The wind howled across the barren, magicule-rich wasteland as silence followed the explosion.
BOOM.
Dust still danced in the air from the earlier shockwave.
Glassord's eyes were wide. The soldiers behind him stood frozen, jaws clenched, sweat trickling down their foreheads.
One soldier whispered, "W-What just happened?"
Another replied in disbelief, "I didn't see a thing… Just—just a blur and then… boom… Lord Draguel was on his knees…"
Glassord, usually calm and unreadable, looked genuinely stunned. His arms were crossed, but his grip was tight. "That man… that's no ordinary being."
Draguel remained on his knees, his eyes staring at the ground. A deep grunt escaped his throat, followed by a chuckle… then a grin… then full laughter.
"Heh… HAHAHA… FINALLY!!" he roared, standing up straight and cracking his neck. His hand pressed lightly on his abdomen. "It's been centuries since I felt a hit like that…"
Yujiro's smirk never faded. His hands still tucked inside his pockets, standing like he owned the battlefield.
Draguel rolled his shoulders, his massive muscles tensing and pulsing with energy. "You caught me off guard. That was my fault. But let's see how you do now that I'm warmed up."
WHOOSH!
In a split-second, Draguel disappeared from view. The earth beneath his feet cracked like thin glass from the sheer pressure. He reappeared mid-air, fists coated in blazing red aura — his Fighting Spirit ignited.
BOOM! He came down like a meteor.
But—
Yujiro tilted his head slightly.
DODGE.
The moment Draguel's fists struck the ground, the entire battlefield shook.
KRRRRAAAAKOOOOOM!
A dome of dust exploded outward. The land beneath their feet split, forming craters. Glassord and the soldiers had to brace themselves as the wind slammed into them.
"He just split the earth with a single punch…" one soldier whispered.
"Did he… did he hit Yujiro?" another asked.
As the dust cleared… there stood Yujiro, calm, untouched—right behind Draguel.
Draguel's instincts screamed. He turned around with lightning speed, but—
BAM!
A knee to the ribs.
Draguel flew back, skidding across the cracked terrain.
Yujiro lowered his leg slowly, now standing in a relaxed Muay Thai stance, arms up slightly, chin tucked.
"You telegraph your punches, old man," Yujiro said with a smirk. "You're strong… but not smart enough to hit me."
Draguel wiped a line of blood from his mouth, but instead of anger, his face lit up with a smile. "Interesting… It's been a while since someone fought me without fear."
He stood up. "But don't mistake that for weakness."
The air around Draguel shimmered, vibrating violently as magicules collapsed inward. Black cracks appeared in space around his fists.
Glassord narrowed his eyes. "He's serious now…"
"Isn't that the technique that collapses matter?" a soldier asked.
"Yeah… It disintegrates anything it touches… even magical barriers."
Draguel launched forward, his body becoming a blur. His fist swung, collapsing the very air in its path. It came toward Yujiro like the end of the world.
But Yujiro didn't even flinch.
SLIP.
A small sidestep. Like silk in the wind.
Yujiro's body moved with precise rhythm — his shoulders dipped, hips turned, foot angled just right.
He countered with a low elbow strike to Draguel's ribs using a Muay Thai elbow jab, immediately followed by a palm strike to the jaw — a Krav Maga precision move.
Draguel was stunned mid-air. His brain rattled from the impact.
Yujiro stepped in close — too close for Draguel to even swing — and launched a flurry of close-quarter MMA punches, body hooks, liver shots, and shoulder feints.
Every hit landed.
THUD. THWACK. CRACK.
Draguel's body was being punished — but the warrior in him was enjoying every second.
Yujiro finished the combo with a brutal hip toss, using Draguel's own momentum against him, slamming the massive giant into the ground with a perfect Judo throw.
BOOM!
The ground cratered again.
Glassord's cloak fluttered in the storm of force. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"He's… reading Draguel like a book," he muttered.
"Isn't this guy using no magic?!" a soldier shouted.
"Not a shred of it," another answered. "He's just… fighting. With martial arts. Pure muscle. Pure instinct."
Draguel coughed as he pushed himself up. "Heh… You're not just strong… you're an artist."
Yujiro shrugged. "I told you. Magic, skills, borrowed power — those are crutches. What you're feeling… is what real strength tastes like."
Draguel chuckled and stood, his body bruised but far from done. "Then let's push this further."
He slammed both fists into the ground. A surge of tectonic magic burst from below, causing massive stone pillars to rise and collapse like waves.
Yujiro dashed between them — his movement flawless.
He pivoted off walls, ducked under spikes, and even ran on a falling boulder to launch himself into the air.
Mid-flight, he twisted his torso, delivering a devastating flying knee to Draguel's jaw.
CRACK!
Draguel flew back, spitting blood.
"Unbelievable…" Glassord muttered. "He's not just strong… he's dancing."
Yujiro landed with grace, his eyes never leaving his opponent.
"Come on, King of Earthquakes," Yujiro taunted. "Is that all you've got?"
Draguel's aura roared like a dragon's breath, his muscles glowing with sheer fury.
He laughed again, wiping blood off his face.
"Yujiro Hanma… You're a beast. But I'm not done yet."
