It wasn’t hard to catch up to the new monster through the passageways connected inside the subway station.
Of course, if this had been me from a few dozen minutes ago, it would have been different. I would have definitely lost him.
His speed had increased even more than before.
And the passageways were twisted and tangled everywhere, branching out like the fine roots of a tree.
In fact, I had already lost the self-proclaimed monster human.
Still, it didn’t seem like the monsters were taking him away to kill him, so that was fine.
...Was it?
No.
Something felt off...
...More than that, wiping this place out seemed like the higher priority.
Unintentionally, this place looked like a hideout where monsters had gathered.
Yeah, maybe this was the Monster Association Gouketsu had talked about.
Whatever.
Either way, the fact that it was crawling with monsters didn’t change.
So.
Should I just kill them all?
First, I’d tear apart this annoying new monster.
Just because you got faster and the passages got more complicated didn’t mean...
it meant I couldn’t catch you while my power was exploding upward in real time.
Maybe because I was still absorbing that finger of unknown ownership, I could clearly feel my strength growing in real time.
The same went for speed and psychic power.
That was why catching the new monster didn’t take long at all.
How many times had I killed him now?
About six times?
This guy’s ability was definitely insane.
Coming back to life stronger after dying? What kind of cheat skill was that?
...Well, I was a cheat too, if you wanted to put it that way.
With those idle thoughts, I grabbed him with both hands as he smashed through a wall and burst out into some huge open space, then tore him apart like paper.
And then.
Out of nowhere, an intensely blinding laser show slammed into me.
"Ghk?!"
I didn’t even have time to dodge.
Thinking about it calmly, I should have just used [Warp], but...
it happened too fast for me to get that far.
The thought that I was going to die flashed through my head for an instant.
...But.
My body was already betting on survival.
I took the blast head-on, but I held out with hardening and density control.
...The impact was so tremendous that my mind flew somewhere and came back in an instant.
I was pushed back, pushed back again, and slammed into something.
When I checked the hot substance covering my body, it was boiling magma.
Instead of melting, my body felt warm, like I’d been soaking in a hot spring.
...I really was a monster now.
With that self-mocking thought, I leaped up and climbed back through the several-kilometer tunnel created by that sudden attack.
A gigantic monster came into view.
After just seeing a giant centipede, I didn’t really feel much from the size alone.
I immediately collided fists with the huge monster that had suddenly appeared.
And I knew right away.
This thing.
It was insanely strong.
Even after getting this much stronger, I could still feel the limit of my output in a power clash.
This was definitely the boss.
Good.
Let’s kill it.
This one too.
And then.
Everything alive up above.
Because.
{That is only natural.}
Repeating that to myself, I lunged at the thing as it fell through the hole bored into the ground.
A giant fist made of multiple coiled-together serpents came flying at me.
I coated my own fist with psychic power and threw it out with full force.
Fist against fist split the air.
Boom
KWAaaaaang!!!
Kwakakakakakakakakakakak!!!
The sound burst out a beat late, and the circular shockwave born between us shredded the battlefield above and below as it surged onward.
In the middle of it, dozens of flashes erupted as blow after blow collided.
Dozens of killing techniques packed into each strike crashed together, tearing through the walls, ceiling, and floor of the ruins.
In the battlefield that was gradually losing shape, one strike after another came rushing in.
I slipped one away and threw a blow.
Blocked, then countered.
Dodged, then slammed down.
My body split into several streams to let the attack pass through, then instantly gathered again and fired off four consecutive blows.
The destructive force flying out of that clash cut through the air.
Faster than the sound of collapse coming from behind, I rushed in and buried a fist in its solar plexus.
The massive body was shoved back by the impact, smashing through a wall and punching a giant hole in it.
Another follow-up strike came flying in, but a huge knee shot upward even faster and slammed the white figure into the ceiling.
Immediately after, I slipped in with clean, wasted motion and fired a fist strike.
It was a fake.
As the tail I’d transformed and detached exploded, a spinning kick came flying from behind it.
The horn that had turned into a dragon’s head swung in response, and the two sides exploded against each other and were pushed back.
[HP:10000/50000 (increasing)]
"...Hoo."
I’d expected it to be strong.
But this strong?
My HP recovery was gradually slowing down.
Even after such a massive power-up, we were evenly matched.
Before that, I might have been crushed outright.
In raw strength, the difference in build was probably enough to put me slightly at a disadvantage.
My durability was a little lower too.
And its talent and control, which were beyond astonishing and into the realm of absurd, might have been a step above mine as well.
But.
There was nothing else where I had to fall behind.
My speed was about the same, and overall offense and defense were nearly equal.
My durability was definitely worse, but now my rapid regeneration, where even if an arm was cut off it would grow back as if nothing had happened, was superior.
