Chapter 464 463: Why Didn’t You Get Hit?!

After cutting down One Leaf Knows Autumn, Fenric's cold gaze shifted to Adam.

"Adam, it's your turn."

The words had barely fallen when Fenric vanished.

Whoosh!

The sharp crack of air being torn apart echoed.

In the next instant, Fenric reappeared before Adam and, without a word, drove his fist forward.

The punch was so fast that even the A-rank masters around couldn't see it. All they caught was the fading blur of an afterimage as the fist crashed toward Adam.

But Adam was no One Leaf Knows Autumn. His overall strength was ranked even higher than Fenric's.

Fenric's punch landed squarely—yet the figure he struck dissolved into nothing but an afterimage.

Adam's real body had already slipped far into the distance.

"Shura, Aurora! This time, I'll admit defeat. But next time, you won't be so lucky!"

His tone left no doubt—Adam was preparing to escape.

"Another time?" Fenric's voice turned icy. "You won't have the chance."

Just as Fenric and Vivienne were about to close in together, Adam raised both hands in a strange gesture—palms spread wide, one left, one right.

The sight sparked recognition in Fenric's mind.

Then Adam shouted:

"Solar Flare!"

Fenric's expression shifted. His voice cut sharply through the air: "Vivienne, close your eyes!"

He knew this technique well. Like the Turtle School's Kamehameha, it came straight from the world of Dragon Ball. Tien Shinhan's signature move—using Qi to explode into blinding light.

The Solar Flare itself had no destructive power, but its dazzling brilliance could blind opponents and rob them of their combat edge.

A living flashbang.

It seemed Adam had harvested well from his ventures into the Dragon Ball world.

But Fenric's warning came a heartbeat too late.

The dark night sky suddenly split open as a blazing sun erupted, flooding the land in searing light.

Vivienne and the other Samsaras were caught off guard. Their vision went white, eyes stinging, shouts of pain breaking out one after another.

"Damn it!"

Some scrambled into defensive formations, fearful of ambush.

The battlefield was thrown into chaos.

The only ones unaffected were Adam—who had cast the technique—and Fenric, who had closed his eyes in time.

And so, the Indestructible Demon Body revealed itself once more.

Thanks to Purification restoring his strength, Fenric had bypassed the cooldown, and the demon form raged to life again.

Boom—!

A sonic boom split the air as Fenric accelerated to five times the speed of sound, instantly catching up with the fleeing Adam.

Seeing Fenric close in, Adam's heart lurched.

"You… you weren't blinded!?"

Indeed, the Solar Flare could be devastating when unexpected. But anyone familiar with the move knew its countermeasure.

Fenric's cold snort followed: "Adam, I'll send you to the afterlife."

Adam's face twisted. He understood—against Shura in his current state, resistance was futile.

So he stopped moving. He didn't even try to dodge.

It looked as if he had resigned himself to death.

Fenric frowned. A trap? Perhaps. But it didn't matter.

Schemes, in the face of overwhelming power, were nothing but paper tigers.

His fist roared forward.

Creak—!

The blow struck Adam head-on.

The destructive force exploded outward, tearing at space itself. Shockwaves shredded everything in their path.

Adam's body began splitting apart under the sheer force.

Yet even as his form unraveled, he sneered:

"Shura… we'll meet again."

His body shattered, fragments scattering into the sea below.

Fenric lowered his fist, frowning.

Though Adam had been annihilated before his eyes, his instincts screamed otherwise.

That wasn't death.

Adam's final words… his past use of puppet bodies…

The signs were too clear. This was another stand-in.

Fenric's expression darkened. So, even Adam's death is a lie…

Truly, the man was worthy of the title of first S-rank powerhouse—deep, unfathomable, slippery as an eel.

"Shura!"

Vivienne flew over, her eyes bright with relief. "Did you just wipe Adam out?"

Fenric released the demon body's power, his form returning to normal. He shook his head.

"No. That was another puppet. Adam isn't dead."

Vivienne's brows drew tight, her voice filled with frustration. "That man is too cunning."

But she didn't doubt Fenric's judgment.

"Still," she reasoned, "in the Samsara space, no life-saving technique is without limits. Adam may have escaped, but he's lost dearly. You've dealt him a heavy blow this time."

Fenric nodded slowly. Her words rang true.

The Samsara space never granted invincible rewards. If Adam's puppet substitute had no restrictions, he would've cleared the thirty-third floor of the Samsara Tower long ago.

Besides, Fenric remembered clearly—when Adam used the puppet stand-in for the first time, his face had turned grim. It must have exacted a heavy toll.

Now he had used it twice in quick succession. He wouldn't walk away unscathed.

—---

Meanwhile, in a luxurious villa within the Cindralock Dominion—

The air rippled, and Adam stumbled out of the void into his bedroom.

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood splattered the floor. His face was pale as paper, streaked with white strands of hair.

The puppet substitute—an arcane witchcraft secret he had obtained—could only be used three times in total. Each time consumed not only immense energy, but his very life force.

Originally, Adam had intended to save it for breaking through the thirty-third floor.

Now, not only had his plan failed spectacularly, he had burned through two of his precious stand-ins.

A devastating loss.

Staggering into the bathroom, Adam stared into the mirror.

The man looking back was haggard, aged, nothing like the flawless genius he once was.

His chest heaved with rage.

Never—since he began climbing the Samsara Tower—had he suffered such humiliation.

"Shura…!"

The name hissed out from between his bloodstained teeth, his eyes blazing with hate.

"SHURA!!"