. "Your punches are getting weaker." The statement was obviously false, but it succeeded in making the ape furious.
The beast released a deafening roar and golden energy erupted from its body. The surrounding atmosphere trembled and Arthur immediately sensed the increase in power. Apparently the ape hadn't been using its full strength even till now.
Golden light spread across its fur and transformed the giant creature into a blazing sun amidst the devastated landscape. He suspected this was the Indestructible Golden Body on display, after eating who knows how many Golden Apple the ape must have gained that physique.
Then it attacked and the increase in its speed was immediately noticeable. The first punch landed against Arthur's chest before he could fully react and several of his ribs cracked. But he only smiled seeing the beast rampaging, and purple Aether also covered his figure thus amplifying his strength matching the ape.
The ape unleashed a barrage of attacks faster than ever before as golden energy covered all of its fists. Arthur tried to block as many attacks he could and the battlefield became a blur of motion.
Sometimes the ape gained the advantage and drove him through several mountains. Sometimes he landed a counterattack powerful enough to stagger the beast. Neither side was willing to back down. Minutes passed as the battle intensified continuously.
Arthur could feel his Reactive Evolution still working as he could feel a small increment in strength each time a hit landed on his body. The process had slowed compared to earlier, but it hadn't stopped.
Halfway through another exchange, he suddenly caught one of the ape's punches. The realization shocked the ape, it had thrown the attack with enough force to destroy a moon from the lower realm. Yet Arthur's hand had stopped the attack completely.
The resulting shockwave still obliterated everything nearby, but the punch itself went nowhere. For a second the ape froze and stared at the human in front of it. Arthur grinned. "Got you." Before the beast could react, he grabbed its wrist with his arms while also using Telekinesis as he noticed he was unable to get a proper grip due to him being too small and threw the gigantic ape over his shoulder.
The sight would have appeared absurd to anyone watching. A human throwing a fifty meter tall monster through the air, yet that was exactly what happened. The ape crashed through multiple mountains before rolling across the ground. Arthur didn't give it time to recover. He shot forward and appeared above the beast, then his fist descended.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The punch smashed the ape into the earth, and a crater hundreds of kilometers wide formed instantly. The ape roared in pain for the first time since the battle began. Arthur's eyes lit up, he had finally hurt it.
The momentum of the battle shifted completely after that. The ape rose from the crater and attacked again, but its confidence was gone. Arthur could see it in the creature's movements. Earlier every attack from it had been direct and overwhelming. But now there was desperation and uncertainty in its moves.
Meanwhile he felt stronger with every passing second. The adaptation had reached a level where his body could comfortably withstand the beast's attacks without getting a scratch. More importantly, his strength had finally surpassed the ape's and the next exchange proved it.
Their fists collided once more and this time the ape was the one sent flying. It crashed through the horizon and disappeared into the distance. Arthur followed immediately, the chase continued across thousands of kilometers. Mountains exploded, forests vanished and lakes evaporated beneath the force of their battle. And seeing two powerful monsters fighting each other no beasts approached them. But thankfully there were no Planetary level monsters nearby.
The ape tried using its golden barrier as golden light erupted around its body as the familiar shield appeared. Arthur didn't bother using any techniques. He simply punched it. CRACK. The barrier fractured and he punched again. CRACK. More and more cracks spread across its surface. The ape's eyes widened but it was too late.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The barrier shattered completely. Fragments of golden energy scattered throughout the sky. The ape immediately tried to retreat, seeing that Arthur laughed "Now you're running?" The giant beast growled angrily, but didn't stop its retreat.
Another twenty minutes passed. By now the outcome was becoming increasingly obvious. The ape was still powerful, but it was no longer stronger than him. Every exchange favored him and every minute in the battle only widened the gap further.
Eventually the ape unleashed one final desperate attack. Golden energy gathered around all four arms simultaneously. The pressure generated by the technique distorted space around it and Arthur immediately understood, this was the strongest attack the beast possessed.
The ape roared and charged but he didn't dodge, instead he simply drew back his fist. Aether flowed through every muscle and he punched forward. The two attacks collided and a shockwave spread across the huge forest. Clouds vanished from above them and mountains collapsed. The collision created a sphere of destruction visible from orbit.
As the dust settled the giant beast lay at the center of a colossal crater. Its chest rose and fell heavily as countless injuries covered its body. Yet Arthur noticed something surprising, the creature wasn't dead, it was simply exhausted.
Slowly he descended into the crater and stood before the fallen beast. The ape looked at him for several seconds. Then, to his surprise, it lowered its head slightly. The gesture wasn't a submission exactly, it felt more like acknowledgement, respect between warriors.
Arthur blinked before laughing softly, he said nothing as there were no words that needed to be shared, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sat down near the beast and looked toward the devastated horizon. And the ape only grunted as it too sat up.
Nearly two hours had passed since the battle began. They had destroyed thousands of kilometers of land which probably belonged to the ape. Yet despite everything, he couldn't stop smiling.
Far away, hidden deep within the planet's wilderness, several terrifying lifeforms slowly opened their eyes after sensing the battle. Ancient beasts that had slept for decades turned their attention toward the ruined region though most of them ignored it. But there were a few beasts who wanted to take the opportunity to claim more territory.
Arthur knew they would attract powerful monsters as they had caused quite a commotion, but he felt it was inevitable. He stood up and looked at the ape, "Well, thanks for the fight." and flew towards where he could sense a few Moon Level monsters approaching.
***
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