"BOOM!"
With an explosive crash, the wall the Deep Sea King had been sent crashing into shattered. Chunks of stone and debris flew outward like bullets, as thick clouds of dust swallowed the gaping hole in the building.
It had all happened far too quickly.
"Oooh…!"
Puri-Puri Prisoner's eyes widened in shock.
"So fast…!"
Sonic's pupils contracted sharply, and the sinister smile that had been hanging on his face froze.
Where the Deep Sea King had been standing just moments ago, another figure had appeared without warning, his leg still extended from the kick.
The scene spoke for itself.
The Demon-level Mysterious Being known as the Deep Sea King had been kicked away.
And the one who had done it was the current Rank 8 S-Class Hero.
Fang Li showed no reaction whatsoever. He simply lowered his leg, turned around, and looked at Sonic.
"All right. The annoying one is taken care of." His voice was completely calm. "Now it's our turn."
"Hmph…"
Sonic snorted coldly, but his expression was far more serious than before.
At the same time, his eyes were filled with eager excitement, the look of a hunter who had finally found worthy prey.
"Your speed isn't bad, pretty boy," Sonic said with a grin. "Other than me, Speed-o'-Sound Sonic, you're probably the fastest person in the world, aren't you?"
His name alone made it obvious what this ninja from the Land of the Ninja excelled at: Speed.
Sonic could break the sound barrier with ease. That speed was the result of years upon years of grueling training and painstaking practice.
"That's why my techniques are the fastest and strongest. There's no question about it." Sonic spread his hands, sneering. "As for you, you're barely worth looking at, but you're still not fast enough to beat me. Too bad you ran into me, One Way Rakshasa."
With that, Sonic prepared to move.
"Wait!" Puri-Puri Prisoner immediately reached out a hand to stop him. "No! I can't stand by and watch two cute boys hurt each other! Stop this at once!"
Unfortunately, before his words were even finished, his outstretched hand was already grasping nothing but empty air.
'Shua!'
Sonic vanished in a blur.
"BOOM!"
A shockwave of sound erupted as a figure shot toward Fang Li like a violent storm, radiating a vicious, murderous aura.
"No! Stop!" Puri-Puri Prisoner's voice rang out behind them, but by then, it was nothing more than background noise.
"Die, One Way Rakshasa! I'll take your head to Sylvia Lyyneheym as a gift!"
With an evil grin, Sonic disappeared amid blurred afterimages and sharp sonic booms, instantly reappearing directly above Fang Li.
"Wind Blade Kick!"
In the next moment, Sonic's leg swept downward like a miniature whirlwind, its razor-sharp edge descending viciously toward Fang Li's head.
He wasn't holding back on this attack. On top of its tremendous impact force, the technique was as sharp as a real blade, just like its name suggested.
If it struck the road, it would carve a deep trench through the pavement in an instant. If it struck a human body, it would easily cut the person in two.
And its speed was simply terrifying.
The airflow couldn't keep up.
The sound couldn't keep up.
The senses couldn't keep up.
Even the eyes couldn't follow it.
That single attack was enough to prove that Sonic wasn't merely boasting. He truly had immense confidence in his speed; otherwise, he wouldn't have declared himself the fastest and strongest.
Sylvia had once been attacked by Sonic as well. She had only managed to defeat him because her Omnipotent Ability caught him off guard when he tried to engage her in close combat. If not for that, Sylvia might very well have been at a disadvantage against Sonic in pure close-quarters fighting.
Unfortunately for Sonic, he had underestimated the world.
Forget being the strongest, he wasn't even the fastest.
At least, he wasn't faster than the person he was currently trying to kill.
"Huu...!"
The wind suddenly began to howl.
Fang Li calmly watched the lightning-fast attack coming toward him, a faint trace of mockery in his eyes. His figure stood amid the blur, looking almost like a mirage.
Sonic's Wind Blade Kick came crashing down.
"BANG!"
With a muffled impact, the blurred image was torn apart by the vicious kick.
"I missed…?!" Sonic's expression changed slightly.
At that instant, a hand reached out from behind him.
'Pa!'
The crisp sound of a hand landing on his shoulder echoed out.
"......!?"
Every hair on Sonic's body stood on end. He spun around sharply.
Fang Li was standing silently behind him, the same faint trace of mockery still present in his eyes.
Then, Fang Li's calm voice drifted into Sonic's ears.
"Faster than everyone except you?"
"Your techniques are the fastest and strongest?"
Fang Li's words stabbed straight into Sonic's pride.
"What an ignorant frog in a well."
As those words fell, Fang Li's other hand came into play. At some point, it had already been placed lightly against Sonic's abdomen.
"Flashing Scabbard: Flower Mirror!"
An astonishing force exploded directly against Sonic's body.
"BOOM!"
Sonic's body suddenly burst apart from the impact.
Yet no blood sprayed from the shattered form. There was no torn flesh. Only a fading, blurred image remained.
It was another afterimage.
'Shua!'
Sonic's real body appeared on the rooftop of a distant building. He stared down at Fang Li, his eyes filled with unprecedented shock.
'He was actually faster than me…?'
No. Impossible. His speed was supposed to be unrivaled.
So what had just happened?
There was no doubt about it: after Sonic launched his attack, Fang Li had effortlessly surpassed him in speed.
No, it wasn't merely speed. Pure speed alone couldn't have produced that result.
The other man was probably like him, not only did he possess speed far beyond ordinary people, but he also had techniques capable of bringing that speed to its absolute peak. And the sophistication of Fang Li's techniques seemed faintly superior to his own.
That movement just now…
"So fast…" Sonic's face twisted with anger.
"BANG!"
The next moment, Sonic shattered the air beneath his feet and shot downward like a shock wave.
However...
'Vmmm!'
Amid the humming of the air, a figure suddenly appeared directly in front of Sonic.
"What…?!" Sonic's heart shook violently.
"Wind Blade Kick!"
There was no time to hesitate. Sonic's leg transformed into a razor-sharp blade, generating a vortex of air as he viciously swung it toward Fang Li.
"Flashing Dash: One Deer!"
An equally blinding strike was unleashed directly in front of Sonic.
"BOOM......!"
With a thunderous explosion, the two kicks collided head-on.
The resulting shockwave transformed the surrounding air into a violent whirlwind.
(End Of This Chapter)
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