Hearing Jason's words, a blush appeared on Fitolia's seemingly unchanging face, and at the same time, her eyes filled with anger.
Furious, she immediately withdrew her legs and kicked Jason again.
The speed was too fast, and it was too late to retract the shield to block it, so Jason had no choice but to put his left arm across his head.
Accompanied by a loud explosion, the air waves scattered in all directions.
Under this powerful kick, Jason, who was originally buried in the ground, rose up and flew straight into the sky.
Just as he was about to fall, he twisted his waist mid-air and stepped suddenly with both feet.
Although there was nothing visible beneath him, a wave of air burst out under his feet, propelling his entire body higher. It looked as though he was stepping on an invisible platform, leaping further into the sky.
This was, of course, his newly acquired Moonwalk. Originally, Jason thought he would need to rely on the Air Shield to climb high altitudes, but now that he had mastered Moonwalk, it wasn't necessary anymore.
Fitolia raised her head, watching Jason ascend higher and higher. Thinking he was trying to escape, she shouted toward the sky:
"If you want to run away, it's useless! There are barriers around here—you can't escape!"
"Who said I was going to run away?" Jason shouted back.
He suddenly stopped climbing, his figure illuminated beneath the moonlight, and then began to descend.
The speed of his fall became faster and faster, and flames formed around his body due to violent friction with the air.
Suddenly, his speed surged again, and the flames around him erupted, forming two massive wings of fire.
"Firehawk swoops down!!!"
Before Jason landed, a terrifying sense of oppression like a mountain weighed down the surroundings.
Below, Fitolia's short hair whipped wildly in the turbulent wind, and she squinted her eyes.
BOOM!
The moment Jason hit the ground, a deafening explosion echoed. The earth trembled violently, and waves of dirt erupted in all directions. Furious winds surged into the sky.
Countless buildings collapsed under the shockwave or were swallowed by the swirling earth.
Gradually, the raging winds subsided, and the earth stopped turning.
Jason stood tall in the center of a massive crater, as if a meteor had struck. But there was no sign of Fitolia.
"It's commendable—your power is impressive—but your charge time is too long, and your attack is way too slow~"
At some point, Fitolia had appeared atop a nearby stone pillar, half-buried in the mud, speaking with indifference.
The Firehawk Swoop, usually unstoppable, didn't even graze her.
Jason, however, showed no disappointment. He had expected this outcome. In his previous battles, whether it was against zombie generals or Tyrannosaurus Rex, his opponents had been clumsy. But the Filo Queen in front of him possessed absurd speed.
"I know!" Jason smirked.
Before he even finished speaking, he vanished and reappeared behind Fitolia.
"I said, it's useless," she whispered coldly.
Before Jason could strike, Fitolia disappeared again, reappearing atop a dirt mound not far away.
"That's not necessarily the case," Jason responded, stepping onto the stone pillar and vanishing again. This time, his speed surpassed the limits of normal dynamic vision, and he arrived before Fitolia in an instant.
"Iron Body! CRUSH!!!"
Jason's punch was lightning-fast, but in Fitolia's eyes, it still seemed laughably slow. She kept a calm expression.
Just as she was about to dodge, her right foot slipped into the mud unexpectedly, causing her to lose her footing.
This mound of dirt had been lifted by Jason's Firehawk Swoop, making it too soft to provide stable footing.
At that moment, Fitolia realized that Jason's earlier attack wasn't intended to damage her but to soften the terrain and hinder her movements.
Even though she figured it out, it was too late to dodge.
Fitolia raised her left hand to block Jason's punch.
Jason's current attack power was far greater than when he fought the Tyrannosaurus Rex. With this powerful blow, Fitolia was pushed backward rapidly, mud splashing under her feet.
Her stern face showed a flicker of surprise—Jason's punch had exceeded her expectations.
However, while the blow was impressive, it wasn't enough to truly harm her. Jason had anticipated this.
Without waiting for her to recover, Jason kicked into the air.
"Tempest Kick!!!"
Each kick unleashed a series of vacuum slashes, cutting through dirt and gravel with devastating force.
Fitolia raised her right hand, and a light-blue barrier appeared in front of her like a shield.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The barrier trembled under the onslaught of vacuum slashes, but it remained intact, protecting Fitolia from harm.
Jason frowned slightly. Even with all his strength, he couldn't break through Fitolia's defenses.
"She might be near the pinnacle of this world's combat power... or maybe she's already reached it."
Jason mused silently. He knew Fitolia was strong but hadn't expected her to be this overwhelmingly powerful. She was far stronger than she had been when dealing with Filo in the original story, likely because she hadn't taken Filo seriously back then. It was all just play to her, and she hadn't used even a fraction of her full strength.
"It looks like your attack is over. Now, it's my turn to show you some real strength," Fitolia said calmly.
Before her words fully reached Jason's ears, she vanished from sight. The sound of a sonic boom followed in her wake.
"SPEED KICK!!!"
This was a skill Filo had used before, but the power of Fitolia's version was on a completely different level.
Jason struggled to follow her movements, barely able to track her trajectory. He instinctively raised his Air Shield to cover his chest.
In less than a blink of an eye, Fitolia flashed past Jason and appeared behind him.
"It's terrifying, managing over 20 kicks in such a brief moment," Jason muttered with a grim smile.
Just as he finished speaking, five or six gashes surfaced across his body, and blood slowly seeped from the wounds.
In her normal state, Fitolia could deliver 12 kicks instantly. However, using her high-speed De Li Hao technique, the number of kicks doubled, overwhelming even Jason's defenses.
The Air Shield blocked more than ten of her kicks, but the remaining strikes landed, leaving the five or six marks now streaked across Jason's body.
"It's over," Fitolia said coldly, turning her sharp gaze toward Jason. Though her face remained expressionless, her eyes carried an unshakable confidence.
"The end?" Jason grinned wildly, twisting his neck with a cracking sound. "You put too much faith in your strength. I am just warming up!"
Jason turned to face her fully, his maniacal grin growing wider as his wounds stopped bleeding and began healing before her very eyes.
Within mere seconds, the shallow wounds vanished, leaving no trace except for the small pools of blood on the ground as proof he had even been injured.
Jason's defense was far more terrifying than either his strength or speed, and it came paired with resilience beyond the limits of ordinary humans.
Fitolia's high-speed kicks had barely dented his overall endurance—her barrage only shaved off about 100 points of damage, a mere fraction of his total stamina.
Jason stood tall, his eyes gleaming with excitement.