Chapter 150: I Won't Underestimate You

"Bang!"

Atop a towering mountain, a bright flash appeared along with a loud explosion, pushing forward a figure in front of it, driving it straight into the dense forest.

Dust flew everywhere, yet the flash continued to relentlessly push forward, like a laser beam sweeping across the earth, violently plowing the ground apart with the figure at its forefront, carving a deep trench into the earth.

Everywhere it passed, the surrounding trees fell in droves, dust rising continuously like rolling dragons, creating a tremendous commotion.

"Clang!"

After a moment, the flash was finally deflected by the figure wielding a spear, revealing its original form.

It was, surprisingly, an elongated spear shaft.

At the other end of the spear, Kaiser still stood atop the mountain peak, gripping his spear and retracting the deflected Holy Spear.

"Huff... Huff..."

Meanwhile, within the forest filled with countless fallen trees and a savage trench, Cao Cao stood with his feet deeply embedded in the ground, his breathing unknowingly becoming rapid.

"...Have I exhausted too much stamina?"

Cao Cao exhaled, stabilizing his breathing.

"It seems you still need more training, Cao Cao."

Leaping down from the mountain peak, Kaiser jumped into the forest, landing in front of Cao Cao and closely observing him.

"I've already worked very hard, but humans still have disadvantages in this aspect after all. Even when spending the same amount of time, effort, and dedication to physical training, other races achieve far greater growth than we humans do. It really makes me wonder how you trained in the past."

Cao Cao shrugged, acting indifferent, yet his gaze was very serious.

"In a direct confrontation, I still can't match you."

Cao Cao also realized that as time went on, he was gradually falling into a disadvantageous position, being suppressed by Kaiser.

This wasn't merely because Kaiser's physical strength far exceeded his own, giving him an advantage in prolonged battles. It was also due to the emerging gap in strength between their two Holy Spears.

Cao Cao had to admit: considering Sacred Gear strength alone, the True Longinus might indeed surpass his own Holy Spear of Dawn.

In the beginning, this difference wasn't obvious, but as the intensity of the battle increased, the divine Aura radiating from the True Longinus gradually began overpowering the holy energy of the Holy Spear of Dawn.

"Your spear must have undergone some evolution or enhancement, right?"

Cao Cao stated this guess with certainty.

"It has indeed been strengthened." Like Cao Cao, Kaiser didn't conceal anything, calmly replying, "The current True Longinus is indeed stronger than before. Many people have noticed this."

"Indeed. When you were sparring with others from the Hero Faction, this had already become very obvious. The various attributes of your Holy Spear have surpassed previous records, making it practically like a completely different spear." Cao Cao helplessly spread his hands, saying, "If your spear were still at its original strength, I wouldn't have been beaten to this state."

After all, according to Cao Cao's estimation, his Holy Spear of Dawn possessed a strength comparable to a high-ranking Longinus.

At least, among the Hero Faction, the wielders of the other two Longinus admitted that their Sacred Gears were weaker than the Holy Spear of Dawn.

Of those two Longinus wielders, one was Georg, who possessed the fourth-ranked Dimension Lost. The other was the child Kaiser had briefly paid attention to when first joining the Hero Faction; that child held the third-ranked Longinus—Annihilation Maker.

It was a Longinus capable of creating various magical beasts through imagination—the stronger the imagination, the more diverse the beasts it could create.

Cao Cao had once directly fought against those two wielders. As a result, whether it was Absolute Mist or Annihilation Maker, both were easily overcome by his True Longinus.

This proved that the True Longinus stood above these two Longinus in terms of class, at worst able to match Zenith Tempest, which ranked second among the Longinus, perhaps even rivaling the first-ranked Longinus—the original True Longinus.

This was also why Cao Cao dared to compare his spear to the original True Longinus. He did not think his spear would be inferior to that legendary spear by much.

But now it seemed, whether Cao Cao's Holy Spear was inferior to the original True Longinus, no one knew. However, compared to the True Longinus in Kaiser's hand, Cao Cao's spear was undoubtedly weaker.

Because Kaiser's spear had already been enhanced by Unique Authority, making it stronger than the original spear.

The Holy Spear of Dawn, which might not even be able to win against the original True Longinus, could not stand a chance against the current True Longinus.

"If we continue fighting like this, I'll probably lose."

Cao Cao said this calmly, his expression composed.

"...Your expression doesn't look like that at all."

Naturally, Kaiser would not be misled by Cao Cao's words.

Though Cao Cao seemed to have fallen into a disadvantage a moment ago, suppressed by Kaiser himself, after fighting until now, this man had not even sustained the slightest injury, only consuming some stamina.

In terms of pure strength, Kaiser was far stronger than Cao Cao, but Cao Cao truly lived up to his reputation as an exceptionally skillful fighter, his techniques exceedingly impressive.

