New Heart Path Abilities

Once again, the two entered a rapid barrage, flashing around the room like lightning bolts.

However, the crowd soon realized something strange, because on the rare occasions where the puppet actually landed an attack, it didn't seem to hurt Minos, instead doing the opposite.

When it punched a bruised area, the place would rapidly heal, as if its punches were blessed.

This was happiness's ability, Reversal, which did exactly that, reversing all the negatives into positives.

A punch that should hurt would turn into one that healed, a flame that should burn would turn into one that would sooth.

Of course this ability was incredibly draining, and even at his current stage, he could only use it for a few seconds at most.

But with their furious exchange of blows, that was more than enough time to heal him back to his peak state.

The crowd was completely shocked at this point, not a single person understanding how Minos had suddenly become so powerful.

Some people felt that Minos had some sort of physique that granted him higher than normal strength.

But it didn't take long for that rumor to be debunked, after all the tower acted neutrally, equalizing everyone's strength regardless.

Since a physique couldn't explain it, the next best guess was that it was another mortal technique that allowed one to burst with more power then normal.

While everyone was busy discussing, one onlooker suddenly noticed a strange smile appearing on Minos's face.

"Guys, shut up for a second! Look, he's smiling!"

"Smiling, what are you on about… Wait, he really is!"

"This is the first time his face has changed since the battle started, I wonder what he's thinking about?"

"Who knows, but I suddenly feel bad for that puppet…"

…

'Instinct, you can take a break, leave the rest to me.' Minos thought, his body surging with power that he wanted to personally experience.

'Yes.' His Instinct immediately responded, sinking back into the recesses of his body.

Taking control back, Minos immediately blocked the incoming punch, clenching his fists for a moment as he felt everything.

'So this is my anger… To think I've been suppressing so much, it's about time I let it all out.'

As he thought that, his eyes turned a deep red, glowing with a demonic luster, steam coming from his nose as he exhaled.

His mind which had been tepid for so long became active, thoughts of destruction and chaos filling his every pore.

He couldn't help but remember everything, all the pain and suffering, all the regrets and missed opportunities.

The thoughts just further enraged him, yet strangely enough, the more angry he got, the calmer he became.

'To master one's emotions rather than be mastered by them, to use them to your advantage, their strengths become your own, as for their weaknesses, discard them!'

'This punch is for Tinka, Rinka, mom, dad, Ronkus, Meninka, Rubella, Beetus, for everyone I've failed… I'll make it up to all of you, even if I have to destroy the heavens themselves to do so!'

With that, Minos's fist flung towards the puppet, seemingly not very fast, yet still impossible to dodge.

The puppet wanted to move, it wanted to escape, but it found itself locked in place, as if this punch was an extension of the universe, an unbreakable law.

If it could feel, it would smell the scent of death, but fortunately for it, it lacked the higher functioning, so it only watched with apathy as the fist landed.

Like a volcano, an explosive force immediately traveled through its body, causing it to rupture from within.

With a loud boom, the puppet immediately shattered into a million fragments, which further disintegrated down into nothing.

Not even the tower could save it at this point, having seemingly been wiped clear from the face of existence, Minos's rage having deleted it.

Pulling his fist back, his glowing red eyes settled back into their original colors, the steam from his nose dissipating.

With another deep exhale, he shut his eyes for a moment, thinking back to that moment and savoring it once more.

This was Wrath, the power his anger granted him, as for that last punch, that was its ultimate manifestation.

He simply called this move Wrath's Destruction, the culmination of all his anger in one devastating move that wielded such incredible power that it could literally erase matter.

Such a thing should normally be impossible, but Minos had long since stopped questioning the absurdity of his Heart Path, knowing this was a road that few, if any, traveled.

What else it had to offer was still a mystery, but from these new moves alone, Minos was aware that this path was also another road towards the heavens, maybe an even more powerful one then the path of Nux Cultivation.

…

While he was busy thinking, the crowd once again exploded, the shock seemingly multiplied with no end whenever it involved Minos.

Just when they thought he had done enough, he went and did something even more amazing, causing them to become somewhat numb.

"What the hell was that punch!?"

"No idea, but if anyone tells me that's a mortal move, I'm going to spit in their face."

"If anything, that was more like an immortal move!"

Back underneath the tower, Asumi and the others were also looking with wide eyes, having been naive enough to think they had already seen everything Minos had to offer.

"... What was that move…" Orino said in a whisper.

"You need to stop asking that question… If I didn't have answers then, I definitely don't have any now." The Seventh replied, his eyes glued to Minos who stood upright at the center of the holograph like an uncrowned king.

"Whatever it was… It was amazing." Asumi said as she looked down at her hands, wondering if she could have pulled off such a move.

But even after thinking over all her abilities, the answer was still a resounding no, she just couldn't.

'Is he really stronger than me? No, I haven't even used my physique yet, not to mention that move probably isn't easy for him to pull off.'

…

"Did you just see that Suki!" Tylia hollered in amazement, eyes shining.

"How could anyone miss it?" Suki replied, the smile on his face impossible to restrain.

By now any insecurity that Minos may fail had vanished, Suki confident that his victory was secured.

And with victory, the cure to his disease would also hopefully soon come, and his own story could begin.

'Soon… Soon I'll also be able to be front and center like Minos, no longer a side character, but a hero, someone people write legends about!'

With burning eyes, Suki was already daydreaming about his future, his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.

…

Coming back from his thoughts, Minos looked up and ahead, a new puppet manifesting itself, barely giving him a moment's rest.

The tower seemed to be waiting patiently for Minos to make the first move, likely wanting to figure out his Nux element before making any commands.

What the tower didn't know, however, was that Minos had no type, or more specifically, he had all the types.

His Heaven Forsaken Furnace Technique allowed him to use every element, and while his mastery of most was still juvenile, his understanding of the four base elements, fire, wind, earth, and water, was quite strong.

But he had no plans of exposing that ability now, especially when his advanced cultivation made it easy to crush his current opponent.

So with a little thought, Minos summoned up an extremely sharp wind blade, casually sending it towards the puppet.

Given the puppet's realm was only at the middle stages of the Inner Heaven Realm, it couldn't do much, just gesturing up a wall of fire in an attempt to block.

Normally wind was weak against fire, and when the two clashed, the wind would just end up making the flame even more intense, helping the enemy rather than hurting them.

But this was only true if the two were about equal, but Minos and this puppet were far from that.

With overwhelming strength, the wind blade immediately tore through the fire wall, severing the puppet in two, only stopping as it collapsed into the tower wall.