BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 91 - 90 – The Battle Escalates

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The dust cleared...

The eyes of the others turned toward the site of the attack...

The distance where Louis and the young third-rank girl were fighting was not far from the others...

Perhaps more than two hundred to three hundred meters.

For ordinary humans, it was a far distance... for fighters of this level, Louis’s battle felt as if it were just a few meters away from them.

Suddenly... the signs of the attack and its effects began to appear...

A frail, aged body began to emerge... with white hair, what remained of it less than what had fallen... clinging to a weak bald head...

"So she revealed her true body then," the fourth-rank master whispered, then cast a glance toward me.

"You have remarkable followers... they forced a fierce fighter like the little one to reveal her hidden power."

My eyes shifted toward the girl... who had now become an old woman...

Her aura spread... then concentrated intensely...

Until it seemed as if she had no energy at all...

Fighters with massive aura are truly remarkable... but fighters who control that aura and compress it until it seems nonexistent...

"They are terrifying," I whispered.

In front of Louis... the old woman’s body staggered... then stopped.

Suddenly—she dashed.

Louis’s eyes narrowed... the old woman was fast...

But that wasn’t what made her eyes narrow in unanswered confusion...

The movement of the old woman’s legs was closer to slithering like a snake rather than running...

Louis barely had time to think about those movements before the old woman arrived—

Louis raised her fist... then struck—

The old woman was fast... but Louis also possessed speed.

In fact—

She was faster—

BOOOOM

A direct strike descended from Louis’s right—

It landed in the old woman’s stomach—

Her skin rippled from the impact... then Louis’s hand slipped away—

"What?" Louis snorted—

She quickly raised her left—

BOOOOM

Another fast strike—

Hit the old woman again—

The skin rippled... and the strike slid away—

No damage—

The old woman planted her feet firmly into the ground—

Louis drove both fists again in rapid strikes—

All of them hit the old woman—

All of them slid away without damage—

Suddenly—

BOOOOM—

Dizziness... then a ringing sound—

Louis fell onto one knee—

BOOOOM—

Another strike landed on her chin—

Louis no longer perceived what was around her—

Her other foot slipped—

BOOOOM—

Another powerful strike—

Louis fell violently—

Sprawled on the ground without movement—

...

Joe stood several meters away... unharmed... he raised his axe, then...

"Pride in direct combat... or pride in protecting others," he whispered—

The snow-haired master didn’t understand... but he didn’t stay silent—

"And what do you say?"

Joe stared at his axe for a long time...

"I’m sorry, my friend," he whispered... then—

He muttered a few words—

Suddenly—

The unbreakable axe... began to show several white threads emerging from within it—

Then—

Several cracks rushed out between those threads—

The axe that had never been damaged... suddenly—

Began to shatter consecutively—

Then—

BOOOOM—

The axe exploded into many smaller pieces—

They scattered on the ground—

Then—

They began to surge...

Toward Joe’s body—

One attached to his leg—

Another to his elbow—

Another to his chest—

Then—

His head—

Every part of his body... a small or large piece of the axe settled into it—

Suddenly—

The white threads that had appeared before the axe shattered...

Began appearing one after another—

Over Joe’s clothing... then—

Joe began removing his clothes... little by little—

Until he became naked—

The eyes of the watching girls turned aside in embarrassment—

Then—

The white threads surged in all directions across Joe’s body—

Then they began to transform—

A white armor—

It was not metal—

But more like solid ivory armor... fused to the body—

Around Joe’s head—

A white ivory helmet emerged... with two massive horns—

His body appeared extremely solid—

But—

Suddenly—

He moved—

Just two steps—

Then he surged violently—

The ground shattered and a massive crater formed—

Suddenly—he was in front of the snow-haired master—

BOOOOOOM

The impact sound was extremely violent and hurled the master like a ball over a hundred meters away—

"Here is another fierce fighter," said the fourth-rank master... watching the battles with sharp eyes and analyzing—

"Shall we wait until they finish... or start now?" he looked at me and asked—

He suddenly became talkative? And closer to playful... that was worrying—

Well... perhaps he feels fear—

Some people, when they are afraid... try to build bridges through conversation in preparation for a relationship of friendship or benefit...

