Magus Supremacy

"Breathing technique: First formation." Grey called out softly while in the air, right behind a stunned Zach.

"Gust of the wind." He mouthed as he thrust his sword with immense force, the air howling even louder with the motion.

"You really don't know who I am, huh." Zach muttered with a deep frown as he quickly spun around, swinging his leg out front, aiming it directly at Grey who was still airborne.

The Supreme Magus, on seeing this, instantly switched from attack to defense. While still mid-air, he brought his sword up in front of his face with great urgency.

But the strength behind Zach's kick was so great that Grey was flung out of the air with overwhelming force.

Instead of crashing clumsily onto the ground, however, he twisted mid-flight, spun once, and landed smoothly, skidding across the ground before stopping upright with a grin on his face.

'That hurt.' Grey thought, twirling his wrists around in small circles, trying to rid himself of the numbing ache that had spread through them.

Then suddenly, the orange tiger began doing something strange. He traced his hands in the air, as if he was drawing invisible patterns across the space before him.

Grey tilted his head, brows knitting together as Zach's fingers started poking and punching the air at random, yet with a strange rhythm.

'Huh? What's he doing?'

"You shouldn't have messed with me." Zach muttered darkly as he clapped his hands together with a loud, thunderous snap and then…

BANG!

A deafening blast roared out, echoing across the whole arena. The very air vibrated and shook violently as something invisible shot toward Grey at an astonishing speed, so fast it made his eyes widen in sheer horror.

'Fuck!' Grey cursed inwardly. Panic surged through him as he channeled all his wind magic and Ki into his legs, forcing himself to leap away at the very last moment.

The attack smashed into the ground where he had been standing just a split second earlier, the impact producing a concussive crack. The earth shattered and caved in, forming deep fractures as dust and rubble flew upward.

The onlookers gasped in shock, their faces pale as they stared at the destructive force of that single strike.

'Crap! This fight is becoming more and more dangerous by the second.' Grey thought with his heart pounding wildly against his chest, the rhythm loud and unsteady.

Before he could even regain his composure, Zach was already moving. His body blurred like a streak of lightning, closing the distance between them in less than a breath.

'I can't see him, but I can sense his Ki shifting around. I need to predict where he will appear. To my right!' Grey roared internally as he spun with sharp precision, his sword flashing out just in time because…

CLANG!

Zach's fist slammed brutally against the blade, producing a metallic screech and a thunderous clang. Grey skidded backward once again, his boots scraping furrows into the ground.

"Hmm." Zach murmured coldly. Without hesitation, he stomped his foot down with brutal force, pouring his Ki into the strike.

The ground rumbled and shook from the impact, a sudden mini earthquake erupting beneath Grey's feet. The Supreme Magus staggered, losing his balance and nearly tumbling backward.

'Gotcha!' Zach thought as he instantly blitzed forward, not wasting a single breath. He leaped into the air above the off-balance Grey, his shadow looming over the robed figure.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he brought both fists down with devastating strength and then…

BOOM!

A massive shockwave erupted outward, flattening the surrounding air and carrying a storm of dust in every direction.

Zach's fists plummeted directly into Grey's abdomen, the brutal force making the Supreme Magus cough out a mouthful of blood. His body smashed into the earth, sinking deep into the crater that had just been carved into the ground.

"F*ck!" Finn, who had been watching helplessly while held back by Thalos, muttered in horror.

His heart raced violently as he saw the orange tiger emerge from the crater, standing tall and unscathed, while the Supreme Magus lay motionless.

"Is… is he dead?" An onlooker stammered, their voice trembling as they stared at the unmoving robed figure.

"Shit! Did the orange tiger just kill somebody?" another gasped.

"Crap, this is bad!" Finn mumbled under his breath as his palms clenched. The dust slowly began to settle around the crater when suddenly…

He heard a slight chuckle coming from right behind him.

"You think he would die so easily? Tch! Trust me, he won't, because I have tried to kill him too, but somehow, he survived," Thalos commented with a wide grin on his face.

"What do you mean by that? He isn't mo…"

"It's not over!" Grey roared into the air as he jumped out of the crater, landing a metre away with a glare on his face, though it wasn't visible beneath the hood.

Crimson liquid dripped steadily down his robe, forming a small pool beneath him, staining the ground dark.

"If you want to kill someone, kindly do it properly. Weakling," Grey taunted with a wide grin on his face as he stared at the orange tiger, who stopped moving for a second and turned to glare at him angrily.

"I have tried my best withholding my strength back so I won't accidentally kill you. But you are starting to piss me off now!" Zach roared in pure resentment as he put pressure on his feet, cracking the ground slightly. Then, with a loud gunshot-like sound, he blitzed towards Grey.

He moved more like a blur, because in the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of Grey, going through the motion of a punch as he swirled Ki to his hands.

All his Ki was pouring into his fists. Fueled by fury, he swung forward in a powerful strike that caused a loud bang to echo out even before hitting its target.

BANG!

Another explosion-like sound rang out as the fist struck Grey squarely in the abdomen. The ground quaked beneath the duo, rocks flying up as a gust of dust rolled outward.

Some of the onlookers winced as they shut their eyes, not wanting to see a gaping hole torn open in the robed man's stomach.

But contrary to what they and Zach thought, the Supreme Magus didn't go flying. Instead, he clamped his hands around Zach's thrust-out arm, a wide grin stretching across his face as he tensed his abdomen.

Swirling all his Ki there, he firmly rooted his feet into the ground like an immovable wall.

"Be as solid as a mountain for defense, and as fluid and unpredictable as water for attack," Grey croaked out, coughing specks of blood, yet refusing to let it deter him.

He bolted forward, trying to punch the orange tiger, but Zach had already regained his composure and dashed away, avoiding the strike.

Grey's fist smashed into the air with a small bang, and before he could even blink, Zach appeared in front of him again.

"That won't work on me," he muttered, swinging his fist forward.

But, as if predicting this earlier, Grey took two steps back, dodging the punch completely, almost making Zach stumble.

The instant he stepped back, Grey felt his Ki swirling fiercely along with his wind magic. He ignored it for the moment because Zach had already swung his claw-like hands toward his face.

Quickly, he pivoted to the side, avoiding the swing. The Ki and wind magic built up more and more, tightening around his feet and hands, as though forcing him to a breaking point, as if his body itself might burst.

'The triple threat technique? What is going on? When I performed it before, I never… fool! Complete it now!' he roared internally as he saw Zach stumble slightly for the second time after missing.

Grey seized the moment. He bolted forward with all his might, the ground where he stood earlier cracking open, forming a deep crater as he blitzed directly in front of Zach.

Wind and Ki coursed around his fists with ferocious strength.

With his teeth grit, Grey roared as he slammed his hands forward.

"I am the Supreme Magus!"

BAM!

BANG!

BOOOM!

His fists struck with lethal force and overwhelming might. A massive shockwave erupted outward, blowing dust across the arena and whipping the hair of onlookers violently in the storm it caused.

The blow landed on Zach's abdomen with the force of an uppercut, sending his eyes rolling back. A mouthful of blood and saliva spewed from his lips as his body went hurling with unstoppable momentum.

He smashed through the air like a ragdoll until he crashed into a wooden stall, bringing the entire structure down on him in a loud collapse.

Gasps and murmurs spread among the stunned crowd, the echo of the explosion still hanging in the air.