1v3 Supreme Experts

Scarlet Satsui no Hado coiled like flames, and the surroundings seemed to blur.

Huff… huff…

Salamander, the top reincarnator from the South District with dark skin and a nose ring, had not even noticed that his breathing was far faster and louder than normal.

The immense pressure was about to force his mind to its Critical Point.

So strong. How could this guy from the East District be this strong?!

He gasped heavily as Chakra continuously poured from beneath his feet into the ground below the White Jade Arena.

He did not know whether the space had deliberately given him an advantage, or whether this arena supposedly built to entertain the Gods had always been so fragile. Mercenary Tao’s previous blow had actually shattered the white jade floor.

As a result, he could now use the power of his Kekkei Genkai to pour sand underground and turn much of the subterranean structure into sand.

Salamander had gained more sand, as well as the ability to silently alter the battlefield’s terrain and structure.

But he had no mind to think about that now. This fighting choice was simply instinct, further enhanced by the Sandman bloodline from the Marvel World and Magnet Release from the Naruto World.

The Sandman bloodline granted him abilities similar to Elementalization, while being far less severely countered by Haki than a Logia-type Devil Fruit. Combined with Sand Release, it gave him enormous area-of-effect attacks and regenerative abilities.

When Mercenary Tao had attacked, Salamander had actually failed to react at all before his body was smashed apart. He had only recovered by relying on that unique trait.

When he looked back, he even saw Colossus, the Brotherhood leader from the West District—supposedly a Defense-Specialized reincarnator who had strengthened the Steel Warrior bloodline from X-Men—and Ogre from the North District, Winter’s Descendant, who had enhanced a troll bloodline, both blasted to death on the spot.

Those two were among the finest Defense-Specialized reincarnators. Their reputations far exceeded his own, yet they had died in a single move.

If this had not been the Crown of Supremacy qualifier, if this had been a battle in the real world, then…

Salamander’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He deeply felt the terror of this newly emerged monster from the East District. As someone likewise considered a monster rookie who had risen rapidly during this cycle, he finally understood the horror those West District reincarnators had felt when facing that woman during the previous cycle.

He and Mercenary Tao were simply not on the same level…

As Salamander thought, Mercenary Tao, standing at the center, had already assumed a stance.

Salamander’s heart clenched as a name surfaced in his mind.

"It’s Shun Goku Satsu!"

Boom!

The world instantly turned pitch-black. The White Jade Arena and the terrifying gazes of the Gods above completely vanished.

Salamander instinctively activated his Sand Release. As his entire body underwent Elementalization, the ground shattered, and countless yellow sand tornadoes spread in every direction.

Sand Burial!

Rings of Shockwaves rippled outward while the sand tornadoes raged wildly.

Salamander himself transformed entirely into a giant of sand and stone dozens of meters tall, erasing every weakness from his body.

Yet he was still afraid. Still terrified. Within the blackened space, killing intent filled everything like air.

One Instant Thousand Strikes!

Salamander shifted his gaze downward and saw Saint, his entire body radiating white holy light like a light pillar shooting into the sky, still standing at the very front. Merely looking at that holy light greatly eased the fear in Salamander’s heart.

Moreover, Saint seemed to be burning himself. Pale holy flames continuously consumed his lower body, his flesh devoured by his own fire. That form of self-sacrifice further strengthened the martyr’s physique.

His holy light and sacred flames blazed fiercely.

How impressive… Salamander could not help admiring the methods of this West District powerhouse. Without a doubt, even if Saint went to the talent-rich East District, he would be among the strongest below the Supreme Experts.

Fortunately, someone like that was fighting beside him right now.

On the other side, two more people began to blaze in the darkness.

One was surrounded by flames and lightning, his long red hair billowing behind him. He was most likely a survivor of Takamagahara from the East District, as well as an Avenger—someone codenamed Yamata.

The other was bare-chested, over two meters tall, roaring at the sky as his body continued to expand.

Before Salamander could figure out who that was, his breath suddenly caught. Within the black space, all sound and wind completely vanished.

He felt as though everything had stopped.

Thump. Thump. Thump…

Only the mechanical beating of his heart remained.

Splurt!

A wound exploded across his face out of nowhere. Sand sprayed into the air as the sense of danger in his heart erupted.

The next moment, a point of scarlet light burst forth in the black world. Countless intertwining red and white lines instantly filled every corner of his vision.

Howling fist force directly submerged everyone.

Splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt…

All he could hear was fist force tearing through the air, while all he could feel within his body was the pain of Satsui no Hado’s corrosion.

At last, countless black lights flashed, and the sound of the River Styx rushing forth rang out.

Bang!

Salamander’s sand-and-stone giant form, dozens of meters tall, exploded in midair. His body reverted to human form, his skin turning incomparably pale, as though he had soaked in the River Styx for ages.

"This is…"

Green divine light bloomed in Aiva’s eyes, authority gleaming around her body. As a former Supreme Expert who had obtained sixth-rank authority, she had been holding herself back, unwilling to enter the arena and gang up on Mercenary Tao.

Naturally, she possessed the pride of a Supreme Expert.

At the same time, her abilities were unsuited to group battles. Forcing her way in would only weaken the others.

At this moment, she looked down from the sky at the space wrapped in killing intent. Mercenary Tao’s previous instant slaughter of more than ten formidable opponents through terrifying speed and power had already been shocking enough.

But now, several candidates she recognized as the very best from each district—people who could even be said to possess the full qualifications to enter the final stage of competing for the Crown of Supremacy—

Were being utterly devastated at the same time.

Salamander, the lone expert from her South District, had been killed in an instant. Yamata from the East District and Grellum from the North District were only enduring through resurrection abilities.

Aiva’s intelligence was extremely comprehensive. She knew that Yamata of the East District had most likely obtained the Yamata no Orochi bloodline, an exceedingly rare Mythical Species bloodline that possessed eight lives.

Moreover, each time he died, he gained new authority. It was a bloodline with both formidable survival and combat capabilities.

Because of that bloodline, the Takamagahara team had faced the siege of multiple teams in that Secondary World. In the end, Japan’s strongest local team had been completely destroyed, with Yamata alone escaping.

Grellum, meanwhile, was a top reincarnator from the North District. Rumor had it that he had passed the Twelve Labors, thereby gaining twelve lives similar to those of the mythical hero Heracles.

Zange silently withdrew the foot he had placed on the edge of the viewing platform. He looked around and found that nearly every powerful fighter who had entered the arena had been killed by Mercenary Tao.

So he sat back down with peace of mind.

This Crown of Supremacy no longer had anything to do with him. What he needed to do now was not force himself to fight a monster like this, potentially leaving himself with psychological scars that would further weaken his fighting spirit.

What he should do was analyze Mercenary Tao’s abilities and potential as thoroughly as possible, preparing for the foreseeable clashes and friction between the different districts in the next cycle.

As a Biology Doctor in the real world, Zange instantly adjusted his mindset. He abandoned his will to fight.

Boom!

Satsui no Hado scattered like a whirlwind. The white jade floor of the White Jade Arena and the jade walls around it were instantly corroded with countless craters.

It looked like the surface of a planet bombarded by a meteor shower.

Inside the arena, Chestnut Hair had already taken his hands out of his pockets. He remained calm, while the towering Sandman behind him collapsed with a crash.

Then came Yamata, with the phantom of eight enormous serpent heads swaying in the air, and the giant berserker whose body had exceeded six meters after three rounds of frenzy.

The two split to either side, their faces filled with rage, yet in the next instant, they were still struck down as though gold and jade had been smashed apart.

The Yamata no Orochi phantom shattered outright. Yamata’s eyes dimmed as he turned into a stream of data and returned to the platform.

The berserker Grellum dropped to one knee, blood beginning to pour from all over his body.

"Oh? You really did obtain the power of the Twelve Labors. It granted you immunity to my attacks…"

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Amid soft applause, Mercenary Tao, his hair now completely white, lightly appeared before everyone. The faintly visible writing behind him could no longer be made out.

His white hair, along with his Satsui no Hado and qi, was completely obedient to Bai Cangshu’s control.

He looked approvingly at the few survivors.

Boom!

The next moment, Saint’s towering sacred flames shattered and collapsed.

This man’s special physique probably reflected a certain proportion of the damage he received back onto his enemy, while he himself transformed into something akin to a holy spirit and gained the blessing of immense sacred power.

After he actively burned his own body and assumed his complete form, his energy intensity had probably increased fourfold.

From Bai Cangshu’s perspective, Saint was undoubtedly someone with the strength of a Supreme Expert.

If he had not faced Bai Cangshu, there were probably not many other candidates who could defeat him.