As for special abilities... I definitely had plenty, but I had a strong feeling the other side was hiding several things too.
...Come to think of it.
There was this too.
[Light Bullet]
Why hadn’t I been using it?
I wasn’t sure, but from now on, I might as well.
As the recoil from another exchange widened the distance between us to an awkward gap, I raised my index finger and pointed it at Orochi.
A sphere of light formed on my fingertip.
At the same time, the other side unravelled one of its arms into countless serpents and fired off several heat rays, each one carrying tremendous power.
I realized that if I fired the sphere as it was, it would definitely burst apart.
It wasn’t a matter of power or output. It was a matter of density.
Then.
I just had to condense mine too.
Compress, compress.
Compress it to the limit, then fire it as a single stream, like punching a hole in a water balloon packed to the brim.
[Light Bullet]
-Laser Ver.
My laser pierced through the heat rays and surged forward.
But it never reached its target.
The thing quickly unwound its body and dodged the laser.
The beam melted the ruins’ innocent wall, stretching deeper and deeper into the abyss before vanishing somewhere.
But in that instant, its offense and defense had both dropped sharply.
In that opening, I accelerated my body with psychic power and charged in.
In my head, I clearly pictured two movements at once.
I layered a blue current over my smoothly extending right hand.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Psychic Collapse Fist
At the same time, I threw out my left fist, muscles compressed to the limit and loaded like a bullet.
[Seomin Bloodline Martial Arts]
The two fist strikes shot toward the seemingly empty abdomen.
But.
{Too soft.}
Orochi’s response was just as fast once it noticed that.
Its body twisted and contorted strangely around the center of its abdomen, and in an instant its upper body burst out from the abdomen.
It unraveled both arms into serpents and applied smooth, flowing movement to dozens of fists.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Water Flowing Formation
The dozens of redirections sent my two strikes curving up into the air in an instant, making three craters in the ceiling they never even touched.
Of course, that left my guard completely empty.
Through the gap between my spread arms, four dragon heads that had transformed from the horns on Orochi’s head surged in for a surprise attack.
The moment I realized it, I stretched the fist already reaching out into the air and bent it long and flexibly, firing it at the dragon heads like the horns had done before.
{Here...}
It was too late to realize it had been a feint.
Just before reaching my fist and colliding, the four dragon heads instantly split apart again, dodging the fist and flying in.
While my strike cut through empty air, both my arms and both my legs were firmly bitten by the dragon heads.
Before I could even resist, Orochi’s giant hand, reformed once more, jabbed in with a spear-hand strike.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Tooth Piercing Finger
If that hit me, it would be dangerous.
Of course, I had no intention of taking it.
I smoothly bent and twisted the limbs that had been firmly seized, slipping out of the hold.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
Arrange.
-Weak Hands Gain Strength, Lose Water
As I slipped out like liquid, the spear-hand strike loaded with weight was already right in front of me.
I stretched my body as thin as a thread with body transformation and climbed up the arm like a snake.
I released the compressed psychic power.
Then I surged forward and drove a straight punch into its face.
[Snake Bite Fist]
Did it hit?
No, it didn’t.
Of course not. Before it could even land, the thing responded, and instead I was bound by its arm.
As the constriction began to tighten, I quickly used [Weak Hands Gain Strength, Lose Water].
I slipped away as planned.
...Or so I thought, but its arm also flowed with me and restrained me.
In the end, my body froze in place.
This was... no way.
...I see.
That was my mistake.
I had the absurd illusion that there would be a triumphant smile under its mask.
It had created the perfect counter to [Weak Hands Gain Strength, Lose Water] in the middle of those exchanges.
I realized that ridiculous fact.
{Got you... khh...}
As if it had aimed for this from the start, it mixed countless techniques into a single fist strike and hurled it at me.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Water Flowing Formation
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Tooth Piercing Finger
[Snake Bite Fist]
[Whirlwind Iron Severing Fist]
.
.
.
.
.
.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Psychic Collapse Fist
[Gouketsu Style]
-Diamond Collapse Fist
[Thunderous Qi Splitting Fist]
So it really had been aiming for this moment from the beginning.
Bound tightly by Orochi’s arm, I had no way to evade.
I could probably escape in about 1.2 seconds, but its strike was faster than that.
I could feel it had forced all its strength into that blow.
{I was definitely enjoying myself... The emotions that had been hidden beneath the thick fog seem to be coming back to life now....}
There was no way to slip away, and no way to dodge.
No matter where or how I escaped, that strike would probably chase me to the end.
Yeah.
So.
{It’s over. Now die as my sacrifice-}
I’d been aiming for this too.
The reason I’d saved [Warp] until now was for this.
Ever since I fell into these ruins, I’d been waiting for the moment you’d make the mistake of going all out.
