Chapter 8: The Short Battle

"Flame Slash from Heaven."

Fumoto slashed down with her fiery sword from above. The black panther, with his supersonic speed, easily dodged the slash, severing the house behind him.

"Separating us like this, do you think you can win?"

"We'll only know after trying." Fumoto stomped her foot and lunged towards him.

Fumoto delivered a precise slash towards his head, but once again, he nimbly dodged the blow.

"This guy's really fast." Fumoto said irritably.

The black panther kept moving around at superhuman speed; she couldn't keep up with him, but there was a way.

"System, activate acceleration." Fumoto spoke to the air.

{TACHYON ACCELERATION SKILL - ACTIVATED}

Suddenly, the space around Fumoto began to slow down, so slowly that it seemed as if time had stopped.

The {Tachyon Acceleration} skill allowed Fumoto to accelerate her speed 1000 times faster than the speed of light.

The speed of that leopard, in her eyes, was no different from the running speed of an ordinary human.

Tick-tock.

In A.H.M. 2007's eyes, Fumoto was still slumped over from the barrage of attacks from him, but now, in a second, she appeared right in front of him, at a speed he couldn't even keep up with.

"What the hell!"

He shouted, but still managed to react and block her slash.

A relentless barrage of slashes, from top to bottom, bottom to top, right to left, Fumoto was trying to land them all, but even if he was faster than him, the difference between an adventurer who had practiced for three years and someone who had continuously trained and fought beneath the experimental facility for twelve years, just to master his strength and abilities, was immense.

Clang!

With a swift, clean slash, he easily decapitated her.

"An easy end, isn't it?"

He turned back, spoke to her headless corpse, then turned and headed towards the area where the continuous tremors were occurring.

"It seems I must go over there to help my friend."

Just as he was about to accelerate, a chilling sensation suddenly spread through his body.

It was the instinct of predatory animals when they encounter danger.

"Hey, where are you planning to go?"

He jumped at the sound of that voice. Behind him, Fumoto was slowly regenerating her head.

Before he could react, Fumoto had already sliced ​​him into millions of pieces, reducing him to dust.

"Luckily..."

Fumoto staggered against the wall.

"Fortunately, the {Nine Types of Immortality} skill is an automatic skill."

"Otherwise, I would have died then."

She breathed heavily, white mist billowing from her mouth, sweat pouring down her face.

"I'm almost out of magic power, this isn't good at all..."

"Need help?"

A beautiful woman with black hair and two horns on her head emerged from her shadow.

"That would be great..."

The demon girl lifted Fumoto up.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired."

Boom!

A shockwave immediately erupted in the distance.

"Is that him?" the demoness asked.

"Yes, it's him."

"He seems very strong, but why is his magic power so low?"

"I think so too. When I first met him, I sensed very little magic power in him. Clearly, with that amount, it's impossible for him to fight on equal footing with those two D-level monsters."

Boom!

Suddenly, a sound rang out, as if something had landed behind them.

Both looked back and saw a black creature standing there.

The female demon's eyes widened, as if she were seeing something utterly terrifying.

"We have to run."

"Why?"

"This thing... it must be a B-level!"

In City 005, the berserk bull was relentlessly throwing punches at a man, but he just stood there without any resistance.

The bull stopped its relentless attacks and charged, intending to gore Akazuha.

He immediately reached out to grab its horns, pushing Akazuha more than 10 meters away.

His hands instantly switched places, spinning the bull around like a top, then using force to send it flying away.

The berserk bull stomped its feet to slow down, then charged towards Akazuha again.

Bang!

He rammed him, sending him flying far away, towards a place where many people were passing by.

Bang!

The people around were still going about their daily routines when suddenly, a figure descended from the sky at high speed.

Akazuha slowly got up.

He looked around and realized he was in a different market.

"This isn't good, there are too many people here."

Bang!

Suddenly, a cargo ship fell from the sky.

The people around panicked and ran away.

"He's... trying to throw the heaviest thing he has at me?"

