Nepalo was simultaneously aggravated and overjoyed by what had just happened.

Just as he reached to blast Exo Drazz’s skull to pieces with his hand, he heard the sound of someone fighting beyond the remains of Nebula Park’s big central field. What he saw when he turned around to follow the sound with his eyes was an Earthling clashing with the still active Martians.

That Earthling was Tokura Braveheart, who used his Flexoid to quickly shuffle the attacks aimed at him and send them to his enemies, teleporting away the moment they were hit by the counter-barrage.

Next up, he appeared in front of Nepalo, pushing him back with his invisible shield and teleporting him away – all the way to a burnt and smoking battlefield where three of the strongest Martian’s classmates – the Hera Trio members – lied.

From what he knew about Tokura, Nepalo could guess Earthling Class No. 1’s ‘small’ battering ram was aware he wasn’t going to delay him for long with a move like that. He probably just wanted to ensure no one would interfere with him sending all his classmates away from the big central field.

Thus, the Crimson God of War was denied the opportunity to finish off the prey he had just crushed, but at the same time was offered the chance to fight against the Earthling he wanted to face in battle the most.

Given the two combatants’ power levels, it was actually better that the other weaklings had been removed from their path in Nepalo’s mind, so they could have a proper fight. Plus, he could always find and finish off those weaklings once he was done with Tokura.

Overall, this was the better version of a compromise-type situation.

After making sure Mia, Kia and Lara of the Hera Trio were going to live at least until he was done with the business at hand , their classmate returned to where his prime target was with a couple of short-range teleportations.

As expected, the field had been emptied of all Earthling Class No. 1 members upon his arrival.

It was just him and the azure warrior, standing at the opposite ends of their arena, the energy they exuded making the air heavy with heat while the pressure from it opened more cracks on the already ruined ground.

The final stage of the ground’s destruction soon came with the blast of crimson energy Nepalo used to cross the whole field with one jump, roaring with the mad joy of a battle-hungry maniac at his adversary.

(Nepalo) ‘NICE JOB CLEARING THE FIELD, BRAVEHEART!!! WE’RE FREE TO START OUR SLAUGHTER FEST NOW!!!!’

Nepalo’s own classmates could and were probably going to get caught up in his battle, but it didn’t matter at this point. Tokura had probably only wounded them a little during their short clash, so even if they suffered a bit more damage, they would still be fine.

And their suffering was a small price to pay for the red-skinned monster to finally have what he had always wanted – to go all-out against a truly worthy opponent.

Entire clouds of crimson energy were smashed in the pseudoknight from all sides, Nepalo landing right on top of him and having already prepared to break at least a few bones with both his fists.

Those fists stopped mid-air, however, something invisible keeping them from reaching their target as well as preventing the contact of any of the energy clouds with the Earthling. Tokura had reactivated his shield with a glare more deadly than probably anything his opponent had ever seen.

(Tokura) ‘Don’t get fired-up for slaughter this early, Nepalo.

First, I’m going to have you tell me why you broke the rules of the Class Battle to try and kill my classmates. You don’t have the right to lose consciousness until then.’

The shield repelled the Crimson God of War back with the same power he had put in the attack of his fists, the same thing happening with his energy clouds while the young Braveheart had already teleported behind the creator of those clouds.

His defense sphere was now removed so he could send a wide Flexoid roar from his mouth, Nepalo needing to put up his close-fitting protective layer of energy fast to counter that.

Although the attack blasted him some distance away through the rubble and all the way to a couple of pine trees that were brought down by his crash, the Martian hadn’t suffered any damage.

The really important part of what had just happened was that Tokura had aimed to strike in the moment after the big attack and before the reforming of the layer of energy around his adversary. That was the moment the villain was at his most vulnerable.

While wondering if the timing had been coincidental, he noticed a small cut just above the wrist of his right arm. Nepalo hadn’t even realized he had a scratch on him up until now, but after seeing it, he quickly understood the reason behind his enemy’s actions.

The ‘small’ battering ram hadn’t even been aiming for the red-skinned monster’s arm just now and he had already raised the defensive layer around him, so he couldn’t have got that cut then. It was from before that.

From the only time during which he had removed the layer – when he had used the ‘Crimson 100-Horned Stampede’.

