Chapter 765: Absolute Power VS King of Miracles
BOOM!
In the visible space, all the air instantly condensed into a blazing white, and then exploded simultaneously.
The terrifying force almost directly sank the Sea of Life, along with the beach, rainforest, and desert below.
The ley lines emitted a terrifying screech, followed by a horrifying tremor akin to a heaven-and-earth-shattering earthquake.
The Azure Sky members had long been relocated by Reinhardt.
Amidst the thunderous sinking of the ground, Kaito Shirogane stood firmly in place. His entire body trembled violently. Golden divine power continuously battered against the intense Ki erupting from his body into the sky.
Kaito Shirogane's eyelids lowered, his body naturally slumping, his shoulders dropping, and the muscles all over his body bulging piece by piece.
[Eight-Fold Kaio-Ken] Activated!
Gold and blood-red intertwined. A Ki so intense it threatened to break through everything shot up like a massive geyser, piercing straight through the blazing white curtain of air in the sky and the pitch-black Sea of Life behind it.
Like the first torch lit in a primordial world, it shot straight beyond the firmament.
The sea of clouds was instantly churned, spreading outwards in concentric rings. Even from outside the planet, that golden pillar of light would be visible right now.
[Limiter: 2x Base Enhancement] + [Qilin Armor: 3x Enhancement to Three Main Stats] + [Kaio-Ken: 8x Global Enhancement]!
Within Kaito Shirogane's chest, the anti-life demonic dragon Grendel practically wailed. The anti-life tissue continuously shattered and reconstructed.
The dragon's furnace was catalyzed past its limits every single moment by this pressure of life and death.
The half-gold, half-black crown appeared on Kaito Shirogane's head. The Authority of the [Physique of the Primordial Man] gleamed brilliantly. Golden patterns covered Kaito Shirogane's body. The top-tier Gift bestowed collectively by a massive pantheon of gods now shone intensely.
Kaito Shirogane stood atop the world, the source of life right beneath his feet, his body naturally drawing in all sustenance.
In this state, his body maintained an equilibrium of destruction and regeneration.
"Phew~"
Accompanied by a devastating strike, Kaito Shirogane sank thousands of meters below ground along with the crust. In the absolute darkness, he exhaled a breath of stale air.
The white mist, carrying a terrifyingly high temperature, instantly melted the surrounding rock.
Kaito Shirogane bent his knees slightly.
The next moment, accompanied by an almost inaudible poof...
Kaito Shirogane vanished completely.
BOOM!
The next moment, as if the world's reaction was a second too slow, the ground thousands of meters below thunderously disintegrated into dust. The surrounding, already-molten magma completely shattered. Everything was breaking apart, dissipating.
A massive void spread outwards, creating a colossal crater over ten thousand meters in diameter.
Satoru Gojo, having just landed on the ground, felt the earth wailing, as if the world itself had sunk a level. Beside him, Artoria, missing an arm, dragged her sword forward. Her eyes were resolute as she looked in a certain direction.
Her intuition told her that the enemy who had just severely wounded her was in that direction.
Amidst the demonic dragon's roars, its tail whipped violently. Amidst the frantic screeching of the atmosphere, Gilgamesh shifted his eyes, leaping high into the air. The next moment, a terrifying wall of air crashed into where he had been.
Gilgamesh's body swayed slightly as he landed on the other side.
Izayoi Sakamaki, however, shattered the wall of air with a single punch.
He shifted his gaze to the other side, only to see the guy called Sousuke grab backwards with one hand, catching a fist that had appeared seemingly out of thin air at an impossible angle.
Zzt~ BOOM!
The force, piercing the void like a sharp sword, finally erupted from behind the guy who was moving so fast he was completely imperceptible to the naked eye. In an instant, it formed a massive white smoke dragon tens of thousands of meters long, stretching across the sky.
Roar!
Struck by that force, the demonic dragon was actually knocked backward through the air.
Power. Pure power, completely devoid of any special Gifts or Authorities!
Izayoi Sakamaki could feel the terrifying physical force behind that strike just now. The legendary Hercules was probably only at this level.
No, without the innate Authority enhancement of a Divine Spirit, even Hercules wouldn't possess this kind of physical force.
This was absolute, pure power surpassing dragons and Titans.
Just what kind of physical body could support the eruption of that kind of force?
Izayoi Sakamaki shifted his gaze, taking in the martial artist whose hair seemed to have turned golden-red. His hair stood on end, appearing like a hedgehog's due to the intense Ki overflowing from his body and shooting into the sky.
