MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 687: Twice

Klaus’s body, soul, thoughts, and very consciousness froze the instant Anthony activated the freeze ability under Sense Dome.

Anthony did not waste even a fraction of time, for he knew with absolute certainty that he had only three seconds to make his move. His hand blurred as it shot toward his waist, and with one skillful, practiced motion, he unsheathed his katana.

The instant the blade emerged, sword intent bloomed into existence, coating the weapon in a razor-sharp intent that could sever through matter and essence alike. Without hesitation, Anthony swung his katana in a clean, merciless arc toward Klaus’s neck, his movement exuding lethal efficiency and calculated precision.

Anthony’s reasoning was simple. He did not for a moment believe that someone like Klaus lacked the means to restore his life if he were to die. A man of Klaus’s caliber surely possessed contingencies, resurrection methods, revival artifacts, or soul-bound anchors.

That was precisely why Anthony did not bother with subtlety or restraint. Aiming at such a delicate and decisive point as the neck was merely a gesture of formality; what mattered was the sheer killing intent behind the strike.

But as the blade was mere centimeters from Klaus’s throat, the man’s entire form vanished without warning. Anthony’s katana cut through nothing but the empty space where Klaus had been.

But the swing did not end harmlessly. A massive sword mark tore through the earth beneath, and the devastating sword intent roared outward like a calamity unchained. Trees toppled in rows, their trunks shredded to splinters, and the land itself cracked open into yawning chasms, as if the very ground recoiled from Anthony’s strike. The aftermath resembled a void left behind by annihilation itself.

Anthony’s eyes widened in shock. His attack had missed.

He could not comprehend it. The ability he had used, his Freezing ability tied to the Sense Dome, ensured that once he activated it, his target would be immobilized for precisely three seconds. He had acted in less than one, meaning two whole seconds remained. There was no margin for Klaus to have escaped, yet he had.

Normally, Anthony would not have been so shaken. After all, his opponent was Klaus, a man whose existence itself bent the boundaries of reason. But the nature of the Sense Dome was absolute, it froze body, mind, soul, and consciousness alike, regardless of power, cultivation or existence. More importantly, the Sense Dome heightened Anthony’s perception, allowing him to detect spatial manipulations within its radius. But Klaus had evaded without triggering even the faintest ripple.

’How was it possible?’

Anthony’s gaze snapped upward, and there he saw Klaus floating effortlessly in the air, his expression calm, composed, almost serene.

Just as Anthony’s mind reeled in disbelief, Klaus himself was experiencing a similar disturbance within his thoughts. He had never, not once in all his battles, expected someone to restrain him so completely.

’What was that ability?’ Klaus thought sharply.

He knew for certain it was not time manipulation. Anthony, despite his prodigious abilities, could never hope to influence the elusive and enigmatic time particles, not to such a degree that they would affect Klaus himself. The gap in their existence and mastery was too vast.

’It must be rule-based,’ Klaus concluded grimly, his mind reaching a sharp realization. His eyes narrowed with disbelief, for rule-based abilities were not meant to exist within this galaxy. They belonged to higher realms and older galaxies.

The only reason he had escaped was because of his own rule-based ability: an automatic evasion woven into the very fabric of his being. Without it, he would have been decapitated.

”What a fine sword you wield,” Klaus murmured from above, his voice carrying an odd blend of amusement and cold admiration.

Anthony did not answer. He understood the remark all too well. The katana in his hands was no ordinary blade. His former weapon, though reliable, had long since become inadequate for planetary-level battles. Tied too closely to his cultivation rank, it could no longer serve him against foes of even Supreme Monarchs magnitude. Thus, Anthony had changed weapons, selecting one of his more extraordinary sign-in rewards.

This new katana possessed only three defining features: it was indestructible, it could cut through almost anything in existence, and it carried a soul-bound connection to Anthony himself. These traits, though few, were absolute. They ensured that no matter how durable Klaus’s body was, the blade could slice through his skin, tearing apart defenses and dismissing protections.

Without another word, Anthony moved. The freezing ability of the Sense Dome flared into existence once again, before Anthony launched forward with blitzing speed. His form streaked into the sky like a flash of lightning, his katana already in mid-swing, tearing toward Klaus’s neck once more.

Anthony’s All Seeing Eyes glowed, sharpening as he tried to decode Klaus’s earlier evasion. He wanted to know, how? But this time, Klaus did not vanish.

He did something far more impossible.

He moved.

Anthony’s strike closed in, yet Klaus’s arm blurred, and in that fraction of an instant, a katana appeared within his hand. With swift, practiced ease, he intercepted Anthony’s attack. A deafening clang exploded across the heavens, the shockwave tearing apart the very clouds in the sky.

’How?’ Anthony’s mind reeled once more.

Previously, Klaus had been forced to dodge even while under the effect of the Freeze. But now? He seemed utterly unaffected, as though Anthony’s ability no longer bound him at all.

Klaus shifted smoothly, his katana deflecting Anthony’s to the side, before countering with a strike aimed directly at Anthony’s chest. Anthony reacted instantly, parrying with his blade, but Klaus adjusted mid-motion, changing his trajectory with a fluid grace that bordered on unnatural.

Anthony recalibrated his movements at once, his Sense Dome granting him foresight into Klaus’s shifting angle. Yet even so, he could not fully keep up. Klaus’s speed simply outstripped his own.

With a sickening sound, Klaus’s katana kissed Anthony’s flesh. Skin split apart with ease, crimson blood spraying across the battlefield like scattered raindrops.

Anthony’s infinite regeneration ability activated immediately, knitting together torn flesh and sealing the wound in less than a second. But he knew the danger had only begun.

Absolute Stasis.

Anthony activated another ability, shifting strategies. He recognized the futility of direct combat. Against Klaus’s superior strength and speed, no purely physical exchange could end in his favor.

At once, the entire realm froze. The air, the wind, the falling leaves, even the whisper of sound, all motion ceased, trapped in the stasis field.

But once again, Klaus defied reason. He moved. Absolute Stasis failed to restrain him, as though such laws of existence bent around his will. His katana tore forward once more, carrying an intent so sharp it seemed ready to cleave existence itself.

Anthony’s frown deepened as the strike closed in. Space warped violently around him, and he vanished from his position, reappearing kilometers away. But as his eyes darted toward where Klaus should have been, he realized Klaus was gone.

Sense Dome flared in urgency, Mental Calculation unraveling potential realities for him. Anthony’s body reacted instantly, his head snapping backward just in time to see Klaus behind him, katana descending like a judge’s gavel.

Anthony instantly activated Infinity, unspooling the barrier into existence in an attempt to halt the attack. Yet even Infinity crumbled beneath Klaus’s strike. The blade cut through him as though through butter, tearing flesh once more. Blood spattered across the ground as the sound of rending echoed.

In mere seconds since the battle had begun, Anthony had already been injured twice. His abilities, powers that could freeze existence, bend perception, and even halt reality, were being dismissed as though they were nothing but fragile illusions before Klaus’s overwhelming dominance.