MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

The very fabric of existence itself trembled beneath the force of Orion's will and thought.

His fingers danced in the air, weaving through the threads of reality, his mind focusing on the vast canvas of possibility before him.

No longer bound by the limitations of physical weapons, Orion had fully embraced the overwhelming might of his Reality Sculpturing ability, reshaping the world to his whims.

Anthony, however, stood unchanged, his gaze steady, his body unmoving, a calm serenity emanating from him as though untouched by the havoc swirling around him.

His katana rested at his side, his aura barely flickering, yet beneath that calm surface, the storm of his elemental power raged.

The first shift came with a subtle ripple in the air.

The landscape around them began to warp, as if reality itself was dissolving.

The stones beneath their feet cracked and splintered, tearing apart and reassembling in a slow, deliberate movement.

The world seemed to breathe and pulse as the horizon stretched, pulling in on itself, folding like a piece of fabric in the hands of a divine tailor.

Mountains bent backward, as though pulled by invisible strings, their jagged peaks curving unnaturally.
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The ground shifted like liquid, solidifying again with each thought Orion cast into the abyss.

And then the sky cracked open.

Orion's will surged, and the heavens themselves broke apart like shattered glass.

From the rift above, an impossibly large creature descended, its form a monstrous amalgamation of shifting, chaotic shapes.

A leviathan of living metal, with hundreds of writhing serpentine appendages made of molten steel, its body rippling with fire and smoke.

Its eyes, if one could call them that, were orbs of ever shifting color, pulsating with eldritch energy.

As it descended, the very air shimmered, distorting, as if reality could barely contain the presence of such an aberration.

Anthony, undisturbed, tilted his head slightly as the creature loomed before him.

His eyes glowed faintly with the power he had yet to unleash.

The leviathan lunged, its massive form crashing toward Anthony with an unrelenting roar.

The air itself seemed to bend under the weight of its presence, and for a brief moment, the canyon seemed to hold its breath.

But Anthony did not flinch.

He moved with unparalleled precision.

A mere shift of his foot, a tilt of his body, and with a flash of his katana, the blade cut through the air like a bolt of pure lightning.

The force of the strike split the creature in half before it even had the chance to strike.

Its molten body disintegrated in the air, the molten shards turning to ash as Anthony's blade cleaved through it effortlessly.

With a final twist of his wrist, the last remnants of the beast were scattered to the winds.

Orion, watching the creature disintegrate, felt a pang of frustration, then a cold smile curled at the edges of his lips.

He had underestimated the strength of Anthony's weapon mastery, but this was just the beginning.

Orion's will churned, intertwining seamlessly with his thoughts as he bent the very fabric of reality to his command.

Once more, space twisted and fractured under his influence, and the battlefield bore witness to his power.

From the heavens, two colossal airplanes plummeted, their descent swift and merciless.

But they were not alone.

Flanking them, four towering skyscrapers materialized, cascading downward as if dragged from another realm.

A cacophony of screams erupted, slicing through the air and reverberating across the battlefield.

The cries of panic, foreign yet achingly familiar, carried the unmistakable resonance of humanity.

Anthony's gaze pierced through the descending chaos, his eyes locking onto the source of the uproar.

Within the planes and skyscrapers, he saw them.

Humans.

Not from his world, but another entirely.

Orion had torn through worlds, summoning not only structures but hundreds of lives, ordinary beings hurled into a war they could not comprehend.

What struck Anthony most was their frailty.

These people, untainted by mana, were powerless, just as he had once been in his own former world.

Anthony's mind quickly pieced together Orion's cunning plan.

The summoning of helpless humans was no coincidence, it was a calculated ploy.

Orion intended to exploit Anthony's humanity, forcing him to save the innocents while leaving himself vulnerable to attack.

But Anthony had already seen through it.

Orion's face was ashen, his breath labored, and his will fraying under the strain of bending reality itself.

Yet, despite his waning will, a faint smirk tugged at his lips.

Anthony's muscles coiled like a predator ready to strike, and the ground beneath him cracked and sank under the immense pressure of his feet.

With the explosive force of a cannon, he launched skyward, a thunderous boom echoing in his wake.

The air split around him as his figure streaked toward the falling plane.

Orion's smirk widened.

This was the reaction he had anticipated.

He knew Anthony couldn't stand idle while innocent lives hung in the balance.

That was precisely why he had summoned the humans, to ensnare him.

Gathering the remnants of his strength, Orion focused, his will coalescing as he prepared for the opportune moment to strike.

As Anthony closed in on the plane, his speed was blinding, his presence a blur against the sky.

Just as he was about to collide with the falling aircraft, his figure vanished.

