I don't need hammer babies!

"Brother, run! He's a monster!" Loyd made sure he had the lead before he reminded Nick to run as well. You've got to be kidding. He remembered how easily Shadow One had subdued him when he got captured last time. Loyd didn't even get to land an attack and was smacked silly before he could see Shadow One's movements.

Nick knew that running now was pointless. Loyd could run away because he wasn't the main target but the same couldn't be said for him.

Deboning Fist!

Nick launched his attack again.

Thump!

Just like before, Nick's fist didn't make any audible sound effects when it landed. And Shadow One didn't attempt to dodge it either.

"Don't you ever learn from your mistakes?" Shadow One didn't shrug Nick away like last time. This time he was a lot more serious as he threw a fist towards Nick's chest.

"I do!" Nick smirked all of a sudden.

Come out! Silver! Nick summoned Silver out right on the spot. He needed some muscle at the moment, and there was no one better to lend it to him.

Roar!

Silver already knew that it was facing a powerful enemy and it could also sense its Master battle intent, so it thirsted for battle as well.

Talon of Terror! Silver's large claws suddenly got enveloped in grey mist as they came down crashing on to Shadow One whose fist was about to land on Nick's chest.

Bang! Bang!

The attacks landed almost simultaneously. Silver's large claw came down and crashed on Shadow One's back, while Shadow One's attack landed On Nick's arms which he had raised to protect his chest.

"Do you really think your beast's surprise attack can hurt me?" Shadow One looked relaxed even though he had received such a violent attack on the back. But the scariest thing was that he hadn't even moved an inch forward or backward from that attack. While Nick got flung away for the second time today and crashed into the same wall as earlier after receiving Shadow One's fist.

"Master! You bastard, I will kill you for harming my Master!" Silver's rage was evident as his body began to tremble and his eyes became bloodshot.

Bellow of the Dark Nightmare!

Keeeeeee!

Suddenly Silver's mouth began to expand beyond its normal capacity and released a horrifying shriek, which sounded like a thousand blades were rubbing against each other

Psht!

"How?!" Silver stood rooted in shock. His powerful technique was a mental attack that not only harmed the physical body but also the mind of the opponent. But Shadow One only suffered having some of his clothes torn?!

"Nothing is impossible in this world. Stupid beast, you can't even fathom how powerful our organization is. Don't worry, your Master received a punch from me, which means he's probably half-dead, but I made sure to let him live because he still has my fellow brothers hidden somewhere. But I can't do the same for you. You will have to die for ruining my uniform, stupid Beast!" Shadow One got a little worked up at the end there.

"Who's half-dead, asshole?!" Suddenly just as Shadow One was about to attack Silver, a sarcastic voice sounded out from the mountain walls, and from the rubble, a human figure came tumbling out.

"Impossible!" Shadow One lost his composed, know it all demeanor, for the first time. As an expert in assessing an enemy's defense levels, he had made sure that his attack would be enough to cripple Nick. But somehow Nick came out of the other end looking totally unscathed aside from a bruising.

Just before Shadow One's fist could land on his chest; Nick had raised his arms to defend himself. And although this wouldn't normally make too much of a difference. His True Emperor Gauntlets had equipped themselves and defended Nick.

'Hey, Old geezer, didn't you say I can't use any weapon above the transcendence level while I'm in the Secret realm?!' Nick just couldn't understand how this had happened.

'Yes, but the gauntlets aren't just weapons, they are also armor! And if you just want to use them to protect yourself, then you can. But you can't use their powers or the Spirits inside for attack.' The Old geezer explained.

"Surprised? Don't be! I haven't even gotten started yet!" Nick didn't like being on the losing end of a battle when his opponent was at the transcendence realm, the same as him. So, what if they were eight ranks apart?! Wasn't it said that geniuses could battle it out with someone much higher than then?! Then why couldn't he?!

But what Nick didn't know was that Shadow One was a genius in his own right! And a genius among geniuses even!

'Silver attack him from the back again!' Nick sent Silver a mental command and then pounced forward again. And from the looks of it, it looked like was about to repeat his earlier mistake all over again.

"Haven't I already said that sneak attacks were pointless?" Shadow One regained his earlier calm. But he still didn't defend himself against Silver's attack. Instead, he remained intently focused on the oncoming Nick.

And just as he was expecting Nick to launch another fist attack. Nick stopped midway and clapped his hands together.

Space Shock!

