Eruption

Vakh's thoughts returned after half a second, by which time he'd been forcibly launched into the sky.

His glasses were shattered, the lenses and frames scattered.

Maintaining his trajectory, he tilted his eyes downward, observing the point of impact.

The thick concrete wall was demolished, a gaping hole torn through it. Fragments of concrete flew alongside him.

He casually calculated the force.

The blow was likely stronger than a full-speed maglev train, and concentrated on a single fist, amplifying its destructive power.

"Heh… what a terrifying punch…" Vakh chuckled in mid-air. Then, he flicked his wrist. A mass of flesh materialized behind him, rapidly expanding.

In less than a second, it completed its "evolution," transforming into a massive bird with a three-meter wingspan.

Its talons, lacking sharp claws, caught Vakh's outstretched hand. The bird flapped its giant wings, stabilizing his position in the air.

"That's a rather… disrespectful way to start, don't you think?" Vakh was now high above, looking down, a smile on his face.

The punch, which he'd compared to a train collision, hadn't even ruffled his hair, and inflicted less damage than the wind generated by the bird's wings.

"Herrscher!!" Another furious roar. Shu exploded from the hole like a cannonball, soaring towards his target.

He ascended higher than Vakh, reaching a position above him, and unleashed a powerful spinning kick aimed at Vakh's head.

But Vakh wasn't caught off guard. His gaze tracked Shu's every movement – the wind-up, the jump, the twisted, furious expression.

I suppose I'll play along… Vakh was about to say, but speech was far too slow in this exchange.

A sentence?

They didn't even have time for two words.

Vakh raised his hand casually, as if yawning, to block Shu's attack.

The instant his palm met Shu's shin, the surrounding air vaporized, creating a momentary vacuum in the small space between them.

Their figures seemed to freeze in mid-air for a split second.

But the majestic bird holding Vakh was instantly shredded into bloody mist, its feathers unable to withstand the shockwave.

The aftershock reached the buildings a second later, shattering windows into a blizzard of glass. The nearest buildings buckled and cracked.

This was Shenzhou… ARC City, renowned for its robust construction.

A visible, spherical shockwave expanded outward. After the brief pause, Shu's expression contorted further, the faint light emanating from his body intensifying.

Vakh's expression changed slightly. The next moment, he lost his balance, his blocking hand forced against his face.

Another violent explosion, and Vakh was sent flying in a straight line, smashing through a skyscraper, leaving a gaping hole that spanned the entire building.

Shu was faster. He located Vakh in the rubble before he could even stop tumbling, striking him again with another devastating punch to the chest.

This blow was far beyond a "train collision." Vakh felt like he'd been hit by a launching rocket.

"Boom—!!" The skyscraper couldn't withstand the second impact, especially since Shu's kick had shattered its foundation.

A deafening roar echoed through ARC City as the building tilted, collapsing in on itself.

"Interesting!" An excited shout, incongruous with the scene.

Vakh leaped out of the obscuring debris, landing on a nearby overpass.

His gaze was fixed on Shu, who emerged from the dust cloud, pursuing him. Vakh's composed demeanor finally cracked.

But not with fear. It was excitement, the thrill of encountering something fascinating.

Preceding Shu's arrival was a chunk of debris, easily twenty meters across. Shu kicked it in mid-air, sending it hurtling towards Vakh like a meteor.

Vakh braced himself, raising his hand.

Countless small masses of flesh appeared in the air, growing at an astonishing speed, merging to form a massive wall of flesh.

The debris shattered against the wall. The overpass beneath Vakh's feet groaned, then fractured.

But the wall remained intact.

Shu now saw what the small flesh masses had "evolved" from. Airborne microorganisms had transformed at Vakh's command.

The giant bird had appeared the same way. In the blink of an eye, single-celled organisms had become a powerful avian.

Everything in this space, except for Shu, was on Vakh's side, assisting him in his "test."

Maybe I should have used high-temperature flames to incinerate the airborne microbes.

But Shu didn't.

He couldn't remain calm. Tactics, intelligence gathering, strategy…

Who could stay calm enough to analyze and strategize in this situation?

All he wanted was to grab Vakh and unleash his full power, smashing his fist repeatedly into Vakh's head.

Following the debris, Shu slammed into the wall of flesh, grabbing it with both hands.

"Come out here!! Herrscher!!" His eyes were bloodshot. The seemingly impenetrable wall tore like paper in his grip, revealing Vakh behind it, a flicker of surprise on his face.

They were falling. Shu accelerated, reaching Vakh before he could jump away, and grabbed his face, slamming him into the ground.