Sam teleported away, but he was followed by Jakoss, who sent a thunderous right hook slamming into his gut. Sam returned the favor by using the momentum of his strike to catapult his hammer downwards, into Jakoss’ head. He felt his internal organs rupture within him, but he locked down his body with Girdings of the Arbiter, refusing to move.

Injuries that would have broken a mortal man now phased him as little as a bruise. Blood exploded from his mouth in a torrent, but he kept his focus where it was due. An arcing stream of blue and red Dao energy coursed down his hammer, and released its power onto the alien powerhouse before him. There was a thunderclap, and a bolt of lightning descended from the clear skies above, slamming into the head of Terra’s Will. The bolt enveloped Jakoss, and slammed down into the ground below, melting the rock. Transfixed for a moment, Jakoss was caught upon the bolt like a moth in a beam of sunlight.

Cavitation bubbles formed within the suddenly molten rock, and the entire landscape below for a mile in every direction came apart, shattering into a million pieces. The sound tore through the air, a noise that would have killed any pre System human. However, to these juggernauts of battle, it was as consequential as a gunshot.

While Sam and Jakoss warred, the Overlord quickly found himself fighting one of the hardest battles in his life. Only the absurd power of his Dao Seed allowed him to cross ranks in the way that he did, and even then, he was losing. Every strike from Makra broke bones and crushed organs, even with a good portion of his Dao focused on defenses. Even worse, her Dao infiltrated the wounds, rendering it harder to heal even the most minor of injuries.

They were barely different in terms of level, at least in the long run, but one was a Tier above the other. Attacks that would have heavily injured an F Ranker did almost nothing to Makra, as her entire body was a representation of her will and mana. There were no organs to destroy, no bones to break. Only a concrete representation of her Constitution stat, standing tall against the universe. Even worse was her ability to teleport. It was far more limited than the likes of Sam or Jakoss, but it was still an ability that the Overlord lacked.

Every time he tried to strike without any sort of technique or setup, she would simply teleport away, sending his fist hammering into thin air. Only when he was able to trade blows was he able to land a punch. Her sword hit more like a mace than anything else, both crushing and cutting through his flesh.

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It was an insurmountable gap for almost anyone in the Multiverse, but for the Overlord, it was one that he intended to bridge. He was tired of constantly being overshadowed by Sam, and he wanted to prove that he could stand tall against the might of an E Ranker.

His Dao was in a constant state of assault by his continuous encounters with those more powerful than himself. It was time to even the board. Sam was a monster of a man, so unbelievably talented that it would be almost unfair to compare him to anyone else at his Rank. The Overlord was certainly in the top fraction of a percent among his peers, but that was not enough for a man who needed to stand at the very top.

Anthos was the last of the E Rankers to be engaged in battle, with the weaker captains fighting him on the ground. Most of them were unable to fly, which meant that he had to descend in order to fight. They were in a curious position where they were too strong to be obliterated from afar, but too weak to challenge the man in the air.

Lao channeled his power through his fellows, and created a reciprocal cycle that allowed them to share power. Anthos purposefully avoided engaging the elderly Chinese man in battle, despite his weak appearance. Doing so would return any damage dealt a dozen fold.

Instead, he raced forwards, his feet leaving craters in the ground beneath him. His greatax was removed from his shoulder strap, and infused with energy. The weapon looked dangerous, evil even, with horns of dark metal extending from the sides. The burly red skinned alien roared, and brought the weapon down. A slash that cleaved through reality hissed through the air and slammed down into the ground.

The air itself was sliced in two, a path carved through the clouds above. A canyon formed where it struck, branching off the side of the main one. The ground shook, and the fighters felt it all throughout their bodies. Dao energy and weapon mastery swirled around the ax in a toxic miasma of all consuming might, causing the world around it to fragment, as if being sliced apart by the scalpel of a godlike surgeon.

Lao sent out his own Dao energy to combat the encroaching death, but weakened as it was by the buffs that he had extended to the others meant that he met it about a third of the way out rather than half. Still, it was enough to stymie Anthos’ attack.

The E Ranker grinned and moved in, forcing his Dao energy forwards. Just before his Dao field would have encroached too close to Lao, the man punched himself again, knocking Anthos away. As he did so, a bruise formed on his face. Every time he manipulated causality in such a manner, the damage done to himself was increased.