MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

With a deafening blast, the Ice Breath struck Anthony's outstretched palm, transforming the battlefield into a frozen world of unbroken white.

The force was cataclysmic, yet Anthony did not budge. Not a single step backward. His second hand remained casually tucked in his pocket as he absorbed the Dragon's full power with nothing more than the bare skin of his palm.

The Dragon's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing into blazing slits of fury. Madness and pride swirled within his gaze as he channeled even greater torrents of chaos energy into the attack, the beam's intensity climbing to new heights.

The desert was consumed. The once-scorched sand hardened into jagged sheets of ice, each shard radiating an unnatural chill. The air itself seemed to crystallize, until even the fabric of space quivered, froze, splintered into fragments, only to stitch itself back together again beneath the weight of the Dragon's relentless assault.

Anthony's gaze drifted to the side, noting the battlefield's transformation. Soldiers, both ally and foe, were already locked in grotesque stillness, their bodies encased in flawless ice. If this continued, every living being here would be reduced to a frozen monument.

With a weary, almost indifferent sigh, Anthony lowered his palm and slid the hand into his pocket. The Ice Breath slammed into his chest with devastating force, but it was as meaningless to him as a gust of winter wind.

He began to walk.

One step.

Then another.

And another.

Each footfall echoed faintly across the icebound desert, the sound sharp against the suffocating stillness. His steady advance cut through the storm, an unhurried inevitability as he closed the distance to the towering Dragon.

The frigid torrent finally ceased; the Dragon's attack sputtered out, unable to continue without gathering chaos energy anew.

From above, the Dragon's blood-red eyes locked onto Anthony, the fury within them flaring brighter than the frost that coated the desert. He glared down at the boy who approached him without a shred of fear, as though the battle itself were nothing more than a tiresome distraction.

Anthony came to a halt before the Dragon, now towering hundreds of meters high. He looked up at the colossal creature with calm, almost casual expression.

"It seems you enjoy playing with ice," he said evenly. "Let's test the strength of your affinity… and see just how resistant you really are."

Before the Dragon could react, space folded in on itself and gravity surged, over a hundredfold. The monstrous body was ripped from the air and slammed into the frozen desert with a thunderous crash, the force shattering the ice beneath and warping the very air around them.

The Dragon roared in defiance, struggling to rise, but every effort was crushed beneath the weight of space itself.

Anthony lifted one hand, and the world answered. Mana surged, reality trembled, and ice particles spiraled toward him as the already frigid air dropped to an even more murderous chill.

A sphere of perfect ice materialized in his palm, radiating a cold so profound it could freeze the breath of gods and still the heart of worlds.

The Dragon's crimson eyes widened in shock, his pride momentarily stripped away as he witnessed the flawless union of elemental mastery and mana control. But the awe lasted only a moment, Anthony flicked his wrist, and the orb shot into the Dragon's gaping maw, rolling down into his stomach before detonating outward.

Agony seized the Dragon from within. His organs crystallized one by one, his blood solidified into jagged shards, and his heart became a block of ice. His natural resistance fought desperately… and failed. The frost consumed him from the inside out, spreading to every scale, every bone, until even his breath was stolen.

In moments, the towering beast was frozen solid, locked in a deathly stillness.

"A shame," Anthony said, shaking his head. "It seems your affinity with ice wasn't strong enough after all."

With a snap of his fingers, the massive frozen carcass shattered into countless glittering crystals, which scattered into the wind and dissolved into the air.

Anthony's head turned slightly, but his senses found nothing, no trace of the Demon.

'He escaped?' he thought.

With the faintest tug of his will, reality bent. The world inverted, and threads, countless threads of connection, unfurled across existence. Anthony's gaze locked onto one in particular, a single thread that pulsed faintly… linking him directly to the Demon.

He reached out, metaphysically, and pulled.

Space folded, and in the blink of an eye, the Demon was there, standing before him.

The Demon's expression twisted into shock, his eyes wide with disbelief, as though the very concept of what had just occurred defied reality itself.

