Power was being returned entirely intact.
Guts's body trembled violently.
He felt his own anger and hatred turning into sharp blades, piercing his soul.
The angrier he got, the stronger the opponent became.
The more he hated, the more indestructible the opponent became.
"Your punches, laden with negative emotions, are useless against me!" the Abyssal King's voice echoed in Guts's ears.
"I am the very embodiment of the concept of 'negativity'."
"Your anger, your hatred, your pain... they will all only serve as my nourishment."
Guts's power system was perfectly countered.
The source of his progress, the energy that drove his power, was actually food for another.
The Abyssal King began its counterattack.
Within the absolute nothingness, scenes began to emerge and twist, eventually forming clear human figures.
The enemies Guts had slain with his own hands—their wounds still oozing black blood, their faces twisted in hatred.
His fallen comrades—their eyes held no resentment, only endless sorrow.
The adoptive father who had once brutalized him, staring daggers at him with those greedy, cruel eyes.
These were all manifestations of their negative emotions.
In the very center, Casca's negative emotions began to gather.
She curled up on the ground, trembling all over, her eyes hollow. She wept and complained incessantly, fearing Guts, rebuking Guts.
These negative emotions surrounded Guts from all directions, layer upon layer.
Every gaze was a judgment.
Every voice was a blade.
However, these things no longer had any effect on the current Guts.
His heart was already like iron, indestructible.
The Emperor's words remained etched in his mind.
"Anger and hatred are merely tools, not masters."
"Your essence is 'human', and that is your greatest weapon."
Facing the siege of negative emotions, he did not dodge.
Surrounded by thousands of inner demons and under the Abyssal King's watchful gaze, Guts slowly closed his eyes and sat cross-legged.
He intended to face these negative emotions head-on, feel their pain, and transform it into his own strength.
Within his spiritual world, Guts saw those familiar faces.
This time, he did not throw a punch.
He walked up to the adoptive father who had abused him. After fully experiencing the man's greed and hatred, he obliterated him.
He walked toward the enemies he had slain, acknowledging that his hands were stained with blood and that he was no avatar of justice, before obliterating them once more.
He walked toward the comrades he had failed to save, admitting his past weakness and confessing his guilt, before obliterating them as well.
He accepted this pain, this guilt, and this weakness as parts of his life, rather than mere fuel for his hatred.
Finally, he walked up to the endlessly weeping Casca.
He did not apologize. He simply crouched down quietly and, with the gentlest of movements, pulled her into an embrace.
A powerful magnetic field force surged around him, annihilating Casca's phantom.
Having done all this, Guts slowly opened his eyes.
In those eyes, there was no longer any berserk fury, nor any cold killing intent.
Instead, there was a tranquility and compassion that encompassed all things.
He offered a genuine, heartfelt smile to the Abyssal King upon the throne.
"Thank you for your guidance."
The moment his words fell, the final barrier within his body shattered with a resounding boom.
His power underwent a qualitative transformation.
Waves of vast power, akin to the dawn of the universe, slowly awakened within him.
Guts officially stepped into that legendary realm.
Magnetic Field Rotation, One Million Horsepower.
Golden light seeped from Guts's body, yet it was not blinding.
The light was warm and profound, carrying the will of 'protection' and 'peace'.
Centered on Guts, this power expanded toward the eternally dead, void Abyss.
Upon the throne, the Abyssal King felt a threat stemming from its very origin.
The power radiating from Guts, sublimated from pure positive will, was a 'natural enemy' that it could neither reflect nor absorb.
It was the judgment of order upon chaos.
The declaration of existence upon nothingness.
"Not a bad power."
"But, all things must eventually return to nothingness!"
"This is the only unchanging, eternal truth."
It held nothing back.
The power representing 'end' and 'nothingness' was completely unleashed.
In the next instant, a black tide erupted from around it.
Wherever the energy tide passed, all concepts of existence were erased, and the foundations of all matter were shaken.
It was a nothingness capable of dragging the entire universe into an eternal end.
Facing this apocalyptic strike, Guts unfurled his own golden domain.
The golden order, representing 'humanity's unyielding nature', clashed with the black nothingness, representing 'the inevitable demise of all things'.
The black nothingness frantically devoured the edges of the golden domain, attempting to erase it.
Meanwhile, the golden order steadfastly held back the tide that could annihilate the universe.
Then, a change occurred.
Illuminated by the golden domain, 'light' actually appeared within this eternally dark Abyss.
The light was not blazing, yet it carried a warmth akin to creation.
The void space began to generate the rudiments of 'structure'.
Chaotic, disordered energy particles began to slowly rotate and align in a manner conforming to some unknown law.
The Abyssal King's power, representing 'end' and 'nothingness', was actually suppressed by this will representing 'existence' and 'protection'.
"Your truth is not the only one," Guts's calm voice rang out within this newborn light.
"Before the end, there is an existence called the 'process'."
"Above nothingness, there is a struggle called 'hope'."
His power was still advancing.
The barrier of One Million Horsepower he had just broken through was not the end, but a brand new beginning.
Bolstered by the Human Dao Domain, his power began to constantly surpass itself, entering a brand new level of continuous sublimation.
From the direction of the throne came a silent roar born of fear.
The Abyssal King's body, composed of pure shadow, began to evaporate under the illumination of the golden light.
Its supposedly void body was actually endowed with the concept of existence, and then ruthlessly decomposed and melted away by this power of order.
Guts slowly took a step forward.
He calmly walked through the dispersed black tide. With every step he took, the void beneath his feet condensed into a solid golden path of light.
Finally, he arrived before that throne forged of despair.
He looked down at the continuously dissipating shadow.
"In the name of 'Humanity', I grant you your end."
He slowly raised his right fist, the golden light around him converging into it.
Magnetic Field Rotation One Million Five Hundred Thousand Horsepower—Human Dao Killing Punch!