King scrutinized the transformed Garou before him, a flicker of admiration passing through his eyes.
Garou now stood entirely encased in dark red biological armor. Black, cryptic markings throbbed faintly along the streamlined plates, slithering like living organisms beneath the surface. Two razor-sharp horns curved from the sides of his helmet, and the bone spikes jutting from his joints radiated a suffocating, predatory pressure.
In comparison, King's own hundred-meter golden armored giant—though unimaginably powerful—suddenly felt a bit lacking in style.
Tsk. I can lose a fight, but I refuse to lose when it comes to presence. I can't let my aura fall behind.
With a simple thought, he triggered the transformation.
*Boom!*
The towering giant collapsed inward, folding and compressing in a storm of golden particles before condensing into a much smaller form—only about two meters tall, but fully clad in crimson-gold armor.
The suit gleamed like flowing metal. A five-clawed golden dragon coiled across the chest, wing-shaped shoulder plates extended from either side, and three sharp, crown-like angles protruded from the helmet. The entire design unmistakably paid homage to the Emperor Armor from Armor Hero.
"Now this is more like it." King flexed his wrists with satisfaction, the armor joints ringing with crisp metallic clicks.
Garou's crimson eyes narrowed.
"Flashy."
"That's called taste, kid." King's mouth curled beneath his faceplate. "Seems Old Man Bang didn't bother teaching you anything about aesthetics."
"Shut up!" Garou's eyes blazed red. "You're not allowed to say that name!"
Before the last word even left his mouth, his form had already blurred into a dark red streak tearing through the air.
*Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist: Overlapping Waves!*
His fists flowed like water—gentle on the surface yet concealing explosive power capable of breaking mountains. Layer after layer accumulated, forming an unavoidable storm aimed straight at King's vital points.
King's lips quirked upward.
*Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist: Thousand-Layer Wall!*
His palms moved with flawless fluidity. Crimson-gold palm shadows overlapped endlessly, neutralizing, guiding, and dispersing every surge of Garou's wave-like force.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The cavern erupted with collisions as dense as continuous nuclear explosions. Their figures flickered wildly through the enclosed space. Every strike burst with sparks, and the resulting shockwaves obliterated everything around them—except, of course, the bald man squinting into the distance without concern.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist against Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist—perfectly matched. Neither yielded an inch.
"Hoo…"
Garou's assault slowed. He slid half a step back, genuine surprise in his voice.
"Where did you learn the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist?"
"Obviously from Bang," King said casually, shaking his wrist.
"Impossible!" Garou laughed furiously. "That old man is the strictest person alive! Why would he teach a random outsider?"
"That's what charisma looks like." King shrugged. "He and I are close despite the age difference. By seniority…"
He paused intentionally.
"You should be calling me Martial Uncle."
Steam burst violently from Garou's armor seams.
"You're asking for death!"
His figure vanished, reappearing in a blur as he unleashed the *Violent Heart Liberation Fist* at full power. The armor over his heart turned transparent, revealing the frantically pulsating core. Each beat amplified the destructive energy gathering in his fist.
King did not dodge.
He met it head-on with his own *Violent Heart Liberation Fist*.
The instant their fists collided, a shockwave detonated outward—a circular blast resembling a hydrogen bomb with a yield in the tens of millions of tons.
If King hadn't reinforced the cavern with the Emperor Engine, the entire Z-City—despite being separated by a thousand meters of solid earth—would have been eradicated on the spot.
Even so, the shock still rippled upward. Z-City and several nearby cities experienced a sudden tremor, sending poorly built structures crashing down.
Garou flipped back with the recoil, landing atop a shattered stone pillar. He stared at his slightly trembling right fist, expression growing solemn beneath the armor.
"Why do you even know this move…?"
"I told you," King replied, shaking out his hand.
"I'm your Martial Uncle. Show some respect."
Garou suddenly chuckled.
"Heh…"
The chuckle grew into a laugh, then into wild, unrestrained hysteria.
"Hahaha! Interesting! Too interesting!"
He abruptly stopped. His crimson eyes locked onto King like a predator sighting prey.
"Then show me," he snarled, "how much this 'Martial Uncle' of yours is really worth!"
His armor bulged and twisted. Dense black patterns crawled across the dark red plates. His body swelled, a sharp horn sprouted on his forehead, and his face warped into something hideous and inhuman.
His spine arched, muscle masses rising under the armor—then *thwip*—
A pair of monstrous bone wings ripped free from his back.
"Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist: First Form—"
Garou sank into a bizarre stance. At once, the entire underground realm began to tremble. Shattered rock all around defied gravity, rising to form a rotating debris ring that spun faster and faster around him.
For the first time, King's expression behind the faceplate grew solemn.
He could feel it—Garou's punch had already brushed the edge of *rules*, a blow capable of truly harming him.
"Now this is more like it."
Crimson-gold light surged from King's body. Behind him, it condensed into the blazing shape of a rising sun. The Emperor Engine's roar deepened, echoing like the breath of an ancient, dormant titan.
*Universe Starburst Fist: First Form—*
King slowly drew his right fist back to his waist. With every inch it moved, space itself strained and groaned. Fine black cracks snaked through the air around his fist—space beginning to *tear*.
*Starfall.*
"King's Demise!"
Two fists launched forward at once—
No flourishes.
No deception.
No trickery.
Just the purest, most overwhelming—
*Straight punch.*
There was no sound.
In the 0.01 seconds after their fists met, time and noise both ceased to exist.
At the exact point of contact, an energy singularity—beyond description or logic—was born.
Then—
*BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!*
Light and heat erupted, forming a colossal sphere that vaporized everything—except for the bald man not paying attention.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
King's Emperor Engine, reinforced to endure the full power of Dragon-level monsters, fractured instantly under the impossible force. Hairline cracks spread across every surface of the cavern like a web of doom.
"Oh no!"
King's pupils shrank.
This power was *too* destructive.
If it expanded outward, Z-City—and several neighboring cities—would be erased. Tens of millions would die.
At the brink of catastrophe—
The Emperor Armor blazed with unprecedented radiance.
"Get — DOWN!!!"
King roared as he seized all the destructive force—an impact capable of ending surface civilization—and forced it through his own body, guiding it, redirecting it—
Not outward.
Not sideways.
But *straight down*.
*RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—!!!*
The redirected shockwave pierced the mantle, ignored the Earth's core, and tore through the entire planet with speed far beyond physical law.
---
*On the opposite side of the globe—*
In the deepest, darkest part of a ten-thousand-meter ocean trench, where no light had ever reached—
The basalt seabed suddenly convulsed as if struck from below by a colossal invisible hammer.
*BOOM—!!!*
Unimaginable force erupted from deep within the Earth's core. Thousands of kilometers of ocean floor buckled and surged. Ten thousand meters of seawater were thrown aside—evaporated in an instant.
Countless deep-sea organisms and monsters disintegrated into ash without having the slightest chance to react.
The continental shelf split apart.
Under the constant, world-shaking upheaval, an ancient tectonic plate—buried beneath the trench for millions of years—was forced upward from the abyss.
*RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—!!!*
The newborn landmass tore through trillions of tons of seawater, exploding upward like a resurrected Atlantis. Columns of steam and magma burst skyward as the rising continent broke through the ocean surface.
Tsunamis a thousand meters high rippled outward in all directions.
And atop the landmass—
A colossal peak rose into the sky, piercing the clouds, soaring ten thousand meters above the sea.
The summit glowed with the heat of the Earth's core, still hissing with rising white steam.
There, above the vast ocean—
A brand new continent had appeared, born violently in the span of mere seconds.