MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 916: Forest

Fist collided with blade in a cataclysmic explosion of erasing force. The atmosphere between the two combatants expanded like a balloon pushed past its limit, swelling for a heartbeat before detonating in a display of pure ruin. The desert itself appeared to flinch as sand erupted backward in terrifying insanity; dunes disintegrated and grains shrieked as they were hurled violently away from the epicenter of the shockwave.

Aura Nova’s gaze sharpened for a brief, calculating moment before a smirk touched her lips. She had been momentarily startled—nothing more—that Kingsley possessed the audacity to meet her cold steel with his bare knuckles. That flicker of surprise evaporated instantly. Without losing a single heartbeat, the pair vanished into a flickering blur, their velocity peaking with every passing second while the battlefield itself struggled to track their movements.

For every strike Aura Nova launched, Kingsley met it with a frontal assault, displaying a level of fearlessness that suggested he held no dread for her weapon. Aura Nova’s short sword swung downward in a savage cleave, the blade whistling as it sped toward Kingsley’s shoulder. Yet, Kingsley offered no retreat. He raised his hand with calm precision, meeting the edge with the back of his palm and parrying the blow as easily as if he were brushing away a mere insect.

His opposite hand lunged forward immediately after, a fist cutting through the air toward Aura Nova’s midsection with the lethal intent of crushing her organs. However, Aura Nova was far from sluggish. Her free hand moved in flawless coordination, the edge of her second short sword meeting Kingsley’s fist directly. Steel and flesh clashed, releasing a violent shockwave.

The earth beneath them trembled as the wind exploded outward, howling in every direction. In another distorted blink of motion, they vanished again, their sheer speed dragging the sands backward in ridiculous proportions. An instant later, they materialized at the edge of a forest, now perched atop a mountain peak. Despite the shift in terrain, the ferocity behind their blows did not diminish; it only grew more savage.

Kingsley’s foot snapped upward from below, targeting her chin with lethal speed. But Aura Nova had already anticipated the trajectory. She jerked her head to the flank, narrowly avoiding the kick as it sliced through the air where her face had been. Her blades hissed forward in a counterattack, aiming to sever his leg in one decisive motion. Before the strike could land, Kingsley’s legs twisted with explosive velocity, swinging toward her skull as he sought to shatter it like a ripe melon.

Aura Nova immediately aborted her offensive. Her back arched with unnatural fluidity and speed, dodging by pure instinct. She heard the wind detonate violently in the space her head had occupied just a millisecond prior. But Kingsley was relentless. He was riding a brutal combination of strikes, and though Aura Nova had evaded his earlier moves, his momentum remained unbroken.

His leg halted mid-air, muscles coiling tight. His toe pointed toward the heavens before his heel tore downward toward her forehead with the force of a collapsing sun. Aura Nova’s senses reached their peak as she watched the attack descend. She did not speak or hesitate. Moving with the liquid grace of a cat, her body shifted sideways as if she lacked a skeleton, her form bending effortlessly to her will.

Kingsley’s heel slammed into the mountain. The entire peak shuddered with maddening intensity as the impact collapsed into the stone, sending earthquake-like ripples outward for several seconds. Violent cracks spiderwebbed across the rock, yet the mountain stubbornly refused to crumble.

The moment the impact landed, Aura Nova struck. Her blade carved through the air, screaming toward Kingsley’s throat with surgical precision. Kingsley did not dare pause. He ducked instantly, the blade whistling through the empty air. But as he lowered his center of gravity, he saw a knee flying toward his face; Aura Nova had already foreseen his reaction.

Even from a squatting position, Kingsley proved his mastery as a martial artist. His body flowed across the mountain's surface as he sidestepped with fluid, precise movements. His torso twisted with practiced elegance, and in the next heartbeat, he reached Aura Nova’s flank. His fist surged upward from below, carrying enough devastating power to shatter her ribcage from the side.

Aura Nova did not merely watch the blow approach. She mirrored Kingsley’s rhythm instantly, matching his footwork with flawless timing. While standing, her body maintained the same level of grace and control. The second she halted her movement, her left foot left the ground, snapping through the air toward Kingsley’s temple with explosive speed.

Despite his low stance, Kingsley moved with immaculate ease, his vast battle experience manifesting in real-time. He leaned back sharply, letting Aura Nova’s foot pass through empty space. She did not miss a beat or show any hesitation. Her twin daggers followed the kick immediately, plunging downward in a powerful, decisive thrust intended to conclude the duel.

Kingsley refused to be pinned down. His body rolled to the side in a clean evasion. He cared nothing for dignity or noble etiquette; this was a life-and-death struggle. Aura Nova’s twin short swords buried themselves in the mountain, creating a massive crater as stone erupted in all directions.

A moment later, the mountain peak buckled violently before exploding backward with apocalyptic pressure. The detonation launched both fighters into the sky. Before they could be carried away, they recalibrated their positions mid-flight, pushing off the air itself. Their bodies tore through the raining rubble, navigating through falling boulders and debris as they descended.

Using the tumbling stones as temporary footholds, they danced through the sky, striking and countering without a second of respite. Their exchange remained unbroken and merciless, as neither fighter showed any sign of stopping until the other was defeated. With a thunderous boom, their feet struck the earth below. A ravine split open the moment they landed, the impact triggering a blast of wind like a cannon shot. Trees were flattened and uprooted as the soil erupted around them.

Yet Kingsley and Aura Nova were indifferent to the devastation. The two existed in a world of their own, seeing only one another and acknowledging nothing else. The forest was consumed by phantom streaks of gold and blue, colliding incessantly with overwhelming force as their battle raged on without limit.