Once again, everyone had a bewildered expression after hearing what Bruce just said. Mona did not look happy at all after a little brat disrespected her just because she is a woman.
"Brat, there were females among those you killed earlier. Stop spewing bullshit" Cormac had enough of Bruce for the year.
"I actually became a gentleman after realizing the errors of my ways" Bruce coughed lightly trying to justify himself.
"The deal is off if you do not fight her" Great Emperor Stinson was prepared to leave. It was pointless to haggle over this.
"Fine, but none of you can shame me for not being a gentleman after defeating this lady!" Bruce stopped messing around and got ready for the fight.
Truthfully, when Bruce saw the opponent, he knew that the Dark Forces had sent out their strongest early stage Divine Emperor. He wanted to get her riled up and make a few mistakes to lessen the difficulty of the battle.
Mona didn't say anything and drew out her sword. Bruce put on his silver gauntlet and began the fight.
As expected, Mona immediately created a domain when the fight started.
"Darkness, come to me" Mona said softly.
The entire entrance area was covered by dark clouds causing one to have difficulty of breathing. Only Great Emperors were able to withstand the darkness domain.
Bruce started to cough and fell to the ground. Mona saw the opportunity that she envisioned and went in for the kill.
"Die!"
Mona flew from the sky and aimed her sword directly at Bruce's head.
CLANK
Moments before the sword landed on Bruce, his left hand grabbed the sword. Meanwhile, his right hand was fully charged up and he punched Mona directly in her chest.
BOOOOM
Mona got blasted away while leaving her sword in Bruce's hand. She ended up spurting blood from her mouth after taking a punch from Bruce. She could not believe at an early stage Divine King could be that powerful. She knew that she had fallen to his bait which is why she was reduced to such a pathetic state.
"Impossible…" Everyone muttered.
No one could believe what they just saw. Bruce, an early stage Divine King, managed to withstand a domain of a Great Emperor and have an offensive power on par with one as well. Such a thing was absurd and only existed in fairy tales. No one would believe this unless they saw it with their own eyes.
"Give me back my sword" Mona said.
"Here you go, I'm a gentleman after all" Bruce threw the sword back to Mona. He didn't want to make a bad impression on his future in-laws.
Mona stood in place and decided to not engage Bruce in close combat. His silver gauntlet clearly indicated to her that he was the strongest at close range. She no longer took Bruce as a joke but treated him like a real adversary.
Mona began to swing her swords in quick motions in the air. Sword qi began to fly out of her swords and sliced the air like razor-sharp blades. Over time, the sword qi became even stronger and more ferocious. Bruce dodged most of the attacks but still got hit by some. Cuts began to appear on his body.
The sword waves began to slice off landmarks around the area like an undying storm. Bruce slowly lost his footing and kept moving backward. At this rate, the battle will soon be over.
"It appears that I can't win unless I use everything" Bruce muttered quietly as he dodged Mona's attacks.
He charged up his gauntlet with all elemental energy and clapped his hands together.
BOOOOOOOOOOM
The explosion dissipated all the incoming sword waves.
"You're kidding me…."
"He has affinities with all the elements!" Great Emperor Fargo was thoroughly frightened.
In the past, he agreed to not protect Bruce because the information stated that Bruce had 4 elemental affinities. The difference between 3 and 4 elemental affinities is not terribly significant since Edward has the rare darkness element.
Now, the situation is different. Not only does Bruce have the darkness element, but he also has the lightning element. If the Alliance of Kingdoms thoroughly nurtures Bruce, the end will come for the Dark Forces.
Likewise, the Great Emperors from the Dark Forces also thought of the same thing. Bruce is now the greatest threat to their entire empire. He must die before he can be allowed to grow. Unfortunately, they can only place their hopes on Mona killing Bruce in the fight since both sides are watching each other like hawks.
