Purple lightning bolts crashed down from the sky all around, filling the world with a terrifying power. I swallowed hard, quietly watching the distant Chaos Fiend as he kept laughing loudly.
"What's wrong, Chimera? You ran down to the lower realm just to avoid the battles up above, didn't you? And now you want to come back and join the fight up here?"
"Chaos Fiend, you just said you've seen me before—where exactly was that?"
I stood atop Chimera's massive head, shouting toward the distant Chaos Fiend. His purple-red eyes turned to look at me.
Thunder rumbled as Chaos Fiend stood up, slowly drifting to a spot a hundred meters in front of me. Sizzling sounds filled the air as thick blue smoke mixed with blinding lightning. The pressure between us crackled with hostility, making the clouds around us churn and swirl into a vortex, spinning outward until they quickly dissipated—only for new mist to begin forming below.
"In the chain passage between future and past—did you forget? Back then, after I ate you, you ended up eating my flesh and escaped from my belly."
My eyes widened, but I quickly shook my head. I'm unfamiliar with Chaos Fiend—I don't remember ever meeting him.
"Sorry, I really don't remember. My own past—including everything—it's all gone from my memory."
"Forget it, let's not talk about trivial things. Chimera, what do you want to do?"
A cunning glint flashed in Chaos Fiend's huge eyes. Chimera's icy blue light grew brighter and brighter, and suddenly I felt a force pushing me forward.
"Just stand aside and watch quietly."
I left Chimera's body, barely steadying myself in midair when his voice echoed in my mind.
With a whoosh, Chaos Fiend exhaled a gentle stream of white mist toward Chimera. Chimera shook his head, and as the mist settled around him, ice flowers began to bloom in the air.
"I'm going to pass through here."
With a thunderous boom, Chaos Fiend stood up, raising his claws and widening his eyes. Those purple-red pupils gradually turned black.
"That makes things simple. If you defeat me, I'll let you pass through my territory—the Chaos Battle Domain."
I quietly observed the overwhelming aura radiating from both of them. I'd never witnessed power like this before—their abilities were strange, legendary, existing only in ancient texts and the fantasies of mankind, never among the supernatural beasts of the two realms.
Legend has it these beasts possess the power to destroy worlds. I glanced around, then landed atop a spire-shaped mountain peak, sitting cross-legged to continue observing.
"Don't regret this, Chaos Fiend."
Chimera roared furiously as his body erupted in intense blue light, flames of blue flickering across his massive form.
"Show me everything you've got!"
Chaos Fiend's confident voice echoed across the sky.
With a roar, Chimera suddenly leaped toward Chaos Fiend. The Brute raised his massive claws, mouth splitting open. I saw a purple-red mass swirling inside, spinning faster and gradually turning black.
A sharp, piercing impact rang out, and in an instant, the cloud sea vanished completely. I felt a chill run down my spine. Beneath the clouds were countless tiny holes emitting black mist, with towering stone spires rising between them.
A massive, spinning sphere of purple, black, and red struck in front of Chimera. Its speed was slow, but the space around it warped, the force immense.
Suddenly, Chimera's body split into thousands of streams of pale blue energy, scattering in all directions. As I focused, I realized each stream was a miniature Chimera—tens of thousands of tiny pale blue Chimeras filled the sky.
Blue beams, trailing tails, wove through the sky. In an instant, the attacking sphere was devoured by the swarm of Chimeras. Blue beams circled Chimera's massive body as he struck with giant claws, unleashing thunderous roars.
Gradually, I saw Chaos Fiend's skin covered in wounds. In less than a minute, slashes appeared all over his body, and his furious howls turned into whimpering cries.
The battle raged on. I watched as those blue beams, formed from Chimera's split bodies, darted around Chaos Fiend like meteors, attacking with sudden bursts of speed and overwhelming force.
