Boom!
From within the collapsing building, a crimson silhouette burst forth. A torrent of blood energy swirled around his body, condensing into a massive scarlet blade that came crashing down on a pale figure.
That pale figure didn't dodge, didn't even flinch. He took the strike head-on.
"Interesting." The Corpse King's expression was calm, even amused. The devastating slash of Noah Blaze's killing aura had landed on him directly, yet it left not the faintest mark of discomfort.
"Who are you?" Noah's voice carried tension. He could already tell that this opponent was far stronger than him. The way the man had chosen to fight, holding back and correcting his movements mid-battle, proved his earlier words true he wasn't here to kill Noah. He was here to train him.
The Corpse King's lips curved in a faint smile. "That, my boy, is none of your concern."
His fist suddenly lashed out. The sheer force of the blow twisted the very air, like a black hole warping everything around it.
Noah's instincts screamed. He instantly wrapped himself in a cocoon of killing intent, knowing full well that if that punch landed directly on his body, he'd be torn apart like fragile paper. He wasn't masochistic; no sane person would willingly test a blow of that magnitude.
Bang!
The impact hit Noah's protective aura like a freight train. The barrier buckled and cracked, and his body shot backward like a falling star, smashing through debris.
But the young man wasn't done yet. A streak of crimson light pierced through the dust cloud, his killing blade once again formed, slashing straight at the Corpse King.
This technique was crude, rough. Noah only knew how to channel his aura into a weapon, something he had picked up from a dream trial. It wasn't refined combat, but sheer determination lent the strike power.
"Again with that trick?" The Corpse King shook his head, disappointment flashing in his eyes. "So your family's legacy really has been severed. A shame… but after all, two millennia have passed. It's only natural."
His expression hardened. "Very well then. Let me show you what true slaughter means."
The aura around him exploded, the earth trembling beneath his feet. The Corpse King's towering frame shrank slightly, lean muscle tightening like coiled steel.
"Heavenly Force Swift Form!"
In the blink of an eye, the Corpse King vanished. Noah's eyes widened, but he barely had time to register the movement before agony flared in his side. A whip-like kick slammed into his ribs.
He stumbled back, gritting his teeth. Oddly, the blow hadn't crushed him. The Corpse King's strength had dipped, traded away for speed.
Noah's instincts flared. He gathered the killing aura at his fingertips, shaping it into claws, and lashed out in retaliation.
"Heavenly Force Shield Form!"
Screech!
The sound was unbearable, like steel scraping glass. Sparks flew as Noah's claws raked the Corpse King's skin, but no blood followed. The man's body was harder than steel, his flesh an impregnable fortress.
Noah's worldview shattered again. "What the hell is this? These things evolved this far already?" His thoughts spun wild, but his body moved with stubborn willpower.
Realizing his attacks weren't working, he tried to create distance. Yet every attempt to retreat was cut short. The Corpse King shifted between forms, speed and defense alternating seamlessly. Noah couldn't outrun him, couldn't break through him.
So he was trapped. Forced into brutal close combat, his fists and claws striking an unyielding wall. Rage built in his chest.
"You're leaving me no choice!"
Noah roared. Aura flared violently, and an explosion of killing energy shoved the Corpse King back. He clasped his hands at his waist, gathering everything he had. His crimson aura surged, compressing, condensing until even he trembled at the monstrous power forming in his palms.
"Divine Turtle Impact!"
The name ripped from his throat like a vow. Eighty percent of his aura flooded into the technique, refined into a single cataclysmic strike.
"If this doesn't kill you, I swear I'll never eat instant noodles with seasoning packets again!"
The blast erupted. Scarlet energy poured forth like a tidal wave, engulfing the Corpse King.
And Noah didn't stay to watch. The moment the attack landed, he grabbed his girlfriend, Vivi, and bolted with every ounce of strength left in him.
"If you're still alive after that, then fine you win! I'll eat plain noodles for the rest of my life!" His voice trailed behind him as he fled.
Vivi clung to him, wide-eyed. "Wait, didn't you say yesterday you'd never touch instant noodles again after staying at Shane Mountain's place? You said your meals from now on had to be worthy of your new status!"
Noah's face twisted in embarrassment. "This isn't the time to nitpick! We're running for our lives here. If there's a monster like that roaming near this evacuation zone, we might need to head for the one outside the city instead."
"Then that's what we'll do." Vivi nodded, though worry lingered in her eyes.
Back at the crater Noah had left behind, the Corpse King emerged slowly from the ruin. Half of his body was torn to pieces, blackened and mangled. Yet his voice carried no pain.
"Cough… cough… Impressive. Had I not gone all out at the last second, that might have been the end of me."
Even as he spoke, the ruined flesh writhed and reformed. New tissue grew in place of the old, faster than the human eye could follow.
Beneath his feet, the ground wasn't earth at all it was rotting flesh, pulsating, feeding him. The city itself was his hive.
"Haven City is nearly ready. The next step is to see how this era's guardians will respond." With that, the Corpse King sank back into the churning mass and vanished.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the city, in Shane Mountain's underground laboratory, another story was unfolding.
"Success!"
The shout echoed in the sterile chamber. For days, Shane and Julian Drake had been working without pause, attempting to stabilize a genetic modification project. Against all odds, the trial results had exceeded expectations.
Using Noah's killing factor as a catalyst, they had refined their prototype the so-called God Gene until it consumed and assimilated every strain introduced to it. Two successful clinical trials later, the evidence was undeniable: the serum worked.
Shane's eyes gleamed. "It's working. It really works."
Julian's hands trembled, his normally composed expression cracking into a rare display of emotion. "This is… revolutionary. If the world knew what we had achieved, they would lose their minds. Do you understand, Shane? We're standing on the threshold of rewriting humanity itself."
Shane grinned, feral with excitement. "Then let's not waste a second. Prepare the serum. Inject it into us first. Let the era of the superhuman begin."
Within the hour, the two men stood transformed.
Julian's frail, scholar-like body had reshaped itself into that of a tall, broad-shouldered warrior. His glasses lay discarded, no longer needed. Strength radiated from him with every breath.
Shane, already enhanced from prior experiments, hadn't grown much larger. But the God Gene gave him something far more valuable: limitless evolution. His body thrummed with potential, hungry to devour and adapt.
Shane threw back his head and laughed. "The peak of the world is within reach! At last… at last!"
The laughter died down, but the spark in his eyes didn't fade. He turned to Julian, who was poring over the latest data streams even as his new body glistened with power.
For Shane Mountain and Julian Drake, this was only the beginning.
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