"Sir Dosun, Sir Daruma, that human is coming out!" shouted a lion-maned fish-man, waving his hands nervously. "He actually did his hair! He's way too arrogant!"
The news spread quickly by word of mouth. The fish-men stirred, forming a wide semicircle in front of the barbershop. And at that exact moment, just as the atmosphere was about to explode, Tiberion appeared before them, stepping out with confidence.
?!
Some of the Fish-Men who had seen him before flinched, sensing something different about him.
A chill ran down the scales of more than one.
"H-His aura has changed…" whispered a trembling fish-man, his eyes locked on Tiberion's imposing figure. "His body looks even more… imposing."
Many took a step back, unable to explain what they were feeling. It was as if, in an instant, they had gone from facing a mere human to confronting a devouring beast.
"What's wrong with you cowards?" Dosun complained, furious to see his men hesitate. "Stop panicking over nothing-dosu!"
Without hesitation, he kicked one of his subordinates, sending him rolling directly toward Tiberion.
With five hundred men behind him, plus his own presence and that of Daruma, he considered it unacceptable to see his people waver like that.
As the unfortunate Fish-Man stumbled and fell almost at Tiberion's feet, a wild smile spread across Tiberion's face.
His red hair, swaying gently as if it were seaweed, reinforced the sense of danger he exuded.
At that precise moment, the familiar sound echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations to the host, "fierce smile" activated. Interpretation level increased by 5%. Attributes enhanced.]
A surge of energy ran through his body. He felt his strength grow once again, as if a single move would be enough to crush anyone.
"Do you… think you can escape me?" he whispered in a deep tone, so low that only the fish-man in front of him could hear.
The unfortunate one didn't even have time to beg.
Tiberion extended his right hand and, with a ruthless motion, grabbed the fish-man's head.
With a slight crack, he applied a bit more force.
Pop
In an instant, the fish's head burst, plunging the place into chilling silence.
"What… what the hell just happened?"
One of the Fish-Men let out the question, staring wide-eyed at the devastating scene that had just occurred. A collective shiver ran through those present, as if a cold wave had just hit them.
"MY GOD!" exclaimed another, bringing a trembling hand to his mouth. "He crushed his head like it was a damn watermelon!"
A sticky puddle stained the ground, and the Fish-Men around the victim turned pale, breathing unevenly.
They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed: one of them had dared to charge at that human, and with a single move, he had blown up his skull.
"Do you realize what that bastard just did…?" muttered one who was backing away, dragging his feet like his knees were about to give out. "That… that's not normal."
There was a tense silence before panic broke out.
The scared whispers turned into anguished screams, and every Fish-Man began retreating, weighing whether to fight or flee.
"DAMN IT!" a deep voice suddenly roared.
Dosun, his eyes bloodshot with rage and uncontrollable fury painted across his face, raised his gigantic mace above his head.
"EVERYONE GET HIM! Catch him now! I'm going to skin him alive—dosu!"
The Fish-Men hesitated for a second, fully aware of the power Tiberion had just displayed. However, the fear of disobeying Dosun outweighed the horror of what they'd just witnessed. They looked at each other, swallowing hard, clenching their teeth, and tightening their grip on their weapons.
Hundreds of them rushed toward Tiberion, with the sole purpose of containing him.
Tiberion looked around and couldn't help but laugh when he saw the horde of Fish-Men approaching. For him, crushing one of those guys had been like stepping on a simple ant.
And after that head-bursting strike on his first fish, his mind suddenly stabilized, as if his tolerance for violence had taken a massive leap forward.
"You really think this is gonna scare me?" he laughed mockingly, slipping one hand into his pants pocket with an arrogance that many found unbearable.
Even so, the Fish-Men seemed determined to tear him apart. They were hundreds, forming an increasingly tighter circle, but Tiberion barely flinched. With a dominant and arrogant stance, he prepared to respond with a simple move of his free arm.
Just then, the cold voice echoed in his mind again.
