The Overlord simply gritted his teeth, and empowered himself with Dao energy. Then, with a resounding crack, he launched himself from the sands of the arena. Behind him, shards of molten glass impacted the force field, and in the blink of an eye, he was before Sam, glowing with the light of his Dao.

Sam raised an eyebrow, shocked at the man’s speed. So far, he had been holding back. He knew enough not to do so against Sam though, who was well beyond anyone else in the tournament.

The Overlord sent his fists blurring forwards, burning his Dao energy like gasoline to empower his strikes. A series of crackling snaps broke through the air as his fists struck a thousand times in the span of a second, each one containing enough power to blast through a large building. His body started to glow as his potency ramped up, and Sam found himself inadvertently feeding the man with his appreciation.

Now that he was fighting him at E Rank, he finally understood why there was such a preponderance of scarlet in the coloration of the man’s attacks. Doing so allowed him to build a sort of infant mythos in the minds of those he fought, creating a storyline for his own power. It was the same reason that superheroes wore specific outfits in comic books. It seemed that even in the Multiverse, branding was everything.

Sam coated his arms with his own Dao energy, creating a bulwark of red and blue that slowly extended up his hammer. The punches came in like a blur, and Sam tanked the hits, feeling them far more than any others so far in the Tower. His body shuddered with the impacts, and his flesh tore open as the Overlord took his due, fueled by his rage at Sam’s lack of hostility towards Glakassa. It seemed that the man was fueled by some noxious mixture of misplaced xenophobia and the dregs of fatherly instinct still left within him, where he thought that he was acting to protect Sam from his decisions. Sam had to say though, it was better than the alternative, where his father was so devoid of emotion that he would rather kill himself fighting than reason.

“Show me your best,” Sam challenged. “This tower has been far too empty of challenge.”

“Funny you should say that. I feel the same thing.”

Over the course of a minute, the arena was steadily ground into a morass of melted sand and exotic Dao energy, a fractured zone that would have instantly killed anyone below E Rank who stepped foot within its boundaries. It was a sight that many of the other challengers would have been astonished to see, had they still been present within the arena. Sam was sure that the noise of their battle could be heard though.

Both men were evenly matched, at least in terms of fighting ability. Sam was a bit more spread out with his stats, and as a result, the Overlord had a slight edge in terms of his strength and speed, especially with the help of his Dao. However, Sam had him beat in the realm of energy manipulation, and especially teleportation.

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Their battle was like watching two bolts of lightning war between themselves, one colored scarlet, and the other red and blue.

Sam found himself smiling as he battled his father, finally feeling the thrill that he had been seeking this entire time. His hammer blurred through the air, acting more like a shield than anything else as the diamond hard fists of the Overlord struck it like the judgment of an angry demigod. Considering his power, that was not far from the truth.

Sam’s arms were beginning to feel the strain, a rarity for a man whose strength was hundreds of times greater than an average human. He could bench press fully loaded semi trailers now, but the strikes of the Overlord were of a different caliber.

Sam found himself grinning widely as he took blows that would have ended a lesser man, and returned the same. His hammer glowed with light, but for now, he held back from utilizing his more destructive attacks. It was better for this to last. Perhaps he could gain some more insight into his Dao and weapon mastery along the way.

His body hummed with the power of his Dao and elemental buffs, transforming him into an avatar of battle. His skin took on a grayish hue as he entered his elemental avatar state, and his form was suffused with raw might from the empowerment of his Dao.

Trails of energy followed his hammer as it arced through the air, and his Dao began to send out tendrils of power into reality, seizing control over the world around it. Sam extended his will into the world, locking down space around himself. The next time the Overlord tried to teleport in, he found himself stumbling against thin air, unable to exercise his Dao. Although his own Dao was powerful, more powerful than most at his level, it was still weaker than Sam’s, which was a rarity among the scions of the greater Multiverse. Few choose to fuse their Daos, because of the risk of a poor combination crippling them for life, or even killing them. It was only because of his Dao Heritage that he could dare to do such a thing.

“Enough of this!” The Overlord roared after being stymied by Sam’s technique. “This battle has gone on for long enough.”

A billowing cloud of scarlet potency erupted around the man, and his figure started to expand. His muscles bulged dramatically, and red horns grew from his brow. Wings of light exploded from his back, each feather wreathed with exquisite detail. A sudden flap took him straight past the sound barrier, and turned him into a blur, even to Sam.

Sam smiled, and thrust forth his palm, gathering his might into it. A nova of roiling power formed there, and with a whoosh, it ruptured, spilling a beam of coruscating power into the world. The air ionized instantly, and the beam struck the Overlord as he approached. A shield of red light appeared around him, but it was too weak, and the beam sliced through. It was significantly weakened through, and it only burned the man’s skin, rather than slicing straight through.

The Overlord roared in pain and concluded his flight, transferring his momentum into his outstretched fist. Reality seemed to bend around it as it tore through the air. Sam flitted backwards, teleporting out of the way, but in the narrow confines of the arena, there was only so far that he could go. The potency of the Overlord’s attack was turned into an expression of energy rather than physicality as it loosed its charge into the air, and a wave of rippling red energy tore across the ground. Had the sand not already been turned to glass from their battle, it certainly would have now.