The battlefield chosen by fate lay deep within a fractured valley, where ancient trees clung to shattered cliffs and mana currents twisted like wounded serpents. The air was heavy—charged with tension so dense that even insects dared not move.
Kaizen Zaiton stood at one end of the valley.
Across from him stood Stannly Vabrigas.
The Grand Master's presence was overwhelming in a way that differed from Kaizen's. Where Kaizen's aura felt controlled, predatory, and silent, Stannly's was vast and violent—like a star barely restrained within human flesh. His body bore countless scars, each one earned in battle, each one survived.
Stannly rolled his shoulders once, fists tightening.
"So," he said calmly, "you're the child who calls himself a god."
Kaizen rested Voultron against his shoulder."I never called myself anything," he replied. "Others did."
Stannly smiled faintly. "Good. Then you'll die as a man."
The ground cracked.
Stannly vanished.
Not moved—vanished.
Kaizen's instincts screamed.
He twisted sideways as a fist tore through the space where his head had been an instant earlier. The shockwave alone flattened trees behind him, their trunks snapping like twigs.
"Too slow," Stannly said, already behind him.
Kaizen blocked—but the impact was monstrous.
BOOM.
He was sent flying, smashing through rock and stone before skidding across the ground, blood spraying from his mouth.
Stannly raised his fist again.
"Heaven-Defying Skill — Big Bang Fist."
The world seemed to compress.
Chaos force—raw, unstable magic possessed by only a handful of warriors in recorded history—condensed around Stannly's arm. It wasn't elemental. It wasn't spiritual.
It was destructive lawlessness.
He punched.
The fist didn't touch Kaizen.
It didn't need to.
The pressure wave exploded outward like a newborn star.
CRACK—BOOOOM!
Kaizen's body was crushed mid-air, ribs fracturing as he was slammed into the valley wall. Blood coated the stone behind him in a red silhouette.
Once.
Stannly stepped forward. "That's one."
Kaizen forced himself upright, bones screaming, volcanic mana flaring to heal him.
Voultron hummed angrily.
Kaizen charged.
Spear and fist collided.
The impact shattered the ground beneath them, but Stannly didn't retreat—not even half a step.
His second punch landed.
Big Bang Fist.
The chaos force bypassed Kaizen's defences entirely, detonating inside his guard. Kaizen felt organs rupture as he was hurled across the battlefield again, rolling until he struck a dead tree and split it in half.
Twice.
Stannly exhaled slowly. "Your power is real," he admitted. "But your experience is lacking."
Kaizen pushed himself to one knee, vision blurring.
Stannly raised his arm a third time.
"End it."
The third Big Bang Fist descended.
Kaizen crossed Voultron defensively—but the pressure obliterated the spear's trajectory and crushed Kaizen straight into the earth, leaving a crater where his body lay broken.
Three times.
Silence fell.
Dust drifted through the valley.
For a moment, Stannly believed it was over.
Then—
The smoke rose.
Not dust.
Volcanic smoke.
Dark, unnatural mist seeped from the cracks in the earth, rolling outward through the trees like a living thing. The air grew heavy, visibility dropping to nothing within seconds.
Stannly narrowed his eyes.
"What is this?"
From within the crater, Kaizen stood.
His body was battered, bloodied—but his eyes were clear.
"Second Level — RELEASE."
Voultron pulsed.
The volcanic smoke stored within the Sacred Spear erupted outward, flooding the entire battlefield. Trees vanished into black haze. Sound dulled. Mana perception warped.
The smoke didn't choke.
It devoured awareness.
Stannly frowned, chaos force flaring around him. "Tricks won't save you."
Then—
Kaizen disappeared.
No aura.
No pressure.
No presence.
"Zero Aura Technique."
Stannly's instincts screamed—but for the first time in decades, he couldn't find his enemy.
He stood still, fists raised, senses extended to their limits.
Nothing.
The smoke swallowed everything.
A second passed.
Then another.
Stannly felt it too late.
Space warped.
"Seventh Level — EXPAND."
Voultron pierced reality itself.
The spear appeared from nothing, extending instantly through the smoke and straight through Stannly's chest.
No warning.
No resistance.
The Instant Kill Spear Technique activated.
A true life-ending strike.
Stannly's eyes widened—not in fear, but disbelief.
"…So," he murmured as blood spilled from his lips, "this is how a god kills…"
His chaos force collapsed.
His heart shattered.
Stannly Vabrigas fell lifelessly to the ground.
The smoke dissipated.
Kaizen stood there, breathing heavily, Voultron retracting as blood slid from its shaft.
The battle was over.
Kaizen approached the body slowly and removed a ring from Stannly's finger.
A storage ring—heavy with resources, techniques, and accumulated legacy.
But before Kaizen could step back—
"NOW!"
A sharp click echoed.
A small device hit the ground near Stannly's corpse.
FLASH—!
Blinding white light detonated across the valley, accompanied by a deafening crack. Even Kaizen recoiled instinctively, vision exploding into static.
A shadow moved.
Fast.
When Kaizen's sight returned, the body was gone.
Standing at the edge of the valley was a man cloaked in grey—sharp-eyed, thin, radiating loyalty sharpened into obsession.
Alpha.
Stannly's assistant.
He bowed once, eyes burning with hatred.
"This debt will be repaid," Alpha said coldly. "By blood."
Then he vanished into the forest, carrying Stannly's body with him.
Kaizen stood in silence, smoke remnants curling around his feet.
He tightened his grip on Voultron.
"Run," he said quietly. "It won't change the ending."
Above the shattered valley, clouds churned violently.
A Grand Master had fallen.
And the world had just learned a terrifying truth—
Even heaven-defying fists could be erased by a spear that ended life itself.