Immediately, he felt an almost instantaneous connection to whatever it was on the other side, directing it as well as he could.
At the same time, he weaved and dodged through every single one of the Monarch's attacks.
He had long since realized he had no actual way of beating the monstrosity before him.
Baran may have been a powerful monarch as well, but he was not at full power. He had barely been resurrected, and Steve had capitalized on that fact.
He couldn't do the same to this Goro-looking guy. It had no such weakness to take advantage of.
Its power seemed to grow based on will, and its form wasn't stable. One moment, he was fighting against a humanoid monster; the next, he was battling a giant creature.
[You can't dodge forever!] the Monarch said before leaping high into the air.
"Yes, I can… Shit!" Steve replied as he immediately jumped into the air as well.
Boom!
A loud explosion was heard as the Monarch, now the size of a whale or probably bigger, landed on the island.
The ground shook as the island itself nearly sank, but Steve was high up in the air and not affected.
Waving his hand in a downward motion, three large Torii Gates fell out of the massive portal Judy had created.
Using the creature's new massive size and clear lack of fighting ability to his advantage, the Torii gates immediately slammed down, entrapping the Monarch under them.
As soon as they connected with the ground, Steve felt a whole new kind of energy wave fill the lands as all became quiet.
[What… is this?] The Monarch called out as the dust finally cleared away.
Now it was all revealed: the Monarch was still there but now smaller and in its original form, which was that of an amoeba.
The Torii gates, which were once big, had somehow adjusted their size but remained on top of the Monarch.
Above all, the area around now seemed completely devoid of all life. The once tall grass had shriveled and died, and the trees were broken and dry.
There may have been no animals or humans on the island, but plants flourished. However, now there seemed to be none of that; they were all gone… dried up.
"Damn… Judy, are you recording this?" Steve asked.
[Every minute of it, sir. However, it would seem my help may not be needed anymore.]
"Yes, but stay. I have a feeling more will come to save him or something," Steve replied.
He may have won this battle, but it wasn't because he was strong enough to win it. Rather, it was because the opponent had probably never seen battle before.
It was overconfident and used its power wildly. It lacked any form of true combat ability. That much could be seen in the fact that he wasn't dead yet.
It was way faster, stronger, but still he was here unscathed. If another Monarch or something on that level arrived, God knows he wouldn't survive.
[What… is this… sorcery?] The Monarch asked with an obvious strain in its tone.
It was obvious that the Torii was working well… Maybe a little too well, but who was he to complain?
The Torii was built to suppress or, more accurately, absorb any and all energy within a given target.
It was one of his latest creations, one he had created to battle the young hunter. It was made to absorb soul energy.
"Just a little bit of engineering and ingenuity. In about 2 to 5 minutes, they will drain you of all your energy… Neat, right?" Steve answered proudly.
He knew they worked, but not this well, and he was glad that it was so.
[This isn't over, mortal…] The Monarch began, only to be cut off by a jet of powerful flames.
Using his powers, Steve burnt the creature out of existence. He didn't go through all this trouble just to listen to some villain monologue.
"Is it dead?" Steve asked, unsure.
He didn't exactly know how things worked for these Monarchs. Last time, he fought against one that had just resurrected, so maybe death didn't hold such a claim over them.
[It is, sir,] Judy replied through their connection.
"Are you sure? It doesn't feel like I… Oh, sorry, he's definitely dead," Steve said before he felt a massive rush of energy in his body.
....
Extra chapter courtesy of @Asura