THUD!
Red suddenly crumpled to the ground, a look of confusion and pain on his face.
'What's happening?' he groaned, trying to figure out was going on.
He looked at his hand and saw it starting to darken. The color was changing from his fingertips and spreading up.
His strength, which had felt so powerful a moment ago, was now slipping away.
Even though he had been so confident before, a deep sense of worry was taking over his mind.
'Did he poison me?' He wondered, his mind racing to understand.
Reign smirked inwardly, watching his enemy struggle with satisfaction and amusement.
He had used his trump card, "True Death," in that last wave of attacks.
This was his secret weapon, and unlike when he fought Juggernaut, he didn't have to worry about the skill bouncing back and harming him.
"Idiot, you're too confident. You underestimate me just because you got a power-up?" he chuckled aloud.
"What did you do?" Red's voice trembled, and his calm expression before was replaced by visible distress.
Reign's smile widened. "Oh, the mighty attitude is gone already? That was quick," he taunted. "Where's that Self discovery of yours now?"
"You..." Red's face showed annoyance.
"That's right. That's a better expression. You really didn't have to act so cool, you know. I can smell bullshit from miles away."
"YOU'RE DEAD!!! "Red roared.
In a fit of rage, he tore off his own left hand. As he did, energy exploded from his body, making the entire domain shake.
His aura continued to intensified, and the wounds on his arm began to close up. But, he didn't grow a new hand; he just managed to stop the bleeding and recover from the damage.
'He can't regenerate, but I can't believe he's still this powerful even after taking on True Death,' Reign mused inwardly, impressed by the meta-human's tenacity.
'But I still don't see myself losing,' he added with a confident smirk. If this was all the meta-human could offer, there was no need to worry.
SWOOOSH!
Without wasting any time, Red launched his attack . He now understood that the demon lord in front of him had too many secrets and couldn't afford to be complacent.
Although his speed had increased, he was still slower, especially within the domain where Reign controlled everything
Before he could land a hit, Reign twisted his neck at an odd angle and fired at point-blank range.
No matter how impressive the specs of the car, the experienced driver would always come out on top.
As the fight continued, it became clearer how big the difference was between their battle IQ.
"DAMN IT!" Red roared in frustration. He accelerated, dodging the projectiles, and charged forward, aiming to land a powerful blow. He was betting on ending it with a single, decisive strike.
"That's not good enough," Reign said, shaking his head in disappointment.
He dodged the attack with a long side-step, using the distance between them to his advantage.
As soon as he was clear, he resumed his bombardment, firing again without break.
Once again, Red was forced to dodge, his fear of the death energy limited his movements.
"Hey, did you know I'm barely trying?" Reign taunted with a loud, mocking laugh. "This is too easy for me. You're not even worth my full effort."
Red's eyes widened, a mix of disbelief and frustration crossing his face.
"You're bluffing," he said, forcing his voice to stay steady as he darted from place to place, dodging the incoming attacks.
But deep down, his heart pounded as he processed the possibility. The idea that his opponent was still holding back while he struggled to keep up was infuriating.
"It's pathetic how hard you're struggling when I'm barely breaking a sweat." Reign taunted with a smirk
"Fuck you! I'm not using my full power either!" Red snapped, his aura bursting up.
He was driven to prove that he could match, or even surpass his opponent.
'Got you,' Reign thought with a chuckle.
His rude comments were meant to mislead his opponent, making him focus on the firepower gap and ignore the fact that Red was simply too predictable and lacked strategy.
"Sure, sure, I really believe someone who can't even land a hit," Reign added, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"BASTARD!" Red screamed in frustration. But every time he charged, his attacks missed.
His opponent seemed to know exactly what he was going to do and moved out of the way at the last second.
The more he tried to hit him, the more Reign laughed and taunted, making his frustration even worse.
Reign, on the other hand, remained calm, carefully analyzing and manipulating his opponent. He could sense that the meta-human was growing stronger, though not as fast as before.
Right now, Red was already stronger in terms of energy reserves and output.
However, the system indicated that he was still far from reaching the Demon King Rank, highlighting the vast gap between the two levels.
'How far can he really go?' he wondered to himself.