The Whale Shark King had made his decision.
He would abandon the melee brawling of the strong and unleash his signature moves with his full, overwhelming Hetero-Energy. If one strike wasn't enough, he'd use two. If two weren't enough, he'd use a hundred. He wanted to see exactly how many times Shendu could revive before his eyes.
Nothing in this world lacked logic. Unless, of course, this creature's very belief system was rooted in immortality.
The Tsunami Calamity slammed into the recoiling Shendu just as the Whale Shark King intended. An explosion. Annihilation.
And once again, Shendu stood tall, unyielding.
The Whale Shark King began to gather his Hetero-Energy once more, preparing to unleash another ultimate technique. But across from him, Shendu shook his head, the excitement fading from his expression as he said with chilling detachment, "Alright, I've had my fun with close-quarters combat for now."
The Whale Shark King's Tsunami Calamity hung in his palm, his face a mask of confusion. In his eyes, the Shendu before him was merely a monster, one that was frustratingly hard to kill and capable of breathing fire and shooting lasers. But after fighting for so long, what did he mean by saying he'd "had enough fun"?
"The way you say that, it sounds as if I'm the one at a disadvantage," the Whale Shark King said with a sneer. He was the one who had been suppressing Shendu the entire time, wasn't he?
Shendu shook his head and laughed. "I haven't fought in such a long time, so... the warm-up is finally over."
The Whale Shark King tilted his head, eyeing Shendu with a sideways glance.
At that exact moment, Shendu took a step forward. Instantly, the Fire Demon Chi billowed outward. He didn't consider himself inferior, and he knew well that the Whale Shark King possessed a stronger state, the mechanical form he had displayed earlier. Thus, Shendu intended to force the Whale Shark King to unleash that greater power without absorbing any Hetero-Energy himself. Only then would he satisfy his own pride.
And, of course, the raw sensation of throwing punches had been undeniably satisfying.
The Fire Demon Chi surged forth, wrapping around Shendu's arms like molten chains. He had finished the physical part of the dance. Now, it was time to get serious.
"That's not Hetero-Energy. What is that?" The Whale Shark King hesitated for a split second before throwing the Tsunami Calamity.
"This... is sorcery!" Shendu roared with maniacal laughter. In an instant, countless spells erupted, streaking straight toward the Whale Shark King.
The spells and the Tsunami Calamity rushed toward one another, yet the collision everyone expected never occurred. Two forces originating from different universes seemed to pass through each other with a strange, mutual understanding, each claiming its path to the other side.
The Tsunami Calamity moved with terrifying speed, but Shendu couldn't be bothered to dodge. That was the benefit of being a "mechanics-based" fighter.
Amidst the expected annihilation, he reformed exactly as expected. He stood perfectly upright. With the power of his own Dog Talisman, immortality was no empty promise. This wasn't the weakened body of a Servant during a Holy Grail War; no one here could nerf his upper limits. Immortality was immortality, in the most literal sense. He could not die. That was all there was to it.
Across the field, alarm bells rang in the Whale Shark King's mind. That strange power, the "sorcery," gave him an ominous feeling. He had never seen it before, and the more unknown a force, the more dangerous it was.
He tried to gather his strength to blow away the encroaching magical aura, but it was a futile effort. Shendu's dark aura wrapped around him, undulating like flickering flames. Yet, the physical pain he expected never materialized.
The Whale Shark King froze. He prepared to speak, but the next second, he felt himself rising higher and higher. He looked down, only to see his own body standing perfectly still on the ground below. A deep, chilling sense of alienation took hold of his mind.
Shendu simply stood opposite him, chanting names as if he were reciting a menu. "Soul Severance..."
"Dark Chi Imprisonment. Form Transformation. Spirit-Flesh Partition. Power Decay. Essence Extraction. World Inversion. And finally... the Sealing Spell!"
As Shendu finished his "recitation," the Whale Shark King was utterly bewildered. Hadn't the creature only released a single stream of magic? Only one strand of aura had touched him. How had it erupted into so many effects?
More terrifying was the realization that he was watching his own flesh drift away. No, his soul was drifting away, helpless and uncontrolled, leaving his body behind. That armored physical shell of the Whale Shark King suddenly collapsed into a harmless, gray rat, lying motionless on the ground.
"No!" He let out a roar of fury, desperately forcing his soul to lunge toward the rat-form of himself. He was panicking. What kind of insane ultimate move was this?!
He slammed into the gray rat, but the expected return to his body never came. Accompanied by a screeching, repulsive buzz, a sharp, searing pain tore through his entire being. His soul was locked out, unable to return.
The Whale Shark King grew desperate. He attempted to merge again and again, but met only endless, agonizing stings.
Until, a powerful suction force pulled from behind. A deep crimson vortex was slowly twisting and rotating behind him, as if hungering to devour his soul. He suddenly recalled the last word Shendu had spoken.
Sealing.
The Whale Shark King did not understand this method of combat. Fear gripped his heart as he looked toward Shendu, who stood there calmly, watching him with a mocking, half-smile.
He could see his own soul.
"What... is happening?" Inside the Black Tortoise, Kino and his team were stunned. They had only seen Shendu and the Whale Shark King clash, seen Shendu explode and recover, and then seen the Whale Shark King suddenly transform into a rat, lying motionless on the ground.
"What the hell is this?!" Kino shouted, astonished. "Weren't they just trading punches and kicks a second ago?!"
Zoran naturally offered no explanation. He wouldn't explain that this was the miraculous power of another world. Playing with sorcery and souls was the specialty of Demon Sorcerers.
Yes, that's right. Don't let Shendu's grotesque, hulking frame, his overwhelming strength and speed, or his fearless warrior demeanor fool you.
This guy... was actually a mage. A slightly unconventional one, perhaps.
The vortex symbolizing the seal began, bit by bit, to swallow the Whale Shark King's soul. It was predictable: once he was sucked inside, the battle would truly be over.
The Whale Shark King's soul suddenly stilled. Beyond the fear lay pure, burning anger. No matter how he looked at it, for the hegemon of the Third Parallel Universe to die in such a manner was simply too humiliating. He had been suppressing his opponent the entire time; the victory was in his grasp, and then, after all that, Shendu had dropped the line, "I'm getting serious."
One move had dragged him to the edge of death. He had never fought such a suffocating battle.
"I must admit, you are strong, strong to the point of being creepy," the Whale Shark King's soul said, addressing Shendu. He turned to look at the sealing vortex behind him. "I understand now. You aren't from our world."
"But here, Hetero-Energy is everything!"
"As long as I have sufficient Hetero-Energy, as long as I have a sufficiently powerful belief, nothing can stop me!"
The Whale Shark King closed his eyes and clenched his fists. His soul had already reached the threshold of the sealing vortex. But his Hetero-Energy remained.
Fully loaded and overflowing!
"Ultra Beast... Armor!" he roared.
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