As Bara prepared to blast Deo with the same laser beam he used to wipe out the city, a blue beam of light suddenly descended from the sky. It tore through the air, severing Bara's hand and obliterating a massive portion of the landscape.
Bara stared in confusion, clutching the bleeding robotic stump.
"What the hell...?"
Before he could process what happened, another beam of light rained down from the sky—this time heading straight for him.
He gritted his teeth, regenerated his arm, and caught the beam with both hands, struggling to hold it back. The force was overwhelming, sending him flying until he managed to toss the energy aside with a primal scream.
From the smoke above, Alex rocketed in at top speed.
A blade of condensed red energy—the Blade of Death—formed in his hand as he hurled it at Bara.
Bara emerged from the dust with an excited laugh as he shot a beam of energy at Alex's blade of death.
"You're here! You're finally here!"
Alex's eyes glanced at the ruined city, his expression grim.
"Hey, Deo," he said calmly. "You fought hard. Go. Let me handle this guy."
Bara charged forward, his fist surging with insane energy. Alex caught the punch effortlessly.
"Don't worry," Alex muttered, his eyes narrowing. "It'll just be the two of us."
Without hesitation, he created another Blade of Death and slapped Bara across the battlefield with it.
Bara groaned, tumbling across the broken ground before catching himself.
Alex snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, multiple giant Blades of Death appeared all across the battlefield, surrounding Bara.
Bara's lips curved into a grin.
"I don't know what you've been up to... but you're a lot stronger now. Show me what you've got!"
Alex cracked his knuckles.
"I guess all you can do is talk. Well, talk while you still can... because I'm about to cook you so bad that breathing will be the least of your worries."
Meanwhile...
Raquel felt Alex's presence from afar. She clutched her chest and smiled softly.
"Alex... you really are here."
Elsewhere, Serena and Sukuna were aiding the wounded. Serena looked toward the sky with narrowed eyes.
"If that was your presence just now, Alex... you better do your best and not die."
Back in the battlefield, Alex and Bara clashed in the sky, trading explosive blows with the impact blasting all over the sky. Bara unleashed a barrage of high-speed beams, while Alex launched his giant Blades of Death at rapid fire with unrelenting force.
Their attacks collided mid-air, igniting massive explosions that tore through the sky.
Bara growled as he weaved through the chaos at lightning levels of speeds.
"These attacks... they're spawning from nowhere! They're too fast—I can't keep up with them for long. And his energy... it's on another level."
Suddenly, one of Alex's Blades of Death descended from above, crashing into Bara and blasting him into the ground. The resulting explosion shook the earth below them.
Bara rose swiftly and flew back into the air and towards Alex,battered but unshaken.
"Is that all you got, kid? You might've powered up—but don't think for a second that you can win! I'll kill you!"
Alex stared Bara down as he landed gracefully on his feet.
"Nah. I haven't even started. And you're one to talk—I know that power of yours isn't natural. You're getting it from somewhere else."
With that, Alex generated another wave of massive Blades of Death and sent them flying at Bara like homing missiles.
Bara soared through the sky at top speed, dodging for his life. But he noticed something that made his blood boil—Alex was just standing on the ground, arms folded, watching.
"You arrogant little—!"
Enraged, Bara released an enormous wave of energy, deflecting all incoming Blades. He rocketed down to the ground and aimed a punch at Alex.
Alex blocked the punch with ease. The impact cracked the earth and sent tremors rippling outward. The two went blow-for-blow, fists clashing at speeds incomprehensible, their battle shaking the sky and ground alike.
As Bara closed in with a violent smirk, he transformed his hand into a cannon and fired a light-speed beam at Alex's face from point-blank range.
Alex tilted his head slightly—the beam missed by inches and flew out of the city, obliterating entire mountains in the distance.
Bara's eyes widened.
"That was... a direct shot! I charged up so much power, and fired at light speed, from right in front of him! How the hell... did he dodge that?!"
Alex stepped forward calmly.
"Since we're tossing around our strongest attacks... let me show you mine."
He raised a single hand, forming a massive Ultimate Blade of Death, and launched it straight at Bara.
The resulting impact not only hit its mark but tore through the outskirts of the city and annihilated entire forests and some mountains with devastating explosions of energy.
Alex exhaled.
"I didn't expect it to be that powerful... but I guess at my current state, every attack is insane. I should easily be at B-rank now."
The smoke cleared.
Bara hovered in the air—half of his body scorched, smoke trailing off him—yet he was laughing like a lunatic.
"You really are strong," he said, eyes gleaming. "But you see... I've been testing you this whole time. You have proven to be rather interesting."
His energy flared.
Red light surged around him as he charged up to full power. His energy was amped up than normal, Bara had a look of excitement on his face while charging up this devastating amount of red energy.
"Alright! I'm pumped up now! Show me what you've got before I kill you!"
Alex narrowed his eyes.
"This guy... he was holding back? That much power—was sealed away?"
He clenched his fists, activating a new ability—giant Flash Fists formed around him.
"Oh well... I can handle this."
"You're acting cocky, you demon brat!" Bara snarled. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be nothing but a corpse!"
Elsewhere...
Mori activated his third eye, observing the intense battle from afar.
Raquel asked quietly, "Will Alex be alright?"
Mori frowned.
"He's hanging in there... but he won't last long. Amplified Energy Mode, huh? Who the hell taught him how to use that? He's easily reached B-rank now."
In the City of Steel...
Kinto and Rin stood in Lord Yamamoto's office.
Yamamoto nodded. "You've been a great help, Kinto. I'm glad the City and the Country of Iron are in cooperation. We really needed someone like you."
Kinto smirked. "Yeah, taking out 50 C-rank assassins a day isn't exactly something to sneeze at. Kojin better pay me good."
Rin giggled. "Stop being lazy."
But then Yamamoto's expression darkened.
"I'm afraid... I have bad news. It's from the city."
Kinto paused, he blinked. "What are you talking about?"
Yamamoto looked him dead in the eye.
"Its all over the news.The city was just destroyed."
Kinto's face turned pale. He bolted out of the office in an instant.
"Rin," Yamamoto called. "Go with him as backup. The Country of Iron is now allied with the city. Assist him however you can. I'll send reinforcements."
Rin nodded, her face serious.
"Yes, sir."
She ran out, catching up with Kinto as they dashed through the metallic halls—and zoomed off into the air at hypersonic speeds.
END OF CHAPTER.