On the Magnus Realm like Planet Kiligaku clashed with the Ichigan. The terrain was simply a victim. Zunan fists, each one like a falling meteor, pounded the ground relentlessly. Kiligaku wove between them a silver blur deflecting, dodging, leaving craters in his wake as shocks echoed like thunder.
The Ichigan reared up, clasping its massive hands together. It raised them high, a monstrous hammer poised to smash Kiligaku into the bedrock. Kiligaku was no bystander. He braced, feet digging in, muscles coiling like steel springs. The arms came crashing down with a WHOOSH of displaced air.
THOOM!
Kiligaku caught them. The impact drove his feet deep into the earth, the ground cracking radially around him. Gritting his teeth, he held the colossal weight. This planet isn't that big, he thought, strain etching his face. Gotta keep damage to a minimum.
His catch forced the Ichigan's descent to a shuddering, complete halt. In the pause, Kiligaku released his grip, dropped low, and swept a leg in a devastating arc. His shin connected with the Ichigan's ankle with a sickening CRACK of alien bone. The beast roared, tripping backwards, its mountainous form landing belly-up with an earthquake-like BOOM.
Kiligaku didn't hesitate. A light jump propelled him upward. He cocked his right hand back, fingers stiffening into a blade-like point. With a precise, vicious thrust, he pierced the Ichigan's huge, glowing eyeball.
SQUELCH-THWIP!
His hand erupted from the back of the socket, dripping viscous fluid. The Ichigan's defensive shriek was not sound, but a pulse of raw energy. A visible wave erupted from its body, blasting Kiligaku meters back through the air. He skidded to a halt, just as the beast lumbered upright. Its ruined eye swam with black tendrils, healing completely in seconds.
Kiligaku's expression didn't flicker. He'd expected this. A scratch.
The Ichigan's maw glowed, gathering a searing blast of crimson energy. Kiligaku was quicker. He vanished, closing the distance in an instant, appearing behind it. A thunderous kick launched the beast skyward. The unprepared blast shot harmlessly upward, detonating in the atmosphere with a deafening KABOOM that stained the entire sky a temporary, bloody red.
Immediately, the Ichigan retaliated. With sharp TWANGS, it launched a volley of its curved horns living projectiles aimed with lethal intent. Kiligaku twisted, evading most. But two came straight for his face and belly, unavoidable.
SMACK!
His hands shot out, catching them by the shafts. The force was tremendous, pushing him backwards instantly. His boots dug trenches into the ground as he fought to slow himself, muscles bulging. All the while, the horns rotated violently in his grip, grinding against his palms. The friction sent sparks flying and drew thick, dark blood. He was dragged for hundreds of meters before finally grinding to a halt, his back nearly touching the molten lip of a volcano.
With a grunt, he tossed the captured horns into the bubbling lava beside him. They sank, but did not melt or burn, their durability unfathomable.
Kiligaku looked at his bleeding, raw palms. "Its horns are still no joke, huh," he muttered. The black dust kicked up from his slide clouded his vision, a momentary blind spot.
He didn't sense the Ichigan's approach in time.
But his reflexes fired. He crossed his arms in an 'X' before his chest just as a shimmering, scythe-like energy slash descended.
SHING!
The attack connected, slicing through his forearms. Lines of red welled up, but the cuts were shallow. "Tsk," Kiligaku sighed, eyes narrowing at the fresh injury.
Another slash followed. This time, Kiligaku was ready. He leaned back, the attack whistling past his chin. In the same motion, he snapped a counter kick upwards, his heel connecting with the Ichigan's jaw with a crushing CRUNCH. The beast's head snapped back.
Kiligaku pressed the assault. A blinding barrage of fists and kicks followed a storm of impacts that sounded like a drumbeat of destruction. THWACK-THUD-CRACK! Bones splintered beneath leathery hide; inner tissues, glowing a sickly purple, were exposed. A final, spinning kick caught the Ichigan square in the torso, sending the colossal body flying like a discarded toy.
It smashed through the peaks of three distant volcanoes in succession, each impact a muffled, crumbling ROAR of collapsing stone.
It's not giving me a hard time compared to the test, Kiligaku thought, landing lightly. But it's still strong. I can end this. Just a little more.
He charged. The Ichigan, still tumbling mid-air, fired a point-blank blast and launched its remaining horns in a desperate, combined assault. Kiligaku didn't slow. He simply jumped a titanic leap that shattered the plateau he stood on.
He soared, a speck against the red sky, reaching his zenith. Then he clenched his fist. Energy crackled around it, warping the air. He dove.
The descent was a blazing streak. He pulled his fist back, concentrating every ounce of his might, and drove it straight into the Ichigan's gaping abdominal mouth.
The connection was silent for a millisecond.
Then, calamity.
KAAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The force didn't just hit the Ichigan; it connected with the planet itself. The crust for a thousand kilometers violently ceased to be. It wasn't an impact; it was an erasure. The shockwave rippled out, flattening everything in its path. Could a meteor compare? It would be a pebble against this cataclysm.
On the other side of the planet, Toshiro, locked in his own duel, felt the ground heave violently. The entire world shook on its axis. He is enjoying himself a little too much, Toshiro thought, parrying a horn with his crystalline spear. I hope he doesn't get carried away and destroys the planet.
In the apocalyptic crater, Kiligaku stood over the remains of the Ichigan. It had been reduced to a pulsing, amorphous paste, struggling to coalesce. "Now's my chance," Kiligaku breathed. "In this state, I can fry it to nothing."
Blue-white lightning enveloped his body, arcing and snapping with a fierce CRACKLE. Yet, in slow motion, he saw the paste quiver. Black blood was pulling itself back together, regeneration beginning anew.
A fierce smile spread across Kiligaku's face. "You really are the devil's little cockroach, huh?" he murmured. "Well, it's time I send you back to hell."
He stretched his lightning-wreathed hand toward the reforming horror. In his mind, the name of the technique echoed. "DEMONIC ENLIGHTENMENT!!"
A beam of pure, obliterating lightning shot forth. It wasn't a bolt; it was a continuous river of annihilation. It completely engulfed the Ichigan paste. There was no scream, only a sizzling ZZZRAAAPPPPP as it was incinerated into absolute nothingness. The beam continued, a brilliant lance piercing the atmosphere and shooting into the void of outer space before Kiligaku finally cut the energy.
He let out a deep, ragged sigh. His outstretched hand smoked, the skin glowing faintly red. "Damn," he panted. "That attack drains the hell out of me. But at least I got rid of that pest."
---
On his side of the ravaged world, Toshiro had just driven his spear through his Ichigan's palm, pinning it to the ground. Using the spear as a pole, he swung around, launching a flurry of kicks to its head WHAM-WHAM-WHAM! before a final, heavy stomp slammed the beast's skull into the bedrock.
He wrenched his spear free and leaped back. He bore his own injuries: a bleeding gash on his forehead, a clean hole through his forearm from a horn, and a series of scratches across his abdomen where his suit was torn. He was battered, but not overwhelmed.
He sensed the terrifying beam of energy from across the globe, and the subsequent absence of the other Ichigan's malevolent presence. "Kiligaku seems to have taken care of his business," Toshiro said, adjusting his grip on his spear. "Let's finish ours as well."
His Ichigan roared, launching its full arsenal of remaining horns. Toshiro spun his spear, a blur of crystalline light, shattering each projectile with sharp PING-PANG sounds. In the opening, he hefted the spear, took aim, and threw.
It flew at blazing speed, piercing the Ichigan's core with a wet THUNK.
"Goodbye," Toshiro said flatly. He clenched his fist.
The spear, embedded deep, pulsed once. Then it expanded, glowing from within. Toshiro was already a streak of light dashing away. The Ichigan reached for the spear, confused.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The explosion was different from Kiligaku's, a contained, star-bright detonation that swallowed the Ichigan before expanding outwards. This planet was twice Earth's size, yet the blast tore into its very mantle. When the light faded, a massive, smoldering scar fully forty percent of the planetary surface was left behind, glowing with molten fury.
Toshiro rushed to Kiligaku's location. The ground still trembled from the secondary quakes. As he landed, Kiligaku whistled, surveying the new, planetary-scale wound.
"Damn, that was some serious destructive power. I didn't know you had that much fire in you."
Toshiro brushed dust from his shoulder. "Well, I only contributed to seventy percent of its power. Thirty percent came from the energy of the Ichigan itself."
Kiligaku looked confused. "Did you, like, somehow deflect its own blast back at it?"
"I guess there's some truth to that," Toshiro admitted. "My spear absorbs the energy of those it injures, slowly storing their meta-energy to convert into explosive power. I'd been siphoning its energy from the moment I first drew blood."
Kiligaku's eyes widened. "That sounds broken as hell, dude. All you have to do is cut me, and you just siphon my energy?"
"It would be flawless if it were fast-acting and could transfer from weapon to weapon," Toshiro explained, his tone analytical. "I can currently only manifest one weapon at a time. If that weapon is shattered, the siphon breaks, and the accumulated energy returns to the opponent. I realized I'm not reforming my weapon when it breaks… I'm creating a new one. If it were reformation, the siphon would continue."
"Oh, I see," Kiligaku said, nodding slowly. "You must have worked hard to prevent that Ichigan from shattering your spear, then."
"Yes," Toshiro confirmed. "Plus, it was beneficial. The Ichigan has infinite stamina. It didn't detect the drain because, technically, it wasn't being drained in real-time. So it never focused its efforts on destroying the spear itself."
Around them, the dying planet groaned under the weight of their battle.