No ruler could tolerate any form of challenge or provocation.
Previously, phisto's misjudgnt had only made him angry, and he still greatly coveted Matthew.
But now, phisto was beginning to lose patience.
It wasn't just Matthew's verbal provocations.
It was also the challenge posed by his terrifying growth rate.
For the first ti, phisto felt pressure.
At this mont, killing intent had already risen in his heart.
Just one Ancient One had been enough to keep him from setting foot on Earth.
Just like Dormammu, he absolutely did not want another Ancient One appearing on Earth.
And unlike that old woman, Ancient One—
Matthew had youth as an enormous advantage.
At the sa ti, his physique was far stronger than hers, and the ceiling of his potential was frighteningly high.
A gifted genius either had to be controlled by him—
Or die.
phisto made what he believed was the most reasonable decision.
He chose the latter.
Matthew's coat fluttered wildly in the wind. Through the wall of Hellfire, he "saw" phisto's rising killing intent and, instead of flinching, he smiled.
The old monster had finally beco completely furious.
Matthew liked seeing him like this.
A serious phisto was the best kind of phisto.
Although Matthew's original goal was to use phisto's soul to light up the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he also wanted to improve himself through battle.
The brief clash just now had already made his blood boil.
He needed greater pressure.
Since phisto had revealed his killing intent, Matthew no longer needed to provoke him with words.
Buzz!!
Matthew raised both hands before his chest, palms facing each other in a lifting motion.
Golden light gathered in his palms, forming a golden circular mirror.
Although the mirror was made of energy, its structure was incredibly refined, with magical runes visible along its edges.
In the next instant, the golden mirror shone brilliantly, and a beam of golden light erupted from it.
The compressed beam of light energy pierced straight through the wall of Hellfire, forcibly blasting open a passage.
At the sa ti, Matthew's body exploded into countless golden particles of light and rged into the beam.
In the blink of an eye, the foremost light had already shot before phisto and rapidly recombined into human form.
Matthew's fist, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, descended upon phisto like a raging storm.
The second round had begun!
And this ti, the battle beca incomparably brutal.
phisto displayed astonishing combat experience along with supre mastery over black magic and energy manipulation.
He summoned storms of Hellfire, constantly compressing Matthew's movent space and restricting the battlefield, weakening the speed advantage of Matthew's Glint-Glint Fruit.
The gentleman's cane in his hand split apart into a flaming whip. Not only did it contain flas capable of burning the soul, but it was also infused with black magic that corroded the mind and flesh.
Illusion manipulation, ntal shocks, and all kinds of techniques were combined and used with incredible skill.
Matthew instantly experienced just how terrifying a demon lord beca once he truly got serious.
The rhythm of the battle was imdiately seized by phisto.
Fortunately, Matthew was no pushover either.
After several months of study and refinent at Kamar-Taj, combined with his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities, his magical attainnts had advanced by leaps and bounds.
His mastery of white magic was enough to counter phisto's black magic.
Combined with the Three Types of Haki, the Six Powers, the Glint-Glint Fruit, and everything else in his arsenal, Matthew managed to withstand phisto's relentless assault and gradually began adapting to it.
This was growth.
The shockwaves from the battle completely destroyed the cetery and spread outward in all directions. Hellfire raged wildly, golden light rained across the sky like a storm, and black-and-red lightning illuminated the night in dazzling colors.
The entire scene looked incomparably magnificent.
And beneath that magnificence—
Was destruction and death.
...
On the hilltop, Reacher, Natasha, and Neagley watched the battle intently.
Violent winds swept around them, while the magical runes engraved onto their armor and red trench coats glowed with golden light, forming invisible barriers that blocked the impact.
Even so, the ground shook violently beneath them.
The three of them could still stand firm.
But Johnny and Roxanne were another matter entirely. If they hadn't been holding onto Carter's powerful horse, they probably would have already been blown who-knows-where.
"So this is the level Boss has reached now…"
Neagley kept both hands in her trench coat pockets. Reflected in her eyes were the colorful lights and the two constantly clashing figures.
The usual carefree look on her face was gone, replaced only by seriousness and burning excitent.
Only now did she truly realize how powerful Matthew was.
And just how enormous the gap between them had beco.
A nearly hopeless gap.
Without even considering the energy manipulation or black-and-white magic, just their physical movent speed alone was already beyond anything she could compare to.
The naked eye couldn't even keep up with them.
And this was only aerial combat.
If they fought on the ground, it would be even harder to follow.
"No wonder Boss brought us here," Natasha said softly as she brushed aside her wine-red hair.
A miniature cara hung from the chest of her coat, faithfully recording every detail of the battle.
Her exquisite face was filled with both amazent and longing.
Back then, all she wanted was to escape the Red Room.
But now, what she desired was strength.
And to follow Matthew to witness a broader world.
"We're still far from enough," Reacher said, the calst among them, though his eyes burned just as brightly. "You've all read the Books of Dinsions. Compared to his true body, the current phisto is weaker by countless tis."
"Hey, Boss is growing stronger, and so are we," Neagley replied, elbowing Reacher in the armor with a couple of crisp thuds. "Trust him, and trust ourselves. One day, we'll reach that level too."
"Exactly. Pressure is the best nourishnt for growth," Natasha agreed.
phisto was already terrifyingly powerful.
And this was only an energy projection.
Then what kind of monster was his true body in Hell?
An ordinary person would probably despair just thinking about it.
But they wouldn't.
They were the Astartes and Raven warbands personally built by Matthew with his own effort and dedication.
Cowardice and retreat had no place among them.
If loyalty was their creed—
Then courage and fearlessness were the foundation beneath it.
The conversation between the three drew both admiration and surprise from Carter.
At the sa ti, he found himself reevaluating just what kind of monsters these people were.
Just how had that human boy managed to cultivate such outstanding warriors?
And from what Reacher had said about being a warband commander, there were probably many more soldiers like them.
With this kind of unity and confidence, led by such an exceptional leader, Carter believed these people were destined to shine brilliantly in the future.
He even found himself wanting to laugh as he looked toward phisto, who was still fiercely battling Matthew in the distance.
"phisto… you miscalculated. In the future, there will definitely be people capable of standing against you. Earth will no longer be the sa place where you can do whatever you want."
User Comments
0 comments from readers