Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: The Strongest

{-KILL-}

She stomped her foot hard on the ground, sending several stones flying. Emilia then kicked those stones at Akazuha at a speed a thousand times faster than sound.

He couldn't react in time and the stones pierced his body, sending him flying, but his wounds healed instantly thanks to healing magic.

"You think you're stronger than me, you think you're faster than me, that you can defeat me?"

"Of course, do you think I'm weak?"

He raised both hands and slammed them down on the ground to spring back up.

"I'm quite capable."

The floor beneath Emilia's feet lit up, and with a "BOOM!", she was blown away from her position.

But Akazuha didn't seem too bothered. He raised his hand to block the incoming kick with an icy expression.

Crack!

The sound of bones breaking echoed. That kick had exposed his bones.

"You're too weak and too slow, how can you be so confident about defeating me?"

"That's like letting a fool become king."

He pushed her away and punched a shockwave towards Emilia, but she easily deflected the attack.

He smirked.

"I knew it wouldn't work."

He stepped back.

"Trying to run away?"

He said nothing and continued to retreat.

Until he was 20 meters away from her, he immediately lunged towards Emilia.

"Run away? Who do you think I am?"

"Thunderbolt Kick!"

Many purple lightning bolts shot out, Emilia blocking them all with her right hand.

He appeared behind Emilia when she wasn't paying attention.

"Too slow."

He threw a punch at Emilia's heart, but she easily blocked it.

"I'm quite surprised you know the fundamental destruction magic."

"Just so-so."

He kicked Emilia away and delivered another punch, sending her flying out of the house.

"Zor."

Akazuha slowly ascended into the air and pursued Emilia.

Emilia paused in mid-air to regain her composure.

"Did I just feel pain?"

"I haven't felt any pain since my bio-transformation."

"I'm invincible, you know."

She was startled to find Akazuha in front of her. He spun 360 degrees and kicked her in the head.

Emilia raised her finger to block, but unexpectedly, Akazuha overpowered her finger block and kicked her straight down into the pile of houses below.

"You underestimated me, Emilia."

Just as she was about to hit the ground, Emilia managed to stop in time.

Akazuha landed on the ground.

She immediately reappeared right in front of Akazuha.

"You seem to have used magic to enhance yourself, I feel you're stronger than you were six minutes ago."

"Of course, to fight you, I need more than that."

Akazuha bent over and extended his fist behind him as if about to throw a punch.

"Ready for the real battle?"

Emilia's aura seemed to distort space.

"I underestimated you."

~whistled~ He whistled, showing his admiration.

"So you've decided to go all-in, huh?"

"Of course."

Emilia created a bladeless sword, then infused it with magic, creating a light sword.

"Wow, that looks cool, it looks like those swords from Star Wars."

"But why suddenly pull out a sword in close combat?"

He assumed his fighting stance, his left hand at his waist, palm facing up, his right hand pointing towards Emilia, palm open, face down, standing low.

"What a vulnerable stance!"

"Ahaha, it looks vulnerable, but it's not."

"Is that so?"

The lightning blade pointed towards him.

"Let's see how many slashes you can block."

They stared at each other, neither daring to attack, fearing that if they attacked first, they would be the first to be slashed.

~King~ but it was Emilia who launched the first slash.

That slash was very powerful, causing Akazuha to retreat a few steps.

Emilia launched another slash, but Akazuha quickly deflected the sword and unleashed an upward chop from the ground.

But Emilia was no pushover either; she stomped her foot hard on the ground to dodge the attack.

The slash from his hand created a blade-shaped shockwave, cutting through several houses, but luckily no one died.

Emilia moved away from Akazuha's attack range, thinking that the range of Akazuha's martial arts was short, but unfortunately, Akazuha's martial arts were not that simple.

"Oh, you want to stay out of my range, clever."

"But..."

"Theory and practice are very different."

""Chronos"Time freezes for 4 seconds."

A magic circle in the shape of a running clock hand appeared at Akazuha's feet.

Sensing something ominous, Emilia tried to run away from Akazuha, but it was too late.

Time had frozen.

The space turned black, like a black and white television screen; clocks and moving people were completely motionless.

"A magic that allows me to manipulate time."

"But in return, it will drain my magic power very quickly."

"I have to end this quickly, don't I?"

He held his fist behind him for a moment to gather strength, preparing to throw a punch straight at Emilia.

~whoosh~ He threw the punch towards Emilia, but unexpectedly... ~King~ His fist was blocked by Emilia's light blade, and instantly, the blade, at millions of degrees Celsius, cut his hand in two.

Akazuha looked quite surprised.

"Oh, so you can move in frozen space?"

Akazuha pulled her hand out and used healing magic to heal the wound.

"How can you use time freezing?"

"It's magic. Don't you know anything about magic?"

"I don't take those things too seriously. After all, they can't stand against pure physical strength."

"Oh ho ho, no wonder. I thought even artificial humans would use magic."

"No wonder fighting you was so easy."

The 4-second period ended, and time returned.

The sky began to darken, and heavy rain started to fall.

"If you can't use magic, then so be it."

He placed his hand on his chest.

"Then I'll play physical with you."

Several chains appeared on his chest, binding something inside.

"I've sealed my magic."

"Aren't you afraid of losing?"

"No, for me, a decisive battle is about fighting fairly against my opponent."

"As I said before, I will win, not lose."

"Ku hahahaha." Emilia laughed menacingly.

