Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 53 - The battle that changed everything

Chapter 53: Chapter 53 - The battle that changed everything

The instant their fists clashed, a cataclysmic shockwave of mana, elemental power, and demonic energy erupted, obliterating everything in its path and reducing the surroundings to mere rubble.

Zion was sent backward, a stinging sensation crawling up his arm, but he stood firm, stopping his momentum by digging his fingers into the ground.

"Hahahaha! Show me what the Great Zion Zagan is made of!" Carl shouted as he came from the air, slamming both fists onto Zion as he landed, obliterating the ground beneath them.

"You wanna see what I got?!" Zion asked with anger, blocking the attack, "Let me show you!" He delivered a destructive headbutt to the man’s head and connected a mean right hook onto his jaw, the force of the punch making a small *boom* sound.

With a forceful stomp, Zion etched a blazing orange magic circle into the ground, its intricate patterns spreading across the entire battlefield. [Burst] A colossal explosion erupted, consuming everything within its radius. Flames and shockwaves surged outward, yet Zion remained unscathed—his own magic shielding him from the devastation.

"Hahaha! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! I want more!" Coming out of the rubble with his wounds healing, the muscular man darted forward at speeds so fast that Zion barely had any time to react.

A bone-crushing punch slammed into Zion’s gut, launching him across the battlefield. He tore through trees and buildings like paper, debris scattering in his wake. But Carl wasn’t finished. In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Zion mid-flight, driving his heel into Zion’s chest with a thunderous stomp that cracked the earth beneath them.

Grabbing a fistful of Zion’s hair, he yanked him upward with savage force—then slammed his skull into Zion’s with a brutal headbutt, sending him crashing back into the ground like a meteor.

"Urrghhh!" Zion groaned, his head pounding with pain.

Carl picked up Zion’s limp body by his shirt, laughing at his pathetic state.

"Don’t tell me this is all you can do? I thought you would be stronger, seeing how you killed Olzak. I guess that was a fluke. There’s no way you could have beaten-"

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!!" Zion roared as a brilliant beam of light erupted from his hands, blasting the man off of him and hurling him skyward. Without wasting a second, Zion rocketed upward in pursuit, closing the gap in an instant. His knee smashed into the man’s face with bone-crunching force, snapping his head back.

Before the man could recover, Zion spun mid-air and delivered a punishing strike to his back, sending him plummeting downward. To finish, he unleashed another blinding beam of light, the energy surging forward and crashing into his opponent, rocketing him back to the ground in a fiery explosion.

"You think you’re so tough?!" Zion asked, punching Carl’s face with a concussive force as he landed on the ground. "Let me show you what real power is!"

Zion roared back to life, his fist slamming into Carl’s face with explosive force. Then again. And again. Each punch came faster, harder—his speed and strength compounding with every strike.

The runes etched across his body blazed with brilliant light, pulsating like a heartbeat in sync with his fury. Elemental energy surged around him—flames, lightning, wind, and light—wrapping his arms in a chaotic storm that amplified every blow.

Each impact cracked the air like thunder, shaking the very earth beneath them as Zion unleashed his wrath.

As he was about to deliver a finishing blow, a hand grabbed his arm, snapping it in half.

Zion bellowed in pain, "Arghhhh!!"

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" A punch so powerful it tore the air from existence for a split second collided with Zion’s face, the shockwave carving a silent void around them.

His head snapped back violently, and in the next instant, his body was flung through the air like a ragdoll—so fast, so forceful, that the pain didn’t even have time to settle in.

It hit him moments later like a delayed explosion, every nerve screaming at once as his momentum finally slowed, leaving destruction in his wake.

"What was it that you said? ’Let me show you what true power is?’ I’m still waiting to see what you meant to show me." Carl grabbed Zion’s face, his demonic energy burning away at his face and mana.

"MGHHHHHH!!" Zion cried out as he grabbed Carl’s arm, attempting to push him off.

"Shhhhh. Let it be. You are a thorn in our side no longer." Carl amped up his demonic energy, completely engulfing Zion’s face.

’This fucking bastard! I’m not dying here!’ Channeling all his mana to his eyes, Zion unleashed a powerful blast of laser vision, completely blasting off Carl’s hand and burning a part of his chest.

Carl stumbled back in confusion and pain, "Arghh! What the fuck?!"

With a powerful kick, Zion knocked Carl back, sending him hurdling in the air. But before he could collide with anything, he used his Aura-Force to stop him in place in midair.

Clenching his fists, Zion summoned four massive chunks of earth that rose into the air. From each floating slab, glowing chains erupted, snapping through the air like serpents.

They coiled tightly around Carl’s limbs, yanking his arms and legs outward, locking him in place in a suspended star formation. The chains pulsed with elemental energy, glowing brighter with every second, binding him with overwhelming force.

"This," Zion channeled the holy power granted to him by Luminera, "Is true power!" Extending all fingers forward, a long, massive golden blade crackling with golden lightning extended from his arm.

[Blade of the Goddess]

With a fluid motion, Zion swung his arm in a wide arc, releasing an attack of unimaginable force. The slash tore through the air with such power that anything caught in its wake was sliced clean in half. The sheer might of the strike split the very ground, sending tremors rippling outward and shattering everything within reach. In the aftermath, a massive V-shaped scar was etched deep into the earth, a testament to the overwhelming power Zion had just unleashed.

"Take that, bitch." Zion coughed as he turned to go help his beloved.

"Carl." A voice called out.

Zion’s eyes widened in shock as he turned around to see the man still standing, a disgusting virtual scar etched on his chest as blood pooled onto the ground.

"The name’s Carl." He smiled acknowledging Zion’s power.

Not only was this man still alive after being hit by his most powerful attack, but his name was also Carl. Zion almost lost it. But suddenly, a pool of black energy appeared under Carl’s feet.

"Heh, seems like everything went well. Catch you next time, Zion Zagan."

"You’re not going anywhere!" Zion used his aura force to grab him, but the black energy was more powerful, shattering his grip on Carl, and allowing him to pass through the portal.

"Fuck!" Zion cursed as he flew to the academy.