Mona was surprised to see Bruce having all elemental affinities, but she didn't waiver. The difference between a Divine Emperor and a Divine King is gigantic. There was no way she could lose.
Bruce dashed toward Mona only to meet dozens of shadow blades falling toward his face. The swords moved so fast that they impaled his body. Seeing that he had no way to move forward, he sent out a soul attack to Mona.
"Soul Seeker"
Mona tried to block the soul attack, but it was no use. Bruce's soul was already much more powerful than that of the average Divine Emperor. Mona spit out blood after taking significant damage to her soul. She couldn't believe that a Divine King could be this powerful. However, she still managed to stab her black sword into Bruce's chest.
"Mona Dodge!" Great Emperor Stinson yelled out.
Mona looked up and found blood-ridden Bruce right in front of her ready to deal the final blow. Bruce stood steadfast on the ground and used all the muscles in his body to throw out his strongest punch.
"Stars Annihilation"
All the elements fused together in perfect harmony while enveloping the gauntlet. With the natural offensive power enhancement of 50% from Heavenly Stars, this fist would be considered an atomic bomb.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Clouds of dust were everywhere as the forest behind Mona got blown away. After the dust settled, Mona was still standing but she was clearly in bad shape. Bruce's gauntlet was blocked by two swords. There were clear cracks in the swords which only exemplified how powerful the attack was.
There were cuts on Mona's body with some parts of her clothes torn away. Bruce stared at the woman's underwear and didn't know what to do.
"Ahem miss, your body is showing" Bruce stepped back from Mona to give her privacy while panting heavily. Blood was seeping out of his body, and he couldn't hold on for much longer.
Mona didn't even notice that her clothes were torn apart. All she could think at that moment was to block the attack. She looked at her body and found her underwear was out in the open. She was so embarrassed that she wished she could dig a hole and hide in there forever.
When she saw the culprit of her demise looking at her with a nonchalant expression, she became enraged.
"You pervert!" Mona chased after Bruce with the intent to kill. Before the fight, she didn't have any grudge against Bruce. Now, she wanted to eat him whole.
"Why are you mad? I just told you to cover your body!" Bruce really couldn't understand this crazy woman.
Seeing that she was still able to fight, Bruce once got ready to land another strike only to find Mona struggling to move forward. She dropped her two swords on the ground and fell.
Lightning streaks appeared on her body and suffocated her preventing her from doing anything.
"AAAAHHH" Mona screamed out as the lightning continued to cause a rampage across her entire body.
"The match is now over, isn't it?" Bruce looked to Great Emperor Stinson. However, the latter still didn't say anything just yet.
"No, it's not over…" Mona still held her ground and refused to throw in the towel. She stared at Bruce with great hatred which solidified her insane image in his head.
"If that's the case, then you'll just have to die then" Bruce landed in front of Mona and threw out a punch to her heart.
"STOP!" Great Emperor Stinson yelled out.
He used his power to prevent Bruce from killing his daughter in front of him. However, doing so only met him with contempt from the other side.
"Stinson, the rule is to not meddle in the fight" Great Emperor Fargo released Bruce from the grasp.
"My daughter has lost." Great Emperor Stinson ignored everyone and picked up his daughter.
"Then please pay up the fees" Bruce held out his hands with a grin. Bruce looked quite horrific at that moment as his entire body was covered in blood.
"Watch yourself, Bruce Stellae" Great Emperor Stinson threw a storage ring into Bruce's hand and led his troops away from the scene. The series of events that happened over the past couple of days have significantly damaged the financials of the Dark Forces.
More importantly, the Dark Forces are now running against the clock. The more Bruce becomes stronger, the harder it will be for them to kill him.
"Thank you for the donation." Bruce waved happily at the other party. He gave out the coordinates where the Dark Forces prodigies were held to Cormac Monet.
After no longer seeing the shadows of the other party. Bruce dropped his smile.
"Shit, here we go again"
Bruce fainted on the ground.