Furthermore...
The corners of Izayoi Sakamaki's mouth curled up, an irrepressible look of interest appearing on his face.
That martial artist, whom he previously thought was nothing special aside from his unique essence, now exuded a presence that had swelled to the absolute limit.
That presence even began to compress the surrounding air, naturally forming an intense force field.
Not only that, the other party's expression had completely changed.
His eyelids were lowered, his facial expression unbridled to the extreme. This was a man completely integrated into his own power, immersed in battle. At this moment, there were no impurities in his heart...
"This guy..."
Sousuke also raised his eyes. He naturally possessed miracles like [Ability to Catch Any Sudden Attack], even though Mercenary Tao's speed, after activating the terrifying ability he acquired from the transaction with Ye Zi, had surpassed the reaction time of almost any flesh-and-blood entity.
It was a terrifying extreme speed that didn't rely on any spatial teleportation abilities, had no precursor to activation, showed no traces of energy flow or Authority execution. Simply by bending his knees, relying on nearly three thousand points of Strength and Agility, he propelled his physical body past the shackles of space and distance.
A speed so terrifying that even the flow of kinetic force and the tearing of air couldn't keep up.
Yet, he only needed to reach out his hand, and he would perfectly catch the strike.
No...
Sousuke looked at the tall young man slowly rising before him. He couldn't say he had truly "caught" this strike yet.
The grin on Kaito Shirogane's face was extremely subtle now. After a long time, he had once again activated the Eight-Fold Kaio-Ken, accompanied by the growth of his base stats and the amplification of other Authorities.
The magnitude of Kaito Shirogane's power increase was almost exponential.
He looked at the [King of Miracles] gripping his fist with one hand. The pleasure and arrogance swelling in his heart due to this power could no longer be suppressed.
"The Supreme Three Kings... in terms of pure power, is this all you've got...?"
Hum!
The yellow Authority of [Force] was naturally mobilized by Kaito Shirogane's thought. His nearly three thousand points of Strength were multiplied once more.
Crack!
Pitch-black rifts appeared where the fist and palm met. Space began to show signs of instability. Fine streams of air, like sword aura and sharp squalls, sliced indiscriminately in all directions.
Sousuke's eyes calmed. The fine streams of air flying towards him naturally grazed past the edges of his body, dissipating into the air.
And those sharp streams of air flying towards Kaito Shirogane were shredded by the distorted force field surrounding his body before they even touched him.
Creak!
Relying solely on the force behind his fist, Kaito Shirogane slowly rose upwards. Conversely, Sousuke's arm was passively forced up as well.
Even his muscles and bones began to emit creaking sounds, clear proof that even his physical body struggled to resist such terrifying force.
Golden radiance emanated from his flesh and blood. The bones and flesh that should have been torn apart miraculously remained intact, but the degree of distortion grew increasingly severe.
Sousuke's line of sight was also slowly forced upward.
This scene caused the expressions of the Azure Sky members, who had regrouped a thousand meters away, to change.
Reinhardt's expression was grim, golden miracles and divine power shining all over his body. The massive magic array above his head still existed, but because Tiamat was completely enraged, he didn't attack immediately.
Moreover...
"That guy, Mercenary Tao, can actually match..."
The shock in Reinhardt's heart was indescribable, but to prevent Roman and the others from worrying, he maintained a calm facade.
However, he was currently overlooking the fact that among the fully awakened Azure Sky members, there were almost no secrets between them. The golden illusory ripples behind him were wavering violently.
Roman's blue and white spiritual power surged wildly, and massive blue and white spears materialized. This woman, who had always displayed only gentle and soft traits, was incredibly resolute at this moment.
She gently grasped one of the spears, her eyes completely locked onto the monster that was Mercenary Tao.
She... was going to slay that beast!
Screech!
Bang!
The sound of a sword and an impact rang out almost simultaneously. Brynhild jolted, appearing belatedly in front of Roman. Roman looked at Mori-Summer's trembling hand and the demonic sword blocking in front of her, her face pale.
The very instant she locked onto that beast, he had turned his head. The golden Ki in his eyes, like a sharp sword piercing the void, had struck right in front of her in a flash.
Mori-Summer had drawn her blade with incredible swiftness, blocking the strike.
Drip...
Mori-Summer's eyes were sharp as blades, but her right hand trembled uncontrollably. The webbing between her thumb and forefinger was torn and bleeding. Even the blade of her demonic sword, [Kokorowatari], had a notch in it.
This guy... this guy Mercenary Tao really has surpassed this realm...
