Those fighters who'd inhaled the nerve agent, already weakened beyond measure, couldn't even summon the courage to lift their heads under this pressure.
Every last one went pale, trembling uncontrollably—lambs awaiting slaughter.
"What... what the hell... is this monster?!"
Benimaru gritted his teeth, pouring every ounce of strength into trying to rise, but the mountain-like pressure made even moving a finger an impossible struggle.
"This man's power... has already... surpassed human limits!" Even Takuma Sakazaki, the veteran grandmaster, couldn't hide the horror in his eyes.
The only ones still managing to stand were Cloud, Kyo, and Ryo!
All three erupted with their Absolute Domains simultaneously—golden Battle God Domain, crimson King's Domain, orange Tiger Domain.
Three equally formidable forces merged together like a tiny reef in a raging sea, stubbornly resisting the erosion of that dark crimson tide of death.
"Heh heh heh... Not bad, not bad at all."
Rugal watched the three-colored interwoven domain, a pathological yet satisfied smile spreading across his face.
His eyes devoured them like a famished beast savoring the three "main courses" he was about to consume.
"The heir of the Kusanagi clan, the successor of Kyokugenryu, and... you, the Original King of Fighters, so full of surprises."
His gaze finally settled on Cloud.
Those eyes blazed with greed and possessiveness.
"If you three could become the crown jewels of my collection, what a magnificent thing that would be!"
"Madman!" Kyo roared and launched the first attack!
"Style 182!"
His entire body transformed into a spinning tornado of flames, sweeping toward Rugal with fury that could incinerate all creation!
"Excellent."
Rugal advanced instead of retreating. Facing these Kusanagi flames hot enough to melt steel, he merely raised his right hand casually.
"Reppuken!"
He thrust his palm forward!
BOOM—!
A tornado of dense dark-crimson destructive energy, almost tangible in its intensity, howled from his palm!
That wasn't "qi"—it was something of a higher order, destructive energy infused with a trace of the "Power of Orochi"!
The crimson flame tornado collided with the dark-crimson destruction tornado in mid-air!
No deadlock. No explosion.
Kyo's sovereign fire—capable of burning anything to ash—seemed to have met its natural nemesis. The dark-crimson energy shredded, devoured, and annihilated it with overwhelming ease!
"What?!"
Kyo's pupils contracted as massive recoil force slammed into him.
His entire body flew backward like he'd been hit by a speeding train, smashing into a hangar bulkhead in the distance—denting the thick alloy wall into a clear human-shaped crater!
One move!
Just one move had critically wounded the invincible "Child of Destiny"!
"Kyo!"
Ryo and Cloud cried out simultaneously!
"Next up: you, brat of Kyokugenryu!"
Rugal's figure appeared before Ryo as if teleporting!
His speed was so extreme that even Cloud's Mind's Eye could only capture a series of afterimages!
"Kaiser Wave!"
Rugal brought both hands together before his chest. A dark-gold energy sphere instantly coalesced—larger than Ryo's "Haoh Shoukou Ken," denser, saturated with destructive intent.
At point-blank range, it blasted toward Ryo's chest!
"Haoh Shoukou Ken!"
With no room to dodge, Ryo could only roar and unleash his most powerful technique to meet it head-on!
Orange tiger versus dark-gold emperor—the collision was instant!
But the outcome was utterly one-sided!
Ryo's "Haoh Shoukou Ken" shattered before that "imperial" sphere like a fragile glass ball, obliterated in an instant!
"Pfft—!"
Ryo spewed blood, flying backward like a kite with its string cut, carving a long furrow into the deck.
In a flash of lightning and flint, two peak fighters on par with Cloud—Kyo Kusanagi and Ryo Sakazaki—had both been wounded!
The entire deck fell into deathly silence.
Every heart present was utterly consumed by the emotion known as "despair."
Too strong...
This man called Rugal was strong as a god-devil!
"Haah..."
Rugal looked at the two fallen figures, shaking his head in disappointment, his expression one of waning interest.
"How... utterly disappointing."
His tone dripped with the detached indifference of a deity looking down from above.
"I thought you, who pushed those other fighters to such extremes, might provide me with even a sliver of surprise."
"Yet in the end... nothing special."
"The world's strongest fighters? Heh, what a joke."
His gaze finally settled on Cloud—the only one still standing, his expression deadly serious.
"Now, only you remain, Original King of Fighters."
"Will you... kneel obediently and become my most perfect collectible? Or will you... attempt the same pointless, pathetic resistance as they did?"
Facing Rugal's godlike, condescending stare, Cloud's heart grew unexpectedly calm.
He glanced at the familiar faces collapsed behind him—Robert struggling desperately, Mai unconscious, Yuri's eyes filled with terror and defiance...
He knew he couldn't lose.
If he lost, everyone here would die.
And he would lose everything he'd gained in this world.
"Whether resistance is meaningless or not... isn't for you to decide."
Cloud slowly raised his head. In those eyes blazing with golden flames, there wasn't a trace of fear—only madness and fighting spirit as deep and fathomless as an abyss!
(Note: Compared to the manga, the novel has powered up Rugal significantly, thereby weakening Kyo Kusanagi, Ryo Sakazaki, and others. This is for plot purposes—to force the protagonist's magnificent transformation. Please understand!)
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