Against The True Gods

Toseh thrashed across the cold white stone of the trial grounds, his body twisting in agony.

Caine stood motionless in the distance, his gaze fixed on the Ape King as he fumbled and struggled.

Chaotic waves of fire qi coursed through Toseh's body, shattering the momentum of his blood qi and plunging him into an abyss of infernal pain. His roars of anguish echoed through the empty air.

Caine's eyes remained calm, but a vicious and malevolent edge flickered within them—a glimmer of inhuman rage and deep-seated anger, reminiscent of a certain pope long forgotten.

With a wild, defiant roar, Toseh extinguished the invasive qi burning through his veins. He rolled across the stone and landed on his feet, his knees bent, his breath ragged. His blood qi surged, and his wounds healed instantly.

"I see. I see."

The golden rings around his wrists and ankles spun violently, igniting into an inferno of white and gold flames. His crown of fire darkened, turning into black flames that crackled ominously.

He took a step forward, and a ball of fire exploded beneath his foot, propelling him with blinding speed. In an instant, he was in front of Caine, his wooden staff swinging, flames swirling around it.

BOOOM!

Caine sidestepped effortlessly. His knee shot upward, driving into Toseh's abdomen and knocking the wind from his lungs. Before Toseh could react, Caine's fist zipped through the air and crashed into his face with brutal precision.

Toseh staggered back, only for Caine's raised foot to stomp down, summoning a pillar of flames that erupted and engulfed him.

WHOOSH!

Caine struck again, his palm slamming into Toseh's collarbone, shattering it with a sickening crack and sending him flying backward. The pillar of fire splintered into countless swirling orbs of flame, each one humming with deadly intent.

With a wave of his hand, Caine unleashed the orbs.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosion after explosion tore into Toseh's flesh, charring his skin repeatedly. But his blood qi was relentless, knitting his wounds closed before the pain fully registered. He burst out of the cloud of fire, his body smoking, and punched the air from a distance.

BANG!

A massive fist of golden qi materialized, hurtling toward Caine with unstoppable force.

But Caine didn't flinch. His palm rose, and dark red runes flickered into existence, arranging themselves into a flawless formation that glowed with fiery intensity.

He infused the formation with a thread of fire qi from his star, and a towering wall of flames surged upward.

BOOM!

The golden fist crashed into the wall, but instead of dissipating, a whisper echoed through the air: "…[Reflect]…"

Toseh's eyes widened in shock as the wall of flames coiled like a spring, rebounding his own attack back at him with terrifying speed.

He barely managed to dodge, veering to the side, but Caine was already there, his palm streaking forward like a viper.

Toseh twisted away, closing the distance with a flaming punch aimed at Caine's chest.

Caine's hand snapped out, deflecting the blow with a casual slap. He leaned in close, their faces mere inches apart.

Caine's mouth opened, his throat expanding grotesquely, a fierce crimson light building within. In the next heartbeat, he roared, unleashing a beam of concentrated plasma.

WHOOOOSH!

Toseh jerked aside, but his arm was caught in the searing beam. Flesh sizzled and burned away. He howled in pain, his eyes wide with panic.

Caine seized the opportunity. His hand shot forward, fingers digging into the exposed wound, and he tore out a chunk of flesh.

Toseh's scream pierced the air, raw and desperate.

"ARGHH!"

Caine's other hand plunged into Toseh's abdomen, fingers curling around his intestines before he yanked them out in a splatter of blood and gore.

SPLAT!

Toseh's entrails spilled onto the cold white stone, steaming in the frigid air. A feral light burned in Caine's eyes as his fire star spun faster. Two concentrated beams of fire qi shot from his pupils, drilling into Toseh's skull.

Toseh's scream was cut short as Caine's blood-soaked hand reached for his eyes, intent on gouging them out. Desperation surged through Toseh, and he twisted away—only to slam into a brutal uppercut that snapped his head back.

Caine's hand closed around Toseh's throat. With a ruthless jerk, he tore out his trachea, a spray of crimson misting the air.

Blood splattered across Caine's face, painting him in a grotesque mask of fury and sin. A darkness, long restrained, now roared to the surface, Elura's words having cracked open a well of violence he'd been struggling to suppress.

Both of Caine's hands seized Toseh's head. With a savage motion, he drove it down onto his rising knee.

CRACK!

The sound of Toseh's skull fracturing echoed through the grounds. Brain matter oozed from the fissures, a grotesque cascade of gore and pulp.

Caine's left fist tightened, then descended in a bone-shattering axe punch to the back of Toseh's head. The Ape King crumpled, his body spasming weakly as his blood qi fought in vain to heal him. But it was too slow. By the time one wound closed, another had been torn open.

Caine's ferocity knew no bounds. He dismantled Toseh piece by piece, his fists and feet a relentless storm of destruction.

SHURP!

With a sickening tear, Caine ripped Toseh's left arm from its socket. He infused the severed limb with fire qi, turning it into a burning blade of flesh and bone. Without hesitation, he drove it into Toseh's chest.

BANG!

Toseh fell to his knees, shattered, broken, and utterly defeated. His body refused to move, his will crushed beneath the weight of Caine's wrath.

Silence descended, thick and oppressive.

"Huff… huff… huff…"

Caine's labored breaths filled the void, his chest rising and falling as if each breath were an effort. His eyes blazed with lingering hate and wrath.

He looked down at Toseh's ruined form, his expression twisting into a frown. Slowly, he exhaled, closing his eyes. His bloodstained hands rose to his temples, massaging them as he fought to regain control.

'I can't lose control like that ever again.'