'I have at least a minute before the Bow Lord returns to the battle.'
A minute wasn't a lot of time, but he didn't need much.
All he needed was to incapacitate or injure the Strength Lord, because as long as his influence decreased, Damien could fight without worry.
'That guy is at the top of the Inhuman Emperor's forces. His power is no joke.'
Damien already felt it multiple times. His bones would shatter upon contact, and nothing he did would change that.
The Venom Lord didn't have much speed, but the Strength Lord was different. His physical body itself was a weapon, and anything related to it was powerful.
In the short span of time Damien took to think, he'd already arrived in front of him, his leg wrapped back like a scorpion's tail ready to let off immense force.
There was no time to form weapon constructs.
Damien lifted his own leg, channeling Rudimentary Existence Law through his skin, and met the approaching force head-on.
BOOOOOM!
The air exploded as atoms were ripped away from existence.
Damien felt his leg shatter as expected, but the force was prevented from traveling through the rest of his body.
He was already in the process of counterattacking.
His fists went forward with force and precision, creating a flurry of unavoidable attacks that put immense pressure on the Strength Lord.
"Not bad! A worthy opponent!"
The Strength Lord laughed wildly and spread his arms, not evading at all as his eyes shone with excitement.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Damien's fists struck time after time on his exposed chest, but no matter how much Rudimentary Existence Law he used, Damien couldn't cause any substantial damage besides some bruising.
Without a choice, he fled once more, this time making thousands of kilometers of distance.
'I'm definitely putting myself at a disadvantage with a move like this, but I have no choice. That guy's skin is terrible.'
Damien shook his fist. His knuckles were bleeding just from punching the man, and he could feel his bones creaking as well.
'Unless I can get through that outer defense, I can't hope for anything.'
Damien frowned and teleported again, returning to the battleground.
He had to do some testing.
Once again, he approached the Strength Lord without fear, flurrying punches and kicks with speed that barely anyone could replicate.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The air was pushed apart by their force, and though the Venom Lord tried to provide support with his needles, this air pressure didn't give them a chance to enter the battle's range.
Damien was still wary of him, though, and had to avoid any imperceptible projectiles that managed to make it past the natural barrier as he engaged in this physical contest with the Strength Lord.
The Strength Lord himself was grinning wildly. Unlike the rest, he didn't have any obligation to listen to the Marionette Lord's orders.
He came because he sensed something fun about to occur, and he was absolutely right.
To think a Supreme could last this long against his fists!
It was definitely something he was enjoying, and he wanted to test the limits of this unexpected rival.
"COME!"
He roared, and Damien's arm instantly turned into a snake.
'There it is.'
He judged this man's personality easily. He was just like countless other muscle heads who fought with their bodies in this mana-ruled world. He craved battle above all else, and while this was usually a trait he admired, this time, it was his enemy exhibiting it.
But that was beside the point.
These kinds of bastards were the only people who liked to ramble in the heat of battle. Damien had been waiting for the moment the Strength Lord opened his mouth.
To stick his fist right into it!
"Hahahaha, you are truly a-mgph!"
"Let's see if the inside is strong too," Damien said with a grin.
The Strength Lord's eyes widened.
But it was too late.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Rudimentary Existence Law tore through his mouth and traveled down his throat, wreaking havoc on his stomach and lungs.
"Keuagh!"
The Strength Lord vomited blood and rapidly struck his fist at Damien's shoulder, shattering the connection between it and the rest of his body.
Damien's arm was already loose, and though he was in pain, the Strength Lord was relentless.
Instead of retreating, he bit down on Damien's fist to the point of drawing blood and grabbed his arm, ripping it off entirely!
"Khh…!"
Damien held his yell and teleported away, watching as the Strength Lord spit out his arm.
His eyes narrowed.
He didn't mind his arm being torn off. It would regrow in the next second.
His eyes were focused on the hand of that amputated limb.
'His teeth tore through the flesh and bones completely. He's coughing blood, but…'
The attack wasn't as effective as Damien thought.
"Kid, you're good!" The Strength Lord yelled through bloodied teeth.
"But do you think I wouldn't prepare for something like this?!"
He appeared before Damien in a single instant, his shin only centimeters away from his face.
"With skin as hard as mine, it's obvious where people will aim!"
BANG!
Damien had no choice but to take the kick. His right arm hadn't grown back enough to protect his head, after all.
Feeling his brain bounce around his skull like a pinball, he continued his retreat and stabilized himself just in time to see the enemy doing the exact same movement again.
"Anywhere you can attack from the outside, I've fortified more than you can imagine! Try my eyes next time!"
BOOOOOM!
This time, Damien's arm was back, so his head didn't suffer the same trauma.
But he was still extremely injured.
'Transcendent Regeneration isn't all-powerful. If I keep losing the same limb over and over again, the regeneration speed will slow down.'
It was a microscopic difference, but he'd now reached a level where that microscopic difference held immense weight.
'If he really fortified everything, he's a true monster. The pain of fortifying the eyes and other similar organs is immeasurable.'
Damien had to find an entrance.
'I can try to keep going for his throat, but finding chances to strike him there is hard.'
His throat wasn't completely fortified, obviously, but if it could take Rudimentary Existence Law with only enough damage to make him cough out pure blood without any organs mixed in, then it was clearly enhanced to an extreme level.
Damien could definitely kill the Strength Lord through that, but he didn't have enough time or opportunity to do so.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
He continued to evade and parry the Strength Lord's attacks, but he noticed that the pattern changed.
XIU! XIU! XIU!
He was now making space for the Venom Lord to fight too. Damien was forced to take the ranged forces back into consideration as he moved, which greatly restricted him.
'But if he's acting like this, I'm onto something.'
There had to be a weakness. No person was free of flaws, even Damien.
If he could die, everyone else could die too.
Damien's thoughts raced like comets through the night sky. Damage piled on top of damage, blowing apart his flesh and shattering his bones, but he never gave up, fighting with everything to buy himself time to find the answer.
'There has to be a place.'
He said he fortified everything, but that couldn't be true.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Damien endured strikes to his head, torso, and legs repeatedly. He felt like he was undergoing body reconstruction because of just how many times he'd been broken and put back together.
His thoughts continued to race.
'There has to be a–'
Damien endured strikes to his head, torso, and legs repeatedly.
But he suddenly noticed one place that had yet to be touched.
'Ah, there is a place.'
There were two places, in fact. Two places that couldn't be fortified not just due to biology, but other, more intrinsic factors.
Damien made sure not to direct his eyes there to avoid attracting suspicion, but…
'If I attack there…'
The code of men deemed such an action forbidden, but in this situation, the code of men meant nothing.
Damien had found the Strength Lord's only weak points.
He found the point of entry.
But…
A minute also passed.
The Strength Lord dug his foot into the ground and abruptly pushed backward.
Without warning…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
…a ballista bolt like no other exploded in Damien's face, tearing his skin and flesh into pieces.
The Bow Lord was back.
And he was extremely angry.
