“Hah… Hah…” Kai panted as his body was covered in superficial wounds. 

Neptune also had the same condition. Both of them were trying to outsmart each other in this fight. 

Kai had the superiority in mind, but Neptune was stronger. The latter managed to stop a few of Kai’s attempts, resulting in them being in the same condition. 

They had been clashing for around thirty minutes. Their bodies also started to give up after these many wounds and blood loss. 

Neptune gritted his teeth and moved forward, not giving Kai any time to breathe. Kai also shared the same sentiment. 

“Sonokinetic Blade.” 

Kai released a Sonic Wave to Neptune. 

Instead of blocking it like with his physical ability, Neptune summoned another head to devour it. His body couldn’t handle that kind of power anymore, even though he hadn’t even used half of his Magic Power. 

Crown Jewel’s supply of Magic Power was close to infinite after all. 

“Move!” Kai shouted, raising his own morale to continue fighting.

“Ha!” Neptune thrust his spear, forming another water tornado. 

Kai also punched the air and formed a similar one with his Sonic Wave, neutralizing the tornado.

He then appeared behind Neptune by using his Teleportation and waving his sword. “Sonokinetic Blade.” 

“Water Sphere.” Neptune formed a small ball of water that engulfed Kai’s attack. 

After that, Kai closed his right eye for a split second as the water turned into a spike and pierced his foot. 

“Kh!”

Neptune clenched his fist and struck Kai on the chest while the latter stabbed his stomach.

“Gah!” Both of them coughed blood and remained strong. 

However, Neptune still had thicker skin and a stronger body. He blew Kai away with his strength, destroying a few ribs.

“Ha…Ha…” Neptune panted a few times, looking at Kai’s eyes which seemed to begin losing their focus. 

“You won’t be able to defeat me,” said Neptune. “Though, I applaud you for reaching this far. With this kind of injury, you can buy enough time for your wives to hide far away from me. I admit that I will need at least one year to recover from this injury and some parts can’t simply be recovered…”

“Buying time? That is a term after I lose against you.” Kai harrumphed. 

“Just take a look at yourself. You’re closer to your physical limit than me. You’re going down sooner than me.” Neptune snorted. 

“That is something I decided. If it’s to kill you, I can fight even when I’m unconscious.”

“I applaud your attitude, especially coming from someone who just became a protector… I, Neptune, acknowledge you as my equal. Even if you die, I promise I will bury you and regard you as my greatest rival. No one will look down upon your corpse.” Neptune raised his hand, saying with a full conviction. 

“Unfortunately, If I kill you here, you will die without a burial ground. I may not be able to invade the sea, but I will make them suffer because of your decision and this grudge that has gone through generations.” Kai shook his head. 

“Fine by me. After all, I will kill every single human I can find, making sure your race extinct.” Neptune snorted. 

“Extinction huh… How many times has humanity gone to the brink of extinction? Yet, we have survived every single time, adapting to the situation. No matter what, your goal can’t be achieved. Humans will survive even a thousand years from now on.” Kai smiled.

“Hmph. We will see whose vision is true.” Neptune raised his staff.

With both of them reaching their physical limit, Kai did something unexpected. He made sure the Crown Jewel stayed in front of him as Kai concentrated, gathering all his power into his sword. 

After taking a few deep breaths, Kai waved his sword down. “Sonokinetic Blade!” 

“You’re insane!” Neptune shouted and drew a gasp when he saw Kai stroking his own Crown Jewel. “Do you know what you’re doing?” 

Kai remained silent and hit it with all the power he had while crushing it with his own Sound Wave. 

Clink. 

A shard, a hundredth of its original size, snapped. It was at this time Kai’s intention became clear.

“Are you trying to create a mini-apocalypse?!” Neptune’s expression turned grim. This mini apocalypse had happened a few times in the past. They were not strong enough to influence the entire world, but it was enough to destroy a civilization, like the Maya tribe or any advanced ancient civilizations. 

And Kai seemed to be planning to use this power to kill him. 

However, Neptune thought of something else. This was a chance. He hurriedly charged forward while waving his staff. “Even with a mini-apocalypse, you need your own altar to do that. I have checked the water and found nothing wrong.”

Kai furrowed his eyebrows and tried to grab both the Crown Jewel and its shard, utilizing them together. 

“Wait, no. You’re going to use it together?” Neptune opened his mouth in shock. 

He struck both swords together and soon realized the one with a smaller shard was weaker than the one with the Crown Jewel. At the same time, now that the Crown Jewel lost a portion of its power, their strength wasn’t equal anymore. 

He shifted his spear to the side, pushing the weaker sword before striking the stronger one with all his strength, knocking Kai’s sword away. 

“This is it… I thought you were going to use it to create a small apocalypse, but I guess you’re not at that level yet.” Neptune smirked as he used this chance to pierce Kai’s stomach with his staff.

“Gah!” Kai spat a mouthful of blood as the staff pierced through him. 

“I am going to flood your body with water.” Neptune smirked, but that expression didn’t last for long. 

Kai grasped Neptune’s wrist with his right hand and locked it, so he didn’t pull out. He smiled, “I got you.” 

Neptune widened his eyes as he thought, ‘What is he planning to do? No matter what, I can channel my Magic Power into my staff and flood his organs with water. This way, it will surely kill him.’ 

However, that thought disappeared when Kai raised his other hand. 

The long sleeve was ripped apart as patterns started shining on his hand. 

“Wait… What’s that?!” Neptune recognized the pattern because it was a very important pattern. “The altar’s Magic Circle…” 

Kai made a big smile as he clenched his fists, holding the small shard of his Crown Jewel. “Goodbye, Neptune!” 

In that split second, Neptune understood what was going on. Just like the Crown Jewel, the altar could also be shattered into pieces.

Kai used the same amount of power to chip away a bit of the altar and planted that shard in his own hand, hiding it underneath his flesh. 

Now that he had the altar, the Magic Circle, and the shard, everything was already aligned for him to create a small apocalypse. That was also why Kai said goodbye to Neptune. 

“You—”Before he finished his words, Kai’s fist hit him on the face. 

A loud sound then erupted like that of a volcano’s eruption. There was once a record that Krakatoa’s eruption could be heard from thousands of kilometers away and Kai just replicated that power to kill Neptune. 

The shock wave it produced was far beyond his imagination as it surpassed that of an atomic blast. 

Kai used all his Magic Power to protect himself and flew away. 

Boom.