“AURA SMASH… MERGE,” Stark sent the giant fist in Akira’s direction, who was slowly walking toward him, preparing to use his second [Moon Fatality] to end this battle once and for all.
Akira had truly tried his hardest since the beginning, as he had seen many people lose fights because of their overconfidence, yet Stark somehow always managed to avoid his attacks or counter them against him.
And yet… he was actually breaking his own values by being this smug, maybe it was the [Invincible Token] that made him act so unusually?
EGO mimicked Stark’s movements and launched a crimson fist as well: it was the main attack, as the demon was the one that would enhance it and also be the one to cast it, meaning that the [Aura Smash] that would appear before Akira would be the strongest one Stark ever launched.
~FWISH~
The fist, at least five times Akira’s size, rushed at him, leaving a massive trail of powerful aura behind.
“Futile,” Akira laughed, “Why keep attacking when I cannot receive damage, do you truly not comprehend what it means to be INVINCIBLE?” Akira didn’t budge even in the face of that thing.
But he couldn’t deny the fist was powerful, so he instinctively positioned his two katanas to cut it and thus prove to Stark that he truly was the ultimate participant of this trial, even in his first, he had killed everyone with absolutely no mercy in his eyes, and it wouldn’t change, even during the third or fourth trial…
~FWISH… SLASH, SLASH!~
He even went as far as using a second [Moon Fatality] on the attack, using the entire power of the moon he absorbed in his blades to cut the fist of crimson aura.
And his katanas did in fact manage to cut through the aura of [Aura Smash].
“DO YOU NOT REALIZE?” he repeated as his weapons were slicing the fist in three.
“No… YOU do not realize,” Stark smiled.
And suddenly…
~BOOOOOMMMM~
Even though he did in fact cut it, the fist still reached him and exploded in his face, its aura and power way too strong for even the [Full Moon Form] Akira.
~FWISH~
“-0”
Akira was sent flying yet again, bumping extremely hard against the walls of the [Cosmic Barrier] he himself had formed, then falling to the ground.
He didn’t receive any damage at all, and not a single drop of blood appeared on any of his body parts, since he hadn’t been “physically” affected by the attack.
“Do you not realize-” he tried to get up.
Or at least… that is what he believed.
Since…
“Huh?” Akira’s vision was drowsy, he couldn’t see well, he was tired, and in addition to that, his body still hurt somehow.
His legs weren’t listening to him, even though he screamed for them to get up.
“What the…” he placed his two palms against the ground and breathed in and out loudly, drops of sweat dropping on the ground under him, “Why… am I… what…?”
No matter how much he tried, his body wouldn’t answer.
[You have been stunned!]
In addition to his body actually hurting from the crimson fist and his stamina depleting, he had been stunned, meaning that he was stuck there.
“Do you not realize?” Stark repeated his exact same words, “You were never truly invincible…”
Akira took the word “invincible” way too seriously, thinking that NOTHING would affect him.
But what about his stamina, or if his body hurts?
Even if he doesn’t receive damage, these things still affect him, and it was until too late he realized he had pushed himself too hard.
But the biggest mistake he had made of all… was to forget about status effects.
Stark noticed it thanks to [Domi-Chain], but Akira could actually get affected by things other than damage, and so that is why he fed his confidence by sending all these attacks at him: fists, spears, and even used [Heaven’s Wrath] to make him think even the strongest of attacks would do nothing.
And when his confidence was at its peak… he would pull out [Aura Smash] and stun him.
“WHAT THE FUCK…” Akira tried as hard as he could to move, but even his [Moon] power couldn’t be used.
“Well… it seems like you lost,” Stark arrived in front of Akira, who could only look up as he saw Stark and the EGO demon looking down on him.
“I lost?” Akira was enraged, “NICE JOKE, I’M STILL INVINCIBLE DUMBASS, YOU CAN’T HURT ME!”
Stark looked at Akira’s rage with the blankest of expressions, his face covered by his crimson aura and letting only his judgmental white eyes visible to the man below.
Suddenly, the boy intertwined his two hands together and raised them right behind his head.
The demon repeated the action: it looked like he wanted to smash Akira using EGO.
~FWISH, FWISH~
He powered up the attack for a few seconds as Akira kept insulting him and telling him that he would soon be free and kill him.
And then…
“I win…” Stark’s eyes lit up as he swung down with his joined hands in a powerful smash attack.
And just as expected… the EGO demon repeated what he did.
“YOU THINK I’M SCARED? YOU CAN’T HURT ME!” Akira shouted as loud as possible, trying to hide his shaky voice as much as possible: even though he was confident he wouldn’t be hurt, that thing’s attack was still terrifying.
~FWISH~
The demon’s sturdy hands smashed Akira’s body while he was lying on the ground, creating a small crater because of the sheer power.
“You… what… I… can’t lose…-” and so Akira fell unconscious, the pain in his body so strong this time that he almost believed that [Invincible Token] had deactivated, otherwise why would it be this painful?
“-0!” yet the damage output proved otherwise: it wasn’t that the invincible token wasn’t working, but that his own body was still feeling the pain regardless, the adrenaline slowing down after being stunned.
“You can’t receive damage, that is true,” Stark smiled, “But don’t forget that I can also knock you out, IT’S MY VICTORY!”
[Akira has been knocked out!]
Immediately, his aura disappeared and the [Cosmic Barrier] vanished, revealing that the monsters had gotten closer to inspect it.
And the moment they saw Akira’s body lying down…
“GRAOOWLL!”
“HIKHIKHIK!”
They all cheered.
‘What the?’ Stark was actively confused, but he just shrugged, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter…’
He had around 6 minutes of [Monster Scent] left, and more monsters had appeared as they fought, meaning that it would be difficult for him to escape even like this when monsters were everywhere.
And so… he left Akira’s unconscious body in the middle of the monster-filled hallway.
He truly wanted to kill him, but another two minutes waiting for the [Invincibility Token] to wear off were just too much for him.
And to add to that…
[The door to floor 0 has been opened, head toward the exit!]
It seemed like Sora actually managed to kill the monsters and find the key by herself.
‘I don’t have anything else to do here,’ he mumbled as he opened his map and began to run through the horde of monsters.
They didn’t try to attack as they saw him as their own, but he still didn’t want to touch them or stay around for too long.
“Goodbye, Akira,” Stark looked back one last time to see the white-haired man’s body, “You were truly strong.”
And so he ran off, leaving him and the monsters behind.
