Lyon POV:
My gaze remained locked onto the Ruler as both Rank 4 and 3 Guards charged towards me. Their fists entered my vision while I weaved through their incoming strikes, stopping my movement in a position that brought me even closer to the Ruler.
I saw his eyebrows twitch as I caught the fist of the Rank 4 Guard. I threw him to my left while cocking my head to the side, glaring at the Ruler as Rank 3’s speared hand whistled past my face. The back of my fist swatted him away to my right, and the Ruler's fingers dug deeply into the armchair as he peered down at me.
“Haha, he can only dodge. I’ll handle this~”
They kicked off the ground, dashing towards me from either side while releasing the full extent of their Ki. I waited till they got closer and then hopped into the air lightly. My fingers wrapped around the back of their heads before they even noticed the change in my position.
“!!”
I smashed their foreheads into one another, causing the audible sound of their skulls fracturing to echo across the dome. Blood spurted into the air, and I felt the Ki bursting along my Ki Channels as my fists gently touched their falling backs.
They shot into the ground, shattering it upon impact, which was instantly followed by the air visibly bursting apart as a shockwave shook the entire dome.
“!”
My gaze had never left the Ruler during the whole exchange. I landed gently, my cloak fluttering behind me as the ranked 2 Royal Guard flickered in front of my view. Perhaps he thought it was an opening, but he was wrong.
I stepped forward, appearing behind him as my lips parted.
“Pantheon Style: Ghosting Mirage.”
Hundreds of dark violet lines, containing a streak of yellow in the middle, momentarily appeared all over his body. By the time my lips met again, they had vanished. All that remained was the violent sounds of the air bursting and snapping apart as he fell lifelessly into a pool of his own blood.
“Blaze.”
The ground beneath the throne cracked, and the veins on the Ruler's forehead began to pop.
“Yes, my King.”
She leapt into the air while fanning out her fingers. Pillars of fire descended down from the sky as she manipulated the air to slow her descent.
The pillars circled around me, gradually inching closer while she learnt from the mistakes of the past Royal Guards and kept her distance, but once again...
It didn’t matter.
“Pantheon Style: Wave.”
I stretched out the palm of my hands, gently mimicking a slightly curved, pushing motion. A burst of Ki erupted from my body, forming a powerful shockwave that dispelled her flames and rippled far beyond the dome.
“!”
Her eyes widened as I stretched out my hand. What goes up must come down. What goes out must come in; a wave must return to the sea. She shot forward against her will as my fingers wrapped around her neck.
“Keuk!”
I slammed her into the ground before she barely managed to break out of my grip. My hand flickered, causing her pupils to dilate to the extreme. She twisted her neck with all her might as the air beside her head snapped apart.
“...”
Blaze looked down at the blood trickling down her cheek. Her eyes shook before a thin smile spread across her lips. She charged back in, actively combining the flames with her strikes. However, the distance between me and the Ruler did not increase—it decreased.
“Tch...”
She sent forth a stream of fire, and my fist flickered. It burst the air in front of me, forcefully dispelling her flames in the process. Blaze released the full extent of her Ki while a small flame flickered just above her forehead.
“My King wants you to kneel.”
The power of her flames more than quadrupled as she charged back in. It wasn’t just her flames; her physical capabilities, reflexes, and senses had all entered a much higher level.
I caught the fist of the previously knocked-out Rank 2 as a small flame appeared above his forehead. He flickered in and out of my view, using some sort of high-speed movement that boosted his Ki with each successful motion.
It was the same for the Rank 3 and Rank 4 Royal Guards. They both re-joined the battle, actively utilizing their own abilities under the direction of Blaze as she herself moved in.
‘...’
If she continued to move them around so carelessly, they would die from the wounds they had received. I flickered forward while Blaze pre-emptively dodged my fist by moving backwards as she smiled at her own success.
I added another burst to the current Burst Chain I was using and flickered forward again. This time, cold sweat ran down her neck as I appeared by her side. Her eyes swivelled towards me slowly while my fist sank into her stomach.
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The force of the blow shattered the ground beneath her, launching Blaze into the wall at the far end of the dome as her head slumped forward. The other Royal Guards abruptly collapsed to the floor again, and the Ruler finally got up from his throne.
“Elinor, activate the broadcast. I will show you why I am King.”
“...Yes, my Lord.”
A shadow fell over his face as his red eyes peered down at me with pure rage. Time flowed between us differently.
And then he moved.
He flashed forward, and I instantly raised my guard. The impact from his fist cracked the ground beneath us like fragmented glass; his sheer power launching me high above the dome, spinning me in the air.
“!”
A large shadow blocked out the rising sun as I saw two blown-up arms descend from the sky. My pupils dilated while I examined the red veins popping along the arms; the pure force of their descent ignited the air, causing thunderous explosions to ring out before they smashed against my guard.
I shot to the ground like a missile; the impact completely levelling the surrounding area as I sank deeper into the newly-formed crater. I got to my feet, dusting off my cloak as the Ruler stared down at me.
“Kneel.”
He released the full extent of his Ki, crushing everything in and beyond the nearby vicinity with the sheer Ki Pressure he was giving off. The Ruler was clearly on the cusp of breaking through to Monzen, but this pressure wasn’t enough to make me fall.
“...”
I remained silent as I glared at him. His eyebrows furrowed so deeply that they almost touched one another. The more he was defied, the angrier he became. He took a step forward and tilted his head slightly.
“Biomass: Insurgent.”
