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He rushed in again, faster this time. The air cracked behind him as he closed the distance. His four arms moved in perfect rhythm, each strike aimed to break bone and crush resolve.

Sol moved.

No wasted motion.

He leaned aside, letting the first punch slide past his cheek. His foot pivoted in midair, and his body twisted with practiced precision. A punch shot forward and caught Asura in the stomach. The blow didn’t stop him, but it slowed him just enough.

Sol followed with a rising knee, slamming into the oni’s ribs. Asura grunted, but his return strike came fast. A backhand aimed for Sol’s throat.

Sol raised his forearm, blocked it, and pushed off the air, flipping backwards to regain distance. He didn’t get far.

Asura was already on him again, fists hammering in a relentless barrage. Sol met him head-on. His arms blurred, blocking, parrying, countering. The exchange grew tighter, faster, and more brutal.

Punch for punch.

Blow for blow.

The air around them shattered with each clash.

Then Asura shifted.

One hand feinted a punch, another jabbed toward Sol’s throat, and a third came swinging around from the flank. Sol twisted, avoiding the first two, but the third hit home.

The punch crashed into Sol’s ribs. His body bent slightly, breath knocked from his lungs, but he didn’t retreat.

Instead, he stepped forward.

His right arm glowed gold, silver dragon scales pulsing on his skin.

He drove his fist straight into Asura’s sternum.

The oni’s body jerked from the impact, a shockwave rippling outward and tearing through the mist.

Neither moved for a breath.

Then both exploded into motion again.

A flurry of attacks, limbs clashing, mana crackling between them. The sky shook from the sheer force of their exchange.

Sol could feel it—his advantage slipping.

Asura wasn’t slowing down. His movements were getting tighter, his timing sharper.

This wasn’t just physical strength.

It was experience.

Skill.

A lifetime of battle condensed into every strike. Sol may have had the talent that could surpass most, but even he could not surpass the experience of someone who lived so much longer than him.

Sol ducked under a sweeping blow and spun low, landing a solid kick to Asura’s side. He tried to press forward, but two arms blocked him, while the other two lashed out.

He dodged one punch, blocked another, but the third caught him on the shoulder, and the fourth slammed into his chest, sending him flying again. He caught himself midair, coughing once. His body ached. His scales were getting beyond destroyed. His internal organs were a wreck.

But still, he didn’t draw on his Name.

Not yet.

He looked at Asura, who hovered across from him, chest rising and falling, the faintest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“You’re stalling,” the oni said. “Do you plan to call on your allies to fight me?”

Sol didn’t deny it. He wanted this god dead, and for that, Lilith and Wukong’s help would be necessary. 

In fact, putting himself at risk now was beyond reckless.

But the gleam in his eyes said something else. His battle lust had reached the summit. 

His bones may break, his blood may flow, but his desire to fight would never cease.

Asura’s smile widened. He recognized this thirst, this deep, unending desire for battle. 

“I see,” he said. “You’re like me.”

He lowered his stance slightly, four arms flexing, muscles tightening. The air around him trembled. “Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary.”

Sol didn’t respond with words. His body moved on instinct.

He kicked off the air again, closing the distance in a blink. His fist collided with Asura’s forearm, the impact sharp and clean. The second punch came low, aiming for the ribs. Blocked. A knee shot upward. Parried. Another fist swung from the left. Met by two of Asura’s at once.

The clash was brutal.

Each strike echoed like thunder. Each blow sent shockwaves that ripped through the drifting clouds and scattered snow into whirling gusts.

Sol twisted his body, using his tail to spin midair. He dropped low, kicked off the sky, and rose with an uppercut that barely missed Asura’s jaw.

Asura countered with a rapid series of jabs. Sol deflected two, dodged one, and took the fourth to the shoulder. His body reeled, but he stayed in close range, refusing to give ground.

Their limbs became blurs, the rhythm of the fight pushing beyond what most mortals could track.