A cargo ship was hurtling towards him, and beside him stood a young boy, too terrified to lift his feet to run.

Akazuha immediately leaped into the air and kicked the ship towards the moon.

"Damn, I accidentally kicked it to the moon."

He landed, the ground beneath cracking open.

"Are you alright, kid?"

It took the boy a moment to regain his composure, then he looked at him with admiring eyes.

"Who... are you?"

"Whatever you call me, I am."

"So, are you a hero?"

Akazuha pondered, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Maybe."

He glanced at A.H.M. 2010, then turned to the boy and said,

"Get out of here, kid, this place is dangerous." With that, he stomped his foot and sped towards the bull-like creature at supersonic speed.

Seeing this, the mad bull-like creature threw another ship at him, but Akazuha caught the cargo ship and threw it back at the bull.

He easily punched away the 251,000-ton cargo ship, then immediately threw a punch at him with superhuman speed; dodging that punch was too easy for him.

The punch was incredibly powerful, the shockwave blowing away several nearby houses and cars. Akazuha only grazed his shoulder.

"You're very strong, Akazuha Shashiki."

"Yeah... you're very strong too."

Bang!

In an instant, they clashed again.

Akazuha didn't counterattack anymore; instead, he blocked and dodged the punches.

Seeing Akazuha able to dodge his punches, A.H.M 2003 attacked even faster.

"Rage Punch!!!"

The surrounding residents began to scatter in panic to avoid the barrage of punches raining down from the madman.

"This guy seems to be above D+ level."

"A punch like that could destroy several nearby cities."

"I guess I'll have to cause some trouble, huh?"

He patted his chest.

"I really didn't want to use this skill, but the situation forced me to."

{MUSCLE ACTIVATION: 1%}

"Muscle Activation"—a skill he didn't dare use too much, because if he did, his body would be under immense pressure and explode.

"Die!!!!"

A.H.M 2003 lunged towards him, his fist now powerful enough to—

Bang!

Swish!

Crack!

Boom!

A.H.M was annihilated by Akazuha with a single punch.

The battle was over... quickly.

"Yosha~, my stomach feels so much lighter now that I've digested all that food. The food hadn't fully digested yet, making fighting so difficult."

Akazuha suddenly saw something flying towards him.

It landed, revealing a ruby-colored suit of armor.

"I am A.H.M 2010, Krimson Knight."

{Blazing Red Knight - Threat: B+}

"Raise your hands and surrender."

"Who the hell are you?"

Clop! Clop! Clop!

A series of footsteps came from afar, growing louder and louder. Akazuha could see in the distance... an army fully equipped with various heavy weapons.

"Is that... an army of robots?"

They all simultaneously pointed their weapons at him.

"Is this all settled here?"

A figure resembling a mage appeared behind Krimson Knight, holding Fumoto, who was severely wounded, his body charred, having lost both his left arms and his right leg.

"Alright, this doesn't look good."

*Crack!* Click! ... Bang! ... "The Uninterrupted Bullet." He redirected all the bullets in another direction.

Taking advantage of the gap in the barrage of incoming bullets, he threw a bullet he had somehow acquired at them.

With some kind of magic, all the bullets were deflected by the bullet Akazuha threw, preventing them from hitting him.

The bullets all grazed to the sides; not a single one hit him.

"This is ridiculous."

"He deflected the bullets with another bullet?!"

"This is utterly absurd!"

The soldiers, still stunned by the scene before them, hadn't yet realized their heads were falling.

One by one, each one he walked past had their head severed.

He approached the two men, standing opposite them, his face hidden in shadow as he blocked the sun, only the symbol on his blindfold glowing.

"What exactly is your organization, anyway? I'm starting to get annoyed."

"Our organization, you can call it R.E.D, an acronym for research, experimentation, and development. Our organization has been established since the battle between the hero Arthur and the Time-Space Demon King Kamikaze ended. We are unlike other organizations; we don't aspire to the pinnacle of human achievement. What we desire is to trample on weak humans... with absolute power!" the red knight said. Akazuha stared at him, his face expressionless.

