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Hitmonlee felt like his entire body was coming apart.
Every muscle screamed.
Every bone throbbed.
Even the air pressure from Hariyama's puppet-fist had nearly crushed him.
That wasn't Hariyama's strength.
That was Leavanny's control forcing the corpse to strike far beyond anything the real Hariyama could survive.
Even a glancing blow had nearly shattered him.
Hitmonlee staggered to his feet, legs trembling, breath ragged.
Across from him, Hariyama's headless, torn-up body twitched grotesquely held upright by dozens of nearly invisible threads.
A puppet.
A nightmare puppet.
"This can't go on…" Hitmonlee thought, chest heaving.
He could feel his stamina collapsing.
He had already burned through most of his energy fighting rival dojo teams earlier.
Now, after tanking two horrifying puppet strikes, he was nearly spent.
If he didn't act now, forget avenging Hariyama, he wouldn't live through the next minute.
"Just get close… just let me get close…"
Leavanny wasn't stronger than him in direct combat.
Hitmonlee knew that.
If he could just reach its real body, bypass the puppet—
He could end this.
On the other side of the clearing, Leavanny reclined lazily in the shadows, watching him with curious amusement.
Silver threads wrapped around its leafy blades, stretching across the clearing like a spider's web, connecting directly to Hariyama's corpse.
And then—
Hitmonlee moved.
His long, spring-loaded legs compressed like steel coils—
And then exploded.
BOOM!
He launched forward like a rocket, slicing through the air with blistering speed.
In under a second, he would reach Leavanny.
He could already imagine landing the killing blow.
But between them—
Hariyama's massive corpse remained, a bloody barricade in his path.
Hitmonlee's face was calm, but his twitching brow gave away the panic beneath.
The puppet's mangled arm rose, bone jutting, flesh hanging, and swung.
"Here it comes!"
This moment would decide his life.
Heat erupted across Hitmonlee's skin his blood felt like it ignited.
Steam burst from his body as a thin red-white membrane formed across his torso.
"Endure!"
Hariyama's corpse was punched.
CRACK!
The protective shell shattered instantly, absorbing most of the killing force but the remaining power still smashed Hitmonlee through the air, flipping him violently.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
But he didn't die.
He landed hard, then forced himself upright.
Endure had kicked in leaving him with one sliver of life.
At the cost of his future strength, his lifespan, everything.
He didn't care.
He only wanted Leavanny dead.
Using Endure to absorb the puppet's attack, he blasted past Hariyama's body and saw his opening.
Now—
Flames seemed to burn in his eyes.
"DIEEEEE!!"
A brilliant blue light erupted along his kicking leg, brighter than anything he had ever produced.
He channeled everything every last scrap of stamina, every drop of willpower—
Into one final technique.
Mega Kick.
His strongest move.
His last hope.
Wind screamed past his ears as he closed the distance, aiming to obliterate Leavanny in a single hit.
At this speed, nothing could block him.
Leavanny should have looked terrified.
But it didn't.
Its round face didn't change.
No panic.
No fear.
Just a small, eerie smile.
"Why!?" Hitmonlee's heart dropped.
He was right.
Mega Kick would kill Leavanny.
Close-combat was its only weakness.
But he forgot one thing.
Leavanny wasn't alone.
A shadow moved beside him—
Huge.
Silent.
Fast.
BOOM!!!!!!
A massive arm, covered in deep-violet armored plating, erupted from the darkness.
It tore through the air—
And smashed directly into Hitmonlee's ribs.
The glowing blue energy around his leg shattered instantly.
The force ripped through him like a shockwave—
Muscles tore.
Bone snapped.
Veins burst.
Blood sprayed from his nose, mouth, and eyes.
His body froze midair then rocketed sideways at terrifying speed, crashing through branches and dirt like a rag doll.
The forest shook.
Leavanny didn't even blink.
Still smiling.
And from behind it…
A towering figure finally stepped into the light.
Another nightmare was here.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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