The Decisive Blow

The giant loomed above, its features blurred by sheer size, an unstoppable force of destruction. It wasn't just massive—it felt inevitable, like a force of nature that could not be denied.

Shu stood his ground. Even with a skyscraper in his hands, he seemed small in comparison, like pocket knife to Zweihänder. But that did not matter. Size was irrelevant. Mass was meaningless. Only Hope and Wish dictated what was possible.

Above, the giant raised its fist. A shadow engulfed the battlefield. Perched atop its enormous head, Vakh looked down at Shu like a god gazing at an insect. With a single motion, he commanded the giant to strike.

A thousand meters.

That was the distance between the massive fist and the ground. At the giant's speed, the gap would close in less than half a second. A fraction of a heartbeat.

Shu's muscles tensed. Veins bulged beneath his skin, his entire body thrumming with energy. His grip on the skyscraper tightened—

Then, in a heartbeat, he threw it.

The 500-meter-tall skyscraper broke the sound barrier, streaking upward like a missile, a deafening crack echoing through the battlefield. A shockwave exploded outward, sending dust and debris flying in every direction.

This wasn't just physical strength. This was his Wish made real, fueled by his Hope.

This shouldn't have been possible.

A building wasn't meant to move like this. Steel and concrete weren't meant to bend to a single man's will. But Shu didn't care. The world didn't decide what was possible. He did.

He ignored the cost.

Three times his usual [Hope]? Ten times? Thirty times?!

It didn't matter.

He was going to ram this skyscraper – this symbol of human achievement turned desperate weapon – straight into Vakh's smug face.

He didn't just lift it; he launched it like a cannon forged from his own flesh. Even if this single act devoured a third of his [hope] – so be it. Some gambles were worth everything.

The skyscraper's tip, now a spear of steel and broken glass, met the giant's descending fist. The air screamed.

A white ring of compressed air exploded outward from the impact point – Shu's signature, a halo of untamed power. For a heartbeat, time stuttered. Then Vakh's expression cracked. His smug certainty shattered into disbelief.

"BOOM—!!"

A cataclysm. The giant's fist exploded on contact. Concrete and stone turned to dust, steel twisted and groaned. The skyscraper punched through like a meteor through paper, shredding the giant's arm as it hurtled toward Vakh.

For the first time, Vakh recoiled. An instinctive flinch of self-preservation.

Impossible!!

This giant was modeled after Pangu – the mythical titan who separated heaven and earth! His ultimate creation, before which buildings crumbled and the earth itself yielded. How could a single skyscraper, this fragile human construct...

Unless...

A flicker of understanding crossed Vakh's face. He shifted stance – feet planted, one forward, one back. For the first time, his composed demeanor cracked into something primal.

A battle stance.

"Shu!" The roar ripped from his throat, a wild laugh bordering on madness. "You and I... we stand at the apex of [humanity]!!"

The skyscraper whistled through the air, mere inches from Vakh's face, faster than thought itself. But then... it began to disintegrate.

Not in an explosion, but a sickening decay, as if its very structure was unraveling.

"A thousand-mile dike, destroyed by an anthill!" Vakh's laugh echoed with manic glee as he brushed away the crumbling fragments.

And as the building dissolved, the horror was revealed – bloated masses of flesh, pulsating and grotesque, erupting from within its decaying shell.

Mutated creatures spilled from every shattered window and crack, devouring the skyscraper from within. They had turned Shu's weapon against itself.

Vakh admitted it silently – he couldn't directly match Shu's raw power.

Not yet.

But strength wasn't just about individual might. It was about strategy, about numbers, about overwhelming force in a different form.

Many ants could fell an elephant. Lions hunted in packs. The most enduring power wasn't always individual brilliance. It was quantity. The relentless tide.

The creatures exploding from the skyscraper's remains formed a living avalanche, a swarm of mutated flesh descending from the sky, intent on devouring their "natural enemy" below.

But then—

Shu raised his hand, palm open.

A tiny ember flickered to life – a spark of defiance against the darkness.

Then, he clenched his fist.

FOOOOM—!!

The flame erupted into a miniature sun, engulfing his hand in incandescent fury. Fire coiled around him, pulsing with raw, untamed hunger.

He swept his hand outward with utter finality.

And the world ignited.

Flames roared to life, leaping and devouring everything in sight.

A torrent of fire surged skyward, meeting the descending swarm head-on. Mutated creatures vaporized in an instant. The flames clawed higher, consuming even the giant's remnants, turning stone and flesh to ash.

The inferno devoured all. Buildings melted like wax, the air itself shimmering in the heat. Everything became fuel, feeding the ever-growing blaze.

The sky burned red as the flames reached heaven itself.

This was Shu's true power. His Wish, unshackled.

This attack, born from the depths of Shu's will, fueled by desperate embers of hope, was called—

"FLAMESCION—!!"

Burning. Falling. Vakh felt the heat in his very bones.

For the first time, he felt it.

[Fear]

The fire roared, swallowing him whole. No one could withstand this.

No life form could survive this devastation!

Through the inferno, Shu charged—

A flaming greatsword in his grasp, forged from pure destruction.

Vakh's laughter twisted into something desperate, a mix of exhilaration and panic.

"Shu!!" he roared, voice cracking with primal emotion. "Yes—this is it!!"

This was the peak of battle, the limit of existence! If he could survive this attack—no, if he could endure this single sword strike—

He would transcend.

He would shatter the boundaries of life itself.

He could—

Shu, a blazing avatar of vengeance, drew near with his flaming sword held high. Vakh's laughter died in his throat, exhilaration freezing into primal terror.

His purple pupils dilated, swallowing the world. Shu's descending form, wreathed in fire, grew until it filled his entire vision – a fiery judgment from above.

Instinct took over. Vakh's body recoiled in desperate spasm, hand shooting up blindly to deflect the inevitable.

The flaming greatsword erupted – not in an explosion, but in a concentrated, devastating strike. It landed not on his blocking hand, but exactly where Kiana had envisioned, where all calculations pointed – upon Vakh's shoulder.

This attack, planned by a comrade, executed with unwavering precision, landed perfectly.

"—Unsheathed—!!"