Grim Fury

"This isn't something a Viltrumite should do."

Viltrumites worshipped absolute strength.

In Zoe's eyes, such underhanded tactics truly lowered the standards of their race.

"Perhaps."

Sparta brushed her off casually.

He only knew that this kind of attack was effective. So what if it was underhanded?

Resetting his stance, he chose to strike first.

With one step, Sparta appeared before Zoe at nearly teleportation-like speed, his right fist roaring as it shot toward her.

Zoe crossed her arms and forcibly blocked Sparta's punch.

Seeing this, Sparta gathered his strength and attacked again. Straight punches, hooks, uppercuts—he pressed forward step by step, his assault exceptionally ferocious.

For a moment, Zoe was beaten back again and again, unable to mount any counterattack.

After countless attacks, Sparta keenly noticed a tiny flaw in Zoe's defense. He reached out with both hands and seized her head.

Zoe struggled desperately to break free from his palms, but there was no way Sparta would grant her wish.

Sparta threw his head back, then violently smashed it forward.

"Bang!"

With a deafening impact, Sparta's forehead collided viciously with Zoe's face.

With a crack, Zoe's nose bridge was smashed flat, blood spraying from her torn face.

Zoe staggered back several steps, covering her shattered nose with one hand as her furious eyes locked onto Sparta.

Sparta shook his head. Everyone knew that force worked both ways, and that headbutt had not felt good for him either.

It felt like using that move too often would give him a concussion.

Though he was hurting, his mouth remained as stubborn as ever.

"An elite Viltrumite over eight hundred years old—do you only know how to defend?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the anger in Zoe's eyes deepened. She could not tolerate her honor being mocked.

Seeing the rage in her eyes nearly take physical form, Sparta readied himself. He knew Zoe was about to lose her temper.

"Aah—!"

Zoe roared and charged straight at Sparta.

She pressed her five fingers together, turning her palm into a sharp blade and thrusting it toward him.

Sparta barely leaned back in time to evade the hand blade. A lock of black hair was sliced off and drifted through the air.

The second, third, and fourth hand blades came one after another.

Sparta swiftly dodged repeatedly, but he was still pierced by the hand blades, leaving bloody wounds across his body.

His left cheek was not too bad, only a shallow wound leaking a little blood.

The worst injury was at his waist, where a deep wound had split his flesh open so badly that his internal organs could be seen from outside.

Blood gushed from Sparta's waist as if it were free, staining the white skintight battle suit around it red.

Sparta's blood remained on Zoe's fingertips as she lightly flicked her fingers.

The blood flew from her fingertips and splattered across the ground.

"I'll kill you bit by bit."

With that, Zoe swung her hand blade again, this time even faster than before.

Sparta raised an arm to block it, and as expected, gained another wound so deep that bone was visible.

As the hand blade was about to retract, he extended his free hand and grabbed the wrist.

He yanked hard, pulling Zoe off balance.

Sparta crouched, his blood-covered arm bent into a ">" shape as he drove his elbow into Zoe's throat.

Zoe's pupils suddenly contracted. The intense pain in her throat and the suffocating sensation made her vision go dark.

Sparta's attack did not stop. He straightened up, turned his back to her, and threw Zoe to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.

Dust instantly erupted, and the hard ground was smashed into a deep crater.

Sparta grabbed Zoe's arms with both hands, pinned her down with his thighs, and twisted his wrists with force.

"Crack!"

"Aah—!"

The sound of snapping bone and a scream rang out at the same time. Zoe's arm was broken on the spot.

Just as Sparta thought everything should be over, an earth-shaking roar came from not far away.

"Sparta!!!!"

Hearing the voice, Sparta turned toward its source.

It was Eric.

Eric's brow was furrowed, his eyebrows nearly standing upside down over his brow ridge. His face was twisted in a teeth-gritting snarl, and his bloodshot eyes seemed ready to spit fire.

In an instant, four words surfaced in Sparta's mind.

Grim fury.

Under Sparta's gaze, Eric stepped toward him one step at a time.

He moved slowly, yet every step carried overwhelming pressure.

Sparta threw Zoe hard toward Eric.

But Eric did not even glance at his flying wife. He simply raised a hand and slapped her away.

There was no longer room for anyone else in his eyes. All he could see was Sparta.

Yet that furious, unblinking gaze only made Sparta's heart pound with unease.

Before Sparta could react, Eric kicked off with both legs and appeared in front of him.

Two footprints were crushed into the ground, rubble sprayed outward, and a sonic boom ring appeared.

Facing Eric, who had suddenly appeared before him, Sparta could only reveal an expression of despair and helplessness.

He could only watch as that palm drew closer and closer to his face.

"Slap!"

Eric's outstretched hand clamped over Sparta's face, then forced his head down into the ground.

Sparta grabbed Eric's wrist with both hands, trying to pry away the hand gripping his face.

Unfortunately, it was useless.

Then Eric flew close to the ground, less than half a meter above it, gripping Sparta's head and forcefully pressing it into the earth.

As he flew, his arm continued exerting force.

Sparta was dragged forward, his body plowing a hundred-meter-long trench through the ground.

Their figures crashed into the outer spectator stands together. A second later, Eric shot straight into the sky with Sparta at a vertical ninety-degree angle.

Eric stood in midair, letting the wind lash his face. He raised Sparta above his head and said in an emotionless, icy voice:

"Clearly, you made the wrong decision."

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Sparta kicked his legs wildly in the air, but with his mouth covered by a hand, he could not make a sound.

"Listen. I won't give you any chance to beg for mercy."

With that, Eric spun half a turn in midair and hurled Sparta toward the ground with all his strength.

"Aah—!"

Sparta screamed as he fell from the sky like a meteor descending from heaven, drawing closer and closer to the earth.

Listening to the fading screams, Eric glanced downward, clenched both fists above his head, and dove toward the ground.

As the earth grew larger and larger, a bird appeared in front of him.

He showed no intention of slowing down. The bird was turned into a mist of blood before it even knew what had happened.

Elsewhere.

The ground roared, and heaven and earth trembled.

Sparta's back struck the earth. With a boom, a meteor crater fifty meters across appeared in the ground.

An invisible shockwave spread outward from the center of the crater, shattering stones wherever it passed.

"Fuck!"

Sparta grimaced as he struggled to his feet, but the moment he looked up, he saw Eric descending from the sky, about to crash down.