Blood splashed out of Ignatius' lips as he looked at his own chest, finding the blood that dripped down it.
'How!? The blade never even touched me!?' Ignatius thought to himself with eyes in shock, but he was awakened when he heard the heavy steps slowly moving forward towards him.
"RYUK!!" Ignatius roared out in fiery anger as the flames around him exploded into a pillar into the sky, and his scorching aura grew threefold
Veins popped all over Ignatius' face as he raised both hands with all his power, and cyclones of flame began rising up from the ground—a total of five—that surrounded Ignatius' figure.
"Don't take my kindness for weakness!!!"
In an instant, his arms jerked forward as the cyclones of energy exploded outward, but it was as if Ryuk had lost all reasoning.
A sinister gleam flashed in his molten eyes as he tore forward into the storm of flames.
His scythe instantly cleaved forward, slicing completely through the storm and tearing through its entire frame.
Instantly, he was faced with two arcs of fame cyclones rushing toward him from the sides. Ryuk instantly roared and spun on his feet, his scythe swinging around him once more, cleaving the two cyclones to bits.
Jumping into the sky, his figure soared five meters into the air, arriving at the top of the fiery cyclone. His scythe cleaved downward with immense power.
A monumental explosion of flame and energy danced through the entire battle stage, shattering the barrier around the arena, sending shards into countless pieces.
The power was unlike anything the audience had ever seen, and an eerie quiet quickly filled the air.
The top of the arena shimmered, and a new shield encapsulated the battlefield, replacing the shattered one and preventing the explosion from spreading outward.
'How is this possible...'
The thought echoed through Ignatius' mind as cyclones after cyclones were being formed by him, yet he watched as his opponent brutally tore through each cyclone with his scythe, ripping everything into bits.
"Such insurmountable will...'
The thoughts continued to echo in Ignatius' mind as he sped forward toward Ryuk, hundreds of flaming swords following tightly behind him.
In an instant, he closed the distance and engaged in close combat.
Swords clashed against scythes, and punches crashed against claws. Ignatius' arms were ripped apart by Ryuk's heavy claws as his fierce kick slammed into his ribs, sending blood spraying out from his mouth.
Yet he smiled through the pain as he slammed an overhead kick onto the side of Ryuk's face, sending him staggering two steps to the side. But then...
Ignatius' face twisted as he was lifted off his feet by a knee kick, causing him to soar into the air, slamming backward repeatedly before dragging himself to a stop.
The entire floor shook with unrelenting momentum as Ignatius raised his head. Finding no one in front of him, he instinctively turned his gaze upward.
He was met with Ryuk's heavy figure and an enormous scythe cleaving toward his head.
Instantly, he raised both arms, attempting to block the scythe—a fatal mistake.
Like a hot knife through butter, the scythe cleaved into Ignatius' arms, slicing through them completely before proceeding to pierce into his chest.
Blood unconsciously splattered out of Ignatius' lips.
'I had thought I was the rightful king of the geniuses.'
'I had thought the crown was mine to wear, and this arena was nothing but a fact to prove that...'
'Have I finally met my match?'
The thoughts echoed endlessly in Ignatius' mind as red blood splashed onto Ryuk's face. Slowly, Ryuk tore his scythe out from Ignatius' chest. But then...
A hand grabbed onto Ryuk's scythe, jerking it downward as it dug deeper into Ignatius' body. In so doing, Ryuk's head was also jerked down and grabbed by Ignatius' now regenerated arms.
Ignatius flashed an insane smile.
'So what if you're strong!?'
'Nothing in this world can't be annihilated!'
'Nothing in this world can't be burned to death!'
'So burn for me, Ryuk!'
"BUUUUUURRRRNNNNN!!!"
"Firestorm Genesis!!!"
Ignatius roared out as flames burst out of his hands, this time silvery-white in colour.
Instantly, all of the lava in the arena ascended into the air, forming large columns that slammed downward towards both Ryuk and Ignatius, covering their entire figures.
The entire crowd stood on their feet, watching as both geniuses drowned each other in lava.
Ryuk's scythe had been buried deep in Ignatius' chest, and now both of them were covered in flames and lava.
Will Ryuk be burned to death since Ignatius was immune to his own flames or will Ignatius succumb to the scythe wound first?
Who will be the winner?
Who will be the loser?
Slowly, the lava of energy died down, exhausting its power as the world witnessed a large amount of smoke covering the entire area.
But as the smoke began clearing, gasps and furrowed brows followed the next scene.
The shocked words rang out through the arena as everyone finally saw the scene.
Right now, the scene had almost no difference from before, except now, a gigantic white scaled snake rose above Ryuk's figure, absolutely shielding him from every single drop of lava that fell.
Its body was so massive that it managed to cover Ryuk's two-meter frame completely.
From the sides of its strange banners like those of a cobra appeared, spreading wide and expertly deflecting the lava away from Ryuk.
But the snake itself was undamaged, as spikes of ice surrounded it, encasing the molten lava.
In the end, all of the flames had been buried, frozen into ice blocks.
Ryuk still stood there; his scythe buried in Ignatius' chest.
Clamly he tore it out, causing Ignatius to cough out even more blood.
Yet his eyes were locked onto the gigantic anaconda behind Ryuk.
[Host's energy has been fully depleted!]
[Nano-Umbral Reaper Transformation will now be canceled!]
The system's notification rang out as Ryuk's transformation slowly faded away, returning him to his human figure of 1.8 meters.
Following that, Isha's gigantic body began reducing until it took its tiny python form. Slowly, it wrapped itself around Ryuk's arm, runic lines appearing all over it.
Quickly, all of Ryuk's wounds began to heal as he felt mana once more pouring into his body, its source none other than Isha.
Ryuk's scythe slowly disappeared as he stepped back from Ignatius' bloody figure.
"I'm not done yet!!!" Ignatius roared, but his movements instantly ceased as Ryuk's lips moved.
"Activate King's Aura!!!"