You should have chosen to hurt me with a half-baked fist strike instead of going all out.
[Warp]
The sensation of the world turning over.
As I warped to Orochi’s side in an instant, the balance of its massive body wavered for just a moment.
{...I, missed the mov-}
That brief opening, not even a full second, was enough.
[Skills (23/25): [Super Instinct] LV9, [Quiet Footsteps] LV8, [Sharp Claws] LV9, [Tough Teeth] LV9, [Tail Severing] LV4, [Hardening] LV8, [Super Regeneration] LV9, [Concealment] LV6, [Impact Absorption] LV7, [Might] LV8, [Instant Acceleration] LV8, [Body Transformation] LV9, [Tracking] LV4, [Warp] LV7, [Strong Acidic Body Fluid] LV3, [Light Bullet] LV1, [Psychic Power] LV8, [Pressure of the Strong] LV1, [Density Control] LV2, [Unbreakable Will] LV1, [ㅁㅌㅇ릭 ㅂ스트 (acquiring), [ㅂ성 포ㅎ포 (acquiring), [Resurrection] LV1]
[Instant Acceleration]
As I accelerated my body, the world seemed to slow down.
Even Orochi, who had just been trading blows with me, now looked slow.
I leisurely canceled the activation of [Snake Bite Fist] and dodged the strike.
And then.
[Psychic Power]
I drew out the psychic power throughout my entire body.
I threw everything in here, leaving only the minimum behind.
Without hesitation, I warped.
A strike from Orochi’s side.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Tooth Piercing Finger
A sharp strike like wind from the opposite side.
[Whirlwind Iron Severing Fist]
Falling from above like an arrow, I brought my full strength down on its head.
[Hardening LV8]
[Gouketsu Style]
-Diamond Iron Hammer
I slammed a direct downward blow into its face.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
-Instant Body Step
Arrange.
-Rock-Shattering Flowing Leg
A powerful rotating straight punch to the abdomen.
[Dark Body Fist]
A strike that curved sharply like a serpent’s fangs into its back.
[Snake Bite Fist]
And then another strike.
[Gouketsu Style]
-Diamond Collapse Fist
Another strike.
[Super Spin Screw Punch]
In the world slowed almost to a stop, I dodged Orochi’s fist as it tried to counterattack.
{K...ghk...!}
Another strike.
I buried a punch between the heat rays flying everywhere after failing to find a target.
And then.
For the ninth strike that followed,
I took a deep breath in and out, and packed multiple movements into a single blow.
[Hyper Karate]
[Long Spirit Fist]
[Hokuto Style]
[Snake Bite Fist]
[Thunder Thunder Fist]
[Bazzz Nuclear Fist]
[Water Striking Wave Art]
[Sunflower Dojo’s Gentle Self-Defense Technique]
[Giant Beast Style Crushing Method]
[Seomin Bloodline Martial Arts]
[Giga Pro Wrestling]
[Nigamushi Style Fist Technique]
[Headlong Charge Fist]
[Dark Body Fist]
Arrange.
[The Super Fighting Punch]
A dizzying fist strike landed.
Before the thing could even spit out blood.
The final, tenth strike.
I brought both hands together and spun them.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist in one hand.
Whirlwind Iron Severing Fist in the other.
[Thunderous Qi Splitting Fist]
And thus the tenth strike was complete.
[Combined Ten-Strike Shattering Collapse Longevity Fist]
-Collaboration Ver.
Blood of a strange color sprayed from all over Orochi’s body as its figure twisted violently.
But it wasn’t over.
The final strike.
In the world that was starting to speed up again.
Orochi, collapsing under the impact, opened mouths all over its body and fired off heat rays at tremendous output.
It was the strongest strike I had seen so far.
At that level, it would probably drill straight through the bedrock below.
No.
Was that really the strongest strike ever?
There was no way.
The strike I had seen that day, when I felt despair from a crushing lack of power.
The strike that blew a dragon apart in one hit.
I imagined what it would look like if that blow were filled with true intent.
I couldn’t even begin to measure it.
So.
I’d imitate it.
Just like when I first used this technique.
Normally, I shouldn’t be using this technique.
But if the target was someone like Orochi, who couldn’t evade it now...
it was more than enough.
Calmly.
Fast, but not rushed.
I poured all my power into the fist as it hardened.
I condensed the impacts absorbed through [Impact Absorption].
I stepped back with my right leg.
I stretched my left leg forward.
I pulled my right arm back as far as it would go.
I dumped every stat that had kept rising into that one strike.
My strongest.
Literally everything, poured into a single blow meant only to destroy, smash, and bring down everything in front of me.
[Flowing Serpent Bite Killing Fist]
100%.
I sent it out as a single beam of light.
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