SHK CH 726 (Patreon)

The fight started with no grand pomp, crossing the distance that separated them in an instant. Asura slashed at Sol, intent on putting him down for good. 

It was a simple movement, but the power it contained was not light. An intangible force wrapped around his hand. The silver light flickered.

Bang!

Sol’s body reacted first. He leaped, pushing off the air as if he were stepping on the ground, his body bent low.

He extended his arm. Golden mana wrapped around his arm. Dragon scales emerged simultaneously as he sent a single wish to Lilith and Sun Wukong

Don’t come out yet.

Sol may have appeared reckless, but he was not stupid enough to let emotions cloud his judgment. He could feel it at the edge of his consciousness. Someone was observing them.

No reason to expose my cards now. 

The intangible force and his power collided. He blocked Asura’s attack, which was shot playfully, with his dragon scales.

He frowned as small cracks appeared on them. The cracks swiftly vanished, but this did not stop him from realizing that in a concept of strength, he had slightly lost. 

This was not the first time for him. But it was still quite upsetting.

“Interesting. So this is a dragon? Your body is a true work of art.” Asura commented. The two were deadlocked in a power struggle, neither of them relinquishing control to the other. But Sol could feel that he was losing ground. 

Stronger than Kiyohime. About as physically strong as Wukong? He muttered to himself, analyzing Asura. This was troublesome. Though not fully a demigod yet, Sun Wukong was undoubtedly one of the strongest beings in the Mortal World.

“I dislike the look in your eyes,” Asura said, catching the way Sol was analyzing him.

“What can I do? Looking at your ugly face makes me want to blind myself.” Sol jested. The small wounds he received have already healed.

“Then let me blind you.” Asura immediately made the sword that was clashing with Sol vanish, causing Sol to momentarily lose his balance, then with his fingers gleaming, he pierced toward Sol’s face, ready to dig into his eye socket. 

An aura of frost and ice covered Asura’s hand, freezing everything around them and causing Sol’s breath to transform into mist. 

Sol was not one to let himself be caught off guard. While his position was awkward, a tail formed behind him and lashed at Asura. No elemental attribute could be felt, but the 

The massive surge of mana from the On clashed with Sol, freezing the air between them. The powerful shockwave caused the cloud and the snow around them to disperse.

Asura grinned as he felt his punch getting squarely blocked by a man who was so young he might as well have been a baby for him.

All the blades he was holding simultaneously vanished, and punches started to rain down. 

Sol countered in kind in a perfect display of martial arts. The fact that he was facing four arms did little to fluster him. He did not even need to use the power of his eyes to follow. 

After all those fights with combat masters such as Lilith and Wukong, it would have been an insult to them if he lost like this. 

As the fight dragged on, each hit of Asura increased in speed, accuracy, and power. If before, Sol was able to match him, the difference in power was slowly but surely increasing.

Despite this, Asura felt no joy. His impatient and brash nature he had been trying to control, was leaking out, and he knew that the longer the fight continued, the higher the chances of losing control.

The simple fact that he had even managed to put down Sol after all this time was truly an embarrassing moment for a former god like him. The two of them had yet to use their Names or even concept, but he was a Demigod while his opponent was only a King. 

What a great potential.

Thinking about it like this, the expression filled with mostly indifference started to break. The speed of each punch more than tripled and was starting to break Sol’s defense. 

Thanks to his Chaos bloodline, Sol had a high resistance to magic that bordered on near immunity. But the man was not using magic nor any fancy trick. 

Pure, unadulterated physical power. 

Sol blocked another punch, but his arm bent slightly under the force. He clicked his tongue and adjusted mid-air, spinning to the side and letting Asura’s next blow graze past his shoulder.

He didn’t waste the motion.

His leg came around low and fast, slamming into Asura’s ribs. The oni grunted, his body shifting back half a step in the sky, but there was no sign of pain—just growing excitement.

Another arm swung in from above. Sol raised his forearm, parried, and shifted forward.

Palm strike.

Uppercut.

Knee to the gut.

Asura took it all, arms weaving to deflect what he could while pressing forward. One fist caught Sol in the ribs, sending a ripple through his scaled torso.

Sol didn’t flinch. He moved with the impact, twisting into a short-range elbow that slammed into Asura’s jaw.

Crack.

The oni’s head jerked back, but he was already moving—two fists shot forward while a third wound up a punch from behind. Sol ducked under the first two, then twisted and grabbed the incoming arm by the wrist. He pulled.

Asura’s body jerked forward slightly.

Sol headbutted him.

The air cracked from the force, and for a moment, the oni’s movements slowed.

Sol didn’t press the advantage. His expression remained calm, his breathing steady.

“I see,” he muttered. “You fight like someone who hasn’t had a proper match in a long time.”

Asura grinned through a bloody lip. “And you fight like someone who doesn’t know fear.”

“I don’t have time to fear people beneath me.”

The smile vanished.

Asura’s four arms blurred.

One punch to the chest. Another to the temple. A spinning kick followed by three fists striking from different angles.

Sol defended, countered, stepped off the air, and retaliated. But he was now on the back foot.

Even with his training, even with his bloodline and reflexes, Asura’s power was rising too quickly, or rather, he was slowly stopping holding back.

Another strike slipped through and hit Sol’s jaw. He spun in the air, caught himself, and blocked the next blow with both forearms. The impact sent him flying back, clouds parting in his wake.

Asura didn’t chase.

He stood in the air, chest heaving slightly, steam rising from his skin.

“I wonder,” he said. “How long can you keep this up? I have seen some of your power. Where is your Light of Anihilation or your Proud Dimension? What about your Name and concept?” 

His eye narrowed, “Did you perhaps truly think that you could beat me in just a physical contest?”

Sol steadied himself, wiping blood from his lip. He didn’t answer. His eyes locked onto the oni, cold and focused.

He didn’t need to respond. His anger had long since simmered down, replaced by a desire to test himself against a new foe. 

His training with his women or even Wukong was never enough; none of them went all out. So Sol had been wondering, just how far did his body grow?

Right here, right now, he could truly test the limit of his own strength, and there was no way he would give up on this chance.

Asura could read the emotions in the eyes of Sol. He understood that for some reason, the young man truly did not fear him. 

Worse. 

He was treating him as a testing dummy. 

“Haha…” A cold laugh escaped him. 

How long had it been since he suffered such an insult? 

He scoffed, “So be it. Let’s see how long you can hold on! O prince of humanity!”