Above the King

"What… what happened to His Majesty?"

"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

"No way… could our king actually… lose?"

The watching natives all wore terrified expressions. Even their whispers had dropped to the lowest volume as they tensely watched the battle, which had suddenly turned into a one-sided crushing defeat.

From a third-party perspective, Black Panther was desperate to regain his footing after being driven back onto the platform. Yet every swift, powerful attack of his was easily seen through by Kyle, who reacted in advance and effortlessly neutralized his melee strikes.

"How could this be…" Beneath the beast-shaped Vibranium mask, the old king’s weathered face was filled with shock and confusion.

He was clearly the aging veteran, yet Kyle, who was decades younger than him, far surpassed him in both fighting techniques and combat experience.

Yes, fighting technique was the greatest gap between them!

Such a gap only became apparent when their physical strength and combat suits were roughly equal, and both primarily relied on close-quarters combat.

"Your punches aren’t withdrawn cleanly enough. Lift your stride a little higher." Kyle spoke softly. It was as if he were facing a child from his own family, blocking Black Panther’s sharp attacks while verbally instructing and correcting him.

"Damn it." The old king gritted his teeth. After decades as the powerful Black Panther, this was the first time he had suffered such humiliation in battle.

Vibranium Metal was ranked first among Earth’s metals in hardness. Crafted into a full-body suit, it was naturally impervious to blades and bullets, but it did not greatly enhance offensive power. The Vibranium clawed fingertips were its only semi-supportive weapon; all offensive capability relied on primitive fighting techniques honed against beasts and invaders.

Those primitive combat techniques, passed down for thousands of years, were already unparalleled across the nation. Yet in Kyle’s eyes, they were simply too crude and basic.

"Since you can’t hit me, it’s my turn to attack now, right?" Kyle smiled, clenching both fists as he began employing counter-fighting techniques with Superman’s strength and speed.

Black Panther’s expression changed. He shifted from offense to defense, but after only a few hurried exchanges, Kyle’s flawlessly executed fighting moves drove him back again and again.

Kyle sneered. The Vibranium suit truly could not be pierced at this stage, but once the king inside lost his ability to fight back and could only endure blow after blow, he was no longer a predatory Black Panther, but a turtle that could only take a beating.

He pressed his advantage relentlessly. With masterful control, he calmly suppressed Black Panther, giving him no room to breathe as he gradually forced him toward the edge of a cliff with a hundred-meter drop.

This battle, which had become a one-sided beating like an adult teaching and toying with a child, left the watching citizens utterly silent.

"Great!" Kyle’s eyes gleamed. The more he fought, the smoother it became. His blood boiled throughout his body, his insides burning like a furnace and feeding him more power through blazing flames, while outwardly he remained cold and merciless, relentlessly pursuing the Black Panther who kept trying to leap about.

Every one of his punches erupted with more than a ton of impact force, sending sprays of water exploding wherever his fists struck.

The old Black Panther king suffered in silence. Like a small boat in a stormy sea, he had completely become a moving punching bag, battered all the way to the cliff’s edge.

"Still refusing to surrender?" Kyle asked coldly, striking Black Panther until he rolled and sprang back up, nearly smashing him off the cliff.

Black Panther landed on all fours, his claws carving into solid rock. Amid the citizens’ cries of alarm, he barely stopped at the edge of the waterfall cliff, one foot hanging over open air.

"I am Black Panther! How could I possibly bow my head!" the Black Panther king roared. Drawing upon the last of his strength, he leaped high and lunged at Kyle without hesitation.

"Father!" T’Challa cried out. The tribal royals and citizens also shouted anxiously, "Your Majesty!" trying to persuade him to stop.

Kyle’s face remained cold. He swiftly raised his right leg and kicked Black Panther in the lower abdomen, sending him flying backward like a ball.

Just as Black Panther was about to be knocked off the cliff, a hand wearing a Vibranium Bracer caught his ankle and forcibly yanked him back.

"You?" Black Panther barely opened his eyes. He hung outside the cliff upside down, while Kyle held his calf aloft with one hand, lifting his entire body.

He was still wondering why his opponent had saved him instead.

Then Black Panther heard Kyle mutter, "With a full Vibranium suit, you’ll be fine even if you fall off a cliff, right? Such a good punching bag can’t be finished off so quickly."

Black Panther’s eyes rolled back. Frustrated and humiliated, he nearly coughed up blood.

"Get back there!" Kyle swung his arm fiercely and hurled the Black Panther he held like a thrown spear back onto the platform. Black Panther’s body rolled and skidded across the ground, kicking up waves of water until he finally crashed into the cliff wall and stopped.

"Father."

"King!"

T’Challa, who stood only a few meters away, and the female guards shouted as they moved to surround Black Panther. But just as they took a step, Black Panther raised a trembling hand to stop them.

"The battle isn’t over. The ancestors’ rules cannot be broken…" Black Panther said stubbornly, bracing himself against the wall as he rose. Kyle leaped down before him, both feet crashing into the ground and sending countless droplets flying.

"You still want to fight?" Kyle stared coldly at Black Panther nearby. Beneath the full-body suit, his tall frame resembled an invincible black demon god, blocking out the golden sunlight behind him. His icy shadow completely enveloped the faintly trembling Black Panther.

"Can you tell me how many fighting techniques you have mastered?" Black Panther asked slowly. He had not suffered any substantial internal injuries, but the drain on his stamina and spirit had already pushed his aging body to its limits.

"One hundred and forty-one." Kyle calmly stated the despairing number.

"No wonder." Black Panther shook his head with difficulty, then clenched his fists tightly. "Continue. The battle between us is not over! As Black Panther, the guardian of this land, I must fulfill my duty to defeat outsiders!"

"Then, as you wish!" Kyle smiled faintly and threw a lightning-fast punch forward.

Bang!

Black Panther’s body smashed completely into the cliff wall behind him. Before he could struggle or resist, another Heavy Fist from Kyle followed, striking his chest armor. The tremendous impact traveled through it, shattering the cliff wall behind Black Panther even though the Vibranium could not fully disperse the force.

One punch after another!

Kyle’s crimson eyes flashed. Beneath his storm-like assault, Black Panther’s body was driven bit by bit into the cliff wall, until even the entire waterfall cliff seemed to tremble faintly.

That scene of extreme violence and brutality made countless citizens tremble along with it. Some directly fell to their knees, their voices terrified and pleading. "Stop… please stop!"

"Please, stop!"

"Your Majesty, please surrender quickly!"

"Please! Don’t keep fighting!"

For a time, the sky above the waterfall cliff rang with the pleas of countless natives.

T’Challa saw the natives lowering their heads, and his entire body shook. He suddenly understood why his father had insisted on fighting Kyle alone.

"Enough, please stop!" Tears filled T’Challa’s eyes as he leaped onto the platform without hesitation. Raising both hands, he said in a deep voice, "I, Prince T’Challa, on behalf of Wakanda, formally surrender!!"

Kyle’s right fist abruptly stopped. The humanoid monster-like Kyle raised his eyes and calmly halted his attack.

Before him, Black Panther’s entire body was embedded in the hard cliff wall. Centered around him, the smooth, solid surface was covered in spiderweb-like cracks.