Sun Wukong shoved with all his might, thrusting his gold-banded staff forward. Tremendous force traveled along the blade, sending Ika staggering several meters back.
Ika's feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground. Before he could steady himself, Sun Wukong had already pursued him, staff in hand, its tip driving straight at his face!
Ika hastily pulled his blade up across his body. The Shadow Blade swept diagonally upward from below, its gleam like a black crescent moon as it slashed precisely toward the top of Sun Wukong's head.
Sun Wukong reacted with incredible speed, snapping his head back. The blade skimmed his scalp and sliced the Phoenix-Winged Purple-Gold Crown off his head. The crown's two plumes spun through the air and landed on the ground some distance away.
At the same time, Sun Wukong's staff came crashing down, striking Ika squarely on the helmet.
The blow dented the dark teal helmet and knocked it clean off, letting Ika's hair fall loose and cover half his brow and eyes.
Both of them retreated two steps and stared at each other across the gap.
Several of Sun Wukong's monkey hairs had been severed by the wind from the blade and stuck up untidily on his head. He reached up to feel his bare crown, then glanced at the Phoenix-Winged Purple-Gold Crown that had been sliced off onto the ground. His expression visibly darkened.
He snatched up his gold-banded staff, pointed its tip at Ika, and forced a sentence through clenched teeth.
"You dared slice Old Sun's hat off?"
Ika's face was equally livid, his loose hair stirring slightly in the wind. The impact when his helmet was crushed had left his temple throbbing faintly.
He replied coldly, "You're one to talk!"
Almost simultaneously, they sprang into action and clashed again.
Flashes of blade and shadows of the staff intertwined and collided in the dense forest, every clash erupting in dazzling sparks. Layer after layer of earth was blasted from the ground. The surrounding trees had long since been uprooted or snapped in half, and the entire woodland had become a ravaged battlefield.
Dozens of exchanges later, Sun Wukong forced Ika back with a sweeping strike and sprang several meters backward, spraying dirt as his feet hit the ground.
Holding his staff in one hand, he smoothed the wind-tousled hair on his forehead with the other. A trace of seriousness entered his fiery golden eyes.
"Heh, not bad. You can take more punishment than Old Sun expected."
Ika stood with his blade held across him, a dim sheen flowing over its surface, his expression cold and stern. "Monkey, is this all you've got?"
"What's the hurry?"
Sun Wukong tilted his head, his lips curving into a playful smile. "Old Sun's only just started warming up."
He reached behind his head and plucked out a handful of golden hairs.
He blew gently on the hairs in his palm. The instant they scattered, they transformed into dozens of identical clones.
The clones spread throughout the forest, surrounding Ika completely.
"Boys!"
The lead Sun Wukong grinned. "Give him a proper welcome for Old Sun!"
The moment he finished speaking, dozens of clones moved at once.
Gold-banded staffs crashed down from every direction, their shadows weaving an impenetrable net that sealed off every possible avenue of escape for Ika.
Yet Ika did not retreat a single step before this overwhelming assault.
He snorted coldly and drew his blade across the ground. The shadow beneath his feet abruptly swelled.
"Warrior corps, engage the enemy!"
The dense darkness beneath his feet spread in all directions like a living thing. Dozens of humanoid silhouettes clad in heavy shadow armor slowly rose from it.
The Helmet-Shade Soldiers moved in perfect unison, each gripping a long shadow blade matching Ika's in both hands. Only pairs of scarlet points of light showed beneath their helmets.
They silently met Sun Wukong's horde of clones, each soldier matching up precisely with a monkey. The clang of blade meeting staff rang out incessantly through the forest.
Sun Wukong's true body stood outside the melee. He frowned at the sight.
He raised a hand and pointed at the nearest Helmet-Shade Soldiers, shouting in a low voice, "Freeze!"
Invisible ripples of the Immobilization Spell spread from his fingertip, striking several Helmet-Shade Soldiers with precision.
But the Helmet-Shade Soldiers did not pause in the slightest. Their long blades continued slashing across and cleaving down, knocking the monkey clones before them flying.
At the sight, Ika's lips curled mockingly.
"Monkey, your Immobilization Spell doesn't work on us. Don't waste your strength."
A flicker of surprise crossed Sun Wukong's eyes at those words, only to be replaced by even greater interest.
For although he did not know how Ika had enabled the Helmet-Shade Soldiers to resist his control, he knew that as long as he took Ika down, these Helmet-Shade Soldiers would fall apart without a fight!
Sun Wukong hesitated no longer.
He gripped his gold-banded staff in both hands, kicked hard against the ground, and lunged at Ika again like a golden arrow.
His assault was even fiercer this time. His gold-banded staff whipped up howling wind pressure as it moved, its shadows blanketing Ika from above.
But Ika had already figured out his moves. His long blade spun swiftly in his hands, its strokes steady and precise, every step falling into a gap in Sun Wukong's attacks.
No matter how Sun Wukong changed his moves or pressed his assault, Ika always managed to place his blade in the right position at the last moment.
Meanwhile, the Helmet-Shade Soldiers were advancing steadily.
Their formation was orderly and silent. Their long blades hacked in alternating strokes, shattering Sun Wukong's clones one by one.
As the hair clones burst apart, they turned into golden motes and dispersed in the air, disappearing one after another beneath the Helmet-Shade Soldiers' blades.
Watching the Helmet-Shade Soldiers methodically cut down his clones, Sun Wukong's expression gradually darkened.
"Looks like you really will look down on me unless I show you some real skill."
He suddenly forced Ika back with a sweeping strike, then used the recoil to leap into the air. He hovered for an instant before a dazzling, fiery-red energy enveloped him.
The mass of energy swelled around him like a burning cloud, golden and red patterns of light intertwining and flowing. A scorching, violent aura spread through the air.
"Aaah!"
With his thunderous roar, a tide of energy abruptly surged outward from his body in every direction.
The fiery-red wave of light swept across the entire battlefield like a tsunami, scouring a layer of scorch marks into the ground wherever it passed. The instant it touched the Helmet-Shade Soldiers, they dissipated like mist, leaving not even a trace behind.
Ika's expression shifted slightly. He raised his long blade across his chest, and a shadow barrier formed before him, forcibly splitting the oncoming tide of energy and diverting it to either side.
When the radiance faded, Ika's gaze froze.
Sun Wukong still hovered in midair, but his form had changed completely.
A head had grown from each side behind him. All three heads turned at once, six eyes locking onto Ika together.
A pair of arms had also emerged beneath each of his armpits, each hand gripping a gold-banded staff. A faint sacred halo enveloped his entire body, and his imposing might had surged to far more than twice what it had been.