"Hehehe! Finalygg... decided... to.. useg... a... abilityg?"

Zion asked with his wicked laughter, watching as White changed his battle stance to a peculiar one.

Both hands raised high up, with one of his legs leaving the ground, going high enough to his elbows, while the rest of his body rested entirely on his other leg.

"I don’t need an ability to beat you."

"Youg... foolg..."

Zion said, and once more he erupted forward.

Even with his hulking body that should have normally slowed him down, he only got faster and faster.

A punch smashed at White, who blocked with his high guard.

It seemed like he would be blown away, especially when he was resting his whole weight on one foot, yet as if he was covered in oil—

Zion’s fist was shifted to the side and then—

WHIIIIIP

It was the clear sound of whipping, but there was no whip.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The ground trembled as Zion shifted back with his head jerked backward before he finally balanced once more.

SPLURT

Blood splurted to the ground from beneath his chin and he turned to White, especially at the single leg he had raised high.

"Whatg... whatg... was thatg?"

Zion asked in confusion.

The punch should have sent White flying, yet it felt like his fist had come against rubber, before a force that seemed so familiar to his punch was suddenly directed beneath his jaw.

It had hit him so fast that even though it was obvious it was the raised leg that could have attacked him that fast, he still couldn’t come to terms with it.

"What will defeat you...."

White said, lowering his leg, and the second he did, he was before Zion who slammed out a massive palm from the sky.

White’s right hand reached for it, bearing its weight before redirecting it forward along with a jerk.

It was enough to send Zion leaning forward and in that moment, an elbow slammed into the same cut on his jaw from before.

"Diiiieeeg."

BOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOM!

The attacks kept ringing ceaselessly through the exchange as a brutal close combat ensued, yet even though it was clear who had the greater power.

The students watched everything they knew dismantled as they witnessed an unbelievable scene of technique going toe-to-toe with brute force.

"How’s that possible?"

"His power didn’t seem to have increased and yet he’s able to easily counter Zion?"

"How is he doing that?"

"What is that battle style of his?"

---

"Are you seeing this, Mimura?"

The call filled with disbelief echoed through the obstructed glass area of the arena, where two figures could be seen watching the fight below.

"Hmm,"

Vice Mimura hummed in reply.

"Is it me or does it look impossibly familiar?"

Vice Rohan asked and even Vice Mimura’s neutral irritated expression had changed to a bit of confusion and curiosity.

"It’s the FlowThai Combat Style. An ancient combat technique that allows the user to easily deflect the force of his opponent and even harness it into their own muscles to deal devastating damage."

"It’s a signature art of the United Earth Federation only taught to those who have spent at least half a decade working with them."

"So, how does he even know to use it!? He’s never been in the UEF nor spent five years working with them, has he?" Vice Rohan mused in confusion, before an idea popped into his head and he called out—

"Or maybe he learned it back in Humanity Ascension."

"The technique takes two full years of training to fully learn. He didn’t spend two years with Humanity Ascension. Just half a year."

"So how?"

Vice Rohan asked, his question lingering in the air with no answer.

---

’I am stronger than him. Vastly stronger. And yet...’

The air split apart as an elbow slammed into Zion’s jaw, the clear sound of it shattering echoing in his own head.

He took seven steps back this time before he landed on both knees, hands grabbing at his jaw as blood poured out onto the ground like a broken tap.

STEP!

STEP!

The footsteps reached him and he turned forward, finding White three meters away from him.

He was covered in blood, his uniform especially the area around both his hands and feet having been torn apart, along with his entire hands in a colour of red due to swelled-up blood in his fists.

Still he stood like an iron tower, both fists clenched, with a powerful will that showed he wasn’t near his limit.

"If that transformation is all you’ve got, then I’m afraid this is over."

White said, as Zion looked on at him for a while before his shock faded to a wild grin.

"Over?"

He asked as he rose up to his feet.

"I’ve only begun!"

Zion exclaimed and in the next moment all of the veins in his body began to squirm and then moved.

His massive body swelling with veins greatly reduced as he returned back to his normal self, at least for the most part.

Something else grew even more monstrous and that was his two arms.

Every single dark-purple vein surged downward into both arms, flooding them with power until they swelled to nearly three times their original size.

His skin stretched tight, muscles twisting grotesquely, as purple mist burst from the cracks in his flesh.

White’s eyes narrowed.

’That much compression...?’

Zion slowly raised both oversized arms above his head, laughing madly as the floor beneath his feet began to fracture from the pressure alone.

"Hellfall’s Rupture!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Both palms smashed into the arena floor, and all of Zion’s overloaded demonic energy was driven straight into the earth in a single violent release.

The ground caved inward, then all of a sudden exploded outward.

A massive omnidirectional shockwave of compressed force erupted across the arena, tearing up layers of reinforced flooring as a ring of destruction raced toward White whose expression changed instantly.

He immediately tried to move, feeling the destructive aura contained in the ripple with his advanced senses, but he had not put down his first step when—

"GRRRH!"

The shockwave hit.

BOOOOOOOOM!

White’s body folded as the air was blasted from his lungs.

His feet left the ground entirely as he was hurled backward like debris in a storm, smashing through the barrier wall pinned against it.

The barrier lit up brilliantly, focusing all of its power to strengthen that area, yet—

SHATTER!

Cracks ran through its surface and in the end—

CRUMBLE!

It crumbled to pieces as White rolled out, landing five meters away face-flat from the arena.