Shuno's determination blazed as he surged forward, his fist aimed squarely at Salvage's chest. With a resounding thud, his punch connected, but to Shuno's astonishment, Salvage remained unfazed by the blow.
What? Shuno's mind raced as he grappled with the reality of Salvage's seemingly impenetrable defenses.
"Do you truly believe you could beat me in my prime?" Salvage's voice echoed with chilling confidence as he towered over Shuno. "I am currently altering something that only the one and only creator of this universe may edit. I'm not sure what it is, but it will be significant! You may wonder how stating this proves anything. It demonstrates that I am far more powerful than you, mortal."
It's time to stop pulling my punches Shuno resolved, his determination hardening into resolve as he prepared to unleash his full strength.
"You claim you're pulling your punches?" Salvage scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain. "Go ahead and go full force on me, worm; I doubt it will make a difference. You may wonder how I know what you're thinking. I have the ability to read minds and even glimpse into the future for a few seconds! This demonstrates that you are absolutely outmatched in every manner imaginable."
"What? How does that demonstrate anything?" Shuno retorted, his frustration mounting as he grappled with Salvage's overwhelming power.
"It demonstrates that even you are unaware of all of my powers!" Salvage declared triumphantly. "I have EVERY race in me, and the amount of strength and talents I possess is beyond comprehension."
"Ya. Get ready for that full power punch," Shuno retorted defiantly, his resolve unshaken by Salvage's taunts.
"Do I even need to prepare for anything?" Salvage mocked, his arrogance palpable. "You lack any type of strength that you might maybe deliver any lick of damage to me with. You're just being a jerk. You are an idiot who is unaware that they are an idiot! Idiots are only stupid if they don't realize they're stupid, and you're the poster child for this. Why do you want to fight even though you know there is no chance you can beat me?"
"Do you not have any pride?" Shuno shot back, his voice tinged with frustration. "If I gave up against you because of one half-assed punch, I would be embarrassing myself worse than you are right now. I've barely shown you my full power, and you already think you could beat me. Who do you think you are?"
"I believe I am just another pawn in a larger game," Salvage mused, his gaze fixed on Shuno with unsettling intensity. "Sure, I am the strongest, but will I always be the strongest? Thank you, Shuno; you aided me in refining my plan to destroy this universe. If I do something wrong, there will always be someone to stop me. I can be strong for a long time, but I can't be strong for the longest time because someone will come to stop me. That's why I shouldn't waste time fighting fodder bouts like this when I might be planning my first strike on this planet. But I'm not going to abandon this war because of that. I need to acquire fighting skills and talents, and I need to discover more about myself."
"What are you rambling on about?" Shuno demanded, his patience wearing thin as Salvage continued to prattle on.
"I must be whole... if I don't know anything about the world or myself, I will be beaten in combat," Salvage explained cryptically. "This fight will not only put my talents to the test, but it will also show how strong I may potentially become. Shuno, I've warned you too many times, and I'm talking to a brick wall right now. Because you haven't embraced your fast death, I'll give you a lengthy and agonizing one to endure."
"Sure. Take this!" Shuno roared, channeling his frustration into a powerful punch aimed squarely at Salvage's chest. The impact was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves rippling through the land as the force of Shuno's blow reverberated through the air.
Shuno's fists trembled with barely contained fury as he faced Salvage, his eyes narrowed with a mixture of disbelief and rage.
"How did you-" Shuno began, his voice edged with a hint of incredulity.
Salvage interrupted him smoothly, his tone dripping with a blend of superiority and disdain. "You may be wondering how I handled the attack. I've previously stated that I'm considerably stronger than you," Salvage stated matter-of-factly. "Do you believe I was simply being an arrogant jerk with no power? Incorrect, I'm an arrogant asshole with the right to be an arrogant asshole; perhaps you were the one exaggerating your strength."
"No," Shuno retorted defiantly.
Undeterred, Shuno continued his assault, each punch delivered with the force of his frustration. Yet, Salvage remained unyielding, a satisfied smirk etched upon his face as if he were merely enduring a mild inconvenience.
"Shuno, I anticipated more from you," Salvage remarked, his voice tinged with disappointment. "You should be on the ground right now screaming for forgiveness, yet you keep punching me as if it's going to alter anything. You have nothing to live for anymore; you are basically going full force on a three-month-old infant and losing!"
