In the middle of a deserted island, the sounds of battle caused the resident wildlife to flee.

“Ahhh!”

A thundering noise was followed by a shout. Ace broke through a bunch of trees before stopping. Ashur chased after him with a laugh. Ace, in his Brawler Character, threw a punch. Ashur leaped into a flying kick. Foot and fist clashed. Ace pushed with his fist. Ashur somersaulted. His feet touched the ground. Ace popped up and threw four quick jabs. Ashur blocked with his arms. Explosive sounds reached his ears. His arms numbed.

(Heavy!)

He grinned and stepped in Ace’s midsection. Ace stumbled back. Ashur swung his claws at his face. Ace ducked and countered with an uppercut. He slammed his leg in Ashur’s side. Ashur’s knees buckled. He slammed his fist in Ace’s stomach. A knee hit him in the face. He stumbled back. Ace chased after him with a roundhouse. Ashur smiled and took the kick to the jaw. He grabbed the leg. Ace’s eyes widened. He jumped off his pivot leg. He slammed that leg on Ashur’s other jaw. That leg was grabbed as well. Ashur lifted him overhead.

“Take this!”

Ashur jumped and powerbombed him into the earth. The ground burst open. All the air left Ace’s body. Ashur rose him off the ground with his foot. He slammed his heel in his chest and buried Ace’s upper body into the ground. Ace sprung to his feet to the shock of Ashur. Ace elbowed him in his temple. His vision blurred. Ace floored him with a punch to the face. He stomped down. Ashur rolled out of the way. He sprung to his feet and twisted away from a flying kick. He spun around swinging his leg. Ace countered with a kick of his own. They spun around with another kick. They clashed again. They swung their other leg and clashed again. They entered a quick exchange of kicks. Every clash resulted in a thunderclap. After a long relay, they finally separated.

“Hahaha! Amazing! I never knew Miko had a crazy fighter like you!”

“Heh. I would consider that compliment if you were fighting for real.”

“What are talking about? Are you saying I’m holding back?”

“Yes and no. You’re giving your all to fight me fist to fist.”

Ace smirked.

“But hand-to-hand combat isn’t your specialty, is it?”

Ashur smirked.

“Did I suck at it that much?”

Ace shook his head.

“Far from it. When I realized that you were just trying to fight fist to fist as if trying out something, I got chills.”

“What? Did you get scared?”

“Nah. I’m not even afraid of Miko. So why would you scare me?”

He started to grin.

“It got my blood pumping. Krul was one thing but to think there was another guy who might be able to push me to my limit in Miko’s generation.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

Ashur pointed at himself.

“This is my generation.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Ace kicked off the ground.

“Then beat me to prove it!”

Green light engulfed his body as he activated his Vita. He transformed into a molten monster. Ashur laughed and pounced at him. Ace punched him out of the air. Ashur bounced off the ground and to his feet. Ace aimed a flying kick at him. He countered with a headbutt.

(He killed the force behind my kick that easily?)

Ashur grabbed his leg. Sizzling reached his ears and smoke came from his hand. Yet, he grinned and threw Ace with all of his strength. Ace broke through a dozen trees in an instant. He crashed into a cliff and caused it to collapse. The debris was blown away. Ace flew out of the dust. A bullet was before his eyes.

“?!”

He twisted his body and the bullet flew past him. He stopped and turned towards the forest. Specks of light could be seen. His feet touched the ground. The next instant, his shoulders and legs were pierced.

(So fast!)

He punched the ground. Pillars of lava surrounded him.

(If I was him, I would fire attacks from all directions as a diversion and then come for the kill from below….However, if it’s this guy.)

Ashur forced through the lava with a laugh.

“He’ll come straight at me with no tricks at all!”

He stepped forward and slammed his fist in Ashur’s stomach. He was punched in the face in return. The two stumbled back. Ashur rushed at Ace again with a hook. Ace sidestepped out of the way and rose Ashur off the ground with a kick in the midsection. Ashur grinned and hit Ace with a hook. He stumbled back.

(Does this guy not feel pain or something? I’m covered in molten rocks, so it should burn him whenever he touches me. Yet, this monster doesn’t react at all!)

They rushed at each other and crossed punches.

(I’ve also been burning his vital with my punches and kicks, and he doesn’t even flinch! What the hell is this?!)

“Celestial Body.”

Alec smiled watching the fight.

“Ace is probably experiencing it for the first time. So it must be terrifying.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Since the Celestial Body is extremely rare.”

“You say that, Sophia. But there’s a guy right there with a Celestial Body.”

Sylvia pointed at Christensen, who was watching the fight.

“Our clan is always an exception to every rule out there. Most clans, no, most countries produce a Celestial Body once every century or even longer. Our clan got 3 in just two generations..”

Kirika said.

“It just means we’re better than everybody else.”

Kouta burst out laughing.

“The real reason is that our clan has 10 divine bloodlines mixed together.”

Kirika started listing them.

“Augustus, Tiamat, Hel, Behemoth, Athena, and the Five Guardian Beasts. With so many divine genes, it isn’t strange that we would have so many geniuses much less Celestial Bodies.”

“…You people talk as if having a Celestial Body but as someone who possesses one o can testify that it’s only a curse.”

Christensen yawned.

“You’re indeed born with a body similar to True Gods, so your regenerative, physical, and magic abilities will naturally be superior to everyone else’s, but it comes with negative side effects.”

