Chapter 43: Clash of Storms (Patreon)

Rumble—

The sea of lightning quickly dissipated, revealing Verethragna standing amidst the fading electric glow. Sparks crackled across his body as remnants of the thunderstorm slithered off his skin. It seemed he had used the authority of the Goat to neutralize Haru’s storm.

But being struck head-on by countless lightning bolts had left even the undefeated God of War looking somewhat disheveled.

Not charred, but certainly—dusty, grimy, embarrassed—though he soon recovered his composure.

“Not bad. Then try this ability of mine!”

“I am the strongest, the one who seizes all victories!
I shall thwart all enemies!
Therefore—I shall break every foe standing in my way!”

Having endured Haru’s thunderous assault, Verethragna naturally wouldn’t keep playing defense.

His form abruptly dissolved into a roaring gust of wind.

The berserk, wrathful gale swelled into a giant tornado that pierced the sky and drilled into the earth, swallowing Haru whole.

The earlier lightning barrage had already told Verethragna that Haru possessed lightning authority. Thus, Youth and Goat, which specialized in manipulation or suppression, were useless.

So he shifted to a new authority—Strong Wind.

This was the same authority he used earlier to reclaim all his incarnations. A divine wind sharp enough to trap or tear apart enemies.

Even enormous divine beasts were shredded by it.

The old battlefield, already widened and warped by Haru’s fight with Melqart, was reshaped once more as the tornado raged.

But this time, it didn’t merely lift objects into the air. It dragged them in—stones, earth, even chunks of terrain—and shredded them mercilessly.

At the very center stood Haru, his cursed energy erupting like a pillar of flame, resisting the distortion and destruction of the tornado.

“Strong Wind, huh.”

The entire tornado was the embodiment of Verethragna’s authority, the god’s true body shifting unpredictably within the chaos.

Faced with this, Haru would never simply wait.

He answered with poison against poison—raising his voice in command.

Whoosh—

A second tornado formed instantly, erupting at Haru’s feet and spiraling upward, clashing violently with Verethragna’s storm.

Two tornadoes collided, merged, tore apart, and devoured each other. Lightning flickered between them, creating a scene that resembled a natural disaster magnified a hundredfold.

The clash continued until the two storms finally canceled out.

As the winds dissipated, Verethragna’s youthful form reassembled. He frowned, already considering what authority to use next—

But Haru’s figure vanished.

In the next heartbeat, he appeared right in front of Verethragna, unleashing a palm strike wrapped in the fierce arc of a dragon-shaped phantom.

The sheer force behind the strike carried a bone-chilling pressure capable of shattering divine tools—power enough to kill a god outright.

Verethragna’s pupils constricted sharply. He swung his golden sword to counter.

As the undefeated God of War—god of battle and swordsmanship—his close-quarters combat was anything but weak. Even without authorities, he was a master of the martial path.

Previously, he had defeated Erica, a Great Knight, using nothing more than a thin tree branch.

But this time, facing Haru, his posture was no longer relaxed or playful—it was focused, wary, serious.

Bam! Bam! Bam!—

The air filled with flashes of steel and bursts of power as the two combatants clashed midair.

Sword arcs gleamed. Palm winds sliced. Fist shadows burst. Energy waves rippled across the battlefield.

Even their aftershocks carved deep trenches into the earth, blasting out craters and enormous palm-shaped depressions.

Though their bodies were far smaller than Melqart’s colossal form, the sheer intensity of this battle eclipsed the previous one.

In truth, Haru’s earlier fight had been less of a “battle” and more of an overwhelming blitz.

By burning every drop of cursed energy he possessed, he had multiplied his strength dozens of times and struck Melqart down in one decisive blow.

Melqart simply hadn’t expected such an eruption from the start. Had he dodged or prepared, the fight would have been far different.

But now—

Haru and Verethragna traded blows as equals. Every strike shook the sky.

This back-and-forth exchange continued until Haru completed the entire set of the “Flying Dragon Twelve Divine Palms,” growing more proficient with each movement and gaining finer control over his authorities.

Only then did he alter his technique—switching from palm to claw—lunging forward with razor-sharp precision toward Verethragna.

Verethragna’s eyes narrowed sharply. Instinct screamed danger.

He vanished immediately, reappearing in another corner of the sky with incredible speed—almost like teleportation.

He had activated the authority of Phoenix, accelerating himself beyond human perception.

“What!?”

But before relief could form—

His eyes widened.

Even using Phoenix’s extreme speed, Haru was still gaining on him—closing the distance, hand still reaching, speed rising and rising without limit.

Startled, Verethragna launched into maximum velocity, pushing his movement to hyper-speed, darting across the sky like a flickering burst of light.

But no matter how he dodged, no matter how fast he accelerated—

Haru’s speed rose in tandem. Faster. Faster. Faster.

“I am the strongest, the one who holds all victories!
Facing all enemies, I shall surely crush any who stand before me!
O bull with shining golden horns—grant me your aid!”

“All who do evil, fear my power!
Now, I shall obtain the majesty of ten mountains, the strength of a hundred rivers, the might of a thousand camels…”