Chapter 42: A Titanic Battle - Grafay, Impenetrable Rampart?

Sakolomé and Grafay, motionless, sized each other up with their eyes, in a heavy silence where no one betrayed weakness or vulnerability. The confrontation was inevitable, the palpable tension thickened the atmosphere. Sakolomé, aware of the imperative, knew he had to defeat Grafay at all costs.

He adopted a fighting stance, a cold determination etched on his features.

A chilling smile crept across Grafay's face.

"Good," he launched, his voice resonating with calculated arrogance. "I appreciate this fighting spirit. Ready to get down to business, aren't you, Sakolomé?"

Sakolomé, his eyebrows furrowed, leaped into the attack. In a flash, he covered half the distance that separated them – about fifty meters covered in an instant.

A searing pain struck him in the right cheek, an impact of unparalleled violence that brutally threw him back. He hit a wall, collapsing to the ground, his hand clenched over the injured area. The pain radiated, throbbing.

"...I didn't even see his attack..." he murmured, a tear welling up in the corner of his eye.

Grafay had used his elastic arm, a lightning-fast extension, to deliver the blow. Returning to his normal size, he launched, mockingly, "Oh no, Sakolomé, don't think it's over."

An imperceptible gesture, and the ground transformed into a mass of giant spikes, rushing towards Sakolomé with terrifying speed.

Barely recovered from the pain, Sakolomé already had to defend himself. He straightened up, preparing an instinctive response.

"Killer Punch!"

He struck the void, creating a devastating shockwave that pulverized the threatening spikes. Then, with contained rage, he launched an assault on Grafay.

The latter, still with that enigmatic smile, did not give him the opportunity to approach.

"I love your relentlessness, Sakolomé!"

A flurry of long elastic arms fell on him, a destructive storm annihilating everything in its path. Sakolomé, agile, dodged the blows with a series of acrobatic jumps, defying death at every moment.

Grafay's excitement grew, fueled by this demonstration of will.

"This is excellent, I love it! Rain Barrage!"

The intensity rose a notch. Millions of blows, like torrential drops, rained down from the sky. Sakolomé, for a moment overwhelmed by the scale of the assault, regained his senses and deflected the blows with his hands, enveloped in a reddish incandescent energy.

"Is that all you've got, Grafay?!" He yelled, challenging his opponent.

Grafay's smile did not waver. "It's just a warm-up. Let's move up a gear! Chūingamu Kings Barrage!"

The density of the blows exploded, rising to billions. They struck from all sides, demolishing balconies, mowing down innocent lives among the prisoners.

Sakolomé found himself in difficulty, but did not know that this was only a foretaste.

A Grafay that appeared behind him attacked him sneakily, transforming his arm into a sharp blade.

Sakolomé, aware of the danger, struck the double's hand, breaking the improvised weapon.

But in that instant, the billions of blows descending from the sky fell on him, crushing him to the ground.

A cloud of smoke concealed the chaos. Invisible, Sakolomé was trapped, assaulted by countless elastic fists.

"Hahaha, is that all you know how to do?"

"What are you talking about?"

A voice cut him off in his stride. A hand rested on Grafay's shoulder.

He stopped his burst and turned around. It was Sakolomé, his face slightly bloody, his clothes torn by the assault.

"How could you move so fast, you little wretch?!"

Sakolomé replied with a sharp, powerful blow to the face. Grafay's neck stretched with his head, a grotesque scene worthy of a cartoon. The neck retracted forcefully, throwing Grafay's head against Sakolomé's.

A new wave of pain overwhelmed Sakolomé, throwing him away again.

Grafay, stretching his foot into an elastic extension, violently kicked him in the back. Sakolomé was catapulted into the air.

"Earthly Uprising!"

The ground transformed into hundreds of giant elastic fists, rushing at Sakolomé and pounding him mercilessly.

Yuki, watching from his balcony, was horrified by the carnage. He closed his eyes, letting out a desperate sigh.

Despite the relentless assault, Sakolomé struggled to survive.

He made his energy boil, annihilating the fists of earth shaped by Grafay.

He landed on the roof of a prison building, exhausted and in critical condition. His left eye was almost closed, his clothes in tatters, blood stained his lips and nose. Grafay's domination was undeniable.

Grafay looked at him, a glint of defiance in his gaze. "Do you plan to stay there? Don't forget, it's a fight to the death!"

Sakolomé thought, his mind tormented.

*(I have never faced such power, except within my own family. This Grafay is incredibly strong. It is impossible to approach him easily, and when I succeed, his body reacts abnormally to my attacks. Like an elastic band, his fighting style is unique, not to mention his mastery of energy and mana, therefore magic, which he constantly uses to manipulate the ground and create elastic attacks. He even alters matter itself.)*

His gaze fixed on Grafay, his mind searching for a new strategy.

*(Frontal attacks are ineffective. What to do...)*

A memory assailed him.

*(That figure in my dream had insisted on the need to strike directly at the soul and resist this type of attack. Grafay attacks the soul directly. If I am able to withstand his attacks, it is thanks to a certain habituation, probably helped by this mysterious being. I must not limit myself to physical damage. I have to go further, touch Grafay's soul. But how?)*

Sakolomé, seized with a new resolution, tore his prisoner's uniform above him. Shirtless, he prepared to resume the fight.

"Do you think stripping naked will change the course of this massacre?" Grafay launched, mockingly.

Sakolomé adopted a fighting stance.

