"Oh, get up already."
The voice rang out as he turned his gaze up to look at the man who stayed frozen in his punching position.
But then,
SHATTTTERRR
The gauntlet he was wearing was enveloped in cracks and then—
It shattered into pieces that fell onto the ground, revealing his hand marred with blade cuts.
He withdrew it and then—
DROOOOOOOOOOOM
The entire world instantly rumbled as the man rose up from his throne, standing at a height of 5 meters.
He stepped down from his throne and in so doing,
BOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOM
The ground, which Ryuk already found hard leave an imprint, shook violently from every step as he descended fully from the throne.
He now stood on the same floor as Ryuk.
"You already broke a gauntlet of mine. It wouldn't be cool if the next person comes and finds me with just one gauntlet and the other hand scarred, would it?"
"So get up and try harder," he said before getting into a battle stance—one gauntlet-covered fist raised, the other bare fist hanging below his face—his grin widening.
Ryuk's eyes flashed, not understanding the man at all.
The trial had told him to kill him. Yet what was he doing. Telling Ryuk to get up and try harder to get rid of him!?
But then—he felt a flame inside him.
A flame to win.
It forced him to stretch out one of his legs as he pulled himself up to his feet.
The ice from his burst poured out in a large amount, forming beneath his legs resulting in lumps of ice beneath Ryuk's feet began climbing up before quickly moving to his stumps, and his arms instantly regenerated—leaving nothing but the pulsing scar on his chest, the only sign of the damage from the last exchange.
"Good one." The man complimented with a grin.
"I'll put you out of your misery this time," Ryuk said as he got into a similar battle stance.
The man's eyes flashed when he noticed Ryuk's stance wasn't just a copy.
It was a unique one—one that had been formed from hundreds of times of going into that stance again and again—and his grin widened even more as the crimson red of his eyes burned with Battle Intent.
"Come then. Come take my misery of life. Hehehehehe."
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The ground rippled as both figures shot forward with speed—each meeting the other, an inch away in the next split second.
"Don't die!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Ryuk's face was flailed madly as the punch blasted toward his face, smashing through.
But it turned into nothing but an afterimage—yet blood sprayed as the side of Ryuk's head blew up into a storm of blood, the damage from the surging air wave. But then—icy veins crept up in his hands and then—
He punched forward with all of his power while roaring:
"Activate Cryo-Eternal Devourer!"
Ryuk roared out as he punched forward.
The man, his eyes widening, responded with a punch of his own.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMCRUUUUSSSSHHH
A heavy explosion followed as Ryuk's arm shattered into pieces.
Yet he didn't stop there—his other hand smashed out with even more power, and the man responded with another punch of his own, horrifically heavy in might, smashing through Ryuk's arm and turning it into frozen shards.
But then—
A whirl of ice bloomed out of Ryuk, rapidly re-forming his destroyed fist as fast as they were being destroyed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The collision of fists lasted for a time that Ryuk could never be able to define.
All he knew was that he simply kept pushing.
Each time he punched, he felt a powerful red energy blast through his body, turning all of his blood upside down within him and rupturing his arms.
Yet he was healing back at the same time but not only that he felt a pure force of energy entering into his body with every collision, empowering him even more.
The system notification panel was blinking with red minus stats revealing his deteriorating state that worsened with every minute—yet he continued like a madman, a raging beast, as he kept punching harder and harder and harder—unrelentingly.
"Draining my energy? Hehehehe, Fine!"
"But can you bear it?"
The man's thick voice boomed through the entire hall, as Ryuk's eyes flashed in shock.
'He realized!?'
Ryuk had an ongoing skill On, a skill that still kept him on his feet:
____
[Cryo-Eternal Devourer]
Description: Absorbs heat, turning enemies into frozen statues.
Converts Thermal energy into power for the Physique Core.
Warning: Overuse causes existential freezing-eternal stasis between life and death!
____
It was a technique he had received from his Ice-Frozen Physique, and he had activated it since the beginning of the barrage, turning the heat in his foe's body into his own.
It was a technique that ought to give him power while draining his opponent's life force, yet when he looked at the expression of the man before him—
His grin was uncontrollable, the crimson in his right eye undulating with an incredible battle intent, while also leaking out a murderous aura.
His punches were getting faster and faster as the crimson aura around him began monumentally increasing with heavy power.
Even though Ryuk felt himself absorbing some of that power...
It was like a tiny drop of strength compared to what was present in the man. After another gruesome hour of relentless punching—
Ryuk felt his back slam into the wall, as he was dragged from the centre to the far end of the hall, before...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A heavy punch slammed into his face, burying him within, before—
BOOOOOOOOM
BOOOOOOOOOOM
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
An unending barrage of fists continued, hammering into every inch of his body, ripping apart every inch of the Frozen Physique he possessed, creating crimson marks that robed from him, life, as he felt horrific pain.
The punches soon stopped long after Ryuk had gone silent, as the Man retreated a few steps backward, the crimson flare in his eyes slowly fading away, followed by a neutral expression as he looked at Ryuk's completely battered body—stuck in the wall along with a web of cracks.
And silently, he turned his back and walked toward his throne.
"Only now have you lost."