The dust still hadn't settled from the last impact, but the tension in the air grew thicker with every passing second. Every soldier stood still. The battlefield was cracked, scorched, and trembling from the sheer force of the two titans.
Glassord's cape flapped wildly in the wind, his face calm but serious. "It's about to get even worse…"
Suddenly—
BOOM!
Draguel vanished from sight. A flash of light. A sonic boom. The shockwave hit the soldiers like a hammer.
"He disappeared again!"
"No—he's faster than before!"
Draguel had now cloaked his entire body with a massive layer of magicules and aura, turning his body into an unstoppable fortress. His muscles glowed. His skin shimmered like reinforced crystal. A living, breathing juggernaut.
With this enhancement, his physical power increased tenfold. He wasn't just strong. He was a natural disaster.
Draguel reappeared behind Yujiro in a flicker.
CRACK!
He launched a punch strong enough to shatter mountains. But—
WHOOSH—SLAM!
Yujiro caught the punch mid-swing and redirected it using a perfect Aikido spin, flowing with Draguel's momentum and slamming him into the cracked ground.
Glassord narrowed his eyes. "He's using Draguel's strength against him…"
Draguel got up, chuckling again, blood dripping from his lip. "Not bad. But let's see how you handle this!"
He activated Attribute Neutralization—nullifying any elemental or magical advantage—and followed it with Hardening Transformation, turning his body into something close to diamond, glowing with cosmic energy.
Then he came at Yujiro like a meteor storm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each hit was heavier. Faster. Louder.
Yujiro was weaving through them, barely dodging, eyes narrowed with laser focus. His body twisted, ducked, spun—striking only in exact points on Draguel's body.
Elbow. Inner thigh. Rib.
Pressure points.
Yujiro wasn't just fighting. He was dismantling.
"I've seen faster," Yujiro said coolly. "And I've crushed harder."
"Damn you!" Draguel roared.
The battlefield shook again as Draguel launched his Maelstrom Buster—a technique where a vortex of raw magicule power surrounded his arms like hurricanes, aimed to obliterate everything in front of him.
Yujiro's smirk widened. He stepped in—fluid and relaxed—and countered with Wing Chun.
Pak sao. Chain punch. Elbow trap. Step inside.
Then came Hapkido—redirecting Draguel's momentum and slamming him back again with a twisting throw.
Draguel slid backwards, stunned, panting.
"What… what are you…?" he muttered.
Yujiro cracked his knuckles. "The pinnacle. The peak of human potential. No crutches. Just fists."
The soldiers were losing it now.
"How is Lord Draguel getting pushed back?!"
"That… that thing is a human?!"
Glassord didn't speak. But he watched. Closely.
Draguel's aura exploded again—he summoned a Tidal Wave of raw energy, something he rarely used. The sky above turned black, a violent storm brewing in the heavens.
"YOU WANT EVERYTHING? HERE IT IS!!"
The ground shattered into pieces. A beam of energy shot up to the clouds. The earth wept from the sheer power being drawn out.
Yujiro?
He just stood there… arms lifted slightly, legs spread just a bit—his infamous "Come at me" stance.
Draguel charged, a colossal titan, his body burning with magicule fire.
Yujiro's face changed slightly. Serious. Focused. Deadly.
He moved.
Lethwei.
A brutal elbow to the collarbone, a skull-smashing headbutt, then a rising knee straight to Draguel's solar plexus.
Before Draguel could recover—
Silat.
A spinning leg sweep. Deceptive hand feints. Knife-hand chops to the throat. Precision strikes that came from unpredictable angles.
Draguel stumbled.
"These… these movements…" he gasped. "What kind of martial arts is this?!"
"From places your magic can't reach," Yujiro said. "These are arts designed to end fights. Not play with them."
Draguel screamed and went for a final swing—
Yujiro's eyes flashed.
He struck.
Kyusho Jitsu.
A single finger jab to the neck nerve cluster.
A precise elbow to the brachial plexus origin.
A twist-punch to the inner thigh pressure point.
A knife-hand to the shoulder nerve junction.
Each hit was surgical. Calculated. Not to break, but to disable. One by one, Draguel's limbs stopped moving.
His legs gave out.
His right arm dropped.
Then the left.
Even his breathing began to slow.
He dropped to his knees.
Only his head remained upright.
"I… I can't move…" he gasped. "What… did you do…?"
Yujiro walked slowly toward him. Calm. Dominant. Like a king.
"You've shown me everything you had, Titan," he said, voice steady. "Your magic. Your strength. Your pride. And now…"
He stood in front of Draguel, towering despite being smaller. "…now you've seen what a man can do with nothing but his body and his will."
Draguel chuckled through the blood on his lips. "…You've bested me… Yujiro Hanma."
He closed his eyes slowly.
"You've proven… that raw strength… and pure technique… is the truth."
Silence.
Even the wind stopped blowing.
Glassord stared, unmoving. The soldiers didn't dare speak.
Then slowly, Yujiro turned away from the fallen titan.
One soldier dropped to his knees, stunned.
"…He beat a Demon Lord… without magic…"
Another whispered, "No… He didn't just beat him… he dominated him."
Glassord finally spoke, his voice low.
"…That man isn't just strong. He's a reminder…"
"…That even gods should fear what man can become."