The shattered sky over Gota Village didn't just bleed dark matter—it vomited a presence so heavy that the entire atmospheric pressure dropped within a fifty-mile radius. From the center of the splintered rift, a colossal figure descended, stepping on the air as if it were solid stone.
Demon Kanga.
He was a mountain of obsidian muscle, covered in jagged, bone-white armor that seemed to grow directly out of his flesh. His eyes were two hollow sockets burning with a volatile, violet hellfire, and in his right hand, he dragged a massive, serrated executioner's blade that hummed with a chaotic, destructive frequency. The sheer density of his demonic aura was suffocating; it was a raw, unfiltered malice that made the ground of Sushmitha Kanda groan under the weight.
"So... this is the pathetic mortal nest that dares to call itself an empire?" Kanga's voice boomed, a guttural, grinding sound that shattered every glass window remaining in Gota Village. He pointed his massive blade directly at Rudra, who was floating in mid-air with his wings beating rhythmically. "You speak of a Sovereign Throne, boy, but you look like nothing more than a stray dog waiting to be put down!"
Rudra didn't flinch. He didn't activate his Red Line aura, nor did he call upon his five elemental beasts. His eyes remained their natural, piercing color as he deactivated his wings, dropping out of the sky to land heavily on the dusty earth right in front of the Yagnam altar.
"Pushkal, stay back," Rudra commanded calmly, adjusting his tunic. "This one belongs to the King."
"Rudra, his physical output is off the charts!" Maya warned from behind the fading trademark shield, her hands shaking as she gripped her crown. "You're in your base form! You can't take a high-tier demon head-on without your core transformation!"
"Watch me," Rudra replied, a cold, confident smirk breaking across his face.
BOOM!
In a fraction of a millisecond, Demon Kanga vanished from his position in the air, reappearing right in front of Rudra. The speed was terrifying for a monster of his size. He brought his serrated blade down in a massive, diagonal cleave meant to split Rudra in half. The sheer wind pressure from the swing dug a deep trench into the earth before the blade even landed.
Rudra's reflexes, honed by Master Madhu's brutal training dimensions, locked in perfectly. Moving with pure martial fluidity, he slid his left foot back, tilting his torso just an inch to the side. The massive blade grazed past his chest, slicing the air with a deafening WHOOSH.
Taking advantage of the opening, Rudra clenched his fist, channeling his raw, unamplified physical strength into his knuckles. He drove a lightning-fast counter-punch straight into Kanga's exposed ribs.
CRACK!
The impact sounded like a thunderclap. The bone-white armor over Kanga's ribs splintered slightly, and the massive demon stumbled three steps backward, his violet eyes flashing with a mix of surprise and absolute fury.
"Impudent worm!" Kanga roared, swinging his left backhand with enough force to level a mountain.
Rudra didn't try to dodge this time. He raised both of his forearms, forming a cross-guard to catch the massive arm head-on.
BANG!!!
The kinetic shockwave tore through the ground beneath them, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris that completely obscured them from the television news drones hovering high above. Inside the dust cloud, Rudra felt the immense, crushing weight of the demon's physical prowess pressing down on his bones. His feet skidded backward across the dirt, digging deep grooves into the soil, but his posture remained absolutely rigid. He refused to bend his knee.
"Is this all the supreme strength of the Mokura Clan's vanguard?" Rudra sneered, looking up into Kanga's burning violet eyes. "My brothers hit harder than you."
Enraged beyond reason, Kanga channeled his demonic energy into his executioner's blade. The weapon began to glow with a dark, corrosive purple flame. He unleashed a blinding, rapid-fire sequence of heavy slashes, each strike tearing through the air and sending crescent-shaped waves of destructive energy flying outward.
Rudra moved like a ghost amidst the storm. Without his Sovereign transformation, he had to rely entirely on pure combat instinct and flawless footwork. He ducked under a horizontal slash that completely vaporized a massive boulder behind him, sidestepped a vertical plunge that shattered the ground into a dozen pieces, and used the flat of his bare palms to deflect the sides of the incoming blade strikes.
Every time Kanga's weapon missed, Rudra closed the distance, landing heavy, rhythmic blows—a hard jab to the jaw, a crushing knee to the midsection, and a sweeping kick that threatened to unbalance the massive demon.
But Kanga was a veteran of a thousand hellish wars. Realizing Rudra's base-form speed was superior, the demon planted his foot and let out a massive, omnidirectional shockwave of violet hellfire directly from his body, forcing Rudra to leap backward to avoid being engulfed by the flames.
As the smoke cleared, both warriors stood fifty paces apart, their eyes locked in a deadly stalemate. Kanga's armor was cracked in multiple places, dripping thick, dark demon blood, while Rudra stood breathing heavily, his clothes torn from the ambient heat, but his gaze remained as sharp and unyielding as a razor blade.
"You are an interesting mortal, Rudra," Kanga growled, his blade dragging on the ground as he began to walk forward again, the violet fire around him burning twice as bright. "But a king cannot defend a kingdom using only his bare hands. I am going to tear this land apart, piece by piece, starting with your throat."
Rudra lowered his stance, his knuckles tightening as he readied his base combat form for the next, even more violent clash. "Try it, Kanga. Let's see whose blood stains the soil of Sushmitha Kanda first."