SHK CH 728 (Patreon)

The declaration echoed into the air.

Asura tensed. His four arms shifted into a guarded stance, his instincts warning him before his mind could catch up.

Sol stepped forward.

With each step, faint cracks spread beneath his feet as the space subtly warped under the pressure of his energy. The colors in his iridescent eyes shifted in slow, steady waves, unnatural yet calm.

Asura narrowed his gaze. “You held back until now.”The weight around him made every breath feel heavier.

Sol didn’t reply.

The space between them vanished. Twisting distance was simply too easy for the current Sol.

In the next instant, Sol appeared before Asura, fist pulled back. The motion was sharp and efficient, no wasted flourish.

The punch connected. 

A sharp detonation rang out. Asura’s body shot backward through the air, carving a line through the clouds. He righted himself quickly, feet skimming across the thin air to stop his momentum.

The mountain peak below cracked, small chunks of stone breaking loose and falling into the mist.

Asura flexed his fingers, shoulders rising and falling with controlled breath.

Sol hovered quietly across from him, his aura steady, no longer flaring wildly.

“Get up,” Sol said flatly. “I’m not finished.”

Asura's brow furrowed as he felt a power magnitude higher than what was previously shown. A name was an increase in all stats, but this was a little too much, was it not?

I was not able to react? He pondered briefly before realizing what had happened. Sol did not move fast enough to surpass his perception. He simply and quite literally erased the space that existed between them.

This was impressive. Truly so. 

But still. 

“This is still too weak,” Asura muttered

“Huh?” 

“This power, I mean. There is no way something like this was able to completely erase the clone of my brother or make him fear you.” Asura was hot-headed, but he was also someone whose mind worked far faster when it came to combat. 

As he was now, he was far weaker than Hypnos. Mostly because of his concept and his fighting style. Even as a god, he had never been all that good at handling conceptual power. 

He simply needed to punch hard, and if something didn’t go down, all he had to do was punch harder.

Still, it was important for them to ascertain what kind of power Sol had.

“Heh, if you are so curious, why don’t you force me?” Sol smirked.

“You are talking my language.” Asura returned the grin. 

The two gazed at each other in silence for a few moments. 

Asura lunged first, no hesitation, no feint. His crimson body shot forward, arms clenched tight into fists aimed straight for Sol’s chest. Sol shifted, a subtle ripple in the air around him distorting Asura’s charge. The punch passed harmlessly through empty space.

Sol reappeared on the side, foot swinging sharply to strike Asura’s ribs. The oni twisted, taking the hit with a grunt and spinning with an open palm aimed at Sol’s head. Sol tilted back just enough to avoid the blow, the force slicing through the dense clouds and sending fragments of mist scattering.

The air cracked sharply with every exchange. Sol’s calm, measured strikes, enhanced by imperceptible manipulations of space, met Asura’s wild, aggressive attacks, each one stronger than the last. The sky darkened as their fight pushed upward, scattering clouds and leaving rips in the atmosphere.

As he was now, Sol was perfectly integrated with the power of his Divine Eye, Akasha. He could quite literally see and predict all moves Asura would make, and his body could react instantly. 

The only limitation to this power was his own mind. When fighting against people like Lilith and Wukong, the number of possibilities was too extreme for him to properly judge. But Asura, while extremely skilled, had a much more straightforward fighting skill. 

Asura grinned as his skin darkened to a deeper shade of red. “This is it... Finally!”

Sol’s eyes narrowed. He raised his hand.

⟪ Boundaries of Spacetime -::- Rewind ⟫.

A faint clock appeared briefly around Sol’s arm as the bruises and cracks on his scales mended themselves instantly. He could have simply waited for his natural healing to do the trick, but he wanted to show Asura how utterly useless his attacks were.

Asura’s expression flickered with surprise, but rather than showing disappointment, he grew wild with excitement. “You bastard... You really are something.”

The oni charged again. This time, Sol met him head-on.

