"Oh?"
Kanzaki Rei could feel Akira's flesh coming alive.
Even though Rei had just blasted straight through his body, surviving that strike had only made him stronger.
In fact, his movements and speed were now far greater than they had been before he was injured.
"My name..."
"Kanzaki Rei."
Akira's spinning kick had already reached him.
"Firmament Style — Tenth Form: Stillness."
Tap.
Rei lightly touched the leg descending with world-shattering force using the tip of a single finger.
The attack stopped instantly.
The tremendous power that should have erupted upon impact vanished into nothingness, as if it had fallen into a void and been annihilated.
Stillness.
By comprehending the mysteries of time and studying countless combat arts throughout the Moonsea...
By sensing the complexities of energy through the Elemental arts...
And by learning deeper applications of "Phase" and "Space" from Iz...
By altering the flow of time, he could slow the release of force.
By using Phase and Space, he could redirect the direction of force.
An attack of strength was, at its core, the transmission of force.
By changing the direction of those forces, breaking each stream apart into countless smaller vectors...
And then causing equal forces to oppose each other—left and right, canceling one another out...
That was the foundation.
On top of that foundation came higher-order energy annihilation.
Fire and water canceling each other.
Wind and lightning canceling each other.
Light and darkness canceling each other.
...
Until the attack was completely neutralized.
This was the Tenth Form—
Stillness.
Akira's pupils contracted slightly.
His strike, overflowing with boundless battle intent, had been dissolved with such absurd ease...
Who exactly was challenging whom?
"So this is the full extent of your power at Level 5?"
Rei's voice was calm, tinged with faint curiosity.
At the same time, a fist was already expanding rapidly in Akira's vision!
How should he defend?
Concentrate his defense at one point?
Defend only the front?
No!
I need to defend my entire body!
Akira reacted at astonishing speed.
A massive torrent of qi and blood-energy erupted around him, wrapping his entire body in airtight protection.
But...
Crack!
Like shattering glass, the protective aura—thick enough to withstand the bombardment of Sixth- and even Seventh-Tier magic—was smashed apart by Rei's punch.
Boom!
The ferocious blow slammed into Akira's face!
His features caved in instantly, and he was sent flying like a comet.
With his shattered face and blurred vision, Akira stared at Rei standing calmly in the air in the distance...
No...
That doesn't work either.
If I spread my defense over my whole body, it's too thin.
It can't stop him.
Rei watched Akira hurtling backward.
To be fair, Akira's combat techniques were superb.
His instincts were exceptionally sharp.
But unfortunately...
The moment Rei had seen him, he had already fought Akira countless times within his future simulations.
Not only had he fought him, he had asked him many questions.
Akira had never met Akasei.
He had never fought Akasei.
But he seemed to have heard the name before.
Apparently, near the Central Tree, there was an extraordinarily powerful Level 8 warrior by that name.
"Do you have any other trump cards?"
Rei rotated his right hand.
As his fingers traced a smooth arc, a radiant spear materialized in his grasp.
Crackle—
Lightning coursed across the weapon, filling it with dazzling brilliance.
"Seventh-Tier Weapon Summoning Magic — Spear of Sacred Thunder (LV: 601)"
"Smithing — Arcane Forging"
Clang—
The summoned spear solidified into a tangible weapon in Rei's hand.
Back then, the Chosen of the Smithing God had used this forging technique to turn other people's skills into weapons.
Now that Rei possessed the Blacksmith class, he had naturally learned the trick as well.
And compared to forging another person's spell into a weapon, forging his own magic into one was far easier.
"You..."
Whoosh!
Akira's flesh regenerated as his body reformed.
He could already tell that Rei was holding back!
The humiliation was unbearable!
He was a dignified Level 9 warrior.
When had he ever needed someone to go easy on him in a battle of equals?
Whoosh—
He had been flying backward for only a single second!
Around Rei, thousands of overlapping afterimages suddenly appeared.
Each afterimage struck with a devastating punch equal to Akira's true body.
But Rei merely spun the spear in his hand.
Whoosh!
All the afterimages were swept away.
With one final horizontal strike, the spear slammed into Akira's actual body—
Bang!
His body shattered once more.
"That doesn't count as a trump card."
Whoosh!
A formless threat approached.
Final Perception sent Rei a faint warning.
He took a small step backward.
A spiraling mass of qi had already reached the space before his abdomen.
But it fell short by exactly that single step.
Rei's follow-up move arrived first.
From a state of near-complete unpreparedness, he instantly pressed down with his left palm, driving the Rasengan-like sphere of qi into the earth below.
Boom!
The blast was forced downward!
A deep vortex was carved into the ocean's surface!
Judging him solely by the standards of a Level 5 warrior, Akira was monstrously powerful.
Every strike he used far exceeded what a Level 5 warrior should have been capable of.
"But this isn't your trump card either."
Bzzz—
Boom!
A thunderclap exploded beside Rei's ear.
He closed his eyes.
For a brief instant, Akira vanished from his perception.
He can even disappear from my senses...
Boom! Boom!
Rei casually swept his spear to the left and right.
The space on both sides exploded.
Akira's eyes widened with incomparable shock.
"This doesn't count either."
Thrust!
With a reverse motion, Rei drove the spear through Akira once more.
This time, however, the spear pinned him in place.
His body was nailed in midair, the other end of the spear embedded in space itself, as though fastened to an invisible wall.
The moment he was impaled,
Akira felt his strength rapidly draining away.
Simply touching Rei was enough to flood his body with curses, poisons, and seals.
They spread through every corner of his being.
He had never encountered an enemy like this.
This man was invincible in the most perfect sense.
There was not even the slightest flaw to exploit.
"It seems..."
"I'm stronger."
"So... this is the end."
Whoosh!
A force of annihilation flowed along the spear and into Akira's body.
Akira gripped the shaft with one hand.
His blood burned.
His battle intent surged like an inferno.
Yet before an absolute disparity in strength, all of it shattered at a touch.
Even after restoring his injuries, his desire to fight had pushed his combat power to new heights.
He was now using more than ten times the power he had possessed at the start of the battle.
And still...
he could not see the limit of the man before him.
"Kanzaki... Rei."
"I'll remember that."
Pfft—
As the destructive force flooded his body, all life within Akira was completely extinguished.
His body dispersed and vanished like drifting ash.
"This was only a trial. I lost."
"But this is not my end."
"I will defeat you."
"I will defeat you fairly and honorably."
The ash scattered into nothingness.
At the same moment, Kanzaki Rei felt himself become a Level 6 Warrior.