'What?'

Orion's eyes widened in shock, his thoughts momentarily frozen.

Before he could process what had happened, a shadow materialized behind him, a blur of movement too fast to track.

A devastating kick descended with unrelenting force, smashing into Orion's skull.

The impact was cataclysmic.

A deafening boom reverberated as the blow sent Orion hurtling forward with staggering speed.

The air itself seemed to shatter, tearing under the sheer velocity of his involuntary flight.

His consciousness flickered, teetering on the edge of oblivion as the world around him blurred into chaos.

Orion's plan had crumbled.

Anthony, unaffected by the fate of these strangers, showed no inclination to save them.

He wasn't a hero, nor a villain, he simply had no interest in their lives.

Such tactics might have swayed others, but not him.

He was not a random protagonist forced to hold back, torn by the lives of innocents in the midst of battle.

Like a particular fictional character trapped in a train station with human lives around him, unable to fully unleash his power due to moral constraints, only to face the consequences of his hesitation by being sealed.

No, Anthony was different.

The planes and skyscrapers crashed to the earth with a thunderous roar, their fiery detonation shaking the very air.

The acrid stench of blood filled the atmosphere as fire and smoke billowed, consuming everything in their wake.

Anthony moved without hesitation, his figure slicing through the chaos in pursuit of Orion's retreating form.

For beings like Orion, those who could reshape reality with a mere thought, the key to defeating them was simple: deny them the space to think.

Orion's consciousness reset instantly, as though he were flickering back to life, and he saw Anthony closing in on him with relentless speed.

A snarl twisted Orion's features as his teeth ground together.

His will stretched thin, but with a surge of effort, he bent reality again.

The world shuddered, shifting as the very atmosphere turned crystal blue, the sky fading into oblivion.

Strange, ethereal bubbles began to form in the air, an unsettling sight as the entire battlefield warped into a vast ocean.

Water surged violently, its depths stretching for kilometers, engulfing everything in its wake.

The planes and buildings vanished without a trace, replaced by an endless sea, as if reality itself had drowned in a tidal wave.

Anthony found himself encased by the vast expanse of water, his movements stilled as his gaze fixed upon Orion.

The enemy, already freed from his previous wounds, stood unscathed.

But then, without warning, Anthony felt an unnatural chill creeping through the air.

Under Orion's will, the ocean itself responded, shifting in an instant.

In a flash, the entire ocean turned to ice, each droplet freezing with a chilling precision, not a single shard of water escaping the transformation.

Orion's power didn't stop there.

The freezing force extended toward Anthony, ensnaring him in the unforgiving grip of ice, burying him deep within the frozen sea.

On the surface, Orion's form emerged, a shadow of his former self.

His body was heavy with exhaustion, his breath labored and shallow.

His face, once pale, now took on an ashen hue, and his posture betrayed the immense toll of his efforts.

He was barely standing, his will spent, a mere echo of the force he had once commanded.

Two heartbeats passed in silence, and for a fleeting moment, Orion thought victory was his.

Yet, before he could even form a triumphant grin, a searing pain lanced through his gut, spreading like wildfire through his entire body.

His eyes flickered, catching a glimpse of Anthony standing beside him.

But before Orion could even process the shift, his body crumpled inward as if caught in the grip of an unseen force.

He was launched backward, his form whipping through the air like a broken kite.

The ice beneath Anthony's feet splintered with a deafening crack as he blurred forward, his movements a blur of unrelenting fury.

In the next instant, Anthony was before Orion, his fist descending with unstoppable force.

A resounding crack shattered the silence as Anthony's fist collided with Orion's face, the impact reverberating through the very fabric of reality.

Orion's body was sent hurtling into the thick ice with a force that seemed to defy nature.

He bounced off the frozen surface, his form skidding across the icy expanse, leaving a trail of shattered ice and blood in his wake.

Before Orion could recover, Anthony reappeared before him, his foot raised in a final, crushing motion.

With the weight and force of a meteor, his foot came crashing down upon Orion's face.

The sound was deafening, an ear shattering boom that seemed to shake the very heavens.

The frozen sea quaked beneath the impact, and web like cracks snaked through the ice, radiating outward in every direction.

The sheer force of the blow sent Orion's body sinking into the ice, a ravine forming beneath him as the weight of the attack tore through the frozen surface.

The shockwave from Anthony's strike shattered ice blocks, sending them flying in all directions, the chaos of the impact creating a violent storm of shards and debris.

Anthony stood over the motionless Orion, his expression calm and composed, his foot still planted firmly on Orion's face, the aftermath of his devastation spreading outward like the ripples of a storm's fury.