Chapter 348: My Turn

"Wouldn’t you like to know," West chuckled.

"Doesn’t matter!" Renzhi roared before exploding forward once again.

The distance separating them disappeared almost instantly as his fist tore toward West’s face.

"I’LL KILL YOU!"

Just before the strike landed, a glowing footprint suddenly appeared on the ground several meters behind Renzhi.

His fist passed straight through empty air as West vanished.

"...What?!"

Renzhi’s momentum carried him forward while his eyes darted wildly.

"Where..."

West appeared above the footprint behind Renzhi as though stepping out of thin air.

Renzhi’s pupils shrank. "How can..."

"...a Tier One evade my attack?"

Behind him, West whispered. "My turn."

Before Renzhi could even spin around, West’s body had transformed.

Dark blue fur had covered his skin and his height had reached seven feet with long razor-sharp fangs emerging from his mouth.

His glowing eyes burned like twin blue flames as his massive clawed hands hung sideways.

An overwhelming predatory aura flooded the surrounding causing every nearby bird to instantly take flight.

Renzhi instinctively stiffened as his insticts warned him of danger but all this had happened so quickly in less than the fraction of a second, that Renzhi hadn’t gotten the chance to turn around yet.

West’s beast-like grin widened. "You’ve been attacking for a while."

"I think it’s only fair..."

"...that I return the favor."

West’s powerful leg whipped forward while Renzhi was turning around.

BOOOOM!!

The kick landed squarely between Renzhi’s shoulder blades before he could raise his hand quick enough to block.

The impact detonated like an artillery shell as air burst outward in a visible ring.

Renzhi’s eyes widened in shock as his body was launched forward at incredible speed.

He tore through dozens of trees, snapping them apart one after another before crashing into the side of a distant hill with a deafening explosion.

The hillside fractured from the impact causing rocks to cascade down its slope.

For the first time since the battle had begun... the hunter had become the one sent flying.

Standing amid the ruined surroundings, the tall blue-furred beast slowly lowered his leg.

His glowing eyes remained fixed on the cloud of dust rising from the distant hillside.

"...You took that better than I expected."

The dust suddenly exploded outward as Renzhi shot back into the sky with a roar so furious it sent flocks of birds fleeing from the surrounding woodland.

"WEEEEEEST!!"

His wings burst open once more and every crimson eye covering them snapped wide open.

His aura swept across the surrounding violently.

West merely tilted his head. "Oh."

"Still got plenty left."

Renzhi stopped high above the battlefield with blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

One of his wings trembled slightly from the damage but the hatred in his eyes only burned brighter. "You..."

"You monster..."

"You should’ve died already!"

The crimson eyes covering his body all began glowing simultaneously.

The amount of energy gathering around him became visible to the naked eye causing even the surrounding clouds to swirl unnaturally.

West glanced upward. "...That’s considerably stronger."

With a deafening roar, Renzhi flapped both wings.

SHHHHOOOOOOM!!

Dozens upon dozens of crimson beams erupted from the countless eyes decorating his wings.

Unlike before, these beams were thicker, brighter and far more destructive.

They blanketed the entire section of the neighborhood and everything beneath them disappeared beneath an endless barrage of explosions.

BOOM!

BOOM!!

BOOOOOM!!

Trees that had stood for decades vanished instantly as the earth was ripped apart.

West darted through the inferno, moving with impossible agility.

Every glowing footprint he left behind flickered for only the briefest instant before fading away.

One beam narrowly missed his shoulder while another sliced through the space his head had occupied less than a second earlier.

One detonated directly behind him, hurling chunks of earth into the sky.

Renzhi refused to let up. "I’LL KILL YOU!!"

His roar echoed across the district as his wings folded and he dove.

West looked up. "...Here he comes."

The distance between them vanished almost instantly as Renzhi’s right fist swung with enough force to crack the air itself.

The crimson eyes embedded throughout that arm flashed brilliantly and a strange scarlet beam enveloped West’s body.

Instantly... his body became unimaginably heavy.

The ground beneath him collapsed as cracks spread beneath his feet like an invisible mountain had been placed upon his shoulders.

West’s knees bent slightly. "...Gravity."

Renzhi’s expression twisted into a vicious grin. "Exactly."

"...let’s see you move."

Just as he swung, a glowing footprint materialized several meters behind Renzhi and West vanished.

Renzhi instinctively spun around as if expecting this and threw out a fist.