His veins turned blood red as a blackish hue covered his arms. Spikes ran along his skin, forming two large pointed blades that merged with his shoulder. He smirked while I took note of the change in the air around him.
“!”
He vanished out of my sight as my eyes swivelled to his hand resting on my shoulder. The Ruler slowly exerted his strength, trying to force me down to my knees when my lips parted.
“I’ll tell you what I told your subordinate: if you want to test me, you shouldn’t hold back.”
My fist tapped his ribs, bursting the air apart as the Ruler's face contorted. He crashed into the fractured bedrock at the other end of the depressed crater.
“Your arrogance is sickening.”
My eyes widened as his fist grazed past my cheek. He spun while blades erupted from his body, slicing through the air when his foot shot towards my chin. I raised my guard, but his leg hooked around it.
‘!’
He lowered it while simultaneously flicking his heel forwards. It snapped backwards, crashing against my jaw, while I saw Lissandra's image momentarily overlap with his.
“And I told you: everything under this sky belongs to me.”
I stiffened slightly, and the skin on my face rippled as the world around me spun. He had used his ability to mimic the motion, the speed, the power... But it wasn’t the same.
I twisted my body in the air, landing nimbly on my feet. I wiped the blood away from my mouth and noticed the glowing red veins popping out of the black Ki that covered most of his body.
He stretched out his arm, and large spikes sprouted around it. They grew larger in size as they reached his upper arm and his hand elongated into a sharp blade.
The Ruler swung it towards the ground, splitting apart the earth in a long line. He cracked his ability-enhanced neck and glared at me.
“You will kneel in the presence of a King.”
His Ki erupted as the razorblade cut through the air. I charged in, slipping past the blade and spinning inside when I immediately realized my mistake.
A sharp spike shot out of his chest, ripping the flesh off the side of my cheek as I twisted my neck to dodge it. Several other spikes erupted out of his body while the Ruler's blade dropped down from the sky.
‘Defensive.’
I switched to a stance for the first time. The unsealed version of the ‘Defensive Stance’ not only tripled my Ki Armour but also tripled the defence of all defensive techniques used during the stance. Unlike the sealed version that only offered a 2x increase to my Ki Armour.
I blocked most of the damage from the spikes and sidestepped out of the way of his falling blade. It connected with the ground, summoning a violent explosion that knocked me into the air.
‘Offensive.’
Much like the unsealed version of the ‘Defensive Stance,’ my offensive power was tripled; however, there was one major difference. The increase in power could potentially be increased by up to 4x, depending on the number of propagations in the Burst Chain; the problem was the recoil. My body couldn't withstand generating or unleashing that level of power at the moment.
I added another burst to the Burst Chain travelling along my Ki Channels. The Ruler raised his guard while my foot crashed against it, bursting it apart and revealing the fragmented bone beneath his layers of muscles.
“Biomass: Revolution.”
His Ki bubbled at the gaping wound, healing it in an instant before I could follow up with another attack. The blood-red veins glowed more intensely as the black Ki went a shade darker.
We traded blow for blow in the middle of the crater, sending out numerous shockwaves that shattered the earth around us. Dark clouds formed in the sky above as the result of our Ki clashing together constantly.
The flexibility of his attacks increased beyond the scope of what I expected, and his sheer physical capabilities climbed much higher than before.
He stomped his foot, causing blades to shoot out of the ground at my position while I dashed in. His arms suddenly elongated, crashing into my face as I sensed a large spike about to shoot out of it from the fluctuations of his Ki. I smacked his fist aside, barely dodging the blade that cut the ends of my hair.
‘...’
Every time he landed a successful blow, the damage seemed to stack, and his power increased further. His fist shot forward, mimicking Solina's strike as the air was forcefully pushed out of the way.
“Foo...”
A small breath left my mouth as I stood still. My eyes flashed as dozens of lines entered my vision.
‘Ghost.’
This version of Ghost no longer gave me a 1.5x increase in perception and accuracy; it was now tripled too. My Ki exploded forward along the targeted trajectory, breaking through the layers of muscles and splitting his fist apart. The recoil pushed him back as the air snapped in several places along his body. The snap was followed by a burst that ripped away at his ability-enhanced flesh.
“!”
His eyes widened as the assault continued. I kicked off the ground and used the maximum amount of bursts I could currently use: 4.
‘Pantheon Style: Ghosting Grace.’
The optimal lines of attack wrapped around the Ruler's body, forming a spinning spiral as my intent fired along them. The dozens of bursts caused the air to violently shift, creating a vortex of wind that trapped him in the epicenter.
A thick, transparent line covered the Ruler's body, shooting high up into the sky. The clouds parted as a surge of Ki left my body and descended down the trajectory from above. It struck the ground in less than a second; the ensuing explosion combining with the vortex of bursts to create an even larger detonation.
‘...’
I raised my arms in order to block the violent winds that forcefully dispelled the clouds above. It took a few seconds for the dust veils to clear while I slowly lowered my arms.
Blood splattered across the fragmented earth, pouring out of several deep gashes along the Ruler’s body. I watched the Ruler gradually fall when his eyes bulged just as his knees were about to hit the ground. He forced his shaking body to stand upright while his glare locked onto me.
“...Biomass: Tyrant.”
The black Ki covered his face with a mask that had red veins running across it in a strange pattern. The blood that was splattered everywhere bubbled, turning into a variety of different weapons. Some attached themselves to his back, while others hovered in the air.
“Prepare yourself.”