"Alright, now I'll continue with my plan. To do that, I need to eliminate you," Zeus declared to everyone in a chillingly cold voice. His words echoed like an ominous prophecy as his figure radiated dark energy, as if the very air around him crackled with static electricity.
"No! Podbe!" Aiden shouted, his voice breaking into despair as he stared at the crater left by Zeus's devastating attack, unable to find any trace of his friend. Desperation filled his gaze as his eyes scanned the shattered landscape for signs of life. The absence of Podbe felt like a void expanding within the hearts of everyone present.
Melisa, watching the scene from her position, muttered disheartenedly, "It's all over." Her words mirrored the sense of defeat beginning to grip the spectators in their respective places. Some wept silently; others covered their faces with trembling hands, and many were overwhelmed by a crushing feeling of helplessness as it seemed evil was prevailing.
Zeus, brimming with energy and wrath, began advancing toward the agents, each step thundering like the prelude to an impending storm. But then, a familiar voice rang out through the air: "NOVA STOMP."
A shadow descended swiftly from the sky, executing a devastating aerial kick that struck Zeus squarely in the face. The impact was so powerful that the god was sent flying backward, crashing hard onto the ground before skidding several meters away.
Ian, noticing the shift in the atmosphere, called out to Melisa, who had bowed her head, convinced Zeus had triumphed with his earlier attack. Seeing Podbe back on the scene transformed her despondency into renewed enthusiasm. "Wait! Podbe's back!" Melisa exclaimed, a mix of astonishment and joy lighting up her voice. With revitalized energy, she resumed narrating the battle unfolding before her, relaying every detail to the viewers. The audience watching the broadcast erupted into cheers, sensing that hope still flickered amidst the despair.
"Podbe!" everyone shouted as they watched him descend majestically and send the villain flying once more.
"If that's the extent of your power, you must be incredibly weak," Podbe said calmly, his gaze fixed on where Zeus had fallen.
"That's it, boy!" Aiden cheered enthusiastically. "Finish him off!" Reia added, though her tone carried a hint of concern.
However, Podbe simply stood there, staring at Zeus, confident that if this was truly the full extent of his opponent's strength, the battle would end at any moment.
"What a stubborn dog," Reia commented, a mix of frustration and admiration in her voice. "Has all this power gone to his head? He's arrogant and reckless," she added, crossing her arms.
"Come on, buddy! Finish that guy off! Give him what he deserves!" Billy and Maria shouted, cheering for Podbe with fervent enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Zeus lay sprawled on the ground, slowly healing himself. "How could my attack fail?" he muttered to himself, his voice trembling with fury and confusion. "You foolish beast, you will not humiliate me."
With an earsplitting roar, Zeus rose to his feet and charged at Podbe once more, crackling with electric energy. He pounded Podbe's chest and face repeatedly, but his attacks seemed to have no effect.
"What impossibility?" Zeus whispered, disbelief etched across his face as he stared at his opponent's resilience.
Then, Podbe locked eyes with him and calmly said, "Let me show you true power."
With a fierce shout, Podbe summoned his ability: "Dog Power!" His gloves, already resembling wolf paws, began to glow intensely. The pads on his palms emitted a vibrant, almost blinding blue light. Without missing a beat, he unleashed thousands of blazing blue punches, moving at such breakneck speed that the human eye couldn't keep up.
Zeus, however, could see every strike with perfect clarity. Each blow landed with relentless precision, sending him flying backward again and leaving him utterly humiliated in front of everyone.
"Dog Power? What is that?" Aiden, Billy, and Reia exclaimed in unison, their voices brimming with astonishment and curiosity.
"It's something I came up with," Podbe replied nonchalantly, as if the question were trivial.
"How original," Azulema remarked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. Her expression betrayed a mix of admiration and amusement, as though she were enjoying Podbe's unconventional ingenuity.
In the observation booth where Melisa and the others were watching the battle, Choy commented, "Well, he's a dog, so… I guess that's why he said it."
