「Firmament Style — Fourth Form: Oblivion · Instant Void」
A golden fist passed straight through Kanzaki Rei.
His body flickered—
And vanished for a single instant.
The Fourth Form had always been bound by a fixed cooldown.
Otherwise, one risked losing oneself within the void.
But in this battle, Kanzaki Rei had refined it.
To evade an attack, there was no need to remain in the void for long—
A single, perfectly timed instant was enough.
An attack delivered with near-total force—
Had completely missed.
And in that same moment—
Kanzaki Rei was already within striking distance!
"Dragon!"
"Do you still think your body is stronger than mine?!"
Very few scales remained on the golden dragon.
Though they continued regenerating, it was not Kanzaki Rei—
Its regeneration speed was nowhere near comparable.
To ordinary observers, such regeneration might already seem fast.
But in Kanzaki Rei's eyes—
Taking nearly half a minute to fully regrow its scales…
Was unbearably slow.
BANG!
His knee slammed into its abdomen!
Immediately after—
Hundreds of fist-shaped craters appeared across the dragon's stomach!
"Human!"
"Dragon!"
Man and dragon clashed—blow for blow!
"Human!"
"Dragon!"
They continued their brutal exchange—
Yet only the dragon was taking damage.
10 minutes!
After ten minutes, Kanzaki Rei only suffered one part in one hundred billion of the damage.
That meant—
The dragon would need attacks 100 billion times stronger just to deal normal damage!
At this point—
No matter how it erupted, no matter how it pushed its limits—
It could no longer break his defense.
No matter how much it exploded with power—
It simply couldn't reach that level.
And beyond damage reduction—
Kanzaki Rei's physical strength had already surpassed his previous self by more than ten thousand times.
Perhaps even hundreds of thousands of times.
"Do you yield?!"
At last, the dragon's momentum faltered.
Its attacks weakened.
Kanzaki Rei could clearly feel its strength declining.
It tried to push itself—
Tried to go all out to kill him.
But it was too late.
If it had wanted to truly threaten him—
It would have needed to go all out from the very beginning.
Like throwing out a joker bomb at the start of a game—
Only then might it have had a chance.
Once Kanzaki Rei's combat time had stacked—
Even if it were ten times stronger, it would no longer matter.
Tenfold damage reduction, combined with thousandfold physical enhancement—
The authority of those effects was absolute.
In truth—
Even if it had gone all out from the start, Kanzaki Rei believed he could have stalled long enough.
He might not have won head-on at the beginning—
But in terms of survival—
His ability to endure was top-tier.
11 minutes.
The golden dragon could no longer fight back.
Its wings were broken by Kanzaki Rei.
Every punch it threw—
When colliding with Kanzaki Rei's small fist—
Resulted in shattered tendons and broken bones from the overwhelming force!
The lifeforms of this world were truly strange.
In this past timeline, they had no real souls—
And yet they existed so vividly.
The dragon's vitality remained strong.
Its body still endured.
For now, it could still hold on.
But Kanzaki Rei was in no hurry.
He continued analyzing its attacks—
Deriving new variations.
He would only grow stronger—
While the dragon would only weaken through attrition.
"Do you yield?!"
BANG!
A knee smashed into its jaw—
Teeth shattered and flew!
At this point, Kanzaki Rei completely ignored its attacks.
Even when fists struck his body—
He didn't bother defending.
After eleven minutes, taking only one part in one trillion damage—
Why bother defending at all?
The dragon's golden eyes blurred—
It was completely disoriented, beaten senseless by Kanzaki Rei.
"Do you yield?!"
The dragon still stubbornly resisted—
Only to be met with relentless punches and kicks!
What a pity.
Without a real soul, Kanzaki Rei couldn't turn it into an undead.
Even the monsters he had killed outside the city earlier hadn't become undead—
Further proof that this timeline wasn't real.
If he could have turned it into an undead—
It would have been a powerful asset.
If he had been striking at its death point—
It would have died countless times already.
But right now, his blood was boiling—
He wanted to defeat it head-on, until it submitted!
After its explosive power surge—
Its defense had clearly weakened.
Its sturdy scales had fallen away—
No longer offering protection.
Still not recovered—
It could only be crushed before Kanzaki Rei.
Every strike he delivered caused devastating damage.
"Still won't yield?!"
CRASH!
Another vicious upward kick struck its jaw—
A heavy shockwave exploded!
Its lower jaw shattered completely—
Bone and blood scattering through the air!
The dragon's head snapped back—
Its golden eyes rolled—
For a brief instant, it lost consciousness.
But the moment it faltered—
Kanzaki Rei's relentless barrage continued without pause!
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG—
Every inch of its body was under attack.
Even if it no longer wanted to attack—
Even if it only wanted to defend—
It was impossible.
It had consumed too much strength.
Should I go all out… burn everything… and kill this human?
The moment that thought arose—
A surge of fear filled the dragon's heart.
Dragons were proud—
But also selfish.
Creatures that feared death.
It didn't want to die.
And even if it went all out—
Could it really kill this monster of a human?
It could feel it clearly—
Its attacks no longer had any effect.
Kanzaki Rei didn't even need to defend.
Even if it burned everything—
Would it be enough?
BANG!
A massive hole tore through its wing.
Its left claw snapped completely.
The fingers of its right claw were shattered.
Its mouth could no longer close—
Its entire lower jaw had been destroyed.
Its abdomen was caved in with deep craters.
If this continued—
It would die.
And then—
A thought suddenly emerged.
Threaten the castle.
This human… didn't want that vampire to die.
If it threatened him—
Would he stop?
But in the next instant—
Kanzaki Rei appeared directly before its eye.
Before the dragon's massive body—
He was as insignificant as a speck of dust.
Like a human standing before Mount Everest.
Utterly tiny.
Utterly negligible.
And yet—
The dragon felt overwhelming pressure.
"Don't forget our agreement."
"I said I'd fight you using only my body… but that doesn't mean that's all I have."
It was as if he had read its mind.
At the same time—
A terrifying surge of magic erupted from Kanzaki Rei!
RUMBLE—
Heaven and earth shifted—
Magic power surged violently!
"The strength of my body is merely a trivial fraction of the power I normally don't even bother using…"
"If you want to test my full strength, go ahead—try your little schemes."
"I'd like to see whether you kill him faster… or I kill you first."
His body was small—
Yet the pressure he emitted was overwhelming beyond reason.
Throughout the battle, Kanzaki Rei had deliberately guided the battlefield farther and farther away.
He hadn't been moving randomly.
Now—
They were already far from that continent.
There was no way to return quickly.
And if the dragon truly tried to go back—
With its current injuries—
Kanzaki Rei, at full power, was confident he could kill it…
Before it ever made it there.