"So, Mr. CP0, now it's my turn to attack."As Qingcheng's excited voice sounded, his figure dashed swiftly toward him.
"Hadō #78: Slashing Wheel."
Shing
Rumble rumble rumble.
"You run pretty fast."Qingcheng watched the CP0 running far away with excitement and muttered as he instantly teleported after him, swinging his zanpakutō in a slash.
"Block."
Clang
In an instant, the two engaged in a fierce back-and-forth battle, sparks flying intermittently.
Clang
One-Sword Style: Fang Thrust.
One-Sword Style: Triple Blade.
One-Sword Style: Five Slash.
During the fight, Qingcheng grew more spirited and excited. Amid this blood-pumping battle, he even forgot his original caution; all that remained was the fight itself.
"Don't underestimate me! Don't take advantage of my kindness — I am CP0!"With a roar, suddenly a black fist slammed onto Aoki's cheek with a Bam!, sending him flying backward.
"One Kick: Trample."Almost the moment Qingcheng crashed to the ground, CP0's attack chased him down again.
Boom
In an instant, the ground let out a mournful sound.
"Pah!"Spitting blood-stained saliva from afar, Qingcheng rubbed his heavily swollen cheek and glanced at the CP0 standing in a large crater about ten meters wide, thinking, "Good thing I dodged quickly, otherwise, this stomp would have taken at least half my life."
While thinking, Qingcheng reviewed the fight's experience and was shocked:"Looking back, I realize that during the fight, I was only on the offensive and didn't think about defense at all. Not only that, I even used the spiritual energy that should've been covering my skin for defense purely for offense. But, despite how dangerous that was, why am I still so happy right now?"
"Looks like I'm a battle maniac!"For some reason, recalling the hot-blooded state during the fight, these words popped into Qingcheng's mind.
"Whatever, as long as I'm happy."
"Come on!"
"Let's make this stormy battle even fiercer!"Excitedly shouting, Qingcheng gripped his zanpakutō tightly and charged at CP0 again.
"Damn it, could it be that my punch awakened the second personality sleeping inside him?"CP0 watched Qingcheng's demon-like charge and felt a sudden chill as this thought arose in his mind.
"Come on! Let's fight fiercely!"As the excited voice came, a silver-white blade slashed toward him.
"Block."
Crack
"Damn it, this guy's slashing power is stronger than mine, but his force is much weaker than mine. And now he's almost caught up. Is this guy a monster? For your information, by force, my strength has already reached the peak of a Lieutenant General!"While blocking the opponent's attack, CP0 thought with shock.
"No, if I let him keep growing like this, not only will it be impossible to capture him alive, it'll be impossible to defeat him at all. But if I abandon the idea of capturing him and go all out, if I accidentally kill him, I won't be able to explain that either."
Ding, ding ding!
"Again."
"Not enough, more force."
"Again."
"Damn, looks like I can only use the dumbest exhaustion tactic. Given his reckless attack style, I'll probably run out of energy in one or two hours."CP0 thought darkly as he blocked Aoki's frantic attacks.
Ding, ding ding!
Clang
"Good, again, again."
Boom
Two hours later, with a loud Bang, the battlefield fell silent again.
StepCP0, his body covered in wounds, walked toward the fallen Qingcheng and said, "Looks like this is as far as you can go. But you really are impressive to have pushed me into such a sorry state, Doctor Qingcheng."
"This is as far as I go? Who do you think you are! Don't assume things for me. I'm a doctor!"Breathing heavily with a bruised face, Qingcheng slowly stood up and shouted, "I haven't even started taking medicine yet! You actually say I can only get this far?"
Crack
Qingcheng tossed a pill into his mouth. CP0 suddenly felt an ominous premonition, and sure enough, in just an instant, the previously gasping Qingcheng became lively again, even more mentally vigorous than before.
"Rage Pill: This pill is developed based on the ability of the original character, the demon king Ivankov's hyper-excitation hormone. It induces an extreme excited state, making the user forget fatigue and significantly boosting attack power during this period."
"Now, let's continue this intense fight!"With a low roar and pure madness in his eyes, Qingcheng dashed forward.
Whoosh
"So fast."CP0's face changed drastically as the silver blade suddenly appeared before him; he crossed his hands to block.
Ding
Bang
"Impossible, how could your spiritual power surpass mine?"CP0 shouted as he was blasted backward.
"Shatter him! Plastic Wind!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Answering him were dozens of wind blades cutting through the air.
Pfft, pfft.
"Ah!"
With a scream, blood erupted like fountains from CP0's body.
"This is impossible! How could you get so much stronger in an instant?"CP0 shouted, charging at Qingcheng while swinging his fist down like a meteor.
Boom.
Ding.
Ding ding!
In an instant, they tangled in battle again.
Time passed as they stalemated; the sun rose high. They fought for about three hours.
Pfft.Suddenly, a blade slicing through flesh echoed on the battlefield.
"You…"Just as CP0 was about to speak, with a Pfft, Qingcheng pulled his blade from CP0's chest, a trail of blood following.
Bang.
The next moment, with a Bang, the lifeless CP0 crashed heavily on the blood-red ground.
"Whew, finally done."Panting and dizzy, Qingcheng supported his exhausted body and slowly headed toward another battlefield.
―――――――
One-Sword Style: Crescent Slash.
Storm Kick: Air Sever.
Rumble rumble.
At another battlefield, amidst the rumbling, two heavily injured men stood opposed.
"Looks like it's over there. Otherwise, why can't I hear fighting sounds?"CP0, panting, looked at his opponent Mitsuda Kōzuki and praised, "But we never expected Doctor Qingcheng to last this long."
"Sounds like your ally won. A swordsman of my caliber is nothing but a subordinate to Lord Aoki. Don't you realize his strength?"
"What?"CP0's expression changed. From the start until now, Mitsuda's behavior had indeed been like Qingcheng's subordinate.
What CP0 didn't notice was the pitch-black expression on Mitsuda's face after saying that.
Step, step, step.Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed across the silent battlefield. Each step felt like a weight pressing on their hearts, making both men increasingly tense.
Step.
When Qingcheng's gaze appeared before them, CP0's face changed dramatically: "Impossible."
Mitsuda reacted first with surprise, then shouted joyfully, "Lord!"
"Damn."CP0 cursed loudly, then with a Whoosh, he fled frantically.
"This—"Mitsuda's face darkened, "Sorry, he got away."
"Don't worry about him. Let's head to the port!"Qingcheng said. Just as he was about to step forward, his body trembled and then collapsed to the ground.
"Lord, you…"
"I'm fine. It's just the side effects of the pills. I need to sleep for a while."Qingcheng said as he swallowed a few pills, then looked at him, "Just a short sleep. My safety from here on is your responsibility. If I sleep too deeply, don't worry—these pills contain enough nutrients to keep my body functioning normally for five days."
"Lord, Doctor Qingcheng…"Watching Qingchengclose his eyes and fall asleep, Mitsuda was shocked and shook him. But no matter how he shook him, Aoki slept soundly.
"Damn."Mitsuda looked at him and finally, carrying Qingcheng despite his own injuries, headed for the harbor.