Stale air greeted the two opponents as they stared at each other.


    Gerard had a very conflicted, and mixed, expression written on his face. On one end, he was annoyed at Edward for his arrogance, but he also couldn''t help feeling extremely intimidated.


    ''Tch… this bastard! Why do I need to fear?''


    Since he was given a chance to freely attack his opponent once, he just needed to pummel him with the strongest technique at his disposal.


    ''What a big mistake this foolish one has made! Kekekeke!''


    >VWUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!<


    A burst of dark blue light drowned Gerard in its torrents, causing only a silhouette of himself to show. Slowly, his form began to change. His body grew bulkier, and bigger, donning multiple characteristics.


    Wings grew from behind him, and ws reced his hands. He grew one extra pair of arms, granting him a total of four firm and powerful arms. A tell emerged as well, with spikes rising from them.


    Horns manifested, and three more eyes formed on his face. His hair grew longer, and it began to gleam like metal. No, his entire body seemed to gleam like metal. He took on more animal characteristics, making himself more powerful as the process continued.


    "HAHAHAHAHAHA! I usually don''t have time to activate my full transformation in battle, so thank you for standing around like an idiot and allowing me to do this. PUAHAHAHA!!!"


    The burst of energy finally converged on Gerard''s changed body, showing how immenselyrge and powerful he had be.


    His bulky frame, taking on multiple animal characteristics at once, was terrifying. He stood at about five meters tall, gleaming evilly at Edward''s unmoving body.


    "KEKEKEKEKE! DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"


    Beast King Gerard opened his massive jaws, revealing his sharp teeth. An immense concentration of Mana began to form at the center of his mouth, getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.


    "My ultimate…" He grinned while still forming the st. "... st of Destruction!"


    At this point, Gerard released the immense power trapped in the orb, creating a highly vtile breath that devastated everything around.


    The rain of pure energy decimated the area, disintegrating all things with its high density and temperature. In no time, the surrounding area became a pile of ash and smoke.


    "Fuuu… now that was a good warm-up." He smirked.


    As expected, the swordsman was unable to keep up with the speed of the attack. He had seen how the st of Destruction consumed him, and how it consumed everything else. Since everything around had been destroyed, it also meant the same for the annoying swordsman, didn''t it?


    "I should go cause more damage while I can still maintain this form…" He murmured, already feeling a slight strain on his body.


    Rapidly transforming to his most powerful state, while also using his ultimate attack, took a lot out of him. The results were worth it, though.


    With this in mind, Gerard began looking around to decide which battle he ought to join.


    ''Jane is already after Ciel. My attention should be more on these small fries that are more troublesome than expected. We''re really losing a lot of our soldiers. It seems their constructs are more powerful than ours. Well, it doesn''t matter. As long as we''re here, they shouldn''t be able to—''


    >WHOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!<


    Interrupting his thoughts was the sudden gust of wind that blew away all the dust and smoke that had stagnated around him. In one moment, everything vanished, revealing something that stunned Gerard.


    He wasn''t alone!


    "W-what…?!"


    Edward was still right in front of him,pletely unmoved from his position. Not only did he appear unfazed by the series of events that had just ured, but he seemed to bepletely unscathed by his earlier attack.


    "W-whoah! You gotta be kidding me, right? You''re fine after all that? What form of defense did you—?!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It seems your chance has been consumated. Time is up." Edward took a step forward, and suddenly the ground quaked.


    Gerard found kneeling on the ground before he knew it. Did he identally slip due to the quake, or was Edward''s pressure simply too heavy for him?


    As he mulled over the question, sweat began to form on his face as he watched Edward close in on him.


    "After thinking about it properly, I''ve decided on what will be the best punishment for you." Edward took yet another step closer, almost in the position of the struggling Beast King.


    "Y-you b-bastard!" Gerard growled. "I''ve done nothing wrong! You hear me? The path of the Beastfolk is the strong rules over the weak. I was simply stronger! I did nothing wro—"


    >SQUELCH!<


    Edward''s de pierced the Beast King''s chest, though it didn''te out of the other end. No blood came out, and it seemed like it hardly even hurt the person who was struck.


    "What are you doi—"


    "[Martial de God Technique #21: Overflow]"


    >WHUUUUUUUUUMMMMM!!!!<


    In a loud hum, Mana suddenly began flowing from Edward to his de, and finally…. To Gerard.


    "W-what is… what are you… this is… ahhh… no…."


    The Mana constantly flowed, unceasing and unstopping. Everything was pumped into Gerard with no sign of moderation.


    "Guuuhh… nooo…. P-pleasee…. Noo…. not that. PLEASE! NOT THAAAATT!!!"


    Edward watched the Beast King''s plea with cold, unfeeling eyes. He simply stood motionless, dispensing his definition of justice to the man beneath him.


    "What are you afraid of? Just a little Mana? Ah, it must be what happens when you have too much Mana, right? I''m pumping all of this Mana directly to yout Core, after all…"


    Merely a decade ago, or so, the Beastfolk were afflicted with a serious problem. It gave them a high mortality rate, and they suffered because of it. They had long been cured by Jared, thanks to Gerard swearing all of their allegiance to him, and they hadn''t experienced the pain ever since.


    The agony of Mana Overload!


    "Right now, I''ll make sure to prolong the process to elongate your suffering."


    In essence… Gerard would experience hell for as long as Edward wanted.


    "Death is overrated."


    *


    *


    *


    [A/N]


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