Seeing the sinister, flickering red-and-black Sophion aura surging around Shin's figure, Maximilian Orlov cracked a ruthless grin. He roared, shaking the very eardrums of those present:
— "No matter how much it increases, it won't change a single thing!"
WHOOSH!
Orlov's colossal frame parted the air, hurtling straight forward like a cruise missile. Channeling every remaining ounce of strength into his right fist, he intended to use this single strike to crush Shin's head and end the battle once and for all. Yet, a crisp, resonant CRASH echoed.
An anomaly completely outside Orlov's calculations occurred. Shin didn't dodge, nor did he use internal force to deflect it. He simply reached out a single hand and precisely clamped down on the titan's massive fist. The pressure from the two colliding sources of Sophion caused the ground beneath their feet to collapse into a crater ten meters in radius.
Shin looked up with bloodshot eyes, growling coldly:
— "You think this is all I've got?"
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Without giving Orlov time to regain his composure, Shin unleashed a brutal barrage of counterattacks. These were strikes imbued with the highest level of Internal Penetrating Force. Even though Orlov's beast-type flesh was hardened like diamond, Shin's punches still bypassed his defenses, directly shredding his internal organs. Ten consecutive punches pounded directly into his chest, making Orlov cough up blood and stumble backward uncontrollably.
BOOM!
A supersonic boom split the air. Shin's velocity had now completely surpassed the speed of sound. Closing in on Orlov in the blink of an eye, he launched a front kick directly into the titan's face, sending the hundred-plus-kilogram giant flying through the air like a leather ball.
Shin stuck to him like a shadow. Mid-air, he relentlessly chained punches wrapped in dark electrical charges with kicks carrying terrifying kinetic energy, pummeling Orlov to a pulp, giving him not a single millisecond to react or catch his breath. In a corner of the ruined arena far off, Ling Mo took this opportunity to clutch his chest and drag himself toward the pit where Kento lay to check on his condition.
Under the frantic pressure of the assault, Orlov growled in intense frustration, preparing to form hand seals to warp space and execute an ultimate move. However, Shin's execution speed was a step faster.
— DARK RED CALAMITY: SPIRIT BLAST!!!
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!
Shin released all the raging Sophion energy in his body into the surrounding space, creating a massive energy storm that swept through everything. From his position, dark-red shockwaves of Sophion spread out like a macro-scale explosion, completely leveling the earth, rocks, and hills within the blast radius into flat ground.
Orlov took the full brunt of this devastating attack at point-blank range. Relying on the ultimate survival instincts of a Gen-Primal, he wildly burned through his Sophion reserves to regenerate his cells, recovering his body at a dizzying speed right amidst the torrent of explosive energy.
As the dust cleared, Orlov panted heavily, his charred flesh steaming as it healed itself. He trembled:
— "Crazy... If that move were concentrated into a single point, how would it be any different from a nuclear warhead?! This kid is too fast, I can't keep up with him... The faster I get, the faster he gets!"
Shin stood tall in the center of the storm, the red-and-black aura around him beginning to flicker slightly. Exhaling sharply, his eyes remained locked on his opponent:
— "How's that? Touch my brother, and this is the fate you get!"
Damn it... Shin thought to himself, cold sweat pouring down his temples. If I don't finish this match quickly, I'm going to hit the limit of Sophion exhaustion. This overload state is draining energy like water.
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Orlov wiped a streak of dark blood from the corner of his mouth, sneering:
— "Your state is even crazier than I thought! But so what?!"
Orlov roared a heaven-shaking roar, slamming both hands deep into the earth to activate the ultimate bloodline lineage of the Earth-type Beast system:
— EARTH ARMOR: ABYSSAL SWALLOW!!!
Instantly, Orlov manipulated the entire geology and gravitational structure of the plain. He activated a massive Sophion gravity core deep underground. The gravitational pull from this core suddenly spiked hundreds, then thousands of times over, forcing the entire subterranean structure to collapse inward. The earth beneath split into massive fissures, ready to form bottomless abysses to swallow every biological entity alive.
Yet, facing that horrific chain reaction, Shin was completely immune. His feet were coated in a layer of Sophion film that entirely negated the gravitational pull beneath. He calmly walked across thin air, stepping directly toward Orlov, and delivered a sledgehammer straight punch right into his face.
THWACK!
Orlov's neck twisted from the punch, his eyes widening in horror:
— "How is this possible... This kid is a monster!"
— "You think these cheap gravity tricks can hold me back?! You stupid dog!" Shin growled.
— "DAMN IT! YOU'VE GOT NERVE, COME ON!!!"
Orlov went completely insane. The two plunged into a brutal, blow-for-blow melee amidst the collapsing earth. But the tides of battle had now reversed completely. Every punch thrown by Orlov became slower and slower in Shin's eyes; Shin easily leaned aside to dodge them all. Conversely, Shin continuously coated his fists in dense Sophion, delivering a series of lethal blows straight into the giant's vitals and internal organs.
Orlov was enraged to the point of popping blood vessels in his eyes, screaming madly:
— "YOU DEAD BASTARD! LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN SURVIVE THIS ONE!!!"
