Hit vs. Toppo

Lu Fan silently watched.

Hit and Toppo weren't supposed to be all that far apart in strength.

They had already been fighting for nearly a minute.

Neither had managed to gain the upper hand.

Hit hadn't used Time Skip.

Toppo hadn't used Destruction, either.

For now, their clash was little more than a probing exchange.

They were testing each other, then looking for a way to eliminate their opponent.

Two minutes passed.

"Bang!"

Their fists collided.

"Thud, thud, thud!"

Both of them staggered back several steps.

The next moment, Hit and Toppo stood facing each other.

"You're strong. If you were in our universe, you might be a rival for the position of God of Destruction," Toppo said calmly.

"Hmph." Hit snorted without replying.

"I know you can control time. Go on, use it and show me!" Toppo said, turning into a streak of light as he charged toward Hit and threw a punch.

"As you wish! Time Skip!" Hit gave a cold snort and immediately used his technique.

"Bang!"

Hit's fist struck Toppo on the nose.

Toppo felt a sharp sting. When he touched his nose, he found blood already streaming from it.

His eyes widened in shock.

I didn't even see him throw that punch!

Is this what controlling time means?

He briefly stops time?

Then uses that to hurt me!

"Impressive. You're even harder to deal with than I expected," Toppo said with a smile. "But you're only controlling time. I won't lose to you!"

"Boom!"

Purple-red flames suddenly surged around Toppo.

The God of Destruction Form.

Toppo had activated his God of Destruction Form.

Hit's expression grew grave.

"Then let's continue." Toppo grinned and charged at Hit again.

"Time Skip!"

Without hesitation, Hit used Time Skip once more.

Then he punched Toppo in the chest.

"Smack!"

What happened next shocked Hit.

Toppo had raised a hand and blocked his punch.

Hit's eyes widened.

"To make that time-control technique more effective, you have to suppress your opponent's energy, right? My God of Destruction energy is far beyond your base energy now," Toppo said with a smile.

"What?" Hit's expression shifted again and again.

"Bang!"

Toppo didn't hold back. He drove his knee into Hit's chest.

"Ugh..."

Hit spat out a large mouthful of blood and felt as if his whole body had been wrecked.

"Bang!"

Toppo kicked him again, knocking him to the ground.

"Damn it... Could Hit really be no match for that guy?" Champa gritted his teeth.

"Hmph. No matter how strong that Hit fellow is, how could he possibly surpass my candidate for God of Destruction?" Belmod said with a scornful smile.

"You've lost, Hit." Toppo held out a hand and aimed it at Hit from a distance.

"Rumble!"

A powerful blast of energy shot from Toppo's hand.

Like lightning, it hurtled toward Hit.

Hit was startled and hurriedly rolled aside, dodging the blast.

"Boom!"

Toppo's energy struck the arena floor.

The ground shook violently.

The spot where Hit had just been standing was cracked, too.

"You're pretty quick, but you're only struggling in vain." Toppo snorted and sped toward Hit.

In an instant, Toppo appeared directly in front of him.

"I have to admit, you're the only opponent in this God of Destruction selection whom I respect. But you should go down now." Toppo clenched his fist and drove it toward Hit's chest.

But just as Toppo thought his punch would send Hit flying out of the arena—

He was startled to see Hit's figure turn hazy.

"Damn! It's an illusion!" Toppo's expression changed.

"You're far too careless!" Hit's voice came from behind him.

"Hey!"

Hit kicked hard, striking Toppo squarely in the back.

Toppo pitched forward and slammed into the arena floor.

He continued sliding forward, soon coming within a meter of the arena's edge.

Hit rushed forward, ready to eliminate him while he had the chance.

Toppo reacted quickly, scrambling to his feet and blocking Hit's incoming punch with his arm.

"I won't lose to you," Toppo snorted. "You may have gained a slight advantage just now, but I'm still the one with the upper hand."

"Is that so?" Hit grinned.

Toppo froze. A sudden sense of dread came over him.

"Rumble!"

In an instant, an extraordinarily powerful energy erupted from Hit, too.

A pale-blue aura enveloped his body.

"What?" Toppo's expression changed repeatedly. "Y-you... were you hiding your energy this whole time?"

"You guessed right." Hit smiled faintly.

"Time Skip!"

Hit used Time Skip once again.

Time stopped.

"Bang!"

His foot slammed into Toppo.

Time resumed.

Toppo took the hit and went flying backward.

But Toppo was a candidate for God of Destruction, and he reacted quickly.

Just as he was about to fall out of the arena, he hurriedly grabbed the edge with his right hand.

His entire body was hanging in midair, but since his right hand still clung to the arena, he didn't fall right away.

Hit walked over.

Toppo's expression grew extremely grave.

"Down you go," Hit said calmly, then stomped hard.

"Crack!"

The edge of the arena where Toppo was holding on came loose.

Toppo lost his balance and fell out of the arena.

"Whoosh!"

Toppo blurred out of sight and reappeared in Universe 11's spectator stands.

Toppo was eliminated.

"Phew..." Hit let out a long breath.

That guy was tough to deal with.

Toppo: "..."

Belmod: "..."

Belmod hadn't expected things to turn out this way, either.

"Sorry. I underestimated him," Toppo said gravely.

Belmod didn't know what to say to him.

But it had already happened. There was no point in saying more.

"Forget it. Even if I gave you a scolding now, it wouldn't do much good... Just go back to being my candidate for God of Destruction," Belmod sighed. "Actually, when I think about it, this might be for the best. It saves me from having to train a new God of Destruction."

"I'm truly sorry, Lord Belmod." Toppo lowered his head in apology.

Belmod waved a hand and said no more.

"In the first semifinal, Hit of Universe 6 is victorious and advances to the final," the Grand Priest announced with a smile. "Hit may go to Lu Fan and collect another can of Cola."