"Let's start from scratch!"

He had a new objective and knew he would have to take some more blows.

He wrapped his body in energy.

"Energy Analyzer! I will analyze the rhythm of his attacks, detect his weaknesses, imitate his strengths!"

Sakolomé plunged back into the fray.

"Perfect! You're ready again!"

The fight resumed, a spiral of endless violence.

The speed of the fighters accelerated every second.

With each attempt to approach, Sakolomé took an elastic blow, but did not give in. Immediately, he recovered and counter-attacked, without leaving the slightest respite. The fight was too fast, too dynamic.

The blows rained down, Sakolomé dodged, took blows, learned.

Grafay rejoiced, while Sakolomé gained in seriousness and experience.

Each blow taken was an asset for Grafay, but, unbeknownst to him, also for Sakolomé.

"Sakolomé, you will have the honor of tasting one of my favorite techniques! Dragon Rain Barrage!"

The rain of blows transformed into millions of black dragons with a metallic appearance.

The blows headed towards Sakolomé, whose gaze analyzed each movement.

The first blow arrived and Sakolomé dodged it easily. Then he avoided the second and third, before taking the fourth head-on, followed by a ruthless burst.

The damage from the Dragon Rain Barrage shook the Monor City desert.

"I find it hard to believe that this kid will get out of this alive after that!" said a worried policeman.

"This fight is too fast, I can't keep up!" added another.

"Incredible to have such powerful inmates!"

"The prison is not what it used to be. Many have escaped, taking advantage of the chaos."

The police officers, powerless, contented themselves with grumbling, unable to stop the fight or pursue the escapees. The risk of taking a stray blow was too high.

Meanwhile, Sakolomé continued to take the Dragon Rain Barrage.

Grafay stopped. "So, will you survive that?!"

He observed Sakolomé's direction, drowned in smoke and dust.

When these dissipated, Sakolomé lay on the ground, motionless. Inert, dead.

"Huh? Already dead? Well done! I congratulate you on going so far. None of the Chūingamu masters had resisted so long. You entertained me well, even if you didn't inflict any damage on me."

Grafay observed the ravages caused by their clash.

"The prison is my home. If it is destroyed, where will I go? Everything must be repaired... Yuki, we have to repair our home!"

Something caught Grafay's attention again towards Sakolomé.

He turned around and saw him standing.

"What? You survived the Dragon Rain Barrage? Hahaha, you are really resilient, killer man! I like you!"

Sakolomé had his head down, his eyes closed. He seemed weak, wounded all over.

Grafay returned to a fighting position, but Yuki interrupted him.

"Grafay, that's enough. You've sufficiently demonstrated your superiority. Look at him, he's exhausted. What do you still plan to fight?"

"It's a fight to the death, I can't let him live. He could surpass me one day, and I refuse that!"

Yuki swallowed, his eyes fixed on Sakolomé.

The latter, still standing, was lost in his thoughts.

His energy had disappeared. Grafay did not know that Sakolomé was performing a synthesis of his Energy Analyzer.

*(I finally believe I understand how to strike directly at the soul. I will project my spiritual energy into my soul and wait for it to merge with it...)* An inner voice answered him:

*Perfect, you understood. Hold on a little longer.*

Sakolomé smiled, surprising Grafay and the spectators.

*(I'm going to have to take a little more.)*

Sakolomé opened his right eye, the only one that could still open.

"So, Grafay, is that all your dragon rain barrage knows how to do? We should rather call it kitten rain barrage, haha!"

Grafay felt provoked. "Is that where your weakness lies? You take refuge in derision to reach me, but it's useless. I congratulate you for resisting my Dragon Rain Barrage!"

Grafay appeared in front of Sakolomé and began to strike him from all sides.

Helpless, Sakolomé was content to take blows, too weak to dodge. While he was receiving the blows, he thought:

*(Grafay... You are powerful, it's incredible. I am delighted to meet someone so strong in my life, this will allow me to evolve. I cannot die now, I have too many objectives. I don't know if you have any, but you must understand that...)*

Grafay chained, modifying his fist by covering it with thorns. Sakolomé grabbed his blow and broke the thorns.

Grafay was stunned. Sakolomé looked at him with fierce determination.

"You must understand that, given my objectives, it's not someone like you who could kill me, Grafay!"

Sakolomé kicked Grafay in the stomach with a violent kick. For the first time, he spat saliva. Sakolomé released Grafay's arm and punched him in the face, violently propelling him to the ground.

Everyone was in shock, including Yuki.

Sakolomé looked at Grafay on the ground. "Get up! This is not a place to nap!"

Grafay got up smiling.

"After so many years, I finally took a blow that had an effect on me!"

Sakolomé smiled. "This is only the beginning!"

Grafay widened his eyes and smiled again.

"That's what we'll see!"

He got into a fighting position.

"You are finally taking a fighting position. You have understood the gravity of the situation. Finally, you are not an amateur, you have experience!"

"Shut up and face me like a..."

Sakolomé punched him in the stomach.

"Shut up!"

He struck again, propelling Grafay.

Standing, Sakolomé looked at his opponent, sitting for a moment.

Grafay felt the pain and understood that the real fight was about to begin.

He looked up, then straightened up and looked at Sakolomé.

"Good! Don't disappoint me anymore!"

He stood guard.

Sakolomé imitated him, and Yuki felt the adrenaline rush through him. He knew that the fight was finally about to begin.