---

The world held their phones and tablets in shock as they watched Anthony handle these three beings as though they were nothing but flies. They all knew Anthony's age; they've all been following him since he stepped into the Omni Peak Academy. They knew he was nineteen now, this power shouldn't be possible for someone his age.

They who watched, how old were they? People even called them geniuses, but could they compare to the boy they were watching right now?

Comments floated below the streams as millions watched.

{KingNull has gifted a Golden Gachapon}

{KingNull: This is why StreamGhost called him the man of the hour and the face of the event}

{Leon_Georgi_8655 has gifted an Inspiration Capsule}

{Leon_Georgi_8655: Isn't Anthony a bit too strong for someone so young? What happened to the laws of the Heavens?}

{Aaaninja has gifted a Magic Castle}

{Aaaninja: @Leon_Georgi_8655; he's nicknamed the favourite child of the Heavens for a reason, bro}

{AuraNova has gifted a Magic Castle}

{AuraNova: He isn't as invincible as y'all make him out to be}

{Aaaninja has gifted a Luxury Car}

{Aaaninja: @AuraNova; You are only jealous because he battled three opponents who are even stronger than the zombie your goddess fought, and he still won}

{AlyxAtlas has gifted a Dragon}

{AlyxAtlas: @Aaaninja; what @AuraNova said is true. Anthony isn't as invincible as you think. Look, he made an enemy escape, a demon at that}

{Lolphh has gifted an Inspiration Capsule}

{Lolphh: @AlyxAtlas; Anthony has space magic. I'm sure he could simply summon the demon back whenever he wished}

{AlyxAtlas has gifted an Inspiration Capsule}

{AlyxAtlas: @Lolphh; Stop being delusional. He couldn't have possibly reached such a level yet. This is space we are talking about, an affinity almost on par with time}

{Mayurie has gifted an Ice Cola}

{Mayurie: I think we all are glossing over the fact that Anthony can command humans. Didn't you see how he controlled that human with the hammer to attack his fellow cultists without hesitation, then also controlled all human cultists to attack other cultists?}

{Aaaninja has gifted a Magic Castle}

{Aaaninja: @Mayurie; You are overthinking it. Even if Anthony could control humans, what use would you be to him? Besides, he had that ability since and hadn't used it. Even if you are afraid of being controlled by that ability, what could you possibly do to stop it? Storm the military? Start a protest against the Null family?}

{KingNull has gifted a Magic Castle}

{KingNull: @Mayurie; I understand your concern, but what @Aaaninja said is indeed true. Ants shouldn't waste their time bothering about the power elephants wield, since the elephant has nothing to gain from using it against the ants}

{AlyxAtlas has gifted a Luxury Car}

{AlyxAtlas: @KingNull; are you calling @Mayurie an ant?}

{Lolphh has sent an Inspiration Capsule}

{Lolphh: @everyone; you can end your discussion now, Anthony has summoned back the demon with space magic, just as I've said}

Reading the comments, everyone stopped commenting and sending gifts as their eyes burned into the screen beside them.

---

Anthony lifted his hand, ready to end the Demon once and for all. But the Demon's voice cut through the air.

"Wait. My life is bound to a Demon Monarch," he said, his tone a sharp blend of threat and plea. "If you kill me, you will summon her here instantly, and she will erase your planet with a single strike. Let me go, and you can save your world."

Anthony's eyes remained calm, devoid of even a flicker of concern. Then, slowly, a smile curved across his lips.

"Thanks for the information," he said lightly. "I look forward to a real challenge, then."

The Demon's eyes widened, disbelief flickering in their depths, yet the moment never had time to bloom. Anthony's palm swept across with blistering speed, and the Demon's head ceased to exist.

Black blood, shattered bone, brain matter, and broken teeth rained onto the frozen desert, splattering against the ice and sand like grotesque paint upon a vast, unholy canvas.

The headless corpse toppled forward with a dull thud, lifeless before it struck the ground.

Then — it came.