Asura’s arms blurred, fists pounding from multiple angles. Sol deflected, redirected, then struck back with sharp, surgical counters.

Still, Asura only grew faster. The more blood flowed from the shallow cuts Sol inflicted, the more Asura’s strength climbed.

Sol grimaced. “So that’s your trick...” 

Asura laughed. “The more you break me, the stronger I get!”

Sol stepped back. “Then let’s test that.” This seemed very similar to Kaiser, the young Dragon that Sol fought back in the Astral Realm. He could also become stronger the more hits he received. But this was one here that seemed to be another beast.

⟪ Famine -::- All Devouring Beast ⟫

The air warped violently. A gaping black maw opened behind Asura, lined with jagged teeth and countless unblinking eyes. It lunged with terrifying speed.

Asura barely twisted away as rows of teeth snapped at him. The beast chased relentlessly, tearing through clouds, swallowing chunks of the broken mountain as it pursued.

The oni danced between the snapping jaws, delivering punishing blows into the dark mass. Each strike sent out deep reverberations but failed to stop its advance.

The ground below ceased to exist. What was once a towering peak was now a hollowed scar.

Asura's fists struck again and again, arms slick with his own blood. His expression twisted into raw exhilaration.

“COME ON! IS THAT ALL?!”

The beast caught his leg. Teeth dug in deep. Asura roared, muscles bulging as he pulled against the crushing bite. The strain painted fresh blood across the sky.

Sol hovered above, watching quietly, hand raised to control the construct.

Asura’s arms locked onto the jagged edges of the maw. His grin widened.

“You won’t eat me!”

With a guttural cry, Asura heaved with everything he had. The beast’s form buckled. One last pull, and the dark mass split apart in a violent surge, scattering into fragments that dissolved into the air.

Asura staggered, chest heaving, body drenched in blood. His crimson skin darkened further, his form seeming to radiate heat. Two more arms appeared, drenched in blood.

Six swords appeared in the air around him. Without a word, he caught them in each of his now fully extended six arms.

His grin was sharp, feral. “Let’s go, golden boy.” 

He should have been weakened with all his blood lost and such a terrifying wound, and yet it looked like he was ready to ask for more.

With an explosive surge, the distance between them vanished. Sol’s Akasha Eye traced every muscle shift, every blade angle, and predicted every path. But knowing did not mean stopping. Asura’s speed had reached a level where Sol’s body simply could not respond in time.

A blade slashed from the right. Sol twisted, spatial boundaries flickering to adjust, only for a second, sword to bite into his shoulder. Blood splattered across the drifting clouds.

Four more blades followed in rapid succession from impossible directions. Sol bent, weaved, even folded the air, but it was barely enough. Cuts scored his arms and side. The speed gap widened with every passing breath.

A knee smashed into Sol’s chest, driving the air from his lungs. A fist followed immediately, connecting with his jaw and hurling him backward through open sky.

Sol flipped midair and steadied himself, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. His gaze locked on Asura, calm yet cold.

Asura was already there again.

The mountains below collapsed under the shockwaves of their movements. Towering peaks shattered and tumbled into the clouds like falling spears. The sky churned, air currents splitting violently with every impact.

Sol sidestepped one blade, caught a second between two fingers, and twisted, intending to snap the weapon. Asura simply let go, slamming a fifth blade deep into Sol’s side. Sol staggered, the blow nearly piercing through his hardened scales.

Coughing, Sol grabbed Asura’s wrist and hurled him downward with raw force.

The oni crashed through layers of stone and cloud, vanishing for a moment in a storm of debris. When the dust cleared, Asura hovered effortlessly, his chest heaving, blood dripping from dozens of wounds. His grin widened with manic glee.

“You’re tougher than I thought!” Asura called up, voice rasping, wild energy crackling from his frame.

Sol didn’t answer. He descended sharply, preparing a strike, but Asura intercepted him mid-fall. All six blades moved as one, weaving a vicious cyclone of steel. Sol was forced to pull back, unable to break through.