"SHUT UP!!!" Shuno roared, his punches quickening in tempo.
"So, are you mad at me because you misjudged our power?" Salvage continued, his tone almost conversational amidst the chaos of their battle. "You're pitiful, yet the fact that you battled with me taught me something new. If I were to face off against a human opponent who lacked any special abilities, I shouldn't be conversing with that opponent; instead, I should concentrate on winning the battle. If I were to spend my time on the battlefield chatting up random bystanders, I wouldn't accomplish much and the battle would drag on. By doing nothing and giving my adversaries some time to themselves, they would be able to come up with a strategy to defeat me. You've taught me so much in such a short period of time, Shuno, that I might just spare you after all."
"I-I hate you," Shuno spat out, his breath ragged with exertion and anger.
"Shuno, hate is a harsh word, but you won't hate me after I give you your prize!" Salvage declared with a twisted sense of amusement. "Your reward is a severe assault, but I'll attempt to keep you alive by leaving you on the beach to be picked up by a bird of some type."
But Shuno, fueled by a desperation born of his hatred, halted his assault and pressed both palms against Salvage's chest, channeling his magic with a ferocity born of desperation.
"Sending you straight to hell, you cocky bastard! Poison Magic: Dissolve," Shuno snarled, his hands glowing with a sickly purple hue.
Yet, to Shuno's horror, nothing happened.
"How... how could you survive that... that spell can literally dissolve air and time itself!!!" Shuno exclaimed, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Salvage smirked, a glint of superiority gleaming in his eyes. "Have you ever considered the possibility that I can absorb magic? Oh, you didn't realize that! In addition, throughout the time we were standing here, or at least me standing here enduring your strikes, I accumulated enough mana to execute this."
With a flourish, Salvage reached towards the heavens, his voice resonating with power. "I call upon you, my wonderful creation! Subete No Shinken No Ue Ni Shinken, my magical weapon."
A beam of celestial light descended from above, coalescing into a shimmering white sword within Salvage's grasp.
"You can do that?" Shuno asked, his voice tinged with a mix of awe and fear.
"You could accomplish anything with enough mana," Salvage replied with a chilling certainty.
Realization dawned upon Shuno, a cold dread creeping into his heart. "You are more of a threat than M.A.G.I.C."
"That took you a long time to realize!" Salvage taunted. "So, before you fail to see that I am planning an attack on you, I must inform you. Hello, I'm ready to assault you with the sword I just made in front of you. Nothing personal, I was just the only one who remembered we were enemies and that we were meant to be fighting right now."
With a swift motion, Salvage swung the blade, cleaving through the air with deadly precision, slashing Shuno across the chest.
"And now the agony begins," Salvage's voice rang out, dripping with sadistic satisfaction.
In an instant, a searing ball of crimson magic erupted from Salvage's outstretched palm, hurtling towards Shuno with relentless force. The impact sent Shuno reeling backward, his body convulsing with pain as he struggled to regain his footing.
But before Shuno could fully recover, Salvage vanished into thin air, only to reappear behind him with unnerving speed. With a single swift motion, Salvage unleashed a barrage of blows upon Shuno, each strike landing with the precision of a seasoned warrior.
"This is so heartbreaking that I could write an inappropriately cruel song about it!" Salvage mocked, his voice laced with a cruel amusement as he grabbed Shuno's face in a vice-like grip.
With a disdainful flicker of magic, Salvage ascended effortlessly into the sky, leaving Shuno battered and broken beneath him, a mere plaything in the hands of his merciless adversary.
"🎶You're as good as dead🎶" Salvage's voice echoed with a chilling melody as he released his grip on Shuno, sending him hurtling towards the ground below.
But even in the midst of his descent, Shuno retaliated with a desperate burst of magic, unleashing a small orb of fiery orange energy that exploded upon contact with his adversary.
"🎶You're as good as dead🎶" Salvage sang once more as Shuno crashed to the earth, his body bruised and battered from the fall.
Hovering effortlessly back to the ground behind Shuno, Salvage continued his cruel serenade. "🎶Were you dropped on your head?🎶" he taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.
With a callous indifference, Salvage pressed his foot down upon Shuno's head, grinding his face into the sand. "🎶I only smile at your miles of your pain ahead🎶," he crooned, relishing in Shuno's suffering.
