The Glorious Evolution

The spinning flame tornado began to fade, but the Hound was still there... he toughened through the raging inferno and charged forward. His body was set in flames, but the crazed look in his eyes made it seem like he wasn’t in pain at all.

”BLOODY CROSS!”

He roared as he smashed his monstrous feet square in Dominic’s chest, catching him in a bad position. This resulted in a bloody cross to emerge from his back, like his kick had burst his blood vessels in that shape!

And yet... Dominic neither groaned nor showed a pained expression... the moment the Hound’s foot made contact, a sharp electrical current shot through his body, numbing him from the pain and sending it back to the Hound!

Szlzlzlzl!

The shock was so strong it made his muscles lock and twitch, freezing the Hound mid-step. As the smoke emanated from his skin, Dominic was already flipping through the air, using short bursts of inflamed gas from the vents in his silver boots to steady himself.

He landed lightly, sliding back across the cracked dirt... he touched his chest and noticed the Hound’s dirty sole imprint left on his tattoo.

”Oh... you have done it now.” His expression turned icy.

As for the damage? His skin already absorbed it and generated active electricity that coursed through his system... a perk of many hidden mutations he unlocked across his long evolutionary journey.

After all, it was nearly impossible to arrive at Ecliptic rank without a couple of perfect evolutions along the way.

Dominic ignored the charging Hound in his direction and glanced upward to the clouds above them.

Then, he raised one finger and murmured, ”Static Inferno Arts: Explosive Thunderstorm.”

The sky responded instantly... Clouds merged across the horizon nonstop, building on each other like troops who had received a royal decree to mobilize.

They rumbled with thunder that shook the sky... Within seconds, the entire area darkened a bit, casting a gloomy atmosphere.

Whoosh!

Dominic swiftly blinked to another location the moment he noticed a cloud of dark red blood was spat in his direction by the Hound... he knew that kind of blood carried with it the diseases and plagues of corpses capable of killing one with a small taste.

The Slaughter Aspect was one of those Aspects that had a broad spectrum of powers, touching dozens, if not hundreds, of other powers... This gave the Hound multiple ways to slaughter somebody!

”Why’re you running away?!”

The Hound cursed after noticing Dominic was now a hundred meters away... he took pride in his speed, but Dominic’s speed was on a different spectrum.

”I am just setting up the stage.”

Dominic sank his feet into the earth with a faint, cruel smile... meanwhile, the Sulflare gas poured from his boots rapidly and spread into the soil.

He controlled it, directing the gas to form small, hidden, concentrated bubbles scattered across the battlefield.

’I am the strongest! I am the fastest! I am above all!’

As the Hound was hyping himself up with self-fulfilling delusion, the Pride Aspect responded in support, not mockery.

His body released a potent beam of golden light as his muscles fed on this grandiose delusion, giving him a real sense of enhancement beyond his capabilities.

”I AM THE STRONGEST!”

Whoosh!

Before this delusional shout could bless Dominic’s ears... he found the Hound’s nasty mouth already near his neck, aiming to decapitate him.

This time... Dominic anticipated it.

Just as the Hound’s weaponized teeth were about to touch his neck, Dominic moved it to the side and released an intense electrical surge from a single finger that was already positioned near the Hound’s sacred jewels.

Zaaaaaap!

The electrical discharge hit the Hound’s testicles with close to five hundred million volts. It stunned the Hound in place, his jaw incapable of closing in.

All he felt was such intense pain that it left him paralyzed head to toe.

”You... dirty... bastard.”

The Hound uttered with great difficulty as he landed behind Dominic, his body twitching nonstop... Dominic smirked coldly, uncaring about fighting dirty. When dealing with such scum, he would use any means possible to win.

But against the Hound? To be honest, he did it just for the sake of putting him in agony. This whole fight was to torture him, not kill him.

And now that the stage was set, it was time for the true torture to begin.

With the Hound’s insane rejuvenation, his body twitched for a second or two at most before he let out a low growl and stood back up. His burns were already fading as if he had never been attacked.

However, just as he wanted to think of other ways to deal with Dominic, he found him standing a hundred meters away again... but this time, he was pointing a finger at him like a gun.

Before he could react, Dominic pulled the trigger.

A blinding white flash followed as a lightning bolt came down from the thunderstorm and struck the Hound directly... as he was seizing all over, the ground under him erupted after the gas bubble was ignited!

Ka-BOOOOOOM!!

A massive explosion thundered across the area as dirt, trees, and shattered stones were thrown into the air!

The Hound wasn’t spared either... even with his great defenses and rejuvenation, he still found himself bleeding all over... his blood dark blue and slightly gooey.

And yet, the moment he landed on the ground, the Hound was already climbing to his feet again... his body smoked with blackened marks stretching across his skin... but those marks closed fast, his flesh rebuilding itself almost instantly.

’No wonder Seraphis lost against him... he is an undead walking.’ Dominic frowned, not fond of the Hound’s insane toughness. But for now, it suited him as it meant committing to a much more serious beatdown.

”DOMINIC! FIGHT ME!!”

As the Hound was sprinting and shooting off dark, bloody projectiles, Dominic evaded them easily.

”As you wish.”

Dominic embraced a melee fight, but he kept focusing only on evading and leading... the moment he had the Hound near another gas bubble, he waited until the Hound’s foot crossed it before blinking above him. Then, he brought down a powerful back heel kick that was covered in electrical discharges.

With the Hound refusing to use his arms for some unknown reason, he could do nothing but attempt to evade it... While he succeeded in moving his head to the side just enough to dodge it, Dominic’s heel kept on moving until it smashed on the ground.

Then, he disappeared in an instant and left the Hound to eat the full brunt of another explosion, vanishing before the smoke could devour him!

This was just the beginning of the Hound’s worst nightmare...

When Feng Ling finally arrived at the site... he lit up a cigarette and sat comfortably on top of his saber, watching his best friend switch to demon mode.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!...

The entire battlefield was filled with lightning strikes from the heavens and thunderous fireball explosions on the ground. As for the Hound? He was being tossed around like a helpless ball, slammed from one explosion to the next!

Dominic didn’t give the Hound a split second to breathe... his face was emotionless as he kept blinking from one place to another, striking the Hound from above, the sides, or behind.

Each blow sent him flying through another gas bubble, triggering another lightning strike and explosion.

All the Hound could do was use whatever defensive means in his arsenal and brace himself... his thoughts were all jumbled as the pain and dizziness consumed him.

With each lightning bolt, his body stiffened... he had been getting hit so many times now, he felt like his nerves were fried beyond recovery.

Only now were his survival instincts awakened, the delusion of killing Dominic was zapped out of his mind and heart...