At the horizon something just hit Masaru.
Inside a crater nearly two kilometers wide where the branch surface had partially collapsed inward from accumulated impacts, Kanji slowly pushed himself upward through shattered stone and melted debris.
Blood traveled down the side of his face.
His golden armor flickered inconsistently while portions of Light Mode destabilized around damaged areas of his body, and several Dragon Hands behind him had partially collapsed from sustaining too much force during the earlier detonation.
Across from him—
Akashi stood completely still.
Black lightning crawled slowly across his arms and shoulders while the red glow inside his irises intensified to almost unbearable brightness, the whites of his eyes darkening gradually until the contrast between crimson and black made him resemble something less human and more symbolic, like violence.
Even the atmosphere around him behaved differently now.
The crater trembled despite Akashi not moving.
Tiny fragments of debris floated upward unconsciously before collapsing apart into dust from exposure to the pressure surrounding him.
Akashi slowly raised his head toward the distant horizon where Masaru had disappeared moments earlier after the one-inch punch connected.
The strike itself had looked almost unimpressive visually.
Akashi stared toward the distance coldly.
Then finally spoke.
Akashi – ''You do not compare to the golden boy at all.''
Lower.
Far more dangerous.
Akashi – ''Get lost.''
Kanji felt his heartbeat accelerating uncontrollably.
playtime was over.
Kanji slowly stepped backward unconsciously while golden energy erupted harder around his body in response to the overwhelming pressure suffocating the battlefield. His instincts screamed at him continuously because every fragment of perception surrounding Akashi now carried the sensation of staring directly toward something fundamentally above him.
Yet simultaneously—
Kanji felt excited.
Terrified.
Alive.
His fists tightened violently.
Golden currents exploded outward again.
Kanji – ''I don't care that you're the personification of the devil himself, nothing will block my path to the answer.''
The branch exploded beneath him again.
Kanji – ''LIGHT MODE TIMES TWO HUNDRED!!''
The transformation detonated through the battlefield with absurd violence.
A colossal pillar of golden light erupted from Kanji's body directly upward into the sky, piercing through smoke clouds and illuminating enormous portions of Yggdrasil beneath radiance intense enough to resemble artificial sunlight. The crater beneath him shattered apart instantly while surrounding debris vaporized from raw energy overflow alone.
His armor reconstructed itself completely.
Additional layers formed continuously over the previous ones, creating massive overlapping sections resembling a divine machine. Golden inscriptions spread throughout every layer while enormous mechanical-looking structures extended across his shoulders, spine and forearms in increasingly complex patterns.
Then came the Dragon Hands.
Dozens appeared.
Each one larger than entire buildings.
They manifested behind Kanji continuously in expanding formations while their scales radiated enough heat and light to distort the surrounding atmosphere. Some floated protectively around him while others spread outward across the battlefield like divine weapons awaiting command from some ancient celestial force.
The city below illuminated gold beneath the endless shadow of Yggdrasil while civilians stared upward toward the impossible scene unfolding above them.
Kanji slowly lowered himself into a boxing stance again.
This time the branch beneath his feet cracked continuously from pressure leakage alone.
His glowing eyes locked toward Akashi.
Akashi looked back silently.
Then slowly—
He smiled again.
Black lightning intensified around Akashi's body afterward while crimson Omega symbols spread visibly across his skin beneath torn clothing. The air around him darkened unnaturally despite the enormous golden light radiating from Kanji because Akashi's presence itself now distorted environmental perception, creating regions where color, sound and pressure no longer behaved correctly.
Far below them, inside the ruined basketball court surrounded by collapsed buildings and burning streets, Omoshiro slowly raised his eyes toward the sky again while distant shockwaves rolled endlessly through the city.
Akashi slowly raised his right fist until it rested in front of his chest, crimson energy flowing toward his knuckles in slow spirals while black lightning wrapped around his forearm like chains forged from living shadows. The enormous golden light surrounding Kanji continued illuminating the battlefield, yet around Akashi that radiance seemed to fade unnaturally, swallowed by an invisible pressure that bent both color and perception.
Kanji refused to hesitate.
Golden currents erupted beneath his boots before detonating outward with enough force to excavate another massive crater across the branch of Yggdrasil, fragments of bark the size of trucks flying into the atmosphere as dozens of Dragon Hands surged behind him like an advancing celestial army. Their enormous claws closed and opened continuously while flowing through the air with impossible coordination, surrounding Akashi from every conceivable direction until escape routes disappeared beneath overlapping layers of pressure.
The first Dragon Hand descended vertically like the arm of an executioner, carrying enough raw force to flatten entire districts beneath its palm alone, while two more immediately crossed from opposite flanks to intercept any lateral movement. Behind them another formation curved upward from below, a constantly shifting prison whose walls consisted entirely of compressed golden destruction.
Akashi moved only after the attacks had already entered striking distance.