Each swing came faster. Stronger. Heavier.

Sol felt the limits of his body creeping up fast. Every micro-adjustment of space, every slowed moment of time, only bought him fractions of seconds. Asura’s brutal momentum couldn’t be fully stopped.

“Faster!” Asura roared, veins bulging, crimson skin darkening deeper as his blood loss fed into his maddening strength. His power spiraled higher, his form radiating unbearable heat.

Sol exhaled, steady, measured, as his golden eyes narrowed.

I still can’t outmatch him physically. Should I use the power of the End now?

He briefly considered but dismissed the notion. Asura was different from the people he had massacred a few moments ago. If he used the End, he needed it to be one sharp blow that would end the fight.

What about bringing the true power of his Name? This was something worth considering if he had no other way, but as it was, he didn’t need to suffer.

It’s too bad. 

Ideally, he wanted to end this fight alone, but he was clearly unable to do so comfortably. Since that was the case, 

“Lilith, Wukong.” Immediately, two sharp auras exploded, and Sol manipulated the distance to immediately bring them close to Asura.

“Hahaha! I knew you were not alone!” Asura's laugh continued even as the presence of Wukong and Lilith made themselves known. 

From his left, a sword so sharp it could cut space. From his right, a staff so heavy it could sink mountains. 

He had information about those two singularities and knew that it would be difficult for him to win against either of them. Blocking their attack would only give him an instant.

But so what?

“Since we are in your dimension, I guess I can safely go all out.”

Time seemed to stop; the sword and the staff stopped a few inches away from him.

“I am Asura. Demigod of Struggle and Combat.” He laughed out loud, unperturbed by what was happening. “Using my divine authority, I hereby declare…None may intervene in this sacred combat.”

Space started unraveling. Wukong and Lilith were immediately pushed away by an irresistible force while Sol and Asura were brought closer. 

He was nothing but a demigod. He had yet to reclaim his Divine Throne and yet…This was a Law that could not be overturned. Not even by someone like Lilith or Wukong. Not even by the Goddesses themselves.

This was his concept, his power, his Rule.

“HAHAHA!!! LET’S FIGHT TO OUR DEATH, YOUNG KING!”

It had been eons since the last time he used that power. The last time he did was in his fight against Adam, and he had lost miserably. 

He did not know why his Father spared him that day, killing him without the power of the End. Nor did it matter.

Why think about father now? 

He guwafed. Why think about his Mad, dead Father? He had a fight to enjoy now.

Meanwhile, Sol, feeling himself trapped, simply released a sigh. He had underestimated those guys. 

The Law of Struggle, not unlike that of Secrecy that belonged to Dawn was a power that suppressed nearly everything. Sol could feel it. Even if he tried to modify the distance or erase the space between them, it was impossible to include Lilith or Wukong in this fight.

It was also impossible for him to leave. 

A divine power.

“Divine, huh.”

Until now, Sol had been hesitant in fully using the power of his name. He feared it would kill the humanity in himself and bring him on a path he could not walk away from.

But now, since he had no other choice, he simply had to embrace it.

Placing his hand together, Sol muttered in a voice only he could hear.

“To become a god is to become emotionless.”

The light in his eyes vanished. 

“To become a god is to become one with the world.”

His presence grew fainter. As if he could vanish at any moment.

“To become a god is……to erase the boundary between existence and nothingness.”

The last words left Sol’s lips like a final judgment.

His form seemed to blur, no longer fully anchored to the physical world. The very fabric of space and time around him twisted subtly, responding not to force, but to his will.

It seemed like it was time to truly show Asura why his name was Deus. 

____

New chapter of Webtoon Out.

https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/son-of-the-hero-king/chapter-3/viewer?title_no=1037019&episode_no=5

New chapter out. This is chapter is the Introduction of Setsuna and is very different from what happened in the novel. Do give a try and tell me what you think

Also I hope you liking the fight between Sol and Asura