Without a single word, the Berserker's crimson eyes instantly locked onto Ye Yu.
In the next moment, the magma beneath his feet exploded violently as his massive body transformed into a black-and-red blur that tore through the air. With an aura of devastation that could incinerate the world, he launched a fist straight at Ye Yu!
Before the punch even landed, the terrifying Fist Pressure had already crushed the reef beneath Ye Yu's feet into fragments.
Fast! Savage! Brutal!
This punch held no technique—only the most primal, pure, and overwhelming force, as if it sought to obliterate everything in its path, even the very space itself.
Ye Yu's pupils constricted. He had been fully alert, his Observation Haki predicting the attack, but the opponent's speed and power far exceeded his expectations. There was no time to draw his blade. With a furious roar, he channeled his Armament Haki to its limit, coating both arms as he crossed them in front of his chest in a desperate block.
BOOM—!!!
Fist met arms in a collision akin to two volcanoes crashing head-on.
A visible shockwave erupted in a ring, instantly flattening and vaporizing the magma waves within a hundred-meter radius.
The reef beneath Ye Yu shattered into dust. His entire body was sent flying as if struck by a warship at full speed, his arms screaming with the agony of fractured bones. He crashed violently into another massive reef behind him.
CRACK!
The hard stone caved in under the impact, spiderweb-like fissures spreading outward!
"Pfft—!" A mouthful of blood sprayed from Ye Yu's lips, instantly evaporating in the scorching heat. Just one strike had already inflicted serious internal injuries!
"Rrgh… KILL!!" The Berserker let out an incomprehensible roar, giving Ye Yu no chance to recover. He shattered the magma beneath him once more, closing the distance like a shadow. This time, it was an even more frenzied barrage of heavy punches—each strike carrying the force to split mountains and sunder seas. A storm of black-and-red fists rained down like meteors.
A fierce light flashed in Ye Yu's eyes. The pain and the Berserker's overwhelming pressure only ignited the savagery in his bones. No longer content with passive defense, he drew Black Blade Night in an instant!
"Divine Departure!" Ye Yu roared. A razor-sharp crimson Slash tore through the magma and smoke, meeting the onslaught of fists head-on.
Yet, the Berserker's Armament Haki was far more refined than anticipated. The Slash, capable of cleaving mountains, was shattered by a single punch. The fragmented energy scattered, sending molten waves erupting even higher.
"Not enough! Again!" Ye Yu's pupils contracted as he instantly adjusted his stance, integrating Hawkeye's swordsmanship essence into his blade.
Black Blade Night traced an arc, its speed multiplying as it aimed for a minuscule opening in the Berserker's relentless assault—this strike was fast, precise, and ruthless!
CLANG—!!!
Sparks flew. The tip of Black Blade Night was caught in the Berserker's other hand, wreathed in black-and-red Armament Haki. The grip was like searing iron, the friction between blade and flesh screeching horribly.
"GRAAH!" The Berserker grinned savagely. With terrifying, unstoppable force, he yanked the blade—while simultaneously driving his massive skull forward like a battering ram, aiming to crush Ye Yu's face. He had abandoned all defense, trading injury for death in a suicidal assault!
Ye Yu was caught off guard. His eyes turned fierce as he coated his forehead in the black sheen of Armament Haki, retaliating with a brutal headbutt of his own.
Boom—!!!
A dull impact reverberated. Ye Yu felt as if he had been struck head-on by a battering ram, his face throbbing with pain as the tremendous force sent him flying backward once more, crashing into the searing magma.
Sizzle—!!!
The scorching magma burned against his protective Armament Haki, the agonizing pain searing through him. Yet, Ye Yu's physical resilience was extraordinary—even submerged in the high-temperature magma, it felt akin to being in water around 70 degrees Celsius, at least for a short while.
But his face, his entire body—everything still hurt.
The fury within him, stoked by the pain and the berserker's relentless assault, erupted like wildfire doused in oil. A destructive impulse roared in his mind, screaming:
"Kill him! Tear him apart! Crush him with the most savage force!" A voice filled with malice howled in the depths of his heart.
Ye Yu violently shook his head, but his eyes blazed with an unprecedented intensity. He forcibly suppressed the rage that threatened to consume him, his thoughts accelerating under the dual pressures of agony and fury.
"No! I can't let him dictate the pace!" Ye Yu's gaze locked onto the berserker charging at him once more with a deafening roar. "He's pure, unbridled wrath—no reason, only destruction. If I match his brute force, if I compete in madness, I'll be playing right into his hands! This forge-like world, this all-pervading rage—it's all fueling my anger, stripping away my calm!"
"Anger is power—but uncontrolled anger is poison. It's the fuse to self-destruction. A true master harnesses rage, not the other way around. Let it be fuel, not the fire that consumes you." Ye Yu steeled himself.
Just as the berserker's world-shattering fist was about to descend again, Ye Yu's expression shifted!
The crimson fury threatening to erupt didn't vanish—but it was forcibly restrained, compressed by an even stronger, colder will. Like molten lava being forced back into a forge!
No longer attempting a direct clash, Ye Yu erupted with Moon Walk, his body blurring into an afterimage as he narrowly evaded the devastating fist. At the same time, Black Blade Night slashed upward at an impossible angle—not aiming for a vital spot, but the berserker's elbow joint, left vulnerable after his attack.
Shriiing—!!!
The blade screeched against the berserker's thickly armored elbow, the black-red Armament Haki forcibly split open, revealing bone. Dark red, magma-like blood sprayed out.
"Rooooar—!!!" The berserker howled in pain. It wasn't a fatal wound, but it was the first real injury he had sustained since appearing. The agony drove him into even greater frenzy—yet, for the briefest instant, his movements faltered, almost imperceptibly.
Ye Yu's eyes blazed with triumph.
This was the moment!
Instantly, Ye Yu's black hair turned white, his eyes blood-red—not with rage, but with ruthless ferocity. Electricity crackled across his body as he unleashed his full power.
He had waited for this. Instead of pressing the attack, he channeled his Conqueror's Haki to its peak—no longer a diffuse pressure, but a concentrated, invisible hammer of will, crashing directly into the berserker's rage-filled crimson eyes.
In his Sulong Form, Ye Yu's presence, his aura—everything was amplified. Even his Conqueror's Haki grew stronger.
"Wake the hell up—!!!"
Boom—!!!
A violent collision on the spiritual level. The Berserker's massive body suddenly stiffened, its frenzied attacks coming to an abrupt halt. For the first time, a trace of confusion and disorder appeared in its crimson eyes. The core of pure rage that composed its being was shaken by this Conqueror's Haki impact, condensed from Ye Yu's unyielding will!
Without a moment's hesitation, seizing this lightning-flash instant when his opponent's mind was wounded and movements frozen, Ye Yu channeled every ounce of his power into Black Blade Night.
The blade hummed as emerald light erupted from its edge, seemingly capable of tearing apart this very magma hell.
Ye Yu's figure seemed to merge with the blade's radiance as he shot forward with an unstoppable, wave-splitting momentum—piercing straight through the Berserker's paralyzed form in an instant.
Time itself seemed to freeze at that moment.
The Berserker's enormous body stood motionless as a thin line of emerald light began extending perfectly straight downward from between its brows.
Crack...
A faint shattering sound echoed.
The next instant, the Berserker's black-and-red form silently split in two along that emerald line. The cross-section was mirror-smooth, and instead of blood, the divided body rapidly dissolved into two pools of boiling black-red magma that flowed back into the molten sea below.
(End of Chapter)