His right foot rotated a few centimeters across the fractured bark while his shoulders shifted, allowing the first enormous fist to descend barely past his left shoulder before he lightly placed his palm against its wrist. The gesture appeared absurdly gentle compared to the unimaginable force behind the attack, yet the instant contact occurred the entire trajectory changed by only a few degrees, enough for the colossal arm to collide directly against another Dragon Hand arriving from Kanji's right.
The collision produced a detonation that rivaled bombardments.
Golden shockwaves expanded across neighboring branches while countless pieces of shattered bark erupted into the sky, entire forests growing upon Yggdrasil vanishing beneath the overwhelming release of force. Birds scattered in every direction moments before the expanding pressure front overtook them, carrying broken branches, dust and fractured stone across several kilometers.
Kanji had already anticipated that outcome.
The collision between both Dragon Hands merely concealed his true offensive.
Using the expanding cloud of splintered bark as temporary cover, he accelerated directly through the explosion, lowering his center of gravity into a disciplined boxing advance that contrasted sharply against the overwhelming scale surrounding him. His lead shoulder rolled forward first before a lightning-fast left jab pierced toward Akashi's face, immediately followed by a devastating liver hook whose rotation transferred force from his ankles, through his hips and spine, before finally exploding through the reinforced gauntlet surrounding his fist.
Akashi's head tilted just enough for the jab to graze strands of crimson hair before disappearing harmlessly behind him.
The hook arrived less than a tenth of a second later.
Instead of retreating, Akashi stepped directly inside the punch, collapsing the distance separating them until Kanji's own arm became partially compressed against his chest. His elbow intercepted Kanji's forearm precisely where the rotational chain still remained incomplete, interrupting the transfer of momentum before maximum force could ever develop, while his opposite hand lightly pressed against Kanji's shoulder to prevent immediate recovery.
Kanji twisted violently, refusing to surrender the exchange.
His hips reversed direction almost instantly as another Dragon Hand descended behind Akashi, forcing him away while Kanji launched a rising uppercut aimed directly beneath the jaw. The punch tore upward with enough violence to create a visible vacuum beneath it, dragging debris, shattered concrete and burning fragments of nearby buildings upward before the delayed shockwave erupted seconds afterward.
Akashi leaned backward just enough for the uppercut to pass several centimeters before his chin.
The wind alone continued climbing.
Clouds split apart.
A circular hole opened through the overcast sky above Tokyo while the pressure wave continued ascending thousands of meters into the atmosphere before finally dispersing.
Police officers.
Firefighters.
Military personnel.
News crews.
Everyone instinctively looked upward toward the impossible opening carved into the heavens by nothing more than displaced air.
Some silently whispered prayers.
Others simply stared.
Several kilometers away, Omoshiro quietly reached the edge of another collapsed rooftop overlooking the battlefield. Dust settled across his black coat while strands of silver hair drifted gently with the turbulent winds produced by each collision, yet his expression remained almost completely unchanged. His empty eyes followed Akashi's movements instead of the spectacular explosions surrounding them.
Akashi's smile gradually disappeared beneath an expression of quiet satisfaction as his crimson aura thickened once again.
Kanji immediately understood what was happening before Akashi even moved. The pressure suffocating the surrounding atmosphere continued increasing without limit, forcing the enormous Dragon Hands behind him to tremble slightly despite remaining under his complete control. Every instinct sharpened through years of suffering screamed the same warning. The man standing before him had decided to raise his speed again.
Akashi accelerated.
One instant he occupied the air several dozen meters away, and during the next his fist had already reached Kanji's guard, traveling far faster than light. Kanji instinctively crossed both reinforced gauntlets before his chest while every layer of his Light Mode Times Two Hundred concentrated around his forearms, yet the collision still erupted with unimaginable violence. The force passed through the armor instead of merely striking it, compressing every muscle, every bone and every organ beneath the point of contact before detonating across his entire body simultaneously. Golden energy burst outward in every direction while Kanji himself became a living projectile, tearing through multiple enormous branches extending from Yggdrasil before finally crashing into another several hundred meters away with enough momentum to excavate an expanding crater stretching almost half a kilometer across.
The branch continued collapsing beneath him before he could even recover, forcing Kanji to launch himself back into the air while fragments the size of apartment buildings tumbled endlessly toward the city below. His breathing had become irregular, blood running freely from the corner of his mouth before being scattered across the wind behind him, yet his eyes never abandoned Akashi for a single instant. Every exchange reinforced the same unbearable conclusion. Light Mode Times Two Hundred had undoubtedly elevated him into a realm of strength that only a handful of Yin users on Earth could ever hope to approach, yet Akashi continued dismantling that overwhelming power while remaining frighteningly composed, as though every increase Kanji achieved merely encouraged him to reveal another carefully measured percentage of his own capabilities.
Kanji retaliated immediately.
Every Dragon Hand converged together into one coordinated offensive before descending simultaneously, enormous golden fists raining downward from every conceivable angle while Kanji himself disappeared beneath their overlapping shadows, using the colossal constructs to conceal his own movements. He dashed between them with disciplined boxing footwork, continuously altering rhythm, elevation and attack angles before finally emerging beneath Akashi's guard with a devastating combination aimed directly toward his ribs, liver and jaw. Each strike carried enough force to annihilate fortified military installations, while every missed punch continued traveling forward as expanding golden shockwaves that vaporized entire sections of Yggdrasil behind their intended target.