And…

Bai Cangshu watched faint illusory fluctuations emerge from the collapsing pillar of sacred flame. This man had already touched upon the threshold of Heart Light Pulse.

Unfortunately, his martyr’s special physique and fighting habits had made him accustomed to taking more damage and providing protection for his team.

If his previous One Instant Thousand Strikes had unleashed ten thousand attacks, Saint had probably endured more than five thousand of them.

In truth, Bai Cangshu himself could not count how many attacks he had thrown in that instant.

With sixfold Kaio-ken, Kirin Armor at triple effectiveness, and eighth-rank Instant all activated at once, Bai Cangshu’s speed had reached an unimaginable level.

He only needed to make the motion of unleashing One Instant Thousand Strikes. In a single instant, a brief instant, attacks and Satsui no Hado would engulf everyone like an ocean.

Saint crashed to the ground. The four white wings on his back shattered as well, and he turned into a stream of data before returning to the platform.

Saint stood before his white jade seat, looked at the final two people below, and exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Mercenary Tao, I acknowledge you. You truly are a powerhouse worthy of His Excellency’s attention!"

Saint sat down.

By then, the injuries inside berserker Grellum’s body had finally become impossible to suppress. He had died an unknown number of times amid that ocean of attacks.

Because it was a weakened version of the Twelve Labors, and because he himself lacked a Mythical Species bloodline, he could not achieve Heracles’s complete immunity to attacks he had already suffered.

The cumulative immunity strength of a mere twelve times was utterly incapable of withstanding that destructive assault.

Grellum raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. The agony of ruptured blood vessels throughout his body stimulated his nerves.

He carefully studied Mercenary Tao’s appearance, as though he wanted to engrave this powerful East District enemy into his mind.

Rumble.

Grellum too transformed into a stream of data and disappeared.

In the end, after one round of One Instant Thousand Strikes, only Shōnen remained standing in the arena.

"Come down, Aiva, Itzpapalotl."

Shōnen spoke, and the air he exhaled turned into white mist at his lips, as though the temperature around him had dropped to a terrifying degree.

Yet upon hearing him speak, the two people who had been observing from above finally rose slowly to their feet.

"Otherwise, this guy may truly become the sole winner of the Crown of Supremacy."

Shōnen was codenamed Mist. Because he frequently changed Avatars and belonged to no fixed faction, few people knew his identity.

Aiva watched the white mist pouring from Shōnen’s mouth as he spoke and confirmed that he was the person who had exploited the conflict between herself and Itzpapalotl during the previous competition for the physique-based Crown of Supremacy, thereby gaining first priority to condense the Crown of Supremacy.

"Looks like Mercenary Tao has put you under tremendous pressure. You’re still using that ability. Haven’t you improved this cycle?"

Aiva found Shōnen’s manner extremely displeasing and provoked him verbally, though her body also descended into the White Jade Arena.

She was not skilled at group battles, but now that the other candidates had all been cleared out, only those truly qualified to obtain the Crown of Supremacy remained in the arena.

She had no objections to defeating any of them now.

As she spoke, Aiva clapped her hands together. A sun-like red mark appeared amid rolling thunder.

Enormous trees rose one after another from the White Jade Plaza.

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence

Aiva used a rather common high-level ability, and her entire body then radiated an aura like a torrent of life.

Her vitality was incomparably powerful, almost evoking the impression of a Life Furnace.

Countless trees emerged from beneath their feet, completely transforming the battlefield.

Itzpapalotl calmly stood and leaped among the trees.

Only Bai Cangshu and Mist remained where they stood.

White mist shrouded one, while qi and fluctuations swirled around the other.

Bai Cangshu’s eyelids lowered. He seemed unable to see the two women, his gaze fixed only on the person who had survived two rounds of his attacks.

This guy… was very unusual. He possessed some special physique or ability. The instant Bai Cangshu’s attacks approached him, they were swallowed away.

It was like some kind of teleportation ability.

That was the secret behind his survival against One Instant Thousand Strikes combined with Myriad Death Intent.

He… had completely evaded Bai Cangshu’s attacks.

"Ha… interesting. You people are very interesting!"

Bai Cangshu suddenly slammed both palms forward.

As the atmosphere roiled, the air pressure seemed to instantly rise to a terrifying level. Aiva and Itzpapalotl both felt a dreadful roar bearing down on them.

Then they saw a Blazing White shockwave sweep through the entire Primordial Jungle, snapping the giant trees apart.

A golden Flash erupted.