BOOOOM!

Both their fists clashed, causing a loud sound to detonated across the surrounding, sending them both back.

They both roared and charged at each other once more...

Fwwwwhooooommmm~

And from there... the battle escalated into complete chaos, leaving an ever-growing trail of destruction.

BOOOOM!

BAM!

BAM!

BANG!

BOOOM!

In just a two minutes, the battlefield had become almost unrecognizable.

What had once been a quiet residential district was now a landscape of shattered asphalt, uprooted trees, collapsed walls, and smoking craters.

Every exchange between the two awakened carved fresh scars into their immediate vicinity.

Windows continued to shatter from the resideual energy of their attacks.

Dust hung so thick in the air that visibility had dropped to only a few dozen meters.

Despite his heavy breathing, Renzhi beat his wings violently while unleashing another devastating volley of scarlet beams.

The attacks crossed the battlefield like crimson lances, vaporizing everything they touched.

West darted between the blasts with astonishing speed, causing Renzhi’s attacks to continously miss by mere centimeters.

BOOM!

Another explosion engulfed an abandoned intersection and West emerged from the smoke almost casually.

He rolled one shoulder. "Come on, Renzhi."

"I expected more from the great third grand captain of Dragon Fang."

Renzhi answered with another furious roar. "I’LL KILL YOU!"

West smirked. "You keep saying that."

"So far, you’ve mostly been demolishing your own neighborhood."

The taunt only poured fuel onto the fire causing Renzhi’s eyes to blaze. "You think this is funny?"

West shrugged. "You’ve certainly made it entertaining."

Renzhi vanished and when he reappeared, his right fist slammed toward West’s chest.

The crimson eyes covering that arm erupted with brilliant light causing the strange gravitational beam to strike West directly.

Immediately... the surrounding gravity multiplied by nearly a hundred fold.

The ground beneath West fractured into a spiderweb of cracks, causing chunks of concrete to sink into the earth.

Even the nearby wrecked vehicles were crushed due to the impossible weight.

This gravitational force was significantly stronger than before.

Renzhi’s face twisted into a savage grin. "Move now, I dare you. Your legs will snap like toothpicks!"

West’s knees bent slightly as his legs dug deep into the broken pavement.

For a brief instant, even he looked surprised. "...You’ve increased the output."

"Good."

Renzhi charged with a victorious look. There was no way any Tier One should be capable of moving under this level of gravitational suppression.

Not even an ordinary Tier two would be able to escape.

His fist tore through the air towards West, only for him to twist his body at the last possible instant.

Renzhi’s punch skimmed past his shoulder instead of crushing his chest.

"What?!"

Before Renzhi could recover, a glowing footprint materialized several meters behind him.

West vanished, escaping Renzhi’s gravitation supression but Renzhi instinctively spun around, throwing another fist forward.

Only for West to vanished again and appear directly above a luminous footprint that had just materialized in mid air.

As he appeared above Renzhi, his knee instantly came crashing downward.

BOOOOM!!

It struck the crown of Renzhi’s head, driving him straight into the ground.

The earth collapsed beneath him as a massive crater erupted outward while dirt and shattered stone blasted into the sky.

For several seconds... only silence remained.

West landed lightly at the edge of the crater and brushed dust from his sleeve. "Alright..."

He exhaled slowly. "Let’s just stop this."

The crater exploded as a bleeding Renzhi shot upward like an enraged beast. "NEVER!"

His shoulder slammed into West and the impact forced West backward several meters.

Renzhi’s left arm swung immediately afterward causing the gravity around West to change again.

His body suddenly became almost weightless but before the attack could connect, another glowing footprint appeared.

Renzhi’s fist struck empty air as West vanished.

"I’LL KILL YOU!" His roar echoed across the devastated district.

West reappeared many meters away atop the remains of a collapsed building.

His expression had become noticeably calmer as he folded his arms. "Renzhi."

For the first time since the battle began, his tone carried no mockery and he had a reason for this.

"Look around you."

Renzhi’s breathing remained heavy and his fists stayed clenched.

West gestured toward the destruction surrounding them. "This fight is getting bigger."

"Bigger explosions."

"More noise."

"More witnesses."

"It won’t be long before the media arrives."

Renzhi’s expression darkened while West continued evenly. "The longer we keep fighting..."

"...the greater the chance that everyone starts asking why a grand captain of Dragon Fang suddenly tried to kill the leader of Shadow Reapers."