Akashi answered with absolute elegance.
His forearms flowed through Kanji's combination like water slipping around stone, every deflection requiring only the smallest possible movement while his own footwork continuously stole favorable positioning. One parry redirected Kanji's right cross just enough for another Dragon Hand to intercept it accidentally, producing another catastrophic explosion behind them, while a subtle shoulder rotation allowed the following hook to pass harmlessly across empty air. Before Kanji could recover his balance, Akashi's left fist drove forward in an impossibly compact straight punch, traveling scarcely twenty centimeters before impacting the center of Kanji's armored chest. The result resembled a contained star briefly being born between them. Crimson light expanded into a perfectly spherical eruption almost twenty meters wide, vaporizing everything enclosed within its flawless circumference while the surrounding shockwave flattened nearby buildings, uprooted entire streets and shattered every remaining window across multiple city blocks.
Akashi – ''This is the Nuclear Punch. I have been trying very hard not to let you experience it directly, because despite everything you've thrown at me, I still think you're far too interesting to reduce into dust.''
Kanji's armor fractured audibly beneath the impact.
Golden inscriptions spread across its surface flickered violently before several reinforced layers simply disintegrated into luminous fragments that scattered across the battlefield like broken pieces of stained glass. Blood escaped freely from Kanji's lips as he struggled to remain airborne, every muscle throughout his body trembling beneath accumulated damage while dozens of Dragon Hands began dissolving behind him through sheer exhaustion. Even then, his fists remained clenched.
Akashi accelerated futher.
Every observer lost sight of him simultaneously because his movement exceeded not merely visual tracking, but the natural expectation of cause preceding effect. One instant Kanji floated alone beneath the endless branches of Yggdrasil. During the next, Akashi already stood directly before him, his right fist slowly retracting toward his waist while black lightning spiraled inward around his arm with terrifying density. Kanji immediately recognized the posture. There was no elaborate technique hidden beneath it. No unnecessary flourish. Only absolute efficiency. Everything surrounding Akashi converged toward that single fist until reality itself appeared to lean inward, as though the battlefield instinctively understood that whatever remained contained within that punch possessed enough concentrated violence to erase everything standing before it.
Kanji inhaled sharply.
He knew.
If that punch landed...
The fight would end.
Without hesitation, golden energy erupted outward from every remaining fragment of his damaged armor before flowing together in front of his body. Countless geometric symbols rotated through the air while Dragon Hands abandoned offensive formation entirely, dissolving into streams of radiant Yin that intertwined around Kanji's outstretched palms. Layer after layer condensed together into an enormous circular barrier resembling overlapping dragon scales forged from solid sunlight, each individual plate continuously reinforcing the next until the entire construct radiated enough energy to illuminate neighboring branches beneath brilliant gold.
Kanji, blood dripping steadily from his chin – ''If my fists can no longer reach you... then at least let my will survive one final exchange.''
Far beyond the battlefield, Omoshiro instinctively stepped forward.
His empty expression remained unchanged.
Yet his hand quietly rose.
Invisible currents spread outward through the atmosphere, carrying mist, vibration and compressed air across several kilometers before silently merging with Kanji's golden barrier. Sound itself thickened around the construct, invisible pressure waves weaving together into countless additional layers impossible to perceive through ordinary sight. The barrier no longer consisted solely of Kanji's determination. Air, resonance and flowing pressure quietly embraced it, transforming one desperate defense into something unexpectedly stronger than either Yin user could have achieved alone.
Omoshiro spoke so quietly that only the wind heard him.
Omoshiro – ''If that connects this entire city will be done for..''
Akashi's fist stopped.
Barely several centimeters from the completed barrier.
The accumulated pressure surrounding his knuckles continued expanding outward, producing concentric distortions through the air while black lightning repeatedly lashed against the reinforced shield without ever making direct contact. Every person watching instinctively held their breath. Even Kanji himself had already accepted that the impact would come regardless.
It never did.
A familiar voice echoed softly inside Akashi's military earpiece.
Tenka – ''Mission complete. Both targets survived exactly as intended, Federation recovery teams are already approaching Omoshiro's position, and the remaining Guardian has withdrawn from the battlefield. There is no strategic value in continuing this engagement any further, Akashi. Return please.''
Akashi remained silent for several seconds.
The crimson aura surrounding his body gradually receded while the terrifying pressure concentrated around his fist slowly dissolved into harmless particles of red light. He clicked his tongue with unmistakable disappointment before lazily lowering his arm, glancing between Kanji's battered figure a.
Akashi, scratching the back of his head with an exaggerated sigh – ''Ick... I guess I'm still not allowed to enjoy a proper fight.''
Tenka – ''That somebody would be me, You did enough for now...Since you showed this much here there will be for sure stronger being interested in that power.''
Akashi laughed quietly.
Akashi – ''Fine, fine.''
Boop
Just like that, he disappeared.