Even though he had clashed head-on many times and was repeatedly knocked back, logically, given Cao Cao's far inferior physical strength, he should have long been overwhelmed by Kaiser's explosive power. Yet Cao Cao resolved this problem with superhuman skill.

He knew exactly how to disperse force, and precisely how to recover his stance. Even when he was struck fully by Kaiser's charged attacks, he could neutralize nearly ninety percent of the force at the moment of impact. The remaining power, even if it knocked him away, was insufficient to cause any substantial damage.

Every collision between them was meticulously calculated—angle, position, and even the result of each clash. Thus, Cao Cao could respond and counterattack instantly every time, forcing Kaiser to repeatedly bear his attacks head-on.

If not for Touki defense, Kaiser would definitely have been injured before Cao Cao.

Even now, although it appeared Kaiser held the overwhelming advantage, Kaiser could clearly sense that Cao Cao was calmly observing him the entire time, carefully analyzing each of his actions, diligently searching for a weakness, quietly waiting for an opportunity to deliver a decisive strike.

For this purpose, Cao Cao had actually been secretly holding back his strength, only using ninety percent of his power, reserving the remaining ten percent to unleash a sudden, thunderous attack upon Kaiser at any moment.

His fighting style was exactly like this—filled with tactics, calculations, countermeasures, and schemes, coupled with impressive technique, thus creating his exceptional, technique-oriented combat style.

Frankly speaking, if Kaiser hadn't clearly known from the original work what kind of person Cao Cao was, he might not have noticed these subtleties.

If he had no guard up and genuinely believed he had suppressed Cao Cao and victory was in hand, he would inevitably reveal some fatal opening, allowing Cao Cao to turn the tables and win.

Precisely because Kaiser understood Cao Cao from the original work and was vigilant, he was able to perceive all the subtle things Cao Cao had secretly done.

"I won't underestimate you, Cao Cao,"

Kaiser declared clearly.

"Until I have thoroughly defeated you, I definitely won't become careless."

Those who became careless against Cao Cao eventually lost—including Azazel, Vali, and even the original protagonist.

In the original work, Cao Cao had once simultaneously faced these three individuals and achieved victory through cunning and tactics—a record of absolute brilliance.

Even Ophis had fallen victim to Cao Cao's schemes, losing most of her power and significantly weakening as a result.

In the later stages of the original, the three factions—Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels—were nearly defeated by Cao Cao leading the Hero Faction, clearly indicating just how terrifying this person was.

Vali himself even openly admitted that among humans, aside from Tobio Ikuse, the only one capable of forcing him into Juggernaut Drive was Cao Cao.

In other words, Cao Cao could directly confront god-class power and had the ability to contend with it.

"You'd better go all-out."

Touki surged wildly around Kaiser's body, and the holy spear in his hand became brighter than ever, making his voice full of pressure.

"Otherwise, I'll strike first."

Hearing this, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes.

"...Is that so?"

He tapped his shoulder lightly with the spear's shaft, eyes closed, smiling for a good while before finally opening them—his eyes blazing fiercely with fighting spirit.

"Then I won't hold back any longer."

As he spoke, Cao Cao raised the spear in his hand.

"Clang—"

A dazzling brilliance burst forth from that long spear.

"Balance Breaker..."

Cao Cao softly uttered these powerful words.

As soon as those words fell, the dazzling radiance from the spear instantly spread behind him, transforming into a halo emitting holy radiance.

Around the halo, pitch-black spheres appeared one after another, encircling Cao Cao.

"[Polar Night Longinus Chakravartin]!"

In this moment, Cao Cao appeared as majestic as the legendary Chakravartin, his figure greatly magnified by the divine radiance and the seven surrounding spheres.

Then... he suddenly disappeared.

"...."

Almost the instant Cao Cao vanished, Kaiser reacted, fully releasing the Touki from his entire body.

"Swish!"

In the very next second, Cao Cao suddenly appeared behind Kaiser, thrusting his spear toward him.

"Boom!"

The tip of the True Longinus struck squarely onto the surging Touki, fiercely colliding with it.

A bold and fearless smile appeared on Cao Cao's face.

"You've fallen for it."

As soon as he said that, one of the pitch-black spheres behind Cao Cao flew forward.

It traveled along Cao Cao's spear, shooting out like a cannonball, and collided with Kaiser's Touki defense.

"Bam!"

At the instant the sphere touched the Touki, Kaiser's defense was immediately shattered.

It was shattered very easily and effortlessly.

"Bang!"

The sphere continued onward without losing momentum, striking Kaiser's body and erupting into terrifying power.

Under the impact of this force, Kaiser was blown away, the aftershock knocking down a large swath of trees as he crashed into the mountainside.

"Rumble..."

The mountainside shook violently as if struck by lightning, countless rocks tumbling down.

Kaiser's figure vanished within, no longer visible.

(End of Chapter)