[Congratulations to the host, stance unlocked. Interpretation level increased by 5%.]
[Personal attributes enhanced.]
A slightly sadistic smile appeared on his face.
"Just as I planned," he murmured confidently. "Now I get how this damn 'interpretation' works…"
With this new power running through his veins, all of Yujiro's martial arts and combat moves surged into his mind, ready for him to use.
He felt like he only needed to think about it to unleash each one.
"Finish him!" shouted a Fish-Man, his face twisted with rage. "He's just a human, he can't take us all!"
Tiberion simply flexed his arm and shot it forward like a cannon, aiming straight for the chest of the Fish-Man who had spoken.
Crack
The Fish-Man flew backward and crashed into two others right behind him.
"Aaagh!"
"Waaah!"
The scene spiraled out of control in a second: the Fish-Men charged in a frenzy of weapons and screams, but Tiberion didn't take his left hand out of his pocket for even a moment.
"Break his bones!" shouted one, stepping forward with his spear raised.
The others reluctantly followed, teetering between fear and rage. However, Tiberion's speed and strength were overwhelming: his blows sounded like thunder, shaking the place and sending bodies flying through the air, leaving behind a trail of shattered spines and screams of agony.
"What the hell-dosu...?" Dosun's voice cracked like glass under a boot, his throat tightening until it was nearly closed.
Beside him, Daruma and a dozen more Fish-Men stared wide-eyed at the scene before them.
In the blink of an eye, all the soldiers who had rushed at Tiberion were flying through the air, as if they'd been hit by a truck.
The thudding of bodies hitting the ground echoed like a concert through every corner.
What gave them the worst chills was the fact that that damn human… was still standing in the exact same place. He hadn't moved even a single inch from his original position.
And to top it off, he still had one hand in his pants pocket, as if this was nothing but a game.
"No… no way!" shouted a Fish-Man next to Dosun, instinctively covering his mouth with his hands. "He's not even… not even trying with that one hand!"
"Look at Goran… by Poseidon, look at his arm! It's bent backwards!" screamed another, staring at the bodies of his companions writhing on the ground, unable to stand.
"…What the hell is this guy?" whispered Daruma, with a barely noticeable tremble in his voice. "He's not human! He can't be! Humans don't—!"
Meanwhile, Tiberion remained motionless, with that mocking stillness that gave the Fish-Men chills.
He only moved his head slightly, assessing the situation, calmly watching how his enemies couldn't even get close without being launched away.
"DAMN IT! How the hell can he be this strong?!" Dosun wiped his forehead with his hand, trying in vain to clear the sweat pouring down his temples.
'I CAN'T EVEN SEE HIM MOVE!'
Despite his rank and strength, he felt his heart shrink. Until now, he had believed there was no way a human could crush so many Fish-Men like this, but the reality was right in front of him.
"Should I…?" he muttered to himself.
His hands trembled for a moment, and subtly, he slipped his free hand into his pocket. There he kept some special pills, a resource he'd only use in a truly dangerous situation.
Swallowing hard, he felt a knot tighten in his throat.
D-Did he really have any chance of beating that monster if he swallowed these pills…?
Tiberion felt… more alive than ever.
Every muscle vibrated with energy, like thousands of electric needles dancing under his skin, giving him a feeling of power and pleasure he had never experienced before.
Now with both hands in the pockets of his pants, he stretched his lips into a sharp, predatory grin that made his cheekbones shine. To make things worse, his hair bristled and floated around his head as if it had a life of its own, defying gravity.
"Well then…?" he murmured playfully, letting out a breath full of pure confidence. "Weren't you all going to face me?"
A suffocating aura burst from his body, mixing arrogance, dominance, and a kind of restrained rage that made those watching tremble.
He knew he wasn't even halfway to Yujiro's purity yet, but with 20% interpretation, he already felt like he could devour this world.
Dosun and Daruma's hairs stood on end as Tiberion began walking toward them. That single step, that slight change in position, made them tense up from head to toe.