One of the Earthlings must have managed to cut him when he had passed through them and had probably discovered his secret.

Which made it more than likely that person had shared it with Tokura while his opponent had made his way back to the big central field after being teleported away.

The pseudoknight of all people knowing about Nepalo’s weakness meant things could get very ugly if he wasn’t careful. He had managed to block the last attack, but with the right timing of his Flexoid, the Earthling could eventually find an opening to do serious damage.

Of course, Nepalo hadn’t expected to come out of this whole event completely unscathed, because that would have just been boring, but there was now an actual possibility of him losing.

Having an exhilarating battle was one thing. Losing such a battle, however, was totally unacceptable.

With the knowledge Tokura had, he also wouldn’t attack unless Nepalo attacked first since he was waiting to catch him off-guard. The Crimson God of War couldn’t have that, so it was time to prompt the pseudoknight to action with some provocation.

(Nepalo) ‘You said I tried to kill your class, Tokura? Wrong. I didn’t try anything.

I was going to kill them before you came along, but I decided to deal with you first because it’ll be more fun.

Once we’re done here, I’ll get right back to finishing off your buddies.’

Tokura couldn’t fully hide the fact Nepalo’s words had infuriated him further, but he managed to somehow keep his composure as he continued the conversation.

(Tokura) ‘What you’re doing … it’s not just because our class took the spotlight from yours at Sunbird, is it? Why do you really want to get rid of us?’

Nepalo clicked his tongue a couple of times as an initial response.

(Nepalo) ‘Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Braveheart. It doesn’t work like that. You don’t get something for nothing.

Show me all you’ve got and maybe I’ll share some intel with you before you die.’

Tokura teleported right in front of him a second later, having activated his shield again and clashing it with the strongest Martian’s thin defensive energy layer, which caused the villain to burst out laughing.

(Tokura) ‘Pretty confident you’re going to win this, aren’t you?’

Nepalo now stopped laughing, but kept the gigantic grin on his face.

(Nepalo) ‘Well, I can see Lara and the twins have tired you out quite a bit, so maybe that’s why.’ – he then launched a wave of crimson energy from his whole body at the shield as he kept shouting with a voice full of confidence – ‘That shield of yours is becoming more brittle every time you put it up!!’

Tokura’s shield started cracking, its spherical shape around the teleporting hero becoming fully visible now and turning light blue in color the more it broke apart.

The only reaction the childish-looking young man with raspberry-colored hair had to this was a confident smile.

(Tokura) ‘You make a good point there …’ – the shield disappeared completely and Tokura himself was hit by the energy wave, but suddenly another Tokura appeared behind Nepalo while the one in front crumbled into Flexoid particles – ‘ … but maybe that’s because that shield wasn’t the real one!!!’

While switching with a clone was a smart move on his part, Tokura’s surprise attack was a bit slower than the first one.

That provided his enemy with the perfect opportunity to put up his close-fitting layer of protective energy again, but Nepalo didn’t do that.

In fact, he wasn’t planning on putting it up again until the end of this battle.

What he did instead was attack.

(Nepalo) ‘You’re still too slow!!!’

He quickly turned and swung with his arm, creating a curtain of crimson energy that was very thin, but condensed at the same time, having enough power to cut through any defenseless target.

But Tokura was far from defenseless, simply blocking that curtain with his shield.

Tri-horned bonebacks – Nepalo’s totem animal – were formed from the energy particles the curtain broke into after being deflected to him by his opponent’s protective sphere to launch the next attack without delay.

Their stampede wasn’t blocked by the shield as expected. Instead, all the animals were teleported aside amid a burst of Flexoid, the pseudoknight having removed his shield now with considerable annoyance.

(Nepalo) ‘What’s the matter, Tokura?! Don’t tell me you can’t put up that shield anymore!!

If you’re using just your Flexoid, I won’t have that much fun!!’ – Nepalo’s energy animals that had been teleported away came charging back through the forest and onto the remains of the big central field, their creator adding more units of the same type to their numbers – ‘You can only delay the inevitable with that energy compound!! Sending my attacks away won’t make them disappear and you know it!!!’

