Eden thought he had outsmarted Max for good, that he had rendered him defenceless and even if by some miracle he developed a sixth sense and protected his neck from a devastating slash, he would still be pierced in the spine by the second thrusting sword.

Little did he know that Max never did need his eyes to fight this battle and that he had a technique capable of tracking movements just by sensing the tiny disturbances of wind in his surroundings.

-16,700

Eden stood there stunned, his eyes wide with shock as he felt a sword plunged inside his gut.

While for most of the audience the events that transpired were too fast to be noticed, Eden saw it happen clearly.

Max’s speed suddenly skyrocketed as if he was only playing a game until now and had only now decided to move at his full potential.

Within a split second, he turned and weaved through both of Eden’s thrusts as if he could see it as clear as day despite Eden clearly seeing that his eyes were tightly shut, as not only did Max weave through his attacks, but also countered with one of his own as he plunged his sword deep into Eden’s gut.

Wincing as he pulled his body away from the plunged sword, Eden staggered backwards, before trying to pin Max down with a barrage of fast attacks, but he was simply unable to hit Max with a single strike as Max kept dodging them as if playing with a child.

[ Fake Out ]

Max moved his muscles in a way that it looked like he was preparing for yet another stab to his enemies gut, Eden reacted quickly as he tried to parry the attack with his right sword arm, while thrusting his left arm forward to counter.

Unfortunately for him, it was just a feint by Max who sidestepped to the right, avoiding Eden’s left arm lunge and completely opening his defences up for an easy [ 9 Ashura Sword Slice ]

-35,400 CRITICAL HIT!

A critical hit sent Eden flying back 15 metres as he spat a mouthful of blood.

A deep sword gash could be seen across his armour as he was bleeding profusely from his upper torso, reeling unstably from the effects of the attack.

[ Solar Recover ]

Eden gnashed his teeth as he used solar Recover to regain about 15,000 HP and close the gaping wound on his chest as he eyed Max with caution and wary, realising that not only was he much stronger than him but also much faster.

” MAX STRIKES BACK! This is a fight between goliaths! Nobody’s backing down!” The commentator shouted as the entire arena became lively.

Both sides had inflicted damage on one another and the fight had heated up nicely. The fighters had finished analysing each other’s strengths and weaknesses which meant that the fight was ready to transition into the big moves phase.

” Most impressive, you are indeed worthy of being master Shakuni’s brother, but let me show you why I’m superior to you ” Eden said as he dropped both his swords to his ankles and brought both his wrists together in attempting to assimilate an attack.

Max recognised this movement, he knew exactly which move Eden was planning on using next, and if he wished to stop him before his slow assimilation process finished he could have done so and countered while both his swords were on the floor, but Max chose not to do so.

He wanted to face this blast, he wanted to witness his brother’s self-created move for himself once, and for that sole reason only, he waited patiently for Eden to finish assimilating.

” I’ll give you credit for not running away, but it just goes to show how foolish you are.

This attack is strong enough to kill god’s, and it will reduce you to ashes.

Watch closely oh Guildmaster Neatwit, for this is the [ Elite Blast ] ” Eden said as he unleashed an extremely powerful attack that sounded like someone had fired up 500 fighter jet engines at once.

A beam of pure white light alongside some shades of rainbow moved towards Max at terminal velocity.

The sheer power of the move destroying the arena beneath their feet, creating a deep crater wherever it passed.

The move had the power of a cosmic event behind its source and it was not something Eden could handle at tier4, his hands suffering from third degree burns from trying to conjure it as several bones in his body cracked from the pressure.

It was the ultimate move in his arsenal, one that could decide the outcome of this match at once.

*********

( Meanwhile Rudra )

The moment Eden tapped into the soul space of Rudra trying to borrow the power of the hypernova to unleash an attack, Rudra managed to successfully form a link with the caster as while he was unable to interfere or take over his body, for a moment in time he was able to share his vision.

After spending countless days hanging idly in space this was the first time Rudra was to see actual civilization, which was why he was extremely shocked when he saw that on the receiving end of the attack stood a person that he was all too familiar with.

Despite the changed eye colour and scar, there was no way Rudra would mistake his face as he knew immediately that he was gazing upon Max.

Rudra’s heart flickered a bit as he felt proud seeing his brother look so strong and confident even when facing such a powerful move.

‘ He has grown into a fine man ‘ Rudra thought as his lips curved into an upward smile.

It was then, that the caster momentarily glanced at Neatwit standing in the stands as he finished assimilating the attack.

Rudra felt his heart ache when he saw the worried expressions on the face of his two wives, the people who must have assumed he was dead, as despite him unexpectedly gaining the opportunity to glance at their visage today, he was powerless in communicating the fact that he was alive and well.

A flood of emotions surged in Rudra’s heart at this moment, but the casters’ glance moved back from the audience towards Max, leaving Rudra longing for a second more of peeking time.

———-

/// A/N – Chapter 25/30, a new day ///