The aura of the Tiger King spread over Sylas in waves, so oppressive and mighty that he could practically see an open maw before his face.
A golden-white Aether took shape, swirling in the air and appearing before Sylas. It compressed, forming over his Will and clamping down like a beast on its prey.
Sylas could feel what its intent was. It was to humiliate, to press down, to suppress. He had felt that feeling before. It was that grinning face that appeared every time his back was pressed against a wall, the very same Will that followed his every step, like a seed of doubt being sown into his very soul.
The roar was abruptly cut off when Sylas moved. He crossed the distance between himself and Aki so fast that the sound waves around him almost couldn't seem to reach him in the first place.
He punched out, his own oppressive aura, wrapped in black, violet, and even deeper greens, solidified.
Aki was still in a state where he couldn't move. He thought that his grin and oppressive Will would be enough to stop Sylas for at least the extra few seconds that he needed.
Sylas' fist slammed against his face, its handsome countenance twisting and deforming. When two Warlord Armors met, it was as though they weren't allowed to touch at all.
The feeling of flesh contacting flesh, and then flesh deforming to give way to bone, was so surreal that Aki felt every moment of it. As though his own sense of time was being stretched out and warped, he was forced to look into the depths of Sylas' eyes as he faced the blow.
Aki was sent flying into the distance, his body rumbling and tumbling along the ground.
Sylas landed on the ground with a heavy stomp. His tail slapped against the ground, his Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension blooming. He crossed the distance even faster than before, paths of Glass and sparking lightning crossing before him as he glided.
His body seemed to phase into the wind, the light reflecting off of him stretching and making it seem as though he had lengthened across hundreds of meters in a flash.
Aki had only just bounced off the ground once more when Sylas' fist appeared at his face once again. He seemed to curl right into Sylas' attack, his body bowing and shifting only for his nose to practically be driven into his skull.
Sylas put his entire body behind the fist. He wasn't just trying to attack; he was trying to drive his arm through Aki's head.
There wasn't an ounce of mercy in Sylas' attacks. Every one was more violent than the last. He unleashed all he had, his mad tempest of blows increasing in ferocity.
However, there was a very clear elephant in the room.
As relentless as he was, as much power as he put into every blow, as many times as he forced Aki's head to deform and his flesh to twist and change…
Aki was no closer to death.
Aki soared into the skies and Sylas appeared high above him, his legs splitting apart as he raised his heel to the crimson clouds above. A menacing light flashed in Sylas' green gaze, a halo of emerald hovering around him as his very Will fused into his attack.
His Mixed Martial Arts Comprehension was pressed to an extreme and he unleashed a roar more menacing than even the earlier Tiger King.
His heel fell on Aki's head and finally a crack of bone echoed. Aki's skull almost split in two, a burst of blood coming from his eyes and nose as Sylas drove downward with all his might.
In one instant Aki was in the air, and in the next, he had been driven into the dirt.
The earth seemed to lag in its response, Aki shooting through so fast that there was nothing but a small pit, as deep as the eye could see, for several seconds.
And then there was an explosion from down below.
The earth pulsed outward, large plumes of dust and violent jets of rocks shooting out in all directions. It was as though a meteor had collided with the earth.
Sylas had put everything into that blow. He pulled on Aetherflow, he poured his Level 10 Mature Aether into every fiber of his being, [Madness Control] was at full tilt, and in the end, he even poured what remained of the golden droplets of Blood Essence into the Runes of his leg.
In the end, that blow alone dwarfed 10 000 Attack. In fact, even mentioning it in the same breath was nothing more than a joke. It was easily double that.
Sylas huffed for breath, standing high in the air.
He had done everything he could to pour his poison into Aki's body, but there was a Will more staunch than anything he had ever felt within him. It was like his Aether itself feared him, and Sylas couldn't fathom how that could be possible.
His Spinecoil Poison was 60 Foundations. The theoretical limit for F-Grade Runes was 100 Foundations, but almost none reached that level.
To put this matter into perspective, 60 Foundation Runes should only appear with even remote rarity in Silver Grade Worlds.
A 60 Foundation Rune with Essence Mastery behind it was something that most Rune Masters couldn't begin to fathom. How Aki had a strong enough Will to suppress poison at this Level…
Sylas knew it deep inside.
Aki wasn't in the F-Grade at all. He might have been borrowing Professor Broussard's body, but the core of him was very much not so limited.
The ground rumbled as a hand reached out. The land shook and the head of a White Tiger manifested, forming the helm of a man with blood running down his face.
"Ha…" Aki spat out a laugh, spitting a mouthful of blood to the side. "Not bad. Not bad at all."
He looked up, and for a moment, Sylas thought he felt him focus on his chest… the location right where the Madness Key should have been hidden.
"It's no wonder," Aki said lightly. "I didn't think that using this armor would even be necessary, but it seems I did right by taking such precautions."
Aki took a breath and sighed it out.
"But this ends here."
Aki took a step and a roar echoed with his movement. There was a shift to the land and Sylas couldn't react before a fist slammed into his chest, caving in his ribs, cracking his armor, and sending him flying into the sea of endless blood.