Continue, Herrscher

A massive crater appeared in the street. Shu pressed Vakh's face into the asphalt, grinding him along the ground for nearly a kilometer.

After creating a deep trench in the hard asphalt, Vakh finally retaliated.

A muscular arm materialized from thin air, grabbing Shu and halting his momentum.

Simultaneously, Vakh grabbed Shu's hand and flung him away, along with the giant arm.

Shu flew through the air at a speed comparable to Vakh's earlier trajectory.

But halfway through his flight, the arm holding him dissolved into bloody mist. Shu twisted in mid-air, reversing his direction and returning even faster.

Vakh, his clothes in tatters, leaped backward, dodging Shu's descending kick.

The already battered ground was further pulverized, creating a scene of utter devastation.

They'd only exchanged a few blows, and the area was already in ruins.

But neither of them cared. They only had eyes for each other.

Well, perhaps Shu cared a little, but only insofar as the surroundings provided convenient weaponry.

Seeing Vakh leap into the air, Shu didn't immediately pursue. Instead, he grabbed a section of the upturned pavement, heaving it skyward like a discus.

Vakh waved his hand again. A grotesque claw erupted from the ground, reaching him faster than Shu's makeshift projectile, and intercepted the slab of pavement.

Then, the familiar shattering. Shu once again broke through the barrier, this time a combination of pavement and claw, and punched Vakh squarely in the face.

This punch landed solidly. Shu saw Vakh's face contort in pain.

The human missile crashed into the base of another skyscraper, causing it to tilt and collapse.

"Enough!!" A furious roar, devoid of composure. Beneath the collapsing building, Vakh clutched his face, his eyes no longer filled with excitement, but with fury.

"Roar—!!" An earth-shattering roar erupted from the rubble.

Then, a massive, dark shadow slammed into the collapsing building, throwing it aside. It opened its maw, revealing rows of teeth, and clamped down on Shu.

The creature was far larger than anything Shu had previously encountered, larger than anything except… a planet.

In an instant, Shu was above the clouds, looking at the setting sun and the creature that had him in its jaws.

It was a dragon… a crimson and black dragon.

An… unconventional, even ugly, Chinese dragon.

Nearly a thousand meters long, it coiled and writhed through the clouds, carrying Shu at breakneck speed, disorienting him.

Teeth larger than Shu himself clamped down on him, applying constant, crushing pressure.

On the ground, Vakh, his face grim, twisted his jaw with a crack, realigning it. He frowned, looking down at his ruined clothes.

They were shredded, unable to withstand Shu's attacks.

He was practically naked, only a few scraps of fabric remaining. He frowned, then tapped himself lightly.

A "garment" began to grow from his skin, forming a complete set of clothes in seconds.

"Much better…" Vakh adjusted his collar.

This clothing was also "biological," shaped by his will.

The process? The principle?

He simply willed it.

He touched his left cheek, which had been repeatedly struck, then looked at the sky. "You should calm down… This isn't suitable for continued testing…"

He waved his hand. The dragon in the sky wasn't a true dragon. It was simply the most powerful life form he could currently create. As for its draconic form…

That was based on his research.

Who said mythical creatures couldn't exist? Vakh had tried everything, mapping out the evolutionary pathways of every mythical creature he could find… Even if they weren't true mythical beings, just… similar, it was enough…

Besides, he'd given this dragon his second manufactured core…

"Boom—!!"

Vakh, eyes closed, slowly opened them, his smile vanishing.

Behind him, a section of the dragon's body, still spurting blood, crashed to the ground, along with a twisted dragon head.

Vakh turned, his expression dark, looking at the severed head, the broken horns, the shattered fangs.

Then he looked up, for the first time up, at Shu, standing atop the mangled dragon head.

Shu stood on the dragon's head, stained with its scalding blood, his eyes blazing with fury. He dropped the half-dragon horn he held.

"Come…" His voice rasped, distorted, yet filled with unwavering determination. "Let's… continue…"

The severed dragon head was subjugated beneath Shu's feet. Vakh, standing before the fallen beast, seemed small.

Shu, standing atop the dragon's head, radiated an aura of dominance.

Vakh and Shu stared at each other. Vakh's expression darkened. He looked at Shu, panting and furious, and raised his hands.

Behind him, a colossal, humanoid torso, even larger than the dragon, whose cross-section alone was nearly a hundred meters wide, rose from the ground, toppling several buildings.

A massive hand, vast enough to cover the rooftop of the tallest nearby building, grasped it for support, using it to hoist itself up.

The building reached only to the giant's chest.

Shu looked up, stepping off the dragon's head and landing on the ground, watching as Vakh, standing on the giant's head, ascended into the sky.

Then, Shu grabbed a exposed water pipe from a tilted skyscraper, wrenching it upward.

The pipe didn't detach.

Instead, the entire skyscraper, in defiance of physics, rose with it, becoming Shu's "weapon"!

The giant in the city center raised its arm high. And Shu, holding the skyscraper like a javelin, aimed it at the giant's head.

At Vakh's face.