Inside the arena, Kurogami and Verrak's brutal clash continued, each strike shaking the stage.
"No… this is bad," Verrak thought, his heart racing. He knew if Kurogami's spear struck again, it could end him, as he saw Kurogami closing in.
He decided to take a risk.
From his back above, one of the shield turtle plates slid open, and a small gap formed for his tail cannon to extend outside to attack. The tail moved into position, locking onto Kurogami.
But that was his biggest mistake.
The instant the gap appeared, Kurogami twisted his body and lunged forward at inhuman speed. His spear spun like a drill, slicing the air. With a clean horizontal slash, he severed Verrak's tail clean off.
Before Verrak could even react, Kurogami thrust his spear straight through the exposed gap in the shield, piercing deep into Verrak's back.
In the same motion, Kurogami unhooked the grenade belt from his waist, pulling every pin. The cluster of bombs dropped directly into the hole. Kurogami also pointed the launcher at the hole and fired.
BOOM.
A violent chain of explosions tore through the Scorpion's armor. The ground shook, the entire shield sphere shattered, and the shockwave leveled everything nearby.
Kurogami flipped mid-air and landed cleanly on his feet, his cloak whipping from the force. He'd used up all his weapons; the launcher was basically useless, so he threw it before landing.
He exhaled slowly. The kill count displayed above has been updated to only two players. The Green Zone is all being used.
Verrak lay motionless among the wreckage. His armor was shattered, his body leaking both blood and cybernetic fluid.
"So… this is how I die…" Verrak thought weakly. "Unless, but I can't die now…"
He shut down all his system functions, forcing his vitals to zero. If the system couldn't detect his life signs, it would register him as dead. It was his only chance.
Moments later, his player tag disappeared from the scoreboard, his drakon bounty automatically transferred to Kurogami.
Kurogami's total shot up to over thirty million drakons.
Those who put their fate in Kurogami's hands were so excited, they screamed out in joy. Kurogami killed a lot of strong foes, so his gains were high; they made a lot of money from him.
Then
THUD.
A heavy foot pressed against Verrak's chest from behind. His body tensed, eyes fluttering open slightly in fear, tho he had shut down his function to play dead. Is brain was still active, so he was basically still kicking.
"Such a coward," a cold voice said. "Playing dead to avoid your fate."
Verrak's eyes widened in horror. He recognized the voice.
It was Zarg, the Chainsaw Reaper.
Zarg grinned, his mouth twisting unnaturally as both his forearms split open, revealing two long, whirring chainsaws.
Verrak tried to move. He attempted to swing his tail, but it was already gone.
Zarg leaned forward.
"I told you before, Verrak… there's no hiding from death."
The chainsaws revved, the arena filled with the screech of steel on air.
One clean motion, and Verrak's head was gone.
His screen went black. Verrak is dead, and cybernetic fluid poured out of its open head.
Zerg smiled at Kurogami like a lunatic and, without hesitation, charged straight toward him. In the blink of an eye, he was already by Kurogami's side, delivering a crushing blow, his chainsaw cut through the hair, about to hit the hair.
Kurogami dodged, sliding backward. He wasn't out of energy yet, but exhaustion was setting in. Despite his power, he still had a human body, and the constant bursts of speed and strength had taken their toll. For now, he just wanted to test his physical limits.
Zerg's relentless chainsaw swing came again, each one heavier than the last. Kurogami weaved between them, blocking and countering when he could. One of his punches finally connected, an explosive strike to Zerg's ribs, using only thirty percent of his strength. The impact sent Zerg flying, his body crashing against a pole before landing roughly several steps away.
Kurogami flexed his fingers, his hands trembling slightly. "Looks like I'll have to raise my output," he thought, eyes sharp and cold, zerg body armor was tuff, Kurogami's pouch didn't. Leave a dent.
Zerg's chainsaw blades in his arm roared to life. His entire body glowed faintly as his chaos energy reinforced his armor.
When Chaos Energy touches a paper, it becomes steel.
When it touches refined metal, it becomes x 5 as hard as a diamond. That was the terrifying strength of pure Chaos.
Zerg lunged again. The chainsaws clashed against Kurogami's fists.
Until Kurogami's next punch shattered them both. Zerg's eyes widened. He didn't even get the chance to react before Kurogami unleashed a relentless barrage of blows, each one like thunder crashing into steel.
"Jujustu Technique, Eight-Coupled art of Fist God: Explosive Fist Barrage!" The first time Kurogami used this technique, it was done without the use of khaos energy, but now it was done with khaos energy.
The air rippled. Fist after fist tore through Zerg's defense, the armor cracking, denting, breaking apart. Zerg screamed and opened his mouth, a faint glow building inside, the core of a mouth cannon.
But Kurogami didn't give him the chance.
He appeared before him in a blur, grabbing Zerg's jaw and slamming it shut.
The explosion detonated in his mouth.
Blood and metallic fluid burst from his shattered skull.
Zerg fell limp. The crowd erupted into chaos, some screaming in excitement, others crushed in despair as their bets vanished with his death.
That's the nature of this world.
When you rise, countless hands cheer for your fall.
Humans find comfort in watching strength crumble, because it reminds them, no one is doing better than them and they aren't the weakest.
The announcer's voice boomed, echoing across the arena:
"Unbelievable! The White Monkey has done it again! Zerg the reaper is down! Only one challenger remains, THE HOLO!"
The stage shifted, transforming into a wide, flat battlefield. The air grew heavy, and everyone started. Placing their bet in Kurogami's
The reaper gang where no fools, seeing Kurogami, they were skeptical and reduced the odds from 8.0 to 5.3.
If Kurogami wins, is money would be timed by three.
The arena doors opened, and the door was like a cage, stopping something from getting in, but now it was wide open.
Footsteps echoed like thunder.
A towering figure stepped out, each stride shaking the ground. His body was built like a tank, jaws plated with metal like a steel shark, and arms forged thicker than stone.
He was the final combatant. The strongest of the den. A monster whose strength rivaled a top-tier B-rank.
The entire audience fell silent.
Kurogami's total now stood at forty-two million dracons.
The Reaper investors, now panicking, dropped his odds from ten-to-one down to 3.5
And in the observation of both above, Daichi smiled faintly. A Kurogami hologram appeared on its lens.
Daichi talked this time, opening his mouth
"Kurogami, don't tell back,"
As the attendees beside Daichi heard this, are eyes opened widely. He immediately realized she had been fouled.
Daichi had placed several bets against his own sponsor's making It look like he didn't have deep confidence in him, so he didn't report. This message is to the overseer.
As she kept thinking about it all, Daichi had already left the VIP room.