As Shuno struggled to rise, Salvage delivered a swift kick, sending him tumbling across the beach with a painful thud. "🎶You just remember what your divine god said🎶," Salvage sang, his voice laced with malice.
"🎶Mortal, you are as good as dead🎶," Salvage declared ominously as he teleported to Shuno's side, his presence looming over him like a specter of death.
"🎶Yeah, you're as good as dead🎶," Salvage repeated as he seized Shuno by his hair, a sadistic grin etched upon his face.
With a flicker of magic, Salvage engulfed Shuno's hair in flames, the acrid scent of burning hair filling the air as Shuno writhed in agony, his cries drowned out by Salvage's sinister melody.
"🎶You're as good as dead🎶," Salvage sang once more as he seized Shuno by the nape of his neck, pulling him close with a cruel twist of his hand.
"🎶Humans are foolish and, so are you🎶," Salvage jeered, his voice dripping with disdain as he drew Shuno closer still.
"🎶Disregarding the fact that you aren't human too🎶," Salvage continued, his grip tightening with each word.
With a final flourish, Salvage hurled Shuno into the swirling clouds above, his form disappearing amidst the billowing mist.
"🎶But in a bit, you'll be inhumane stew🎶," Salvage concluded with a dark chuckle as he teleported into the heart of a raging volcano, plunging Shuno's head into the molten lava below.
When he emerged, Shuno's once-human visage was marred by charred flesh and vacant sockets, a grotesque mockery of his former self.
"🎶'Cause you're as good as dead🎶," Salvage sang with a chilling finality as he teleported himself and Shuno back to the desolate beach, the sound of crashing waves serving as a grim backdrop to their confrontation.
"🎶You're as good as dead🎶," Salvage repeated as he released Shuno, allowing him to stumble unsteadily to his feet.
But Shuno, his eyes melted from their sockets, moved blindly like a lost soul in the darkness, his every step a painful reminder of his shattered existence.
"🎶One day someone might be a little smarter than I am🎶," Salvage mused aloud as Shuno, disoriented and helpless, wandered aimlessly into a palm tree.
"🎶Or bigger and stronger, too🎶," he continued with a mocking chuckle as Shuno, his senses dulled by pain and confusion, collapsed to the ground in a heap.
"ahem maybe not," Salvage remarked casually as he settled himself onto the sand, his gaze fixed upon his broken adversary.
"🎶But hey none of them🎶," Salvage sang softly, his tone almost gentle as he observed Shuno's futile attempts to rise.
"🎶Will ever hurt you the way I do🎶," he concluded with a cruel smirk, his eyes glinting with a twisted sense of satisfaction.
Rising to his feet, Salvage approached Shuno with deliberate steps, his movements deliberate and calculated.
"🎶It's me and you, boy🎶," Salvage declared as he reached out to grasp Shuno by the nape of his neck, his fingers digging into the charred flesh with a sickening squelch.
But as Salvage attempted to lift Shuno, his ravaged skin tore away like paper, leaving Shuno's exposed muscles and sinew exposed to the unforgiving air.
"🎶And as the years go by, this ass beating will never die🎶," Salvage crooned with a cruel laugh as he flipped Shuno onto his back, tearing away the front of his skin with a callous disregard for his suffering.
"🎶How's it going? With your burnt head🎶," Salvage taunted as Shuno, fueled by a desperate surge of adrenaline, lashed out with a feeble punch that Salvage easily dodged.
"🎶You're as good as dead🎶," Salvage sang with a chilling certainty as Shuno, his movements growing sluggish and weak, attempted another attack that fell short.
But Shuno, refusing to go down without a fight, conjured a final burst of magic, summoning spikes from the earth to impale his broken body in a gruesome display of defiance.
"🎶You're as good as dead🎶," Salvage sang once more as Shuno's lifeless form crumpled to the ground, his shattered form a testament to Salvage's unyielding cruelty.
"It was a fantastic song, it even made me ponder sparing your life," Salvage remarked with a twisted smile as he surveyed the carnage before him. "This made me happy, therefore I'm letting everyone on this island live! Everyone on this island, though, will see me again," he declared before vanishing into the horizon, leaving behind nothing but death and despair in his wake.