The professor, deep in thought, added, "I've heard that phrase before… but where?" He stroked his chin, lost in contemplation as he tried to recall its origin.
Down below, Drake turned to Eduard and said, "It reminded me of an old cartoon I used to watch."
"Yeah, the one with the dogs… What was it called?" Ezequiel chimed in, leaning forward with interest. But before Drake could respond, Zeus surged back with renewed energy, enraged, unleashing lightning bolts in all directions.
Podbe blocked every attack with a glowing blue sphere he formed in his hands. The orb pulsed brightly, absorbing the lightning strikes as though they were mere sparks. With a fluid motion, he redirected the accumulated energy straight back at his enemy. Zeus was struck repeatedly by his own attacks, now returned with even greater force.
With his torso's clothing slightly torn and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Zeus emerged, seething with rage. He touched his wounds, boiling with fury, and they magically restored themselves as he rose to his feet once more. In his mind, he resolved: I'll raise my power to seventy-five percent. As soon as he did, his body began to transform. His muscles hardened as though he were a person who had trained for years, becoming denser and more resilient. His electric aura blazed with overwhelming intensity, illuminating the battlefield like a dark sun.
Zeus returned to the attack with renewed ferocity. From his arms, electric eels seemed to slither, writhing from his elbows down to his fingertips, glowing with an intense blue light that lit up the battlefield like chained lightning. Clenching his fist, he struck Podbe with devastating force. The impact reverberated like distant thunder, sending Podbe flying several meters backward. His body was flung as though it were a leaf caught in a fierce storm, leaving deep gouges in the ground as he struggled to regain balance.
Zeus moved like a shooting star—swift and unstoppable—cutting through the air with superhuman speed. He unleashed blows without mercy on Podbe, each strike charged with crackling, sizzling electricity that sparked upon contact with his opponent's body. Every hit pushed Podbe further back, forcing him to move as if an invisible force were shoving him away, struggling against an overwhelming pressure threatening to crush him.
The air vibrated with every blow, thick with static electricity that made the skin of distant onlookers prickle. The earth beneath their feet cracked and kicked up clouds of dust, as if the very ground could no longer withstand the magnitude of the confrontation. Podbe, though resisting tenaciously, began to show signs of fatigue. His movements, once fluid and precise, now seemed strained, as if something beyond Zeus's physical attacks was draining his energy.
"Now you're not so cocky, are you?! You stupid beast!" Zeus roared as he delivered a relentless beating. His voice was a constant growl, laden with hatred and arrogance.
However, Podbe raised an eyebrow and calmly replied, "You bore me." He began blocking the attacks again, this time using a different technique. From his knuckles, beams of light surged forth, transforming into luminous ropes that bound Zeus's hands with surgical precision. Then, two radiant stars emerged from his palms, merging together to form a colossal ray.
"STAR RAY," Podbe announced, his voice resonating with authority. "Let's see if you can handle this energy."
With a tremendous roar, the ray tore across the battlefield like an overflowing torrent of pure energy, obliterating one of the base's walls and vanishing Zeus on the spot. The impact illuminated the area like a violent, blinding dawn, its radiance scorching and reverberating through every corner of the battlefield.
The smoking crater left by the attack stretched like an open wound in the structure of the base, tearing through reinforced metal and exposing its mechanical innards to the cold air. Debris rained down from above, creating dull echoes as it collided with the ground. An atmosphere thick with residual energy hung in the air, as if static electricity had saturated the very atmosphere. Small sparks leaped between scattered pieces of twisted metal, while the acrid smell of burnt metal invaded the senses.
The scene was apocalyptic: clouds of dust and smoke rose slowly from the crater, mingling with the lingering glow of the ray. The silence that followed was oppressive, as though the earth itself were holding its breath, waiting for some sign of movement or life. Yet, Zeus had vanished completely, swallowed by the devastation of the attack.
"I think that's enough," Podbe said, crossing his arms. "That guy is incredibly weak."
"Oh, no! He's turned into such a show-off, full of himself," Reia remarked, raising an eyebrow with a mix of exasperation and amusement.