"Arrogant fellow, Akazuha Shashiki!"

Like a lion unleashed, Emilia stomped her foot on the ground and lunged towards him.

Akazuha raised his hand to block the kick, but rather awkwardly, he was kicked backward, crashing through a house.

~Bang!~ Akazuha's punch landed first in the rubble, followed by his body.

Akazuha looked ahead; Emilia's kick hit him directly in the face, sending him flying further away.

Realizing that being kicked like this wasn't good, he punched the ground to stop himself, grabbed Emilia's leg, and slammed her down with a ~Bang~. Not just once, but 30 times.

Then he tossed her into the air.

"Shadow Chain Punch."

~Bang~

Five punches, no, over a hundred punches were thrown, each creating a shockwave so powerful it produced a sonic boom.

Emilia hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before falling to the ground.

But she easily got up as if the attack hadn't caused any damage at all.

"Huh?"

"Activating Super Intangible Form: INVINCIBLE"

Emilia still emitted that aura, but this time it was yellow, a golden hue.

To an ordinary person, it would simply be an aura, but to Akazuha, she was now invulnerable; no attack could harm her anymore.

"Now I challenge you to injure me."

"That's a cowardly move. If you're so good, try disabling that ability."

"Not a chance!"

With just one kick to Akazuha's stomach, half of the poor people's area instantly vaporized.

The explosion also attracted another force.

Inside the giant satellite, a group of people were observing everything on the screen.

"So he's here?"

A man wearing glasses spoke, scrutinizing Akazuha as if assessing his abilities.

"I thought the tabloids were just spreading rumors about him, but it turns out he's real."

"He's quite strong, on par with A.H.M. 2008."

"It seems he's being overwhelmed. A.H.M. 2008 is immune to all kinds of magic; even in her invincible form, all physical attacks are ineffective against her."

A curly-haired guy looked at Akazuha with a covetous gaze.

"Hey, hey. Can we turn him into a specimen?"

Another guy with a more serious expression replied.

"No need. His strength and abilities are still no match for our other A.H.M.s."

The guy with white eyes retorted.

"I think he's even stronger than those guys."

The quietest one, in the form of a girl around 12 years old, turned to a 2-meter-tall robot and said,

"You guys are underestimating him too much."

"Quickly send A.H.M 2009 and A.H.M 2010 to Emilia's place, that guy is about to be defeated!"

The robot nodded and walked out of the room, the light outside disappearing as the door closed.

The man with glasses turned to the small girl and asked,

"Hey, are you sure about that?"

"I'm sure," she said confidently.

"To confront someone who's killed 200 dragons, what we're doing, or are doing, is absolutely necessary."

Returning to Akazuha and Emilia's battle, they stood facing each other, raindrops falling continuously on both of them.

He was breathing heavily, his body trembling slightly, his wounds bleeding continuously. He could use "Seraphim Veltaria"to heal his wounds, but he had sealed his magic circuits, so he couldn't heal them. However, despite his numerous injuries, he still pointed his Izumo sword at Emilia.

Emilia only had a few scratches on her armor, with no serious wounds.

"Are you tired?"

Akazuha's voice sounded weary. "Yeah, because I haven't eaten anything yet."

"Oh, I see."

Emilia swung her lightning sword at Akazuha, but he blocked it with his forearm. The slash was quite deep, but his arm wasn't severed.

"But even so, I won't hold back."

"Well, I don't want to hold back either."

The two began to clash, leaping over houses and unleashing a barrage of attacks on Akazuha.

Emilia threw a jab, and Akazuha countered with a spiral punch, twisting around Emilia's sword before sending her flying.

"Heavenly Severing First Form"

Akazuha slammed both palms into Emilia's stomach, sending her flying with the force of inertia, sliding across the ground. She got up, tensed her muscles, and flew towards Akazuha at maximum speed.

She kneed him in the face, sending him reeling backward. Emilia then launched herself forward at supersonic speed, unleashing a barrage of attacks all over his body. He suffered a broken arm, shattered ribs, and a fractured skull.

"Hahaha, is that all you've got?!"

"And yet you dare confidently think you can defeat me?!"

Akazuha silently endured the damage.

"Ultimate technique, Shadowless Blast."

Akazuha immediately broke through Emilia's barrage of attacks and unleashed a series of kicks, powerful enough to shatter even her invincible form.

"What?!" Emilia exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't think that just because a tiger doesn't roar, it's a Hello Kitty."

Akazuha was serious; this attack would finish Emilia off.

"With only that much power, don't be so arrogant."

"Divine Power Annihilation - World Annihilation Punch."

He threw a punch at Emilia, who raised her hand to block it, but it was impossible. Akazuha's punch was so powerful that it created a shockwave that blew away Emilia's entire body and half of the dark cloud in the sky.

"Oh my god, I'm so hungry! I haven't even eaten anything yet and I have to fight monsters, sigh..."

Akazuha slowly landed on the ground.

"Impossible... how is this possible?"

Suddenly, a whispering voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw Emilia, severely damaged, having lost both arms and a leg. Her mask was shattered, revealing the face of a beautiful girl.

"You're still standing after losing so many body parts?"

"Truly miraculous."

"You bastard... what exactly are you... a normal human being couldn't possibly possess such terrifying power!"

"Tell me how you acquired that power!"

"Just by exercising every morning."

Akazuha took out his camera and photographed the scene before him.

"Oh, and about that previous question."