As the mouse charm was removed, the bootleg Superman reverted to a statue, and due to the numerous injuries sustained in the fight with Robert, it shattered immediately upon losing the charm's power, scattering stones everywhere.
"This feeling, it's really comfortable!" Valmont felt the mouse charm integrate into his body, not only showing no resistance but actually closing his eyes to savor the sensation.
"Hmm?" Robert raised an eyebrow at Valmont, sensing in him the fusion of the twelve charms' powers and the constant changes in his own aura.
"Whoosh!" Quickly, Valmont reopened his eyes, and a laser shot from them, blasting a large crater in front of Robert. Robert's expression remained unchanged, not even retreating a step.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" Valmont's voice had changed somewhat, and he mockingly sized up Robert.
"Afraid of you? Why should I be?" Robert scoffed in return, questioning, "And what should I call you? Valmont or the Holy Master?"
"You're smart to have figured it out so quickly. But it doesn't matter what you call me; I'd quite like to kill you either way..." Valmont said, eyeing Robert intently. In an instant, he vanished from sight, showing incredible speed that made his previous rabbit-charm speed look sluggish in comparison.
"Bang!" But Robert was just as fast. He easily dodged Valmont's punch and counterattacked, sending Valmont flying. Robert's extensive combat experience allowed him to anticipate Valmont's moves and react accordingly.
"Curses... Uh!" Valmont, attempting to speak while rising from the ground, was not given the chance by Robert. Once the fight had started, it was time to go all out.
"Bang!"
"Boom!"
Valmont, now controlled by the Holy Master, was overwhelmed by Robert's relentless assault. Neither had much real combat experience compared to Robert, especially the Holy Master, who spent most of his life sealed away, enjoying luxuries, or scheming against demon brothers, rarely engaging in true combat.
Thus, the fight between Valmont and Robert resembled the earlier battle with the bootleg Superman. Both Valmont and the Superman matched Robert in strength and speed, but fell short in combat skills.
Of course, Valmont proved to be more challenging than the Superman due to the comprehensive power of the twelve charms, some of which were particularly troublesome.
Whether it was the defensive power granted by the ox and tiger charms or the healing abilities of the horse and dog charms, they made it difficult for Robert to inflict significant damage on Valmont.
Every time Robert managed to break through the ox and tiger charms' defense and injure Valmont, the horse charm's power would heal him.
And when Robert unleashed a fatal attack, aiming to decapitate Valmont with his energy slash, the dog charm activated, rendering Valmont immune to the damage.
"It's useless, kid. You can't defeat me, and I can't suppress you. Let's just call it quits for today, shall we?" Valmont, constantly verbally harassed by Robert throughout the fight, sought a truce.
Valmont wanted to kill Robert to vent his frustration but knew it was difficult in his current state. He could only passively defend against Robert's attacks, unable to counter.
"Therefore, Valmont sought a temporary peace with Robert, planning to release the Holy Master from his statue once Robert let his guard down, gaining true freedom."
"Annoying enemy! But it's quite exhilarating!" However, Robert seemed deaf to Valmont's words, his battle spirit rising even more. The excitement he felt fighting the bootleg Superman was entirely different.
And Robert understood what Son Goku must have felt fighting Majin Buu – powerful yet unable to defeat the undying opponent.
Valmont, like Buu, was unharmed and unkillable. Despite trying various methods, Robert couldn't inflict severe damage, even when transforming his energy into different powers.
"Since I can't kill him, I'll trap him and slowly figure it out!" After a while, with Valmont's sturdy base nearly destroyed in the fight, Robert tried most of his tactics to no avail and changed his approach.
Next, Robert punched Valmont again, sending him crashing to the ground. Valmont, accustomed to this by now, didn't mind much, knowing he wouldn't truly die and could heal from any injury in an instant.
"Shh!" Just as Valmont thought this, an energy blade pierced through him, deliberately avoiding his vitals as Robert feared the dog charm would nullify the attack if it deemed it lethal.
"It's useless; such attacks are nothing to me. The horse charm will heal me," Valmont casually remarked, overlooking the energy blade in his left shoulder.
"Indeed, the horse charm will heal you. So, I just need to resist the charm's power," Robert agreed, keeping the energy blade active, continuously damaging Valmont's body.
"Puff!"
"Puff!"
"Puff!"
This was just the beginning. Multiple energy blades appeared, avoiding Valmont's vitals but still piercing him, the defenses of the ox and tiger charms proving insufficient against Robert's power.
The horse charm's power continuously struggled against Robert's energy blades, trying to negate their impact but failing.
While Robert couldn't resist the dog charm's immortality, he was well-acquainted with the horse charm and had no problem countering its healing power.
"What's the point of this?" Valmont wondered, not bothering to resist as Robert's energy blades pierced him. After all, he wouldn't die, and being tortured by Robert didn't bother him since it wasn't his own body.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
Robert didn't answer, instead using the energy blades to smash Valmont's body around, adding new injuries that the horse charm quickly healed.
"I've found it!" Robert's eyes brightened as he located the horse charm within Valmont's body, following the healing of other injuries.
Valmont was just a puppet controlled by the Holy Master, not the Holy Master himself, so the charms' power remained in him as stones. Finding these stones would help Robert break Valmont's immortality.
"Hum!" Robert's energy blades diverged, becoming finer and navigating through Valmont's body, aiming to cut out the horse charm's location.
"Hmm?!" Valmont finally sensed something wrong and tightened his pupils, shouting, "You won't succeed!"
"Puff!" As Valmont spoke, his body struggled violently, breaking free from Robert's control. His limbs fell, and blood spilled, but he escaped.
Valmont's absolute strength wasn't much different from Robert's. His earlier ease of control was due to Valmont giving up on fighting back.
Sensing danger, Valmont effectively countered, even with a dismembered body, refusing to let Robert take the charms.
"Whoosh!" At that moment, Robert appeared before the limbless Valmont, reaching for his abdomen, where the horse charm was located according to his previous investigation.
"Puff!" Valmont couldn't dodge in time, getting grievously wounded by Robert, who failed to seize the horse charm as Valmont shifted slightly at the last moment to protect it.
"Boom!" As Robert prepared to reach for the horse charm again, Valmont's fallen limbs suddenly flew up, grabbing Robert and exploding.
Both Robert and Valmont were within the blast radius!
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