The moment Lucas's punch struck Kro, its terrifying penetrative force pierced straight through skin and muscle.
The Ki contained within his fist detonated inside Kro's body like an explosive.
The impact sent Kro staggering as green blood spilled from his mouth, while the pale blue glow beneath his skin visibly dimmed.
Boom!
When Kro's own punch landed on Lucas's chest, it felt as though he had struck an ultra-resilient, viscous fluid.
The force rebounded instantly back into Kro's arm, and with his internal organs already damaged by Lucas's earlier strike, he completely lost the ability to disperse or defend against the impact.
As a result, Kro was smashed straight into the ground.
Crash!
Like a meteor slamming into the earth, Kro's body carried immense momentum as it hit the surface, instantly creating a crater several meters wide in the hardened concrete.
The deafening explosion caused nearby buildings to sway violently as cracks spread rapidly across their walls.
Lucas hovered in midair, calmly watching Kro struggle to his feet within the crater.
Kro's skin writhed unnaturally as broken muscles rapidly regenerated, tissues knitting together at a speed even faster than what had been shown in the films.
Lucas descended to the edge of the crater. Seeing Kro fully healed once more, he curled his finger in a beckoning gesture.
Opportunities to fight this freely were rare—there was no way he would let the battle end so casually.
Enraged, Kro's skin instantly shifted from blue-white to a stark white hue.
With a piercing roar, Kro charged at Lucas, his speed noticeably faster than before.
Lucas smiled.
"Perfect. I'll use you to test this."
The next instant, the Ki around his body fluctuated violently—and another Lucas split off from him.
Kro froze mid-charge, nearly losing control of his footing and stumbling forward.
"What's wrong? Not attacking?"
Both Lucases spoke at the same time, causing Kro's expression to darken. For the first time, he couldn't tell which was real and which was fake.
"If you won't attack," the two Lucases said together,
"then I will."
As their words fell, both Lucases lunged toward Kro simultaneously.
Forced into a defensive stance, Kro braced himself—but when the two Lucases closed in from different angles and attacked at once, his defense instantly crumbled.
Bang!
A punch slammed into Kro's lower back. Ki pierced through skin and muscle, violently churning his internal organs once again.
Enduring the pain, Kro lashed out with the tentacles from his back—
Only for them to pass straight through Lucas.
An afterimage.
By the time Kro realized this, four Lucases now surrounded him.
Panic surged through Kro. He had no experience dealing with such techniques—no idea how to counter them.
Then suddenly, his tentacles were seized.
A terrifying force yanked him off balance.
Boom!
Dragged straight toward Lucas, Kro was smashed through the side of a building.
The rear wall exploded outward as his body burst through, sending him flying once more.
He skidded across the ground, crashing through multiple buildings before finally coming to a halt amid the ruins.
At this point, Lucas had already stopped using the Afterimage Fist.
It was an improvised technique, useful mainly for bullying opponents weaker than himself.
As Lucas paused, Kro climbed out of the rubble, his body once again regenerating at high speed.
"Tell me," Lucas said calmly,
"where did you get that energy?"
Kro's current evolution far exceeded anything shown in the movies.
He had only absorbed Ajak, and Gilgamesh hadn't been devoured—meaning this power clearly came from some other opportunity.
Bruised and battered, Kro glared at Lucas with hatred, refusing to answer.
"Looks like I haven't beaten you into submission yet," Lucas sighed, shaking his head.
In the next instant, he charged again.
Kro's body trembled instinctively—but he still roared and rushed forward to meet him.
The moment they collided, Lucas's punch surpassed his previous speed, smashing straight through Kro's guard and slamming into his chest.
The sheer force punched through Kro's torso, sending shockwaves rippling through the air behind him.
With his defenses shattered and his center wide open, Lucas followed up with a brutal punch to Kro's face.
Then came a relentless chain of combination strikes—clean, precise, and merciless.
Lucas applied everything Thena and Ikaris had taught him, battering Kro so thoroughly that he couldn't even think of resisting.
Before long, the situation had returned to its original state—
Lucas pinning Kro down and hammering him like a living punching bag.
At this point, Kro finally realized that in close-quarters combat, he was completely outmatched.
With no other choice, he forced himself backward at top speed.
His arms reshaped into cannon-like structures, firing blue-white energy blasts nonstop at Lucas.
"Can't win up close, so now you're switching to energy attacks?"
Lucas didn't even bother dodging—he casually swatted the blasts aside.
Explosions erupted one after another, entire buildings being swallowed by the detonations as the battle continued.
Yet Lucas remained completely unscathed, relaxed and composed.
That calm superiority caused Kro's mindset to collapse.
"Why…? I've evolved this far—so why can't I suppress him?!"
His conviction began to crumble, and the urge to flee crept into his mind.
Just as Lucas was about to rush in and beat his "punching bag" some more, a helicopter suddenly appeared overhead.
"Mr. Lucas, please end the battle as soon as possible! The city can't withstand any more destruction!"
A loudspeaker blared with the city mayor's assistant's earnest plea.
Only then did Lucas realize that not just the school district—three entire blocks had been nearly leveled by their fight.
At that moment, Kro suddenly leaped upward, lunging toward the helicopter.
Lucas watched as Kro boarded it, seizing the pilot and the mayor's assistant as hostages in an attempt to escape.
"Let me go, or I'll kill them!" Kro roared through the helicopter's loudspeaker.
Lucas scoffed, a look of pure disdain on his face.
Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his palm and aimed it at the helicopter.
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T/N:
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