— APOCALYPTIC AGE: CONTINENTAL SHATTER!!!
As the name of the technique fell, a colossal pillar of Sophion light—a blend of yellow and purple—shot straight up from Orlov's position, piercing the stratosphere and rocketing out into the outer atmosphere, a phenomenon clearly visible from space.
Instantly, a destructive chain reaction occurred across this entire desolate continent. A series of massive level 11–12 earthquakes broke out simultaneously, violently shaking the ground and tearing open tectonic plates, triggering all dormant volcanoes to spew fiery red lava. Orlov had accepted destroying this entire continent, his ultimate goal being to drag Shin, Kento, and Ling Mo down to the grave with him.
— "Die, all of you!!!" Orlov roared with laughter.
— "In your dreams, bastard," Shin's voice sounded, terrifyingly calm and cold.
Facing the end of the world created by Orlov, Shin's technique possessed an extreme simplicity. He held a single hand forward. All the raging dark-red Sophion erupting around his body suddenly ceased expanding outward. Instead, it was forcibly compressed and condensed by his supreme willpower.
In the palm of Shin's hand, the energy shrank into a compact sphere no larger than a fist. The sphere was completely still, gently spinning and emitting a sparkling, crystal-clear light. This was an attack operating purely on his absolute willpower and spiritual strength.
Seeing that Orlov had lost all humanity and intended to eradicate everyone, Shin coldly tossed the sphere:
— "Here's a gift for you!"
SWISH!
The acceleration of the sphere was pushed to its maximum in mid-air. Its special energy composition allowed it to bypass air resistance entirely, flying straight toward Orlov's location within a single millisecond.
The moment the crystal sphere touched Orlov's chest, it generated no destructive physical explosion or shockwave. Instead, a pure, blinding white light suddenly enveloped the Russian titan's entire body.
In an instant, the rule of soul annihilation activated. Every cellular bond, flesh, bone, and even the fundamental soul essence of Maximilian Orlov immediately dissolved into tiny particles of light before evaporating completely into the void. There was no spilled blood, no prolonged screams of pain. The existence of the "Monster of Russia" was wiped clean from this world. He didn't even have time to utter his last words.
The purple-gold light pillar died out. The earthquakes gradually subsided.
THUD.
— "It's over... ha ha ha... ugh... cough, cough!" Shin immediately collapsed to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood.
His body trembled violently from exhaustion, his Sophion energy nearly reaching rock bottom. That move was something he could only gamble on using once in a lifetime.
— "Thank goodness... it hit... if it missed... we'd all be dead..." Shin muttered bitterly.
Slowly and painfully, he dragged himself inch by inch across the desolate ground toward the pit where Ling Mo and Kento lay motionless.
Ling Mo, his face pale, raised his head to look at Shin:
— "Are you... okay?"
— "I'm still breathing... which means I'm alive!" Shin panted, his eyes turned toward the deep pit. "How's Kento?"
Ling Mo lowered his head, his voice choked up:
— "Not sure... His head was driven too deep, his pulse is almost..."
CRACK... SNAP…
Before Ling Mo could finish his sentence, an eerie sound of twisting joints and bones echoed from deep within the pit.
To the utter astonishment of both Shin and Ling Mo, Kento's previously motionless body suddenly moved. He didn't use his hands to push himself up; instead, his knees folded backward at an impossible angle, forcibly hoisting his body upright in a bizarre and grotesque manner, like a puppet pulled by strings.
HISS…
All the fatal injuries on his head, his pulverized face, and his blood-soaked body began regenerating at a frenzied pace. Muscle fibers automatically reattached themselves; fractured, caved-in bones popped back up and flattened into place within a few short seconds, as though he had never suffered a single scratch.
But the most terrifying thing was his appearance. Kento's pitch-black hair was gradually transforming, turning snow-white from the roots to the tips, shifting into a cold, pure white hue. His usual dead eyes were completely gone. His eyeballs turned pitch-black, dark as ink, while his pupils contracted, emitting a faint, eerie white glow.
BOOM!
An invisible wave of Sophion pressure, carrying a dense and ice-cold killing intent, radiated from Kento's body, weighing heavily on the surrounding space. This pressure was so potent and savage that even Shin and Ling Mo—who had just survived a life-and-death struggle—were struck completely mute on the spot, their bodies trembling as their biological instincts sounded red alerts.
This was no longer Kento.
The wild, ruthless self hidden in the deepest depths of his soul had awakened after touching death's door. The creature standing before them now was... THE WHITE ONI.
Shin looked at his white-haired younger brother, whose void-black eyes were staring intently at him. He could only force a crooked, helpless, and bitter smile:
— "Just finished a boss fight... and now I have to fight my own brother too?"
Kento didn't utter a word. His expression was stone-cold, soulless, and ruthless. He took a slow step forward, locking his gaze onto the only two living entities in front of him. That gaze held zero mercy or recognition of family…
It was the gaze of an apex predator staring down its delicious prey.
END OF CHAPTER 28