Mori-Summer was similarly almost entirely deaf to the exchange between Roman and the others. Stimulated by the beast's immense power, she completely sank into her combat intuition.
She and her sword became one. Ordinary top-tier Reincarnators couldn't participate in a battle of this caliber.
Anyone below [Fierce (Upper)] couldn't even protect themselves.
She had to focus entirely just to ensure she could react to Mercenary Tao's attacks.
The hairs on the back of Mori-Summer's neck were standing completely on end. She was certain that Mercenary Tao's martial arts realm hadn't yet entered the Realm of Law. In fact, his martial arts realm wasn't even as high as her swordsmanship realm...
He hadn't reached that point yet.
But... Mercenary Tao's attributes, combined with his various abilities, were so high they could practically ignore any gap in technique.
Authorities below the Seventh Step, which couldn't condense the power of a Divine Body, were meaningless against a physical monster like this.
No matter how exquisite your technique, no matter how broad the scope of the Authority you commanded, it meant little against a stat monster who could literally punch you into dust from a purely physical standpoint.
No matter how bizarre your abilities were, no matter how many times you could seize the initiative...
The margin for error between the two sides wasn't even on the same scale.
The other party only needed one chance to kill you dozens, even hundreds of times over!
Moreover...
Mori-Summer remembered that the special energy system of [Ki], although criticized in the early stages for lacking versatility and having singular utility...
It possessed a special [Immunity].
It was an energy system where absolute power overcame all techniques.
As long as the Ki was strong enough, it could practically negate the effects of all abilities.
Drip~
A bead of sweat rolled down Mori-Summer's temple and dropped through the air.
This scene was witnessed by Roman, Reinhardt, and Brynhild.
The three exchanged glances and slowly drew closer together, losing all trace of high-tier arrogance.
As the undisputed number two combatant within Azure Sky, everyone, including Reinhardt, believed Mori-Summer was the top Reincarnator aside from the Supreme Three Kings and the Black Kings.
Even the top three numbered candidates of the Throne of Illusion and Reality, and the top three seats of the Destiny organization, couldn't possibly be stronger than Mori-Summer in pure combat power.
Before this Title Contention Battle, Reinhardt believed Mori-Summer possessed the strength to kill a Sovereign Monarch even without a [Sovereign Crown].
After the Title Contention Battle, having acquired a Sovereign Crown, Mori-Summer was theoretically one of the top three among Sovereign Monarchs.
Aside from that woman in the Western District, no Sovereign Monarch would be significantly stronger than Mori-Summer.
But right now, there was no doubt that Mercenary Tao's existence had forced Mori-Summer into a state of extreme vigilance.
Mercenary Tao... had surpassed Mori-Summer, surpassed the tier represented by the vast majority of [Sovereign Monarchs].
"That beast really has reached that level..."
The luster of miracles shone beneath Sousuke's feet, but the black Sea of Life and the magical beasts scurrying below could not receive the grace of miracles. They were slowly crushed by the terrifying physical force continuously applied from above.
BOOM!
The Sea of Life directly beneath Sousuke shattered thunderously, and his figure was driven violently downwards.
In almost an instant, he was punched downward by Kaito Shirogane.
Distorted air and fine rifts erupted instantly, and Sousuke's figure vanished completely in a flash.
A moment later, the earth screeched. A massive crater nearly ten thousand meters across burst open on the ground, continuously expanding outward.
This scene left the Azure Sky members dumbfounded.
This was the first time a Reincarnator had struck down one of the [Supreme Three Kings] into the mortal dust in a head-on battle.
Roar!
The demonic dragon roared again. The Sea of Life continued to spread, and magical beasts that blotted out the sky constantly spawned into the world.
Tiamat intended to cleanse the surface and destroy all life.
She didn't care in the slightest about the battle between two insects. She slammed her tail towards Kaito Shirogane.
Kaito Shirogane whipped his head around and also threw a punch at the demonic dragon.
Crack~ BOOM!
Another terrifying sound like the collision of heaven and earth rang out. The massive explosion, accompanied by a devastating shockwave, directly tore open the Sea of Life. The ruined surface below was rapidly shaved incredibly smooth.
The next moment, accompanied by a roar, Gilgamesh saw the host he considered vulgar and arrogant actually grab the demonic dragon's overly massive tail with both hands, spin around, and smash it towards the ground.
Screech!
Golden Ki howled madly in his hands. The light was blindingly bright, like a sun. Wearing a cruel smile, he pointed a finger downwards.
Zzt~ BOOM!