"I do not!"
Iron Alchemist's voice was shaky, yet it possessed an unshakeable will behind it. How was that so? The answer... battle intent!
Those two words might have sounded like they were straight out of a Chinese novel, but it really wasn't. Intent couldn't be seen, but why could Hugo see green energy flowing around Iron Alchemist's body, intent couldn't be heard, but why could he hear the beating of a thousand battle drums?
The answer was apparent. Iron Alchemist... was not a normal opponent.
"Very well then, we shall duke it out as you wish."
Hugo's words drifted around in the air and Iron Alchemist felt a chill run down his back.
The vortex in the sky closed, making the cudgel shorter and thinner. And no matter how much one wanted to deny it, the staff still brimmed with the energy of a thousand suns.
However, only Hugo knew the secret behind the power of this staff.
Hugo shot towards Iron Alchemist with the speed of a bullet, brandishing the staff wildly.
"Enlarge!"
The cudgel became larger a few meters over Iron Alchemist's head, threatening to smash his skull in if he didn't move out of the way quickly.
'Shit, I can feel the raw power just oozing off that thing!'
He exclaimed in his mind, forgetting that he had to dodge the attack or tqake the risk of being obliterated from the head down.
"Thrusters!"
Apart from the thrusters in his feet, there were also some which were in his arms for emergency escapes.
*Whoosh!*
Fire shot out of the holes and propelled him up, considering the cudgel was larger than half of the entire park. What other place than up?!
"Flash Cannons- Beams!"
Not forgetting it was a battle, he aimed his palms up at Hugo, hoping this next attack would at least maim him slightly.
*SKREEE!*
A white beam shot out of the fray, shooting into the atmosphere, making the temporary night day again. Unfortunately for him, that was not he wanted to do.
"Pathetic!"
The opponent yelled condescendingly sparking his anger and increasing his will to battle.
"Who'll see who's pathetic by the time we're done fighting!"
From here on out, Iron Alchemist focused all his attention on dodging Hugo's attacks. Zooming towards the sky, he wasn't worried of what the people looking at him would think of, as long as he could increase the battle time, he would be able to formulate a suitable strategy to use against Hugo.
After thirty minutes of doing what most would find cowardly, Iron Alchemist sorted out his skill set in order of effectiveness.
"Haven't you grown tired of swinging that heavy thing? Let me help you get rid of the tension!"
Carefully calculating his movements, he shot further into the sky, steadying his hands and ready to take any sudden attacks.
"Die!"
Hugo once again performed a simple downward swing of the cudgel; however, it was with a bit more flair.
The sky heated up, and the area around the tips of the cudgel erupted in flames. In order to increase the effectiveness of the flames, he reduced the size of the cudgel back to its small state.
The air around the two ends distorted as the cudgel spun around in his hands, flames fiercely licking the wind with their tongues.
Oddly enough, the flames didn't disperse from contact with the wind. Instead, they grew in size and intensity.
"Are you sure you wish to continue, it shall only grow more fierce from here on out!" His question was like an insult to the opponent, hence Iron Alchemist coldly replied, feeling this constant banter was too tiring "I think it's about time to finish this."
"Yes, it seems like it is."
Iron Alchemist's steady floating in the sky came to a quick end and without him even realizing, Hugo had bashed the flaming cudgel into his metallic stomach.
As he did this, Hugo pulled back his arm in order to quickly get a quick punch in, doubling the damage and ending this match faster.
"Bleck!' A huge mouthful of blood flew out of his mouth as he pummeled towards the ground like a missile out of its course.
His blood was green, resembling his hair greatly.
*SMASH!*
Iron Alchemist's body hit the floor in a loud smash, cracking up the floor around him. It was unfortunate, as another spurt of blood flew out of his mouth.
Even when it seemed certain that his opponent had already fainted, Hugo did not spare him one bit, thinking otherwise.
Punch after punch, kick after kick. He did not cease his attacks one bit, and even occasionally adding some cudgel blows in it too.
Oddly enough, he felt this fight boring. It was unable to satiate his desire for adventure.
If this was all Skydancers in Allegro had to offer, he might as well just go back to killing criminals under his usual guise of a vigilante. Maybe then he wouldn't feel as bored. Or perhaps he could even visit other countries for a while like he said he would. Stay there until it was time for the re-ranking tournament.
All of a sudden the man he held under his feet laughed out loud, ignoring the constantly spurting blood after each 'ha'.
"Hahahaha! So this is it, eh? Black Knight, the almighty S-ranked Skydancer. You look down on others foolishly, not considering the fact that they could be stronger than you. You're a bloody narcissist, you ugly demon, demon child!"
Hugo stared at Iron Alchemist with a blank look in his eyes; it'd been years since anybody had called him by 'that' name.
If this was in the past, he probably wouldn't have done anything, but now that he had suitable power, anyone who called him by that name would die; no exceptions.
However, little did he know this was merely a ploy to enrage him. Before he realized this, it was already too late.
Iron Alchemist was an airhead, but as long as there was battle involved, he might as well have been Einstein.
'It's working. So I guess it's now time to show this bitch what I'm capable of!'