Overwhelming Firepower

The Heavenly Demon rose from the altar. Violent blood-red energy surrounded his body, flooding the temple with a pressure that made its ancient walls tremble.

Several days had passed since Lucen entered the illusion. During that time, Alexander and Cael had recovered and begun their training elsewhere.

It was fortunate they were no longer inside the temple. Otherwise, the Heavenly Demon’s overwhelming pressure might have crushed them.

”I don’t think there’s a need to do battle here.” The Martial God spoke in his usual calm tone. The surprise he had moments ago disappeared as clarity returned.

”What are you talking about, you b*stard?!” The Heavenly Demon, who was ready to fight to the end, sounded more furious than usual.

”If you and that being were trying to manifest a fight, it would be with divine power. The current physical plane won’t be able to withstand such a fight. Are you trying to kill those who are simply living their lives?”

The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue. The blood-red energy continued surging around him, but it stopped spreading across the temple.

”I do not need you lecturing me. I have no interest in killing weaklings.”

”Then we cannot fight that being here.”

”Are you telling me not to face this being? As a martial artist, do you not wish to test yourself against it?”

The Martial God looked at the colorless pupil beyond the violet crack. ”... Of course I do.”

The Heavenly Demon paused. He had expected another lecture, not an admission. ”Then why are you stopping me?”

”The path I walk is not so narrow. We shall have another chance to fight that being, but not here and not now.”

The Heavenly Demon stared at him for several seconds before releasing a dismissive scoff. ”And if that chance never comes?”

”Then it never comes.” The Martial God’s expression remained calm. ”A single missed battle will not bring my path to an end.”

The Heavenly Demon shook his head. ”You have become boring. If it were the old you, the second you saw that being, you would have wanted to see if your martial arts could reach it. You were so arrogant back when I first met you.”

”Have we not both grown from that time?” The Martial God asked while looking at the Heavenly Demon’s eyes.

”Tsk, fine... So how should we deal with that thing?”

”We do not need to deal with that thing. As long as we wake up Lucen, we can stop the connection between the two.”

The Martial God tried to do as he just said, but to his surprise, he could not. ”It would seem it won’t be as easy as I imagined. That being is preventing Lucen from waking up. We need to enter Lucen’s illusion and defeat the avatar of that being within Lucen’s illusion.”

”Do we have time to do that?”

”... I don’t know, but we need to try.”

The Heavenly Demon’s expression brightened immediately. ”Kehahahaha! So there will be a battle after all.”

”I’m warning you now, but this type of being is something new for the two of us. It’s possible that we all die in the illusion.” The Martial God spoke indifferently.

”Then so be it; that just means that’s the extent of our abilities. Come on then, let us save that interesting child.”

”Very well, then let us make haste.” The Martial God extended his hand towards the Heavenly Demon. Seeing this action, the Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue before holding the Martial God’s hand.

The moment their hands met, the Martial God closed his eyes and used his divine energy to perform his technique.

***

Inside the illusion, Lucen was stunned as fear and anxiety held him. He could not move a single finger as whatever was in the sky was looking at him.

’Why? What should I do? What the f*ck even is that thing? Is that an alien or something else? Is this how I die?’

Many thoughts swirled in his mind, and it was at that moment when despair was sinking in that something happened.

Two people suddenly appeared in front of him; they were wearing something you would see in wuxia novels.

One wore simple white robes, while the other was dressed in black and crimson. Their long hair moved despite the complete absence of wind inside the room. The man in black looked around.

”Hoh, is this the distant future of the world? How fascinating, buildings trying to reach the very skies.”

”It is certainly different from the world we once knew,” the Martial God agreed. ”However, this is not the time to admire it.”

The Heavenly Demon looked toward the glowing screens and the city beyond the window. ”I can observe my surroundings while preparing for battle.”

While the two were talking, Lucen realized that the fear and anxiety that was gripping his heart seemed to loosen upon the appearance of the two.

The language the two were using was one he had heard in those old martial arts movies. Yet despite that, for some reason, he could understand them.

”Who are you two?” Lucen couldn’t help but ask.

