Author's Note: This chapter is in Jambavan's POV, but I will be using his accent only in dialogues to make the reading easier.

The moment Vyaghra's dagger touched Vasrik's knife, the shadow engulfed the two and they vanished from the battlefield.

"It has been a millennia since Ay last had a proper fight." I laughed, grabbed Zarven's hand, and hurled him to the open ground outside the battlefield.

"Show me what the Awakened Sage of this era is capable of!"

Zarven's fat body slammed to the ground, bounced, slammed again, and then bounced once more before he finally stopped himself by stabbing the ground with his fingers.

Bending my knees, I pushed the ground, splitting it open, leapt upward, and reached the open ground where Zarven had landed.

"Are you the Lesser Spirit Beast that fought Theon's army along with that other beast?" Zarven asked, rising to his feet.

"So what?"

"Lady Nyx was impressed with your skills. She wants to recruit you and will make you the leader of Forlorn City. She will also provide you with Grade 1 Mid-Tier Soul Stones for cultivation, so why don't you stop fighting this losing battle and join hand—"

"Yer misunderstandin' somethin', kid," I spoke up, cutting him mid-sentence. "We aren't the ones fightin' the losin' battle."

"Forfeiting the wine only to choose poison."

He drew out two large pig-slaughtering knives joined together with a chain and swung them around his body, boasting his skills with the weapon.

In a sudden thrust, one of the blades hurtled forward, burning with flames.

"Hellfire Butchering Art: Beheading Thrust!"

The flames around the knife roared like a raging inferno, desperate to devour everything in its path.

As it reached closer, I opened my mouth wide and caught the knife between my teeth with a clang as the flames brushed past my face.

"What a pitiful art," I growled through clenched teeth.

Without giving Zarven a moment to pull his weapon back, I jerked my head backward, forcefully yanking his body toward me.

The instant he reached closer, I curled my fingers into a fist and hammered it into his swollen belly. His skin rippled in slow waves from the impact, and he bounced back with a bonk.

While falling back, he tightened his grip around the chains, forcing the blade out of my mouth.

Surprisingly, my punch didn't have any effect on him. The fat on his belly had absorbed all the impact.

"Don't underestimate me," he barked. "You are nothing but a beast."

Grabbing the centre of the chain of twin blades, he began rotating his heavy body using the ball of his foot as a pivot.

The blazing blades blurred into a ring of fire, stretching farther with each accelerating turn.

While rotating, he leapt into the air and brought both blades crashing down, carrying the blinding momentum he had built up.

"Try blocking this, you animal. Hellfire Butchering Art: Blade Vortex!"

Taking a deep breath, I let out an ear-piercing roar, balding the trees of the forest nearby of their leaves.

"Battle Cry."

The blades that were descending toward me at blinding speed slowed down from the roar and barely touched my shoulders, losing all their momentum.

Thud…

Zarven's obese body fell along with the blades.

"Wh-what have you done to my body?" Zarven stammered, crawling on the ground.

"M-my body is suddenly weakened and… and I've lost the desire to fight anymore."

"Tsk-tsk, the Awakened Sage of this era is so disappointin'. Even that brat could've defeated ya easily," I clicked my tongue in disappointment, landing a sharp kick across his face. Along with blood, several of his teeth shot out from his mouth.

"Ay couldn't even use one of my offensive skills properly."

Standing on top of his body with his fat belly between my legs, I grabbed his mouth and tightened the grip across his face.

"Pl-please don't kill me," he begged. "I was forced—"

SPLAT!

Before he could complete his plea, his head had already popped like a bubble.

Turning toward the forest, I ordered in a serious tone, "For how lon' are ya gonna hide there?"

"Oh, so you knew I was here?"

A man with long hair carrying a large hammer on his shoulder walked out.

Behind him, about fifty Awakeners, all at the late stage of the Spirit Warrior Realm, followed.

"You are certainly stronger than that Lucifer brat," the long-haired man stated. "So why are you working under him? Why don't you—"

Tang…

As he was speaking, I bolted forward and launched a punch at him, which he blocked with his hammer.

"Instead of the tongue, why don't ya move yer hands, Charlie," I ordered, pushing him back.

"Hah! At the end, you are just an animal that can't be reasoned with," he muttered, struggling to hold against me.

"Kill him!!!"

The several lackeys around him launched numerous kinds of long-range attacks from all sides: Soulforce-laced weapons, skill attacks, poisonous needles.

A wide smile coiled on my face. My body radiated an intense crimson energy as I joined my hands with a thunderous clap.

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The air pressure that erupted from the clap was so intense that the trees where the attackers were gathered ripped apart from the roots and flew backward into the deeper forest.

"Koff… koff…" Charlie coughed out blood, already on one knee.

As he scanned his surroundings, his entire being trembled in fear seeing the sight before him.

All the fighters he had brought along were already on the ground unconscious. He was the only one who survived, as he had covered himself behind the hammer at the last moment.

"Ay can't wrap my head around how the hell that brat lost to weaklings like ya," I moved closer to him, shaking my head in disappointment.

"H-how could… it be possible?" Charlie murmured in disbelief. "I'm already aware that to beat a lesser Soul Beast at least two Awakened Sages and twenty Spirit Warriors are needed."

His voice cracked in desperate dumbfoundment as he continued, "How the fuck do you possess such strength?"

Without replying, I moved closer to him, each step sending shivers down his spine.

"Fuckkk it!!!!" he screamed, tightening his grip around the hammer.

With all the strength in his body, he swung his massive hammer at me in a forward thrust.

However, there was one thing he was unaware of. The being before him is the God of Strength himself.

Tightening my crimson-radiating fist, I descended the divine decree upon him—

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