"No way…" Dosun muttered.
"Alright, let's do this!" Daruma's voice cracked a bit, but he regained his nerve and looked at Dosun. "You go from above, I'll catch him from below."
As Daruma burrowed underground, Dosun cursed but couldn't do anything else.
He could only feel Tiberion's presence chilling his blood.
The air around him was hard to breathe, and every second he stood in front of that figure confirmed what his instincts already knew: facing that human was anything but normal.
"I've got no choice…" he whispered, noticing how his hands trembled. Without thinking twice, he grabbed the Energy Steroids he held and shoved them into his mouth in one gulp.
!
The moment he swallowed them, a searing heat coursed through his veins.
His eyes turned a sickly crimson, and his skin throbbed as his muscles swelled. He could feel his strength multiplying by several levels, as if he had gone from an ant to a lion.
"ALL HUMANS DESERVE TO DIE!" he shouted with blind hatred, raising the mace he could barely lift before taking the pills. Now, he wielded it with ease.
Wasting no time, he lunged forward and leapt with all his fury, throwing himself at Tiberion, who was walking toward him with that arrogant attitude that made his blood boil.
But Tiberion didn't show even a hint of surprise.
He slightly tilted his body into an unusual stance, as if letting the blow come straight at him.
At that moment, he activated Kaiou Kaku's ultimate force-dissipating stance—Defensive Xiaoli.
A technique as twisted as it was effective for absorbing impact, something Yujiro had learned with a single glance during his fight with the old man.
That same technique now ran through his body, and with just 20% of Yujiro's interpretation, he had managed to reproduce it well enough to nullify the attack.
Boom
To the naked eye, it looked like the mace had hit him square in the face. A dry sound could even be heard, and Dosun felt the vibration from the strike.
"Hmph?" muttered Dosun, surprised to see that despite the blow, Tiberion hadn't moved a single inch.
!
A chill ran down his spine when, instead of seeing the human's head crushed, he was met with an intact face… and a crazed grin.
"'Not bad at all' is what I was about to say…" Tiberion murmured in a mocking tone, "But I'm afraid you didn't even scratch the surface of what I can endure."
Dosun's eyes widened.
"W-What the—!?" he began to stutter, but couldn't finish.
Tiberion had already pulled out his left hand—the one that had stayed in his pants pocket the whole time—and swung it in a downward arc, as if to deliver a simple slap.
But the tension in his muscles and the spiral twist of his waist made it clear to anyone watching just how devastating that blow would be.
Dosun barely had time to blink before realizing the nightmare headed his way.
'No… it can't be!' he cried mentally, eyes locked on that hand now moving at terrifying speed.
Deep down, he knew instantly there was no escape.
That slap carried the full strength of a monster—not only that, but also the contempt and fury of a human who, seconds earlier, had brushed off his strongest attack like it was nothing.
'I'm… finished,' he thought, feeling the impact approaching, a deathly chill running through his body. 'My head… is going to—'
Boom
It sounded like an explosion.
The thunderous noise echoed so loudly that everyone's ears rang.
A second later, Dosun's head—with its distinct hammerhead shape and long pink hair—was sent flying through the air.
The cut was so clean it almost seemed like an illusion, leaving a trail of blood suspended in the air.
And at that moment… the ground beneath Tiberion's feet began to give way.
"What…?" he muttered, feeling the earth tremble under him.
Suddenly, the section he was standing on collapsed with a crash.
The collapse revealed a massive pit over ten meters deep, at the bottom of which several sharp spikes jutted out like fangs.
Tiberion reacted instantly. Thanks to his incredible agility, he spread his legs in midair like a gymnast, trying to brace himself with the tips of his feet against the pit's edges.
Even so, he noticed the terrain was far softer than he would've liked. His shoes began to slip, causing him to slowly descend, unable to stop completely.
"Argh!"
Meanwhile, Daruma emerged from one side, eyes wide and a glint of madness flashing in his gaze.
"I can already taste your flesh…"
________
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