Chapter 39: Erasure Duel

The world groaned—a deep, guttural sound, as if crying out for help. The Doom Master stood up, his expression cold, his presence towering. He raised his hand, palm open, fingers stretching unnaturally wide.

"I don't know who you are…" his voice rumbled like thunder. "But this world is mine!"

With a single motion, he clenched his fist.

Reality trembled. Across the vast cosmos, countless stars shattered, planets crumbled into dust, and entire universes collapsed into oblivion, erased as if they had never existed.

The Doom Master exhaled and sat back down, his eyes glowing with indifference. "Continue," he commanded.

Hanz, standing before him, swallowed hard. His body trembled—not just from fear, but from the sheer, incomprehensible power his lord had just displayed. He dared not ask what had just happened.

"As you command, my lord," Hanz said, bowing deeply before turning toward the crowd.

He cleared his throat and lifted his voice. "Dear viewers! Let me introduce the next and final battle of the semi-finals!"

The coliseum roared with excitement:

"Let's gooo! I can't wait!"

"Start the finals already!"

"Doom Master, marry me!"

Hanz raised an eyebrow at the last comment but quickly dismissed it. "Let's meet our fighters! You know them, you love them—the team with the best synergy, Preston and Tildtetiles!"

Cheers erupted.

"And their opponents—the chaotic duo, KB-MGM and Chipmunk!"

A wave of mixed reactions spread across the arena as the two teams materialized in the center of the battlefield.

KB stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. His sharp gaze locked onto Preston, and he sneered. "So, you are my opponent? You don't look strong."

Preston's eye twitched. Instead of responding, he turned to Hanz. "Let's start already!"

Hanz smirked. "Let the duel begin!"

The crowd erupted as the battlefield ignited—pillars of fire bursting skyward as the duel commenced.

Preston and KB lunged at each other, their fists colliding mid-air with a thunderous impact. The shockwave rippled outward, shaking the coliseum walls.

They exchanged blows in a furious clash, but it became evident—Preston was losing in sheer strength. Gritting his teeth, he adapted. Flames flickered at his fingertips as he began launching explosive strikes.

His punches detonated on impact, sending shockwaves through KB's defenses. But each strike tore apart his own hands, his flesh and bones regenerating just as quickly as they were destroyed.

KB laughed, unfazed. "Hahahaha! You think you can defeat me?" He drew his obsidian sword and lunged for Preston's throat.

But Preston was faster. With a burst of energy, he obliterated the blade mid-swing, sending shards of molten black rock flying. Before KB could react, Preston unleashed another explosion—this time, right in KB's face.

The impact sent KB flying, his body tumbling across the battlefield.

But then—his scattered limbs twitched. His severed torso restored itself, bones cracking back into place, flesh knitting together with an eerie rapidity. KB stood up as if nothing had happened.

Preston narrowed his eyes. "Tch… healing factor, huh?"

Before he could press his attack, a force seized him.

Chipmunk.

The air around Preston constricted, unseen hands gripping him invisibly. His body lifted off the ground against his will, completely restrained.

Chipmunk grinned, his fingers twitching as he manipulated the unseen force. "Hold still, bud. KB, finish him!"

"With pleasure!" KB cracked his knuckles, his Rinnegan gleaming, as his arm transformed into a mechanical cannon.

But before he could fire—

SHING!

A bladed wind tore through the battlefield.

Tildtetiles.

With a single razor-sharp air strike, he severed Chipmunk's control over Preston, sending the smaller fighter hurtling backward.

Preston landed on his feet, instantly back in action.

"Hey, Tild!" he shouted. "Let's finish this!"

Tildtetiles grinned. "Let's do it!"

With a pulse of power, Preston summoned Susanoo, a massive, armored figure of raw energy. Tildtetiles merged his abilities, wrapping the construct in aerokinetic plating—layered armor and weapons formed entirely from condensed wind.

Together, their voices boomed across the battlefield.

"You will fall!"

KB grinned. "Damn, we might be cooked—but this is gonna be fun!" He turned to Chipmunk. "Throw me at them."

Chipmunk hesitated. "Uh… you sure?"

"Just do it, dumbass!"

Chipmunk twitched his fingers—and KB's body jerked unnaturally, lifted and hurled forward like a bullet. Mid-air, KB activated his Rinnegan, his mechanical arm transforming into a hyper-charged plasma cannon.

BOOM!

KB slammed into Susanoo's helmet, shattering the upper layer of its defense.

"Haha! Take that!" he laughed.

But as he descended, a massive air sword swung down.

SHING!

In a split second, KB was sliced into countless pieces, his clothes torn apart in the process. His body hit the ground in a heap—completely dismembered.

Silence.

Then—

KB's pieces twitched. His flesh began stitching back together, bones snapping into place.

A second later, he stood up, groaning.

"Damn it! I'm naked again!"

But the battle was far from over.

Preston had been charging something.

A glow radiated from his core, growing brighter—hotter. The air around him cracked from the sheer pressure.

"Thanks for handling Susanoo for me, Tild," Preston muttered. His eyes locked onto KB and Chipmunk. "Now catch them."

Tildtetiles nodded, veins bulging from effort. He extended his arms, and an invisible force grabbed KB and Chipmunk, suspending them mid-air.

"I can't hold them for long!" Tildtetiles gasped, blood trickling from his nose.

"Then this will be fast."

Preston appeared before them in an instant.

"Goodbye."

The explosion detonated.

It wasn't just an explosion—it was a rupture in existence itself.

The air collapsed inward, bending reality at its core before violently expanding outward.

A blinding white light engulfed everything.

A soundless void devoured all other noise, and for a moment, the entire arena ceased to exist.

The impact wasn't just destruction—it was erasure. The coliseum shook violently, and in the very spot where KB and Chipmunk had been, there was now only emptiness.

A ripple of distorted space spread outward, cracking the very barriers of the arena.

A heavy silence followed.

Then—

"HOLY SHIT!"

The crowd erupted.

"That was insane!"

"Good luck in the finals!"

"Let's gooooooo!"

Hanz wiped his forehead and let out a relieved sigh. "And with that, we have our finalists!"

He snapped his fingers. The battlefield vanished, and the coliseum returned to normal. The spectators disappeared one by one, until only Hanz and the Doom Master remained.

Hanz turned. "Was this fight to your liking, my lord?"

The Doom Master leaned back, unimpressed. "I expected more." His gaze darkened. "I hope the final won't disappoint me."

And with that, he vanished, leaving Hanz alone in the empty coliseum.