Gao noticed that Peter's movements seemed to have slowed down significantly.
She didn't for a second think he was going easy on them. On the contrary, she took it as a sign that he was finally reaching his limit.
After all, anyone maintaining such a flashy, high-intensity lightning form would surely burn out eventually.
Little did she know... with the Horse Talisman acting as a perpetual motion engine, Peter was essentially a human Tailed Beast. Forget maintaining the Lightning Style Chakra Mode for a few minutes—he could keep it up for three days and three nights without breaking a sweat.
Believing victory was near, Madame Gao's spirits rose, and she began to pelt him with trash talk, hoping to break his focus.
"Young man, you have raw power, but you have no idea how to use it!" she sneered. She flowed into a movement similar to Tai Chi, redirecting Peter's fist to the side before snapping out a lethal low kick aimed directly at his groin.
"The essence of martial arts lies in restraint, not release! To me, you fight no better than a wild beast!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Peter let out a light chuckle. Suddenly, his entire leg transformed into pure, fluid lightning, snaking around Gao's attacking limb.
He hadn't mastered the physical "Snake Silken Hand" technique yet... but his elemental body allowed him to cheat and achieve the same result.
And then...
BOOM!
A terrifying burst of strength erupted. Peter swung Gao overhead like a ragdoll, slamming her into the concrete so hard her vision went white.
That was... my own Silk-Wrapping technique!
Realizing Peter had just used her own style to counter her, Gao felt a hot flush of shame creep up her neck. She had to forcibly suppress her internal energy and swallow back a mouthful of old blood to keep from collapsing.
Initially, she thought his counter was a fluke—a reaction to her insults. But as the seconds ticked by, her smugness was replaced by a deep, hollow dread. She finally saw the truth.
This kid was stealing her combat experience.
At the start of the fight, he had been somewhat clumsy, relying entirely on his god-like speed and elemental invulnerability to tank hits. His attacks were basic, mostly Karate-style strikes.
But now? Every dodge and every counter was becoming more refined. There were no wasted movements. Every strike left him in a perfect position to defend.
The most telling sign was that he was using his elemental "phasing" less and less!
Before, he had to phase to avoid the Silver Samurai's blade. Now, he could casually parry the sword with one hand using a precise, high-level technique while countering Gao with the other.
He was replicating techniques that had taken her four hundred years to master in a matter of minutes.
Sure, he was using his lightning body to "cheat" the physics of the movements, but why bother with the agonizing bone-shrinking training she'd endured since childhood when you could just turn into electricity?
Madame Gao officially broke. "You... you damnable thief!"
She tried to scramble up to attack again, but a wave of dizziness washed over her. It was only then that she realized her "Ki"—the life force she had cultivated for centuries—was bone dry.
Panicked, she looked toward the Silver Samurai, hoping he had enough strength to carry her away. But he was in worse shape.
He was barely standing, his hands shaking so violently he could barely hold his sword, and the high-frequency thermal glow on his blade had long since extinguished.
He didn't have her level of Ki control, and wearing fifty pounds of metal while fighting a speedster had drained his stamina to zero.
The fear of death, a feeling she hadn't known in centuries, finally gripped her heart.
And then, she heard Peter's voice, cold and final. "It looks like you've outlived your usefulness."
Usefulness!
The word struck her like a lightning bolt. He had really, truly, just been using them as sparring partners.
Peter's speed suddenly quintupled. He didn't just move; he flickered into existence directly in front of her, hoisting her entire body into the air.
This monster... he was suppressing his speed the whole time!
CRACK! CRACK!
The sound of her ribs shattering echoed in the warehouse. In that agonizing pain, she realized his strength had been suppressed by an even greater factor. What kind of demon is this?!
"No... you can't kill me!" she shrieked, her voice thin and desperate. "I am one of the Five Fingers of the Hand! If you kill me, the Hand will never let you rest!"
"The Hand?" Peter tilted his head. But his next words sent a chill through her marrow that surpassed the cold of the grave.
"How many divisions does the Hand have?"
Before she could process the insult, Peter slammed her head-first into the ground with the force of a falling meteor.
"Liger Bomb!"
BOOM!
A shockwave like a localized earthquake rippled through Hell's Kitchen. The ground shattered, revealing a crater meters deep and nearly a hundred meters wide.
Madame Gao's upper body, along with her centuries of "Ki," vanished into a red mist.
Nearby, the Silver Samurai witnessed the carnage and felt his spirit break. He dropped to his knees, his "Bushido spirit" forgotten. He tore off his helmet, revealing a terrified, mustached face.
"Don't kill me! I'm just a mercenary! We have no personal grudge! Spare me, and I will pledge my life to you!"
Peter looked at the man's desperate, sniveling face and felt his killing intent surge. "We didn't have a grudge before, but we do the moment you showed me that face."
Peter raised a single finger toward the Samurai.
"Tell you what. I'll give you one chance. Survive this one finger, and I'll let you live."
The Samurai's eyes lit up. One finger?! His armor was laced with Vibranium; he had tanked missiles before. If it were three or four fingers, he might worry, but a single finger?
SHLUCK!
Before the Samurai could even let out a sigh of relief, Peter's Hell Stab: One-Finger Spear punched through the reinforced breastplate and out the back of his spine in a heartbeat. The Vibranium-laced alloy offered as much resistance as wet tissue paper.
"Na... ni...?"
The Silver Samurai stared down at the perfect, steaming hole in his chest. The light in his eyes faded instantly. Until the very end, he couldn't understand how he had failed to survive a single finger.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed. Claim early access on Patreon: Patreon.com/kazama677
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter🔷 60 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.