He pointed at himself.

“For example, I’m cursed to always feel tired and sleepy. The possibility of me entering eternal sleep in the future is high.”

He turned to Ashur on the monitor.

“As for Ashur, he’s naturally drawn to death. While everyone else fears it he embraces and worships it. The chance of him committing suicide in the future is high. And then, there’s Krul…”

He paused for a bit.

“Well, you’re all aware of that.”

Everyone silently nodded.

“Basically, what I’m saying is we’re born with bodies similar to gods but we all have mental issues.”

He frowned.

“We’re not blessed, we’re cursed….Ashur just doesn’t realize it yet.”

Everyone silently looked at Christensen as his words replayed in their heads. Alec was the only one who continued to smile.

(I wonder if I should tell him that I’m researching a way to counter those curses using Miko’s DNA?)

He shook his head.

(Let’s leave that a secret for now.)

He smirked.

(It’ll make a great bargaining chip in the future.)

Meanwhile, Ace and Ashur-

“Ahh!”

Ace hit Ashur with several quick strikes. Ashur countered with strikes of his own.

“This isn’t getting anywhere….If fists aren’t enough…”

*BAM!*

An overwhelming power rushed out of Ace’s body and blew everything close to him away. Everyone saw him standing in the center of a pillar of bloody-red light.

“Character Change:…!”

Ace’s figure was quickly devoured by the light. It imploded and then disappeared. They saw the figure that was left in its place. It was a man covered in bleeding wounds of all shapes and sizes. He had long sticky scarlet hair that looked like it was wet with blood. He had a long and rugged katana in his hands. He was topless, was wearing red torn-up pants, and was barefoot.

Everything about him screamed “Savage”. It was his Swordsman (Manslayer) character.

“Then let’s try cutting him up!”

“Oh! What’s that?! It looks fun!”

Ashur leaped at Ace.

“Fun?”

Ace swung his sword upwards. Cuts appeared all over Ashur's body. He crashed into the ground. His blood leaked out and stained the earth.

“It might be fun for me, but it will be hell for you.”

“Hell?”

Ashur burst out laughing as he got to his feet.

“That’s perfect. Then it’ll feel just like home!”

His body flickered. Ace swung his sword. Ashur reappeared sliding underneath it. A gun appeared in his hand. He fired at Ace’s chest. Ace cut through a burst of light. His sword emitted a bloody light and a ghastly howl.

“Special Move: Blade of Carnage!”

He swung his blade. Ashur was forced back with cuts on his body. Ace kicked off the ground and cut the distance. He slashed at Ashur’s side. Ashur grabbed the sword. Blood flowed from his hand. He pulled Ace towards him and smacked him with a rifle. Ace released his sword and stumbled back. He stretched his hand out.

“Hunt!”

Blades grew out of Ashur’s arm.

“?!”

The blade flew into Ace’s hand. He flew at Ashur.

“Manhunt!”

His sword moved at a blinding speed. Ashur leaped back and aimed his gun.

“?!”

The gun fell apart as he pulled the trigger. Hideous cuts appeared all over his arms.

(He cut my gun?!)

“Finisher:….”

Ashur suddenly found himself on a path made of bones and corpses. He immediately knew that this was Ace’s doing and that he was going to attack. While he was thinking that, he saw Ace appeared beside him and then walked past him and continued down the path. He was about to turn around when he heard Ace’s voice in his ear.

“The Bloody Path.”

Several large cuts appeared all over Ashur’s body. Blood sprayed in the air and stained the earth.

“Guah?!”

He collapsed on the ground and started to bleed out. The path disappeared and they returned to reality. Ace stood in the puddle of his blood and looked down on him.

“I told you that you would experience hell.”

Ashur looked up at him and grinned.

“Just as I thought…”

His eyes became draconic. All the hair on Ace’s body stood up.

“You’re really fun to fight.”

His vision was stained azure. The sound of wind entered his ears. His body felt light.

“Ugh?!”

Pain assaulted his body as it hit the ground.

“What happened?”

He sat up and his eyes widened. Standing away from him was an 8ft tall Dragonoid with azure and gold scales. Around him were hundreds of firearms ranging from rifles, machine guns, cannons, and AA Guns.

“Gun Parade.”

With a thunderclap, explosions erupted as the guns opened fire. Air, land, and sea trembled in face of their power. When everything settled, Ace was laying in one of the countless smoking craters. His body was burnt to a crisp and all of his clothes turned to ash.

“Ashur is said to have the highest firepower in his generation.”

Alec showed a stiff smile as the camera zoomed out and displayed the battlefield. A section of the island was reduced to a wasteland. Hills were leveled, forests were reduced to ash, and lakes dried up.

“If anyone was having doubts about that I think this fight will convince them.”

“Fight? Isn’t that over?”

Al-Shura grinned.

“That Ace kid is out for the count.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Al-Shura looked over at Momo who wore a smug expression. She showed off her Apostle Crest.

“Don’t underestimate those who were this crest.”

Her eyes sharpened.

“Or you’ll regret it.”

“……..”

Ace opened his mouth and smoke flowed out. His ears were ringing. His throat was so dry that it hurt to breathe. Yet, he forced himself to speak.

“Character Change:…”

His voice was coarse and low. Yet, everyone could hear it clearly.

“Overlord!”