"..."

"..."
"..."

"To sum it up, you guys are just weaklings, only wanting to trample on those stronger than yourselves."

"Huh." The red knight looked bewildered, while the mage could only sigh, whispering so the knight couldn't hear. "Next time, if you're stupid, don't speak up. That's not how the organization works..."

The red knight was silent for a moment, then immediately became enraged and lunged towards Akazuha.

"Who are you calling weaklings?! You red-haired guy!!!!"

"My hair isn't something you can vent your anger on."

He furiously swung his greatsword at Akazuha, who nimbly dodged every blow.

"Hey, your shockwave just destroyed a few moons orbiting this planet, do you want to cause a tidal wave?"

The guy didn't hear him, and continued slashing wildly, shouting with each slash.

"I'm the strongest, I'm the strongest!!!"

"You're repeating yourself too much."

{MUSCLE ACTIVATION: 2%}

"Repeating yourself too much isn't good."

He raised his hand and *BAM!* The dazzling red knight was instantly annihilated.

"Oh no."

He turned to the mage.

"Sorry, I accidentally killed him."

"It's alright." The mage said indifferently.

He frowned. "I thought you two were friends."

The mage tossed Fumoto aside.

"I'm not friends with a weakling."

"I thought you two were born of the same blood." Akazuha took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and smoked.

A.H.M 2009 was silent for a moment before speaking.

"We were carefully screened experiments. I and the other experiments were locked in a sealed room with no escape, where we fought to the death. Only those who survived would be the ones to fulfill a single mission."

"That mission was to become God."

"To trample over all, to stand above all."

"We would become the strongest creatures in the world, and the only entities considered gods by those below."

Akazuha tried not to laugh, because this was the dumbest reason he had ever heard.

"Ahem, so what exactly are you targeting me for?"

"That was beyond our initial plan. Our intention was to capture that princess for a different purpose..."

"Princess? Is she referring to that pink-haired girl?" Akazuha pondered.

"...but unexpectedly, someone like you appeared here. The things you've shown, your destruction of samples 2008, 2003, 2010, and 2011, only make us want to dissect you even more. Just to study where your power and abilities come from, it's clear that an ordinary human couldn't possess such a vast amount of magic to perform such feats. If we do that, our becoming the rulers of this world won't be long now."

He looked towards Fumoto. "And that girl is quite a perfect specimen, indeed, today is my lucky day."

"Luck or misfortune, those two concepts are the most elusive." He pulled out two guns, one black and one white.

"Oh, you know how to use guns, huh? But you should understand one thing, Akazuha Shashiki." The core in the center of the staff began to rotate, as if accumulating energy. "In the face of magic, all human weapons are meaningless."

He pointed the two barrels at him. "Not necessarily."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shots rained down on the mage, who erected a circle of physical damage negation to block the incoming bullets.

"Heh." A slight smirk appeared on his lips.

Boom!

Immediately, the seemingly ordinary bullets exploded, each with a force equivalent to a C4 grenade.

But no matter how powerful the explosion, it was clearly a physical attack, and therefore couldn't penetrate the shield.

A.H.M 2009 stood inside the shield, grinning triumphantly. "Don't you understand? This is a shield that negates all physical attacks. As long as your attack is a physical one, you'll never be able to hurt me."

"Oh, really?"

Pshoom!

A cigar-shaped projectile shot out silently, exploding halfway through its trajectory.

BOOM!

A small but powerful explosion occurred. There was no fire, no debris; instead, a circle of air pressure formed in the air, spreading at terrifying speed.

A.H.M. 2009's shield flashed brightly as the shockwave struck, perfectly neutralizing the direct physical impact of the explosion. 2009 smiled, but the smile vanished in an instant.

The sound waves from the explosion, which the shield didn't consider a physical attack to be able to neutralize, pierced through the energy shield like a ghost. It surrounded A.H.M. 2009 from all sides.