Sol’s breathing quickened. The cracks in his dragon scales deepened, but his grin grew alongside the damage. Fighting someone with four arms was proving to be a pain, but it felt so good. He could feel his martial skills grow in real time. His blood burned in his body like only a few times before.

This was it. 

This was the feeling he had been missing ever since he came back from the Astral Realm. 

Asura noticed.

“You’re insane,” he grinned

Sol spat blood to the side. “You are not much better.”

He stepped in again. No tricks, no powers. Just fists, elbows, knees, and force of will.

Asura met him in kind. No techniques. No divine abilities. Only martial skill.

The two fought like beasts in the sky, neither yielding.

Below them, the peak of Qinglong Fang—once a silent, sacred place—crumbled under the pressure of their battle. Sections of the mountain had split apart, stone platforms reduced to rubble. Entire shrines were blown off the cliffs, their shattered remnants falling endlessly into the valleys below. The clouds had been torn open, leaving wide, swirling gaps that exposed the blue sky above and the broken land beneath. Every clash between the two sent fresh shockwaves outward, clearing the mist like a storm front ripping through the heavens.

And in that moment, Sol didn’t care about strategy, survival, or the watching eyes above.

All that mattered was the fight. This feeling. 

And yet, as exhilarating as that moment was, Sol knew that it would come to an inevitable end.

“You should give up. You are no match for me if we continue like this.” Asura spoke, his wound healing.

He was losing. 

His body, refined to the peak, empowered by dragon blood and his powerful mana, stood on even ground with Asura’s. Blow for blow, he could match him.

But he couldn’t surpass Asura.

Sol’s strikes carried weight. His speed was sharp. His technique, honed through months of brutal training, held no flaw.

But Asura was still faster. Still stronger.

He fought like someone who had broken through every wall Sol had yet to face. A creature born of war.

Sol knew. Instinctively, he knew that he should be satisfied with the results. After all, he was only a King. He had obtained his Name less than two months ago! And here he was, fighting against a demigod.

For anyone else, this should have been a source of pride. A feat beyond imagination.

He should be happy, right? 

HE HATED IT.

Not because he was losing.

But because he had reached his limit.

And that—

Was unacceptable.

Sol exhaled, low and steady.

The air trembled.

His heartbeat echoed like a drum of war.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Golden light pulsed beneath his skin.

The cracks in his scales stopped spreading. Then, slowly—they began to glow.

Bright. Blinding. Defiant.

Asura paused mid-strike, eyes narrowing. “...What are you doing?” Instinctively, Asura took a step back. Until now, he had seen Sol as a non-threat. But things were starting to change.

Sol raised his head, his hair fluttered upward, as if caught by the wind. 

“You are right. It was arrogant of me to think that I could win against a combat-focused demigod with just my body.” He admitted his hubris and his defeat. Humiliating as it was, this was the undeniable truth. 

The world responded.

Thunder roared in the distance.

The clouds that had parted were now being shoved aside completely, revealing a burning light high above—not the sun, but something else. Something older. Hungrier. Like a giant eye observing the entire world.

[Dimension Encroachment: Inverted World.]

A ripple spread through reality, as if the world itself had blinked, and now the two of them found themselves isolated from all prying eyes.

Sol looked up. His irises were no longer blue nor were they gold.

“Stand proud, Asura. You are strong.”

A beautiful rainbow hue flowed from his eyes.

“This is why I will go all out to erase you from this world.”

Sol’s aura ignited.

It wasn’t a flame. It wasn’t lightning.

It was pure annihilation.

The sky fractured again.

Golden pillars of power erupted around him, shooting upward like celestial spears. The mountain below cracked in every direction as gravity distorted under the weight of his awakening.

His dragon blood howled.

His mana surged beyond containment.

His very presence pressed down on Asura like a collapsing sky.

And then—

His Name stirred.

It had been waiting. Watching. Dormant.

Now, it answered.

<<My name is…Deus!>>