Regardless of his goal, the truth is clear. He is strong. And he doesn’t seem surprised by any strike executed by others, no matter how powerful it appears...

People like him... I’ve seen many of them in anime and novels...

All of them... have trump cards and great power.

...

The old woman raised her fist—

BOOOOM—

A deep crater formed in the ground—

The old woman turned to the side—

Louis was there... she had jumped at the last moment—

She forced herself to stand—

"Precise strikes... fast... with appropriate strength," Louis whispered... then wiped her mouth... a lot of blood was there—

"The relationship between strength, speed, and precision has always been contradictory... a master who balances the three and masters them together—his strikes become unstoppable... but—" Louis added—

"I heard that even higher ranks struggle to master all three together... so many masters choose to focus on some of them...

Absolute strength at the cost of speed and precision—

Or tremendous speed at the cost of strength and precision—

Or even mastering precision at the cost of speed and strength—

Some masters... the skilled ones balance well between two of them... that’s what you did—

If we assume you have 100 points for your attack—

I think... you placed 50 in precision

30 in strength

and 20 in speed..."

The old woman didn’t respond... she moved—

She dashed toward Louis—

BOOOOM—

Again the strike hit Louis—

This time on her side—

"Aaah!"

Louis screamed—

Then another strike followed—

This time Louis avoided it—

She retreated several meters—

Struck the air—

The old woman followed—

From the old woman’s side—

Several hands appeared from nowhere—

They struck violently—

They slid—

Then she reached near Louis—

Then—

BOOOOM—

The strike hit Louis—

Louis retreated—

"I understand," she whispered... then retreated further—

"She controls each strike individually... every time... she switches the ratios to confuse me—"

The old woman arrived—

BOOOOM—

The strike hit Louis’s chin—this time she didn’t fall—

But retreated further before losing balance—

She snorted from dozens of meters away—

"It won’t happen again," then she laughed—

"Speed. Strength. Precision," Louis shouted—

"Speed... is the constant between all of them because you know I will dodge the strike regardless of its type if its speed is slow—"

Louis raised both her fists—

The red light—

Intensified around her gloves—

"So... you have strength and precision... each time you leave one behind and bring forward the other...

Overall, you have two attacks... a powerful attack and a precise attack, both fast—"

"But—"

The red energy... began to spread from Louis’s hands... toward the rest of her body as she said—

"Let’s see how you’ll face this."

The old woman dashed toward Louis—

The red energy began spreading slowly—

It didn’t require experience or intelligence... it was clear before the old woman’s eyes that once the energy fully spread, something bad would happen—

So her movement became faster—

She delivered many strikes toward Louis—

All of them hit—

But they were not precise strikes... they were all powerful—

The old woman abandoning precision was not due to incompetence—

But because Louis didn’t allow it—

She always protected the areas that would cause her damage—

So every precise attack—

Was stopped—

Which left the old woman with one attack—

Strength, then strength, then strength—

...

Joe stood in his white ivory armor... behind the two-horned helmet—

His eyes narrowed—

There was a purple light rushing toward him at tremendous speed—

Then it continued—

The body of the snow-haired master was completely surrounded by purple energy—

At the edges of the energy, several strands flowed and fluttered like hair—

The master raised his hand—

A larger purple energy formed around it—

Then—

BOOOOM—

The sound thundered violently—

Joe stopped the strike... but was pushed back several meters—

The master dashed toward him—

A kick came fast toward Joe—

Joe wasn’t slow... but the master was fast like lightning—

The strike landed violently on the ivory armor—

Joe was not affected—

The master continued executing fast, powerful strikes—

And Joe continued receiving them—

Suddenly—

Joe extended his hand—

Ivory bone began emerging sequentially—

Then transformed—

Into a white ivory sword as well... without sharp edges—

"What will a sword do when its wielder’s speed is like a turtle?" the master laughed mockingly... then dashed—

BOOOOM—

"Aaah—!"

The master screamed violently—

A stream of blood burst from his chest—

He fell to his knees—

Gasping violently... his eyes widened—

"How?" he snarled and coughed blood...