"What have you done?!" The mage cried out, his voice trembling from the instability of his shield.

Akazuha fired two more shots. One at the stone floor to the left, one at the large pillar to the right of A.H.M 2009. Two small explosions created two more sound waves, coming from different angles.

The wave interference effect occurred. The sound waves collided, creating points of extreme pressure and points of extreme pressure in the small space around A.H.M 2009. He felt as if he were being crushed and then expanded in an instant. His magic shield, fluctuating chaotically, began to fragment.

"Your shield truly can negate physics, A.H.M 2009," Akazuha said, loading his last bullet. "But sound isn't one of those things... I suppose."

Bang!

With the last bullet, the one that would finish off the mage, but unfortunately, he teleported away.

"Sigh, I knew it wouldn't work."

The mage appeared right in front of him and slapped him.

He rolled around on the ground, lying still, legs crossed, hands behind his head.

"It's not good to use teleportation during a fight."

"Fu fu fu, then why don't you use your teleportation magic?"

"Let me put it this way." He took off part of his shirt, revealing the chain binding a heart. "This is a special type of magic that I created with my master, it's called {Kenjaku}, a type of magic that allows me to seal the magic power of my enemies and even myself. Its effect lasts for up to a week."

A.H.M 2009 pondered for a moment before speaking. "That's quite an interesting type of magic. Let me guess, you're going to use that magic to fight Emilia on equal terms?"

"Uh, you're going to call me stupid, aren't you? Well, I admit that my desire to fight my enemies on equal terms sometimes makes me feel a bit foolish."

"But didn't you just finish off A.H.M 2011 with one punch?"

"That's a muscle activation skill, a skill that allows me to increase the percentage of potential my muscles can develop. I can't use it too much, because if I use it too much, my muscles will overload and explode."

"So, if you continue fighting me now, you'll lose?"

"Well, from the moment this battle began, I already knew I was going to lose."

"Is that so... then even better."

"Then that means capturing you will be much easier." A.H.M 2009 prepared to use binding magic, but Akazuha simply sat there and said.

"But that doesn't mean you'll capture me so easily.

Be still, you mad soul.

An · Pha Nhat La · Da Do · Pham!

"Huh." A.H.M 2009 could hear a sound echoing from the void.

Become an immovable rock, stop the rushing water.
Nine-Character Seal, engrave and bind here. Lin! Bing! Dou! Jia! Jie! Lie! Qian! Xing! Zhuo! Zhuo! Zhuo! Zhuo! Zhuo!

Suddenly, a box appeared behind her, and from within it, many black arms emerged and seized her.

"What the hell is this!" A.H.M 2009 screamed as she was grabbed by those arms.

"Well, since you are much stronger than me, I had to seal you away."

Listen, this is not forgiveness.

It is the declaration of Karmic Binding.

Your name, I write as Nothingness. Your form, I seal as Emptiness. Your thoughts, I return to Nothingness.

Namo · Bhagavat · Emperor · Shakyamuni · Svaha!

Those arms dragged her into the box. A.H.M 2009 struggled to escape, but failed.

Darkness has appeared, sink in.

Resentment has appeared, dissipate.

Karma has appeared, contract.

Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking into a gem, a stone, a grain of dust.

The box closed after absorbing her and its contents.

...But, even a grain of dust is a seed of Buddhahood.
Through immeasurable time, until the day this seal is broken.

Sleep peacefully.

Namo... Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva...

"Luckily I prepared this."

Akazuha stepped forward and picked up the box. He examined it for a moment before putting it in his pocket.

He approached Fumoto and poured a vial of extremely potent medicine into her body; her wounds were beginning to heal.

He turned his head, looking into the distance where several adventurers were running towards them.

He immediately vanished from there at supersonic speed.

{======}

On February 2nd, 2025

Several adventurers witnessed several explosions in the distance. Upon arriving, they found a girl lying there surrounded by the corpses of unidentified robots. Authorities are still investigating.

{======}

End of Chapter 8