"Well, I think it's over," Podbe said as he approached Aiden. "We can leave now," he added, his tone calm but firm.
"Damn it! How can that dog be beating me? No one should be able to gain so much power within this system… I must obtain it for myself. Once I defeat him, I'll rip it from his cold, lifeless body," Zeus thought furiously. His mind churned with rage as he blamed others for his humiliation. "It's all that brat Aiden's fault. If I hadn't encountered him, none of this would have happened. Why did those two have to be together? I'll destroy them both—they're no longer necessary."
Zeus was consumed by fury at losing to Podbe, incapable of rational thought. Frustration overwhelmed him entirely. "I have no choice… I must raise my power to one hundred percent."
But then, the image of Gol appeared in his mind, interrupting his thoughts. "No. If you raise your power to one hundred percent in the state your mind is in right now, you won't be able to control it. You'll destroy everything in your path, even the Earth itself. Don't you want to rule it? If you destroy it, you won't even have a kingdom."
"I won't let that beast humiliate me!" Zeus roared, ignoring Gol's warnings. "I told you not to give me orders! I am all-powerful!" With a deafening roar, Zeus grabbed Gol by the neck, just as he had done to Eros, and began absorbing his energy.
"No! Stop, damn you! This will be your downfall and your ruin!" Gol screamed as he was absorbed, his voice torn apart by pain and desperation. His words echoed faintly, growing weaker and more fragmented, while his body began to fade away slowly, as though consumed by an invisible force.
But it was already too late. Zeus could not comprehend reason. His mind was blinded by rage and ambition, incapable of heeding warnings or considering the consequences of his actions. With a final agonized scream, Gol vanished completely, leaving behind only an ominous void.
Upon finishing the absorption of Gol's energy and essence, something unusual occurred: a drop of dark liquid emerged from Zeus's body, glowing with a sinister light that pulsed as if alive. The droplet fell to the ground with a nearly imperceptible sound, but its impact was immediate. Where it touched the earth, the surface began to smoke faintly, as though the liquid was devouring matter itself. Then, it disappeared without a trace, melting into the ground like a shadow dissolving into darkness.
The surrounding air grew denser, charged with an oppressive energy that made breathing difficult. It was as if the environment itself was reacting to the dark power now coursing through Zeus—a force even he could not fully control.
Amidst the rubble where he stood, Zeus began to feel immense internal pain. His jaw clenched shut suddenly, as if some unknown magic had paralyzed him. He growled in frustration, but his body seemed to have momentarily lost all control.
"Yes! Finally!" Choy exclaimed, raising his arms in excitement. "They've defeated that madman at last!" Michele sighed in relief, her voice filled with gratitude.
"So it seems," Professor Kile remarked, observing the trail of destruction left by Podbe's attack.
Melisa, a satisfied smile on her face, announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the battle has concluded." She wanted to embrace Ian and Greg, but something deep inside told her something wasn't right. An uncomfortable sensation ran down her spine, like a dark premonition she couldn't ignore.
Down on the battlefield, Podbe lowered his guard for a moment, turning toward Aiden with a look of relief on his face. Aiden came running toward him, arms outstretched, thinking the fight was over and they could finally celebrate their victory. However, just before they could meet, Podbe felt a chill run through his body. Something disturbed his senses—a silent but urgent warning. In the distance, he heard a cold, resonant voice declare: "JUDGMENT BOLT."
With a swift and instinctive motion, Podbe shoved Aiden aside, saving him from imminent danger. The bolt—a thin but lethal streak of light—cut through the air with superhuman speed, piercing directly into Podbe's chest. The impact was catastrophic, as if a spear of pure energy had impaled him.
The force of the blow sent him flying backward with brutal intensity, his body skidding several meters across the ground. A trail of blood gleamed faintly under the dim light of the battlefield, thick and dark, marking his path until he finally collapsed heavily, motionless.
The silence that followed was deafening. The air still seemed to hum with the residual energy of the attack, while those present watched in horror as Podbe's lifeless body lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving.