One thousand strikes in an instant, Infinite Reload Cero!
In an instant, like torrential rain descending from the heavens, countless Cero tore across the pitch-black night sky one after another, their momentum simply impossible to describe.
Above the boundless night sky, deep blue raging tides surged violently, like a galaxy hanging from the nine heavens, crashing magnificently into the mortal world.
It was as though Poseidon, the god who ruled the seas in Greek mythology, had swung his trident and unleashed supreme might, raising a boundless tsunami and pouring the weight of an entire ocean down from the heavens.
Rumble rumble rumble——!!!
The deep blue storm filled with destruction violently swept through every inch of space, ruthlessly ravaging and annihilating everything it touched to the utmost extent possible.
The next moment, the energy accumulated to the absolute limit erupted with a world-shaking roar. Mountain ranges stretching for thousands of li collapsed in an instant, while immeasurable smoke and dust rolled upward into thousand-meter-long waves like gigantic dragons.
The earth trembled, and the heavens cracked apart.
A gigantic pillar of light visible to the naked eye, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction, resembled a pillar supporting the heavens itself, thrusting directly into the clouds above.
The enormous shockwave formed by the impact trampled and ravaged regions spanning hundreds and thousands of kilometers with the most tyrannical and violent posture imaginable. Countless trees were uprooted and swept away by fierce winds together with mud and rocks toward even farther distances.
The tremendous tremor lasted for an unknown amount of time.
Perhaps an instant, perhaps several minutes. Only after the smoke and dust dispersed did the terrifying phenomenon gradually vanish.
Yet the sky itself was already covered in cracks.
Countless ravines hanging down from the heavens resembled shredded paper that had been violently cut apart. The shattered sight of the sky was enough to horrify anyone who saw it.
Upon the earth that had been ravaged and brutalized, there now existed an unfathomably deep abyss with a diameter of several hundred meters.
Looking downward from above, the abyss resembled a gateway leading to another world. Its darkness was so deep it was nearly impossible to see into, while scorching air currents poured outward from it. One could even glimpse magma slowly flowing deep beneath the earth's veins.
In midair, although the man still stood upright, the exhaustion and weakened spirit visible upon him could not be concealed no matter what.
Suddenly, the man staggered.
As though something supporting him had vanished, his entire body fell from the sky, tracing an arc before crashing directly into rocks beside the abyss.
Bang bang bang....
The man lacked even the slightest trace of grace, rolling more than ten meters in succession and smashing apart several rocks before finally stopping the force of the fall. Yet his entire body ended up buried beneath broken stones, miserable to the extreme.
But at this moment, he lacked even the strength to stand. He could only expose part of his face from the half-buried pile of rubble, breathing heavily like an exhausted beast.
He felt as though he had been thoroughly beaten half to death. Not a single bone or muscle in his body was not screaming in agony.
Yet compared to the pain in his body, the utterly dried-up emptiness inside him was even more unbearable. His soul felt as though it were being torn apart, vitality draining away at terrifying speed, as if something were devouring his life force.
Just as he thought everything was over.
A blood-covered hand suddenly stretched out from the abyss, thick fingers gripping the rocks as it forcefully pulled out a figure.
The man's pupils slightly contracted.
The heavily wounded Original Body had climbed back out from the abyss once again.
That pitch-black power armor had long since been completely shattered beneath the bombardment of Infinite Reload Cero. As for the golden greatsword, no one knew where it had been thrown. All that remained was something similar to an underlayer beneath armor, a black shell-like hard suit covered in connectors.
The Original Body silently gazed at him. The savage violence within its eyes had already disappeared, leaving behind only pure and blazing battle intent that refused to dissipate.
Silence... wordless silence...
The man and it stared at each other for a long time. Neither spoke, yet both seemed to understand the meaning conveyed in each other's eyes.
It... no, rather, he.
At this moment, the one controlling that body was no longer the beast from before, but the true... him. And the blazing battle intent in his eyes was a final challenge directed toward him.
The man deeply inhaled a breath. The freezing air surged into his body, seemingly squeezing out the final trace of strength remaining within him.
His spread fingers slowly curled inward, his spine gradually bent, and both legs slowly drew back. He had never before felt that even standing up required such overwhelming effort, to the point where he had to exhaust every last ounce of strength.
But fortunately, he stood up.
Never before had the man's eyes shone so brightly. The battle intent within them blazed intensely enough to illuminate the night itself.
Crack!
Under the man's shocked gaze, the Original Body suddenly raised a hand, fingers gripping the connectors of the black shell, then violently tearing the shell away.
Piece after piece of shell was ripped off, each carrying large patches of bloody flesh. Clearly, this black shell apparatus had long fused together with his body itself, yet now it was being brutally torn away.
The man's silent lips curved upward into a smile, revealing rows of white teeth as he raised a thumbs-up toward the Original Body.
The Original Body's meaning was crystal clear.
He refused to take any advantage, so he stripped away the black shell apparatus, desiring only one final battle fought with complete satisfaction.
Neither of them spoke.
Yet the battle intent in each other's eyes burned increasingly fiercely amid the blizzard, so scorching it rivaled the blazing sun itself, impossible to look at directly.
Both sides gathered their remaining strength, preparing for the final vicious battle.
The next second, they moved.
Beneath the night sky, two violent figures carrying heart-palpitating winds collided together with the most tyrannical posture imaginable.
Boom!
The snowfield violently trembled.
The snow layer over half a meter deep was blown away by the shockwave generated from their collision, instantly clearing out an open field resembling the arena of duelists.
Boom! Boom!
The heavy sounds of flesh colliding completely opened the curtain upon this final battle.
The man silently swung his fist, smashing heavily into the Original Body's face. Yet at the same moment, his own face was struck by a heavy punch as well.
A mouthful of blood sprayed outward as the man staggered backward and collapsed into the snow. Half the bones in his face had been shattered by the blow, several teeth rolling within his mouth mixed together with blood.
The Original Body endured several backward steps before forcibly stabilizing his balance and refusing to fall. Yet his facial bones were twisted out of shape, and one eye had swollen with blood.
The man pushed himself upright and once again silently charged toward the Original Body.
The Original Body exhaled a breath, swinging a gigantic fist. As it met the man's incoming punch, it shifted several centimeters aside and struck directly into the man's chest, while simultaneously receiving a punch itself.
Bang bang bang bang...
One punch after another, entirely without technique.
At this moment, they resembled two savage beasts crazily tearing at each other, fists colliding without the slightest mercy.
Whether it was the man or the Original Body.
Both had already reached their limits, mind and body infinitely close to collapse. Yet strangely, neither stopped. They still continued exchanging punches with each other.
No dodging, no techniques.
What remained was merely the purest contest of will, seeing who would fail first, who would surrender first, who would... fall first.
In such a battle.
Even screaming or shouting wasted strength, so the only sounds echoing through the air were the dull impacts of flesh colliding.
No one knew how long the battle lasted.
Both had reached the absolute final limit. The man's consciousness had even become blurred, leaving behind only mechanical motions of endlessly throwing punches, falling down and rising again, punching again, falling again..... repeating infinitely.
Then, at a certain moment.
A dazzling ray of sunlight pierced through the pitch-black night. Dawn had arrived, and the rising sun carried a trace of warmth as soft golden light poured down from the mountaintops.
Boom——!!!
Accompanied by the final punch landing heavily upon the Original Body's face, this brutal battle finally reached its conclusion.
The man did not feel a counterattack.
When he looked upward, he saw the Original Body's towering body standing unmoving like a mountain.
Yet the blazing battle intent within his eyes had already dimmed until it was nearly invisible.
"Thank you..."
The Original Body gazed into his eyes, lips slightly moving soundlessly in gratitude. Then a trace of regret appeared deep within his eyes before he slowly closed them.
That mountain-like body collapsed backward with a thunderous crash like a toppled golden mountain and jade pillar, striking the snowfield and sending dirt and snow flying everywhere.