Hearing Lucen’s question, the two looked at him, and then the one wearing black and crimson spoke with a rather smug look on his face.

”Listen well, brat, I’m the Heavenly Demon!”

”The Heavenly Demon... The strongest martial artist in the martial arts genre novels...” Lucen couldn’t help but comment. Hearing what he said, the Heavenly Demon grinned.

”Kehahaha! Did you hear that? I’m known as the strongest martial artist!”

”He did not say that you were the strongest. He simply stated that the one called the Heavenly Demon is written as the strongest in novels.”

Before the Heavenly Demon could respond, every pale eye beyond the window turned toward them.

The mouths covering the creature fell silent. The entire city became still, and then a black limb descended through the clouds.

It crossed the distance without appearing to move. One moment, it remained above the city. In the next, thousands of crooked teeth filled the view beyond Lucen’s window.

The Heavenly Demon stepped forward and punched. The side of the apartment exploded outward.

Blood-red energy erupted from his fist and collided with the limb. The impact shattered every window across the surrounding buildings and forced the enormous mass away from Lucen.

Black flesh ruptured. There was no blood inside it. The wound revealed a bottomless sky filled with dying stars. Each star opened like an eye and focused upon the Heavenly Demon.

An invisible force struck his soul. Cracks spread across his spiritual body, but he charged through the pressure.

He jumped from the apartment and stepped upon the air, leaving blood-red footprints suspended above the city.

The Heavenly Demon then stretched out his hand, and a sword made of pure black appeared in his hand.

”It has been so long since I took out Chaos to battle!”

Chaos possessed no decoration upon its hilt or guard. Its blade was so black that the surrounding light seemed to bend toward it, while thin veins of blood-red energy pulsed beneath its surface.

The mouths covering the approaching limbs screamed. The Heavenly Demon swung once. A black line appeared across the sky.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then every limb within that line separated at once.

Black flesh fell toward the city in enormous pieces. Mouths continued snapping along the severed sections, while the stars inside their wounds stared in every direction.

The Heavenly Demon stepped across the falling pieces.

Each movement left another crimson footprint suspended in the air. Chaos passed through the fragments, dividing them repeatedly until the enormous limbs became countless strips of darkness.

The strips of darkness did not disappear. They twisted as they fell, growing new mouths and limbs.

Some became winged shapes covered in eyes, while others stretched into serpents long enough to coil around entire buildings. The creatures descended upon the city.

”Since the Heavenly Demon took out Chaos, then I shall take out Serenity as well.” The Martial God stepped through the destroyed wall and extended one hand.

A point of blue light appeared above his palm. It lengthened, taking the shape of a sword.

The entire weapon was blue. Its hilt possessed the deep color of the ocean, while the blade gradually brightened toward its edge until it resembled the clear sky. Faint currents moved beneath its surface, making it seem as though an endless sea had been sealed inside the metal.

Unlike Chaos, which drew the surrounding light into itself, the sword released a calm radiance that spread across the ruined apartment.

The winged creatures reached the building. The Martial God swung Serenity, and a blue arc passed through them as silently as a breeze crossing still water. The creatures stopped moving.

Their wings became motionless. Their mouths closed, while the eyes covering their bodies lost the madness within them. For one peaceful moment, they appeared suspended beneath a clear blue sky that did not exist.

Thin blue lines appeared across their bodies. The creatures separated and dissolved into blue particles before reaching the city.

The Martial God stepped into the air, leaving ripples beneath his feet, and joined the Heavenly Demon above the ruined skyline.

Chaos and Serenity hummed as they approached each other. Black and blue light spread across the heavens, forcing the avatar’s countless eyes to narrow. The two martial deities raised their swords.

Lucen watched in amazement. It was as though one of the anime he loved had come to life before him.

Some people fled. Others remained frozen beneath the impossible sky, while a few raised their phones with trembling hands and recorded the two martial deities.

The avatar made no sound. The sky merely folded inward around Chaos and Serenity as the colorless pupil behind it turned, bringing its immeasurable attention to rest upon them.