When he heard Kengaku’s provocation,
Kagu did not hesitate.
In a single instant—
he was already in motion.
No charge-up.
No warning.
A straight punch shot toward Kengaku.
Kengaku raised his arm just in time to block.
The impact exploded like thunder.
BOOM!
The shockwave sent him skidding across the ground, deep cracks tearing open beneath his feet.
But he held his ground.
Kagu’s gaze turned cold.
He didn’t stop.
He pressed forward again—so fast it was as if the air itself was being torn apart.
But Kengaku had already found the rhythm.
Twisting his body, he poured all his strength into his arm and threw a counterpunch at the exact same moment Kagu struck.
The two blows collided head-on.
BOOM!!!
A shockwave erupted.
The surrounding air shattered.
The ground split apart.
Trees were ripped from their roots.
A terrifying pressure swept everything away within dozens of meters.
At the epicenter—
Kengaku smiled.
Not a mad grin.
But the smile of someone who had waited for this moment… for a very long time.
In that very instant—
Kagu pivoted sharply.
The movement was seamless, without the slightest hesitation.
His body spun through the air, delivering a downward axe kick aimed straight at Kengaku’s head.
The air screamed.
Kengaku raised his arm just in time to block.
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet sank deep under the crushing force.
But Kagu didn’t stop.
The instant his kick connected, he continued the spin at a terrifying speed.
His axis shifted midair, as if gravity itself could no longer bind him.
Then—
A sweeping roundhouse tore straight toward Kengaku’s face.
Too close.
Too sharp an angle.
Too fast to react.
SMACK!
Kengaku’s head snapped violently to the side.
A shockwave burst from the point of impact.
He staggered back half a step.
His eyes flickered.
“…What the hell was that?”
For the first time since the battle began—
the smile on Kengaku’s lips faltered.
And then—
He clenched his fist.
Flames erupted violently.
Fire coiled around his arm, spiraling like a blazing crimson vortex.
A flaming punch shot straight toward Kagu.
BOOM!!!
The collision detonated.
A wave of heat blasted the air apart.
Kagu’s body was hurled backward, tearing through the rising dust cloud.
But Kengaku didn’t give him even a second to recover.
He accelerated.
His figure shot forward like a red meteor, a trail of fire stretching behind him.
In the blink of an eye, he was upon him.
One punch.
Two.
Three.
A barrage of afterimages rained down relentlessly.
But—
Kagu had already regained his footing.
He struck back.
Every punch he threw was precise to a ruthless degree.
Not half an inch wasted.
Not half a beat delayed.
The two unleashed a storm of blows at the same time.
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Fist against fist.
Force against force.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!!!
Explosions rang out one after another in midair.
The ground below split apart relentlessly.
Shockwaves tore across the mountainside.
Their speed had surpassed the limits of vision.
To any ordinary observer—
All they could see were spontaneous explosions detonating in the sky.
They saw the air being crushed over and over again—
leaves torn apart, rocks shredded to pieces.
No one could clearly see what the two figures were doing.
They only knew that—
At the center of those explosions,
two monsters were colliding with the full extent of their power.
Elsewhere—
Atop a distant mountain peak,
two eyes silently observed the battle.
Wind whipped violently against a black cloak.
A low voice echoed out, laced with boredom and disdain:
“Hah… Kengaku, you’re slow. Finish it already.”
The pressure of his MO spread faintly—
yet it was enough to warp the surrounding air.
—
Amid the fierce exchange,
Kagu suddenly cast a glance toward that mountain.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
With his “Miki”—a perception far beyond that of ordinary people—
he sensed a terrifying source of MO.
Heavy.
Abyssal.
And… frighteningly familiar.
His heart trembled.
“…Jino.”
He murmured the name.
Just a single name—yet it was enough to darken Kagu’s expression.
He turned back to look at Kengaku.
There was no killing intent left in his eyes.
Only overwhelming disappointment.
“Why would you ally yourself with him…?”
Kengaku wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The flames around him still roared.
He looked at Kagu, his gaze cold.
“From this moment on… you are no longer my master.”
His voice dropped to a terrifying low.
“Don’t use the title of ‘master’… to judge me.”
The air between them grew heavier than before.
It was no longer just power colliding.
It was the past itself cracking apart on the battlefield.
Kengaku suddenly retreated.
Then—
He slammed his hand down onto the ground.
BOOM!!!
The earth beneath Kagu trembled violently.
A massive chunk of land burst upward, launching his body high into the air.
Rubble and shattered stone spiraled around him midair.
At the same time—
The MO surrounding Kengaku shifted.
Arcs of lightning began firing from his body.
They danced around his arms, his shoulders, his back like frenzied electric serpents.
The air thickened under the weight of voltage.
Then Kengaku accelerated.
He shot straight into the sky, hurtling toward the rising mass of earth where Kagu stood.
Midair—
Their eyes met.
Kagu stood firm atop the chunk of land in free fall.
His gaze was calm.
Kengaku raised his arm high.
Hundreds of lightning arcs surrounding him began to converge.
One bolt.
Ten bolts.
A hundred bolts.
All of them compressed into a single colossal stream of lightning.
Blinding blue-white light tore across the sky.
“Die!”
The massive bolt crashed straight down.
BOOM!!!!
The enormous chunk of earth exploded midair.
Stone shattered into thousands of fragments.
A shockwave ripped across the sky.
Dust and crackling arcs of electricity surged wildly, completely swallowing Kagu’s figure.
Kengaku hovered in the air.
He threw his head back and laughed.
“Ha… hahahaha!”
Within the thick cloud of dust,
he believed the strike had landed perfectly.
