Chapter 112: Facing Off Against Superalloy Darkshine with a Rapid-Fire Barrage!!
Aokiji glanced at the progress bar and was fairly satisfied with the rate of increase.
Hearing Superalloy Darkshine's shout, he also dropped the Hassaikai(Kanabo) in his hand, which smashed a crater into the ground.
"Darkshine, at what point do we consider this fight over?"
"Hmm, you have a point. We can't exactly knock this island out of the sky."
Superalloy Darkshine pondered for a moment and soon had an idea.
He struck a confident smile common among bodybuilders.
"Whichever side starts gasping for air loses. How about that?"
This condition could be triggered in two ways.
Instinctive gasping from unbearable pain, or panting from massive physical exhaustion.
And Superalloy Darkshine believed in the muscles he had forged through training!
He hadn't felt the pain of an injury in a very long time since he started training.
To him, a Monster's attacks were merely massages and rinses, aids to make his muscles even more lustrous.
"Are you sure about this rule?" Aokiji took off his upper garments, revealing perfectly coordinated muscles.
This rule was far too advantageous for him.
If it was just hand-to-hand combat and sleep wasn't a factor, he could throw punches continuously for a month.
"There aren't really any better rules," Superalloy Darkshine said.
He hadn't had any contact with Aokiji since the initial Hero recruitment test, but he could learn about Aokiji's battle record just from news reports.
Superalloy Darkshine didn't think this floating island could hold up if they were to fight for a true victory.
"Fine, then it's a deal."
As soon as Aokiji's voice fell.
His body surged in size, dragon scales surfaced, and dragon horns and oni horns sprouted from the top and sides of his forehead.
Life Return controlled the growth in size, while elemental ice crystals were compressed and condensed.
Every strand of drawn muscle fiber was like the product of countless steel bars twisting and fusing together!
A majestic sense of power seemed to be forged and cast into this body of a demon god!
Just as Rob Lucci used Life Return to reduce the muscle mass of his human-beast form in exchange for the speed and flexibility of Paper art: Martial Body.
Compressing the Azure Dragon humanoid form down to a three-meter size was a form Aokiji had researched while Training and attempting to achieve the Awakening of the Azure Dragon Fruit—
—Burst Core: Oni Dragon!!
Superalloy Darkshine couldn't take his eyes off the surging muscles on that massive frame.
Thump, thump, thump... one muffled sound after another traveled from within the body to his auditory nerves.
Heartbeat? Am I nervous?
Seeing Aokiji's muscles, am I nervous?!
No! This isn't a heartbeat!
Superalloy Darkshine clenched his fists and listened carefully to the message conveyed by the existence he trusted most.
It's my muscles throbbing with excitement!!
...The condensed body was still half a Tatsumaki taller than the 2.35-meter Superalloy Darkshine.
But it was enough.
Aokiji didn't plan to use Internal Destruction techniques.
The more intense the battle, the higher the progress bar increase would be.
Using Internal Destruction to attack the internal organs directly?
Given Darkshine's current mindset, the battle probably wouldn't last long at all, let alone increase the progress bar.
"Darkshine, I also have a suggestion." Aokiji walked forward, his body crackling with explosive pops.
"How about a continuous exchange of blows—no dodging, no defending, no stopping."
While speaking, Aokiji took several steps and arrived in front of Superalloy Darkshine.
They were close enough to touch just by raising a hand.
Thump— Thump—
Muscles spontaneously swelled with force, striking the very air with muffled booms.
"My muscles have already answered first."
Superalloy Darkshine raised his two massive fists, holding them between the two of them.
Aokiji instantly understood his meaning.
He also raised his fists, lightly touching them together.
Like two Titans from mythology performing an ancient ritual before a duel.
Metal Bat, who had retreated to the spectator area, was originally feeling a bit indignant.
Why use this form against that big black guy right from the start, but not even use it against me until the very end?
But now, his attention couldn't help but be highly focused.
This was a man's instinctive gaze and longing for the most primitive, pure, and powerful strength!
"Let's begin,"
Aokiji declared.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM————!!!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM————!!!
A volcano? A meteor shower? Mountain ranges colliding?
None of the above!
It was just two men throwing countless punches at each other!!
It had nothing to do with disputes or grudges.
It was merely genetic instinct wanting to determine who was superior!!
The hurricanes grew more violent with every shockwave of destruction produced by the impact on their flesh!
At this moment, it wasn't dust or debris blocking the light and obscuring the silhouettes of the two Monsters in the arena.
Those things had already been blown off the island and pulverized to float in the sky at the very beginning.
It was the layers of white mist barriers being broken through!
In the space of just over a meter between the two blurry giant shadows, countless white mist barriers flickered, emitting thunderous sonic booms!
Obstructing light, blocking vision!
Causing the ground to continuously collapse under the devastation!
Shattered by the shockwaves, then blown away by the shockwaves!
Sweeping across the entire floating island and even the sky!
Punching, punching, continuously punching!!
Evasion and defense never existed.
Total endurance! Complete venting!
Without the slightest retreat, their feet stepped deep into the ground; as the ground was shattered and worn away by the shockwaves, they continued to trample further down!
Cracks spread from the center of the island.
Puri-Puri Prisoner raised his hand to block the hurricane, watching with his own eyes as a deep crack passed between his legs and headed toward the edge of the island.
And it wasn't just this one; the cracks were spreading like a spiderweb!
"Oh no! If this keeps up, the island will completely split apart!"
"...This machine can carry everyone to the ground, and Aokiji can also turn into a giant dragon to carry you." Metal Knight's voice was clear even amidst the howling hurricane.
"Given the current altitude and the mass of this island, according to analysis, a direct fall would cause serious damage to the outer western side of City A."
"It seems necessary to go and remind them." Bang straightened his back with a serious expression.
In truth, seeing such a violent exchange of blows, Bang felt his mindset becoming younger and his hands were getting a bit itchy.
"Allow this old man to go..."
"Hey— Aokiji, the island is about to break! Hurry up and fix it!"
Cold air surged!
A layer of ice expanded rapidly from the center!
In the spiderweb of cracks that was about to spread across the entire island, it filled and seeped in, connecting everything together.
The loose soil excavated from the wasteland instantly turned into icy permafrost.
The violent barrage in the center hadn't stopped.
The ice layer instead provided a more solid footing.
Saitama made a megaphone gesture with his hands in front of his mouth, and seeing the matter resolved, he lowered his hands.
His white cape flapped violently in the hurricane as he looked at Bang, whose movements had stalled.
"No need to go through the trouble of walking over. Just shout, and Aokiji will hear you."
"...This old man was being muddled."
At the center of the glacial spiderweb covering the island.
The destructive barrage of attacks had turned the originally flat ground into an exaggeratedly sunken deep pit!
The exchange of blows, filled with primitive violence, had already entered the next stage—even more intense and unrestrained!