The training grounds echoed with the sound of thunder as Serena unleashed a massive discharge of electricity. Each blast crackled across the field, causing devastating explosions and incinerating everything within its range. Her strikes lit up the area with sheer intensity, but Diablo stood effortlessly in place, dodging every single attack with his hands in his pockets.
"You should make sure your strength and speed stay stable while attacking. Not just that, but buikd up acceleration constantly." Diablo said casually, sidestepping another electric punch.
Undeterred, Serena continued her barrage, hurling electrified strikes at Diablo, lightning blasting through the air. At that moment, Alex soared into the sky. Energy surged around him as he formed hundreds of glowing Flash Fists, which floated in the air before launching toward Diablo at rapid-fire speed "Fall!", he called out.
Diablo's eyes narrowed slightly. "Not bad," he muttered, now weaving through the incoming attacks of flash fists with minimal effort. Each Flash Fist struck the ground with such force that they left craters in the earth, their explosions booming across the landscape.
"Your attack speed and destructive power have increased a lot," Diablo noted as he dodged. "You've really improved Alex. I wonder what kind of training you put yourself through."
Alex didn't respond. Instead, he appeared behind Diablo with a sudden Flash Step, his Blade of Death in hand, ready to strike. But Diablo reacted just in time—he dodged the blade, caught Alex by the arm, absorbed the energy of the sword, and then hurled him across three hills with a single strike.
Before Alex could recover, Diablo raised his hand and launched the absorbed Blade of Death at him "Here, i want you to have this back!", he said with a taunting smile.The moment Diablo's blade of death struck, a thunderous explosion shook the ground. The attack obliterated everything. Hills, large rocks and a nearby valley.
As the smoke began to clear, Diablo stared through it and muttered, "Maybe I should've held back a bit…"
Suddenly, Serena came flying in from the side and aimed a thunder-charged kick at Diablo. But with fluid motion, he dodged it, grabbed her by the leg mid-air, and hurled her away into the ground.
"You both have grown a lot over the past three years," Diablo said, voice calm yet impressed. "If you're already this strong… I wonder how much further you'll go with more training."
Alex, groaning but determined, flash stepped behind him again—his fists glowing with Energy Fist: +20. He launched a punch, but Diablo evaded and delivered a powerful kick that sent Alex tumbling back. Yet Alex didn't give up "Fuck! Im not done yet". He started Flash Stepping rapidly around Diablo, attacking from every angle with blinding speed, his energy fists slamming toward him with ferocity.
But Diablo dodged them all, a smile on his face. "Still too predictable tho."
Grinning, Alex suddenly powered up his energy fists even further. "Energy Fist: +50! Lets see how predictable this is!!"he shouted. A red surge of energy exploded from his arms, and in a flash, he appeared behind Diablo, preparing to punch.
Diablo turned and caught the punch. "You're using +50 now? I'm impressed." He chuckled. "Keep it up.". The impact of the punch being caught was something that destroyed the ground.
Just then, Diablo noticed something—multiple Flash Fists that Alex had secretly prepared were now surrounding him, all aimed at full speed. Diablo only smiled "Smart move". With a snap of his fingers, a massive forceful breeze erupted, blasting all the incoming fists away effortlessly.
Alex's eyes widened. "Hey! That's cheating!"
High above, Serena leaped into the air and began firing rapid shots of electric bullets toward Diablo.
He raised a hand. "Playtime is over."
A few minutes later…
Alex and Serena lay sprawled on the ground, completely exhausted. Diablo stood over them with a proud smile.
"You've both impressed me," he said, nodding. "With your current strength, you'll be able to take on missions easily."
Alex struggled to sit up. "How… did you have zero difficulty fighting us?"
Diablo chuckled. "Simple. I'm just built different. You kids are strong, but you have a very long way to go before even scratching me.", he said playfully.
Serena groaned as she sat up. "At this point, I've given up trying to catch up to you…", Diablo playfully said with a firm voice "You should."
Diablo smirked. "Don't overstep your boundaries with others. Just focus on improving yourself. Otherwise you'll waste your life without being satisfied about your personal achievements."
Alex glanced over at him. "Whatever. By the way, how's Kazuki doing?"
"Ah, Kazuki?" Diablo crossed his arms. "He's been going through some insane training these past few years. Veronica's been putting him through hell. But now… he's on a whole different level. He might be stronger than you, Alex."
Alex grinned. "Now that's what i wanted to hear. If he can become that strong… I'll work even harder."
Meanwhile, at the Ancient Ruins…
The ground trembled as monstrous creatures charged toward a lone teen. Kazuki, now 16, stood calmly as he sliced through wave after wave of enemies with graceful movements. His sword cut through them like butter.
One of the monsters fired a massive energy beam at him—but when the smoke cleared, Kazuki hadn't moved. Not a scratch on him.
Dozens of monsters began to fire at him from all directions, their attacks rapid and relentless—but none of them even came close. The air around Kazuki distorted as if rejecting the very notion of being hit.
He sighed. "I just want to go eat already."
Lightning sparked around him as he summoned a new blade—a sword forged entirely from purple lightning. He tapped it against the ground. In an instant, a bolt surged from the earth, electrifying and incinerating the monsters. In the blink of an eye, they were all sliced and burned into pieces.
Kazuki exhaled deeply. "About time…"
As he walked out of the ruins, he was greeted by Veronica, who was sitting nonchalantly on a high tree branch.
"You finished quicker than I expected," she said with a smile.
"I'm just glad I'm finally done with your insane life-threatening training. Like seriously, what is wrong with you?" Kazuki muttered. "I wanna go home."
Veronica grinned. "You really held up well."
Kazuki shot her an annoyed look. "You made me do push-ups on a log above hot lava! And you seriously made me fight 100 C-rank monsters in a day! Not just that, but you constantly had me on edge. More edge that an average soldier shouldn't be on."
She giggled. "Didn't you have fun?"
Kazuki snapped, "It wasn't fun at all!"
But after a bit, he sighed and softened his tone. "Still… thanks. You made me stronger and sharper, you made me realise the potential i never thought i had. Im really grateful For sharpening me up these past three years."
Veronica gave him a genuine smile. "Be careful out there. Okay?"
Kazuki picked up his bag and turned. "I'm off."
With that, he activated his Spirit Mark—and in the blink of an eye, he vanished, zooming off at lightning speed.
Veronica watched as Kazuki zoomed off "You really are a good person Kazuki."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
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