The deathmonger felt deeply angered and disrespected by Noboru's words. All the previously felt joy and excitement vanished from his face and were replaced by cold and utter rage.
"You really think you're something, don't you? You may be talented, but you're just a weak shit. Know your place."
He launched a high kick directly at Noboru's face once he finished speaking. Already anticipating an attack, Noboru dodged with ease.
The deathmonger's groin was perfectly positioned and undefended. Hence, Noboru launched a mighty counterattack, punching his crotch with all of his strength.
After letting out a loud scream of pain, he jumped a few metres back with shaking legs.
"What was that just now? I should know my place? I guess you're not realizing just yet who's truly in danger here."
Noboru spoke with a self-righteous smirk. He seemed calm even though the deathmonger had expected him to be trembling in fear and struggling to stay alive by now.
"I'll… I'll fucking murder you. I'll break all your limbs and watch you squirm and shake in pain. I'll extract your nonvital organs. I'll eat your eyeballs in front of you. I'll make sure you regret disrespecting me, the deathmonger! You'll suffer greatly before you die, you hear me Noboru!?"
His rage had finally reached its boiling point. He was no longer able to control anything and was solely controlled by a powerful urge to kill.
Everything went how Noboru wanted it to. Rage impairs the ability to correctly make decisions. He could stand a chance against the deathmonger if he continued to play his cards right like this.
The deathmonger dashed at him once again, unleashing a fury of fast attacks. All of these destructive blows were aimed directly at vital points. He desired to maim Noboru quickly so that his victory would be guaranteed.
Not one of these strikes was successful. They were all either evaded or blocked.
Due to their speed, Noboru couldn't go on the offensive for quite a long time, but as his strikes became less effective and sluggish, he was able to strike the side of the deathmonger's right elbow, injuring it immediately.
He groaned painfully and held his arm for a short while as he gazed down at it. He no longer attempted to use it. It dangled down his side now and became an impairment if anything.
Of course, Noboru didn't just stand around, idly waiting for the deathmonger to get ready to continue fighting. He jabbed his throat, punched his sternum, kicked the sides of his knees and struck his liver.
The deathmonger collapsed after these strikes all landed perfectly.
It was undeniable that the deathmonger was strong and that his use of his primary element was far beyond Noboru's, but his physical strength and martial arts were terrible to say the least.
His primary element was only compatible with one fighting style, which was summoning. He wasn't immune to the explosions he caused, making his primary element useless in close combat.
Due to his limitations, he always had to stay far away from his enemies when using it. This made it impossible for him to develop his close combat skills properly.
On the other hand, Noboru's close combat skills were extremely overdeveloped for his current rank.
Close combat wasn't his only chance because it was his forte, but because it was the deathmonger's least developed attribute.
The deathmonger's pride made him unable to fight with his primary element against Noboru. He viewed it as too easy, and he detested the idea of killing him too quickly.
Naturally, he'd almost only utilize close combat against him so that the fight could be entertaining and unnecessarily long.
His pride was his own ruin.
Just as Noboru thought that the deathmonger had already passed out, he was hit by an explosion.
It caused severe burns on his legs and arms, which he had used to shield his vital points from the blow.
The injured deathmonger rose from the ground, looking disappointed.
"I thought I could finally have an interesting fight. One where I wouldn't need to use my primary element. I guess I was wrong. I'll simply blow you to smithereens and end this."
Within just these last few seconds, all of Noboru's advantages had disappeared. He was now just as, if not more, injured than his opponent, and the limitations the deathmonger put on himself were abolished as well.
His burning flesh sizzled with each movement, steam rising from his body. It was pain that he had never felt before. Pain that some would consider worse than death.
"Try."
As Noboru spoke these words, dark mist, hovering just above the ground, surrounded them fully and wrapped itself tightly around Noboru's injuries.
It hardened and acted as a sort of bandage for Noboru's wounds.
At the same time, the mist surrounding the deathmonger hardened partially and without warning. This hardened mist then shot up at the deathmonger quickly, trying to strike him and, more importantly, trying to hinder him from attacking Noboru properly.
Due to Noboru's inexperience when it comes to using his primary element, he was unable to do significant harm to the deathmonger.
Some strikes were so weak that he didn't even need to dodge them and could simply endure the attack with ease.
His focus wasn't on Noboru, giving him the chance to close the distance again and attack the deathmonger in close combat.
As he dashed forward, trying to strike a severe blow, he noticed a small string out of lithium. It was so thin that it was barely even visible to the naked eye, but that didn't hinder its effectiveness one bit. It exploded right in Noboru's face. By miracle, he absorbed the majority of the force with hardened dark mist and didn't receive an injury from the attack.
He rushed towards the deathmonger once again, trying to land a blow.
Many more of these lithium strings appeared in his way, all creating a short-lived explosion.
His view became severely obstructed for a short while, causing him to enter a defensive position, anticipating an attack.
There was no attack. At least not immediately. As the smoke cleared, he noticed a lithium rock on the ground right before him.
It was easily 1 metre in height and width.
"Did you really think you stood a chance against me? Pathetic. You thought you had me in some sort of predicament, meanwhile, you were the one in danger all along."
A cruel smile was plastered on the deathmonger's face as he spat these words, believing that Noboru would surely die.
Noboru's eyes widened, and he had a look of pure shock. He used all of his focus and strength to try and gain space while also creating protective barriers out of dark mist between himself and the lithium stone.
The explosion that followed was gigantic and destroyed multiple nearby buildings completely. Nobody, neither the deathmonger nor Noboru, was to be seen among the smoke.