Ultimate Liberation

The night sky continued to thunder, wave after wave of sound rolling through the air. After the white light faded, the cloud canopy had been completely shattered, with vast gaps exposed beneath the river of stars. Starlight poured down unobstructed, its cold glow illuminating the entire sky above the palace. The ruins churned in the light as clouds of dust rose without end, as if the earth itself were gasping for breath.

Netero stood firm high in the sky, palms pressed together, toes lightly touching the air. Every breath he took seemed to strike the atmosphere. With his back to the river of stars and cold light trailing behind him, he looked like an immovable iron statue. Meruem hovered below, arms spread wide, shoulders and back bulging. The swelling of his muscles set the air trembling, while the space beneath his feet seemed pressed inward. The two faced each other across the sky. The night wind vanished, and the air turned rigid.

Netero's toes suddenly came to a halt, and his body plunged downward. His palms became blades, cleaving long scars through the air as white light slashed diagonally across the night. Meruem drove both fists forward, the armor on his arms cracked, yet he still took the attack head-on. Palm and fist collided in midair. The tremendous boom thundered across the night sky, the shock ring expanding rapidly and overturning the remaining bands of cloud. The shock wave crashed down upon the earth, sending dust surging a hundred yards into the air. Stone paving in the outer streets split apart, and whole stretches of trees snapped.

Netero used the momentum to flip through the air, striking repeatedly with his palms. The first palm locked onto the King's shoulder, the second sliced diagonally toward his ribs, and the third drove