Tokura was being surrounded by the tri-horned bonebacks on all sides now, at the same time Nepalo forming a mini-storm of crimson energy in the sky above and switching himself with a clone while the original hid in one of the wider cracks on the field. From there he made his way underground to where the Earthling stood, waiting for the moment to strike.

The pseudoknight’s opponent was going to attack him in such quick succession, he would be unable to find any opening to counterattack. The more he blocked the attacks, the more he would wear himself out and considering he had clearly almost exhausted his devas, one could say Nepalo’s victory was already assured.

As the ground above the strongest Martian’s original shook more and more, this signaled the beginning of the tri-horned bonebacks’ multi-sided charge against their target. Their creator gave the nonverbal command for the mini-storm in the sky to be sent down to match the timing of their attack, coming out himself from under Tokura then.

Tokura disappeared with a flash of Flexoid, however, having enveloped his foe’s mini-storm in his azure energy compound to change its nature, making sure it would slam right in the Crimson God of War and his totem manifestations.

This time around, Nepalo didn’t react fast enough.

The energy storm that had been turned against him crushed the tri-horned bonebacks in their creator, some of the Flexoid transferring to them. That way, the animals’ horns could also damage their master, whose body had already been smashed hard in the ground.

Those areas of his skin that had spikes coming out of them suffered no damage, but the rest was cut and even pierced in several spots.

Tokura gave no time for respite, landing on top of Nepalo with his shield put up again right after all those attacks dissipated. The sphere’s weight hammered the red-skinned monster even deeper in the ground, making him spit plenty of blood from all the damage he had already suffered.

(Tokura) ‘Every energy compound is only as strong as its user, Nepalo, so thinking you know what my Flexoid is capable of is a big mistake!!!’

The pseudoknight teleported away soon enough, his opponent managing to get back on his feet and spitting more blood aside.

He had definitely been hurt worse before, but Nepalo couldn’t completely ignore the pain spreading over his whole body in the present. Even if a little, the wounds he had received were going to slow him down.

But more than that, the blood flowing from those wounds excited him.

How long had it been? How long since someone had managed to go toe-to-toe with Nepalo?

None of the participants in his previous Class Battles had even come close to what the young Braveheart was capable of. Perhaps Ulura’s mother alone had allowed Nepalo to go all-out without worrying about all the destruction he would cause.

But she was an ally. To find that an enemy can make you feel that way was much more exhilarating.

The strongest Martian had been in his monster form for a while now without switching back, so he wasn’t going to last much longer, especially with his current injuries. Looking across the field, he saw Tokura was covered in sweat and breathed heavily, clearly having almost reached his limit as well.

There was no return from the path of ruin now, however. The two combatants would have to walk down it together till they reached the end. And whatever that end was, it was going to be glorious.

Nepalo sighed with a smile on his face as he slowly moved forward through the rubble, every blood-stained step sending a wave of pain through his body.

(Nepalo) ‘It’s really sad, Tokura, you know? That you have to be working with the enemy. Imagine all the triumphs we could achieve if we fought side by side.’

Tokura returned his foe’s small smile as the two came closer to the other.

(Tokura) ‘I’ve already found the people I want to achieve my triumphs side by side with. So I’ll have to turn down that offer.’

(Nepalo) ‘I figured you’d say that. Still a shame, though.’

(Tokura) ‘So how about you share some intel?

I’ve shown you what I’ve got and I’m not sure what the condition of either of us is going to be by the time we end this. If there was ever a time to spill it, it’s now.’

(Nepalo) ‘Might as well. I can’t tell you the whole story, though, because I don’t know it.’

(Tokura) ‘Whatever you’ve got, I’m all ears.’

(Nepalo) ‘We’re working with Ulura’s family to eliminate the Summerbolts and all their allies, including your class. This whole Class Battle was a set-up to get rid of you.’

Tokura didn’t seem all that surprised after Nepalo said that. Maybe he had already figured some of it out.

(Tokura) ‘And you’re just going to walk away scot-free after killing so many people?’

(Nepalo) ‘Ulura assured us her parents have the necessary tools and influence to make everything that’s happened here look like an accident.

No one will suspect us of anything.’

Finally the ‘small’ battering ram showed some emotion, but it wasn’t the one Nepalo had been hoping to evoke. He was simply confused.

(Tokura) ‘That’s it? You’re willing to kill us all just because there’ll be no consequences?