Believed he had just taken the upper hand.
But—
BOOM!
BOOM!!!
The sky above him suddenly flared with light.
Tons of lightning bolts came crashing down without warning.
Not one.
Not ten.
But an entire storm of thunder.
Pillars of white lightning tore open the heavens, relentlessly slamming into Kengaku’s body.
He didn’t even have time to react—
A crushing force slammed down from above, driving him straight into the ground.
BOOM!!!
The earth exploded on impact.
Massive boulders shot into the air.
Stone and soil shattered into fragments of every size.
A gigantic crater formed at the point of collision.
Amid the swirling haze of dust,
Kengaku pushed himself up with one hand.
Smoke and residual electricity still rose from his body.
He looked up.
And saw—
Kagu standing in the sky.
Serene.
One hand raised high.
The lightning that had struck moments ago…
had been summoned from that very palm.
His gaze was calm, like the surface of a still lake.
Not the slightest ripple.
Kengaku ground his teeth.
His expression darkened.
He slammed his fist into the ground again—
BOOM!!!
Debris scattered everywhere.
Flames erupted violently from both his hands.
The fire spiraled, coiling into scorching rings.
He accelerated straight toward Kagu,
his figure dragging a blazing trail across the sky.
A punch carrying a sea of flames crashed
into the spot where Kagu had just stood—
But…
It was only an afterimage.
Kagu’s body dissipated like smoke.
Kengaku’s pupils shrank.
He immediately shot a glance upward.
And then—
The sky above turned dark.
Tons of water materialized in midair.
Massive torrents of water twisted together, forming the shapes of ferocious lions.
They roared—without sound.
Then descended all at once.
BOOM!!!
The colossal “water lions” crashed straight into Kengaku.
The water was no longer fluid—
It fell with the weight of collapsing mountains.
Waves surged like a tsunami, sweeping away everything in their path.
Trees were torn from their roots.
Boulders were crushed to fragments.
Amid that devastation—
Kagu’s voice echoed, calm and unwavering:
“Liên Hình Th?y [ Flowing Water Forms ].”
A technique of Water Arts.
But wielded with such terrifying control and mastery that it surpassed ordinary limits.
On the distant mountain—
Jino narrowed his eyes.
The MO around him flickered faintly.
His voice lowered.
“…Your skill truly has no equal.”
For the first time—
A faint crack appeared in his confidence.
Kengaku lay face down at the center of the crater.
The ground beneath him still smoked.
His body trembled slightly.
Then he forced himself up with one arm.
His body had been crushed to a horrifying extent.
His skull was fractured.
His internal organs were nearly shattered under the pressure of those “water lions.”
From his mouth—
A stream of bright red blood spilled out,
dripping onto the cracked earth below.
“…Damn it…”
His voice was hoarse.
Then suddenly—
“DAMN IT—AAAAAAAA!!!”
His roar thundered across the mountainside.
He slammed his right hand against his chest.
And squeezed.
The MO within his body erupted violently.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying pressure burst outward in all directions.
The ground around him sank.
The air warped under compression.
Trees snapped.
Boulders crumbled.
Black-red energy surged around his body like a raging storm.
And then—
Cracking sounds echoed from within him.
Bones reformed.
Flesh stitched itself together.
Organs regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Within just a few breaths—
His body was completely restored.
No wounds.
No blood.
Kengaku panted heavily, but his eyes burned brighter than ever.
In the distance—
Kagu stood still.
His gaze remained calm.
Not the slightest hint of surprise.
As if—
He had known this would happen all along.
And then—
Kengaku looked at Kagu, who was breathing steadily.
Then he lifted his gaze to the sky—to a curtain of darkened night.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
No haste.
No hesitation.
Just a single motion… as if passing judgment upon the heavens themselves.
In that instant—
The sky began to change.
Layer after layer of clouds were dyed a blazing orange-red.
It was not a sunset.
It was the sky being burned alive.
The air grew dense.
The temperature rose with every breath.
In the distance—
The wind began to stir.
Not strong.
But enough to make Kagu’s robe flutter gently.
His silver hair drifted lightly.
His beard trembled in the waves of heated air.
He lifted his head to look upward.
His eyes remained calm.
At first—
A bolt of lightning tore across the sky.
But it bore no violet hue of thunder.
No pure blue of natural lightning.
Instead—
It was crimson.
A bolt formed entirely of flame.
Then hundreds of fiery lightning strands intertwined, surging across the heavens like roaring fire dragons.
Thunder did not crack.
It growled.
Not heavenly lightning—
But thunder burned within an inferno.
Kengaku gazed up at his own ultimate technique.
The corner of his dry lips curled slightly.
His voice dropped—
Yet echoed as though piercing through the flaming cloud layer:
“L?I… LI?T… TH?N [ THUNDER… REND… DEITY ].”
The moment the name was spoken—
Pressure descended.
The ground trembled.
Trees bent under the force.
The air itself warped as if crushed.
At the foot of the mountain—
Panic erupted among the people.
Some clutched their heads and screamed.
Some fled instinctively.
Some stood frozen, eyes reflecting the apocalyptic crimson sky.
Online—
Livestreams began appearing everywhere.
Cameras shook violently.
Heavy breathing.
Crying.
Someone screamed, “What the hell is happening?!”
Those ordinary bodies—
Could not understand.
Could not reach it.
Could only feel one thing—
That power…
Did not belong to their world.
And as the first bolt began to gather—
The entire sky fell silent.
As if holding its breath.
Something…
Was about to descend.
And—
Within Kagu’s eyes, beneath that burning red sky…
He still faintly saw the image of a small bird from long ago.
— End of Chapter 10 —