Then Chaos Fiend's body began to change dramatically—heat surged, bubbling noises echoed, and lava started to flow from his mouth, covering his skin in molten rock.
Sizzling noises filled the air as the Chimeras near Chaos Fiend turned instantly from blue to red, engulfed by flames and burning up. Soon, the dense blue beams in the sky vanished completely.
With a whoosh, just as I glimpsed a shadow, Chaos Fiend's massive claw reached into empty space and yanked out Chimera's enormous body, slamming his palm onto Chimera's forehead.
With a thunderous crash, the newly formed cloud sea below scattered instantly, stone spires shattered, and Chimera's huge body slammed to the ground. Chaos Fiend dropped down, leaving two giant footprints in the earth, then raised his claws and smashed them into Chimera's body in a frenzy.
With lava flying everywhere, Chaos Fiend's blood-red eyes hammered Chimera's body again and again. The ground trembled, the air shook, and waves of violent energy swept toward me.
All around were countless tiny holes and stone spires; the clouds had vanished. I stared in shock at the battle between these two giants, my heart pounding—I swallowed hard.
Chimera wasn't completely subdued. He leaped up, splitting apart, as Chaos Fiend's violent blow tore the ground open. A pillar of lava shot straight up, ripping a huge hole in the stormy sky.
After regaining his footing, Chimera lunged forward, his body sprouting dense red fur. As he collided with Chaos Fiend, the fur wrapped tightly around Chaos Fiend's body.
"Trying that move again? I saw it centuries ago."
Chaos Fiend roared, and suddenly I saw Chimera's body spin violently and crash to the ground with a bang, leaving a deep crater.
A streak of purple-blue shone from the red fur—I stared wide-eyed. It was the vortex on Chaos Fiend's belly, spinning wildly and twisting Chimera's body, but Chimera kept resisting with all his might.
I stood up, clenched my fists, and slowly floated upward, golden light radiating from my whole body.
"This is the perfect place to use the power within me."
With a thought, I drew the golden light back into myself. A buzzing filled the air as blood-red swastikas expanded from my eyes, spreading across my body like giant crimson markings—no matter the angle, they all formed the swastika symbol.
Clenching my fists, a beam of black-and-white light formed in my hand. Eyes wide, I instantly appeared before Chaos Fiend.
"What are you trying to do?"
Chaos Fiend suddenly turned, jaws wide. Without hesitation, I swung my fist at him.
With a thunderous crash, Chaos Fiend's massive body flew into the air. His huge white fangs shattered with a single punch—he stared in disbelief, crashing to the ground. But I immediately saw Chimera leap up beside me, transformed into a vivid green beam, like a sharp sword thrusting at Chaos Fiend.
With a whoosh, Chaos Fiend got up too, howling in rage, ready to meet Chimera head-on. I was already in front of both of them, hands raised.
With a boom, a massive black light shot skyward. My left hand blocked Chimera's charging head, where a black, round bump appeared on his forehead, while my right hand stopped Chaos Fiend's giant claw. This time, I truly felt the impact of two overwhelming forces against my body.
A cracking sound rang out as fissures appeared across my skin, but suddenly, they vanished completely. I opened my mouth.
With a boom, a dazzling beam of black-and-white light shot forth.
"Zhang Qingyuan, what are you trying to do?"
With two thunderous crashes, Chimera and Chaos Fiend both landed on the ground. I smiled faintly, gazing at the enormous rift in space ahead—through it, I could see the lava field we came from. The space itself was cracked like shattered glass, and was slowly repairing itself.
"Not bad, Zhang Qingyuan. As a human, I'd love to have a real fight with you someday!"
I turned to Chaos Fiend and shook my head.
"Can we stop for now?"
Eventually, both of them quieted down and nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief—those two overwhelming forces that could have crushed me were somehow easily neutralized. The feeling was utterly incredible.
I stared blankly at my raised hand.
"Maybe it's because I craved power so desperately that power answered my call."