Doesn’t sound like that great of a deal.’

(Nepalo) ‘Killing you by itself won’t do us any good, no. It’s about what your deaths will help achieve.’

(Tokura) ‘Which is?’

(Nepalo) ‘Making deviants the masters of this world again.’ – there was shock on Tokura’s face now and Nepalo couldn’t help but grin as wide as he could upon seeing that – ‘Eliminating everyone from our kind who supports the ordinari rule is the first step toward achieving that goal.

So I guess you can understand what we’re doing here.’ – the Earthling looked like he wanted to say something, but his opponent lunged toward him before he could do that – ‘That’s enough intel! Now let’s get back to killing each other!!!’

Hundreds of tri-horned bonebacks were created around Nepalo again, this time the creatures starting to attach themselves to different parts of their master’s body, their horns growing in size.

Soon enough the Crimson God of War started spinning, the combination of his own body’s spikes and the horns of his pets leading to the formation of the ultimate crimson energy mincer typhoon. Many energy projectiles were shot from that typhoon, increasing their size tenfold after crossing a certain distance and further decimating not just what remained of the big central field, but the whole pinewood area of Nebula, if not the whole park.

Nepalo aimed to ensure his victory with this tactic: even if Tokura could conjure his shield again, it was going to be significantly weakened from its overuse, not being able to withstand the might of his enemy’s typhoon of spikes and horns.

With the projectiles causing destruction all around, teleporting carelessly was also not an option and the red-skinned monster wasn’t going to give the pseudoknight enough time to think.

He would either have to be hit by one of the projectiles or by the mincing mass. Neither evading, nor stopping both was possible.

As the Earthling’s shield returned, it became clear he had chosen to clash with the typhoon.

Clever choice, as taking out Nepalo would make his barrage of projectiles cease. But that would only happen if he did destroy the typhoon.

One’s azure-lit sphere and the other’s crimson mincer clashed head-on, causing a blast that lifted all the rubble and newly ripped pieces of the earth in the air for a second before launching them in different directions. The resulting destruction was sufficient to level pretty much all the coniferous plants in the vicinity, accompanied by a thunderously loud bang.

Just as the shield was about to break, all the projectiles shot in different directions were wrapped up in the Flexoid and teleported next to each other in a cluster of azure and crimson aimed at Nepalo.

His attention now shifted from his enemy to this new attack, trying to cut through the barrage that now looked like a single giant wave. The only thing this attempt led to was the obliteration of the mincer typhoon.

Even though Nepalo had originally intended to not put up his thin layer of protective energy again until the end of the battle, the current situation left him with no choice.

And the moment that layer started forming, azure flashed behind him.

Tokura had now charged his shield with as much Flexoid as possible, smashing it with sufficient force in the strongest Martian to make it crack after just one hit. One hit that sent Nepalo at all the projectiles he had created with no chance of evading, his shock causing his late response to the whole development.

(Tokura) ‘FLEXOKNIGHT’S CRIMSON VENGEANCE!!!!!!!!!’

The projectiles hit Nepalo before he could finish wrapping his body in crimson energy and after whatever remained of that layer was shattered, each projectile went through a series of teleportations, hitting him again and again before finally disappearing. Every single inch of his body fell victim to this relentless barrage.

And that was it.

Someone had actually surpassed the destruction Ukris Nightsong had once brought upon him, ripping his nerves apart with endless waves of agony, his eyes only seeing a blur of azure with some streaks of crimson. The latter of the two colors probably came from his blood.

Eventually, the azure and the crimson mixed together and turned to black. That darkness consumed Nepalo, but as he surrendered to it, the thing he felt the most right after the immense pain was relief.

Although the Earthlings had not been killed, the condition of pretty much all the ones who had been on the big central field until recently was critical, so dispatching them would be easy for anyone.

Tokura Braveheart had exhausted the last of his powers to bring down his opponent, so he could no longer fight and could also be taken care of easily.

The mission Martian Class No. 3’s King had been given had been completed successfully while his foe had only delayed the inevitable.

And more importantly than that, Nepalo had enjoyed the sweetest destruction in his life. He hadn’t lost anything, but had gained so much.

So in the Martian’s mind, the winner of this clash was him – the ultimate battering ram.