Pa!

Nick's clap resonated as wave after wave of tiny space vortexes opened up around Shadow One. Nick had guessed that the reason his attacks and Silver attacks weren't doing any harm was because of a unique defense technique Shadow One was using. That was why he used the Space shock technique. The technique's main use was to disrupt or weaken any technique used by the enemy.

Silver's claw came crashing down, same as before, but just as it was about to land on Shadow One's back, an invisible ripple began to surface all around Shadow One's body. This was the technique Shadow one had been using to remain unaffected by all the attacks. But before these ripples could defend against Silver's attack, the tiny vortexes created by the Space shock technique began to pulsate as they absorbed the energy from the ripples, rendering Shadow One's technique, weak!

Bang! Silver's attack landed solidly on Shadow One's back. And Shadow One's expression which had been steady this whole time turned into horror as he shot through the air, even more violently than Nick had previously. But unlike Nick, who stopped after going through a few feet through the wall on the mountain, Shadow One went out the other end and rolled on the ground furiously before he stopped and laid motionless. His life and death, unknown!

"Humph! Did you think I used my full attack earlier?! Now, do you see my true power?!" Silver couldn't understand why the attack which hadn't worked earlier was working just fine now. But that didn't matter, he would still brag about this.

"Shut up and go catch up to Loyd! Make sure you bring that traitor back with the scruff of his neck!" Nick commanded Silver, while he got prepared to rush back to Shadow Two. He needed to gather Shadow Two and little Piggy then get the hell out of here.

"Where the hell do you two think you're going?!" Shadow One stood up and began to dust his remaining clothes. And then, before Nick or Silver could react or show their shock his vanished and he reappeared right in the air right next to Silver's face.

Smack!

Bang!

One slap!

One slap and the enormous Silver got buried deep into the ground, with none of his body sticking out

"Silver! You evil bastard! How could you harm such a harmless creature like that?!" Nick grew furious.

"Shut up! My patience has run out! Give me my brothers back now and I will give you a peaceful death! Otherwise, I will make sure that even after your death, your soul won't be at peace!" Shadow One slowly floated down and hovered above the hole Silver was in.

"Damn it! How can someone be more arrogant than me?! Do you even know how annoying you sound?!" Nick had had it! He didn't want to use that technique because of the consequences, but fuck it! Who cares about consequences when one got pushed against the wall like this?!

"Rage…of…the…Black…Tiger!" Nick's breathing got heavier and heavier with every word and the same process as last time ensued. His eyes grew dark and a majestic Black Tiger tattoo surfaced on his chest.

"Your actions are pointless and futile. Just surrender and tell…" Shadow One hadn't even finished his words when a hand suddenly popped up out of nowhere and two fingers were jammed into his eyes!

Poke!

"Ahhh!" Shadow One covered his eyes in pain. How did Nick show up in front of him so fast?!

"Hehe, stupid! You really are stupid!" Nick giggled in a hoarse voice.

"Huh?" Shadow One was in the middle of opening his eyes again to confront Nick, but who knew that he would feel something pulling at his legs all of a sudden.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Nick didn't let Shadow One recover and took the moment after blinding him to grab both of his legs and lift him up! And then as if he was swinging a jackhammer Nick began swinging Shadow One's body into the ground creating craters everywhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Not bad! Your body was meant to be a hammer! But I only need one hammer, I don't want you to make hammer babies. That would truly be a headache!" Nick complemented. And just as Shadow One was trying to figure out what Nick meant by his last few words, Nick smacked Shadow One to the ground, spread his legs, and began stomping down like crazy!

"Hahaha! I will stomp you until your thing explodes!" Nick looked insane, and for the most part, he currently was.

Stabs of silence!

Shadow One had been using his defensive skill this whole time so most of the damages he took, although painful, weren't that severe. But when Nicks attacked him in that area, that was the last straw! He launched his deadliest strike, the killing blow! Shadow One didn't even move from where he was and Nick was still holding his two feet spread out. But…

Psht!

Nick was still holding Shadow one's feet apart, but there was a large hole right where his heart should be!

"You forced me to do this!" Shadow One sighed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"What the fuck are you sighing about?! I haven't even crippled your baby maker yet!" Nick mocked and kept on stomping the man's genitals! And due to the unexpectedness of his actions, one of his stomps managed to land right before Shadow One could use his defensive skill. How could someone still talk and move after losing their heart?!