Victor recovered first and launched forward. His fist slammed into the Red King’s jaw, snapping the monster’s head sideways and sending him crashing through the side of an office building.

CRASH!

The entire structure groaned from the impact while concrete dust exploded outward. For one second the hunters cheered.

Then the Red King burst back through the building wall, laughing.

He grabbed Victor by the armor and drove him through the street, smashing him across the pavement before throwing him into a row of parked cars.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

The cars crumpled like paper. Victor rose from the wreckage almost immediately with blood running from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were still steady and focused.

The fight became monstrous.

Victor used pure speed and strength with each punch backed by compressed mana that made the air ripple. He landed real hits. He broke one of the Red King’s horns with an uppercut that sent fragments flying.

CRACK!

He cracked the bone armor across the king’s chest with a devastating straight punch.

CRACK!

He drove his knee into the Red King’s ribs hard enough to make the monster cough blood.

THUD.

But the Red King gave back worse.

He slammed Victor through walls, into buildings, across the street, and through a pedestrian bridge. Every exchange destroyed something. Entire floors collapsed. Pavement lifted. Shockwaves rippled through the district like explosions.

BOOM. CRASH. BOOM.

Aiden watched from the edge of the ruined street, unable to look away while dragging Callum and some civilians to relative safety behind an overturned truck.

This wasn’t a fight like the ones he’d been in.

This was a collision between disasters.

"Can Victor win?" Callum asked, but his voice shook.

Aiden didn’t answer immediately because he wanted to believe it. Victor was landing hits. Victor was making the Red King bleed. Victor wasn’t being overwhelmed.

For the first time since the Red King descended, Aiden thought Earth might actually have someone who could stop him.

Then the Red King started enjoying himself.

His attacks became sharper and more focused. He stopped testing Victor and began fighting seriously. Every punch was aimed to break. Every movement was filled with savage skill honed through countless battles.

He wasn’t a mindless monster.

He was a warrior who had spent his life killing powerful opponents.

Victor realized it too late.

Aiden and Callum were helping move wounded civilians toward a side street when the battle suddenly reached them.

Victor was thrown through the upper floor of a nearby building. His body crashed through concrete, tore through steel supports, and landed in the street less than thirty meters from Aiden.

CRASH. BOOM.

The impact created a crater and sent debris raining down everywhere.

Aiden pushed Callum out of the way as a huge slab of concrete fell toward them. He cut it apart with Sword Aura blazing white along his blade before it could crush a group of civilians hiding nearby.

SLASH.

The concrete split in two and crashed to either side.

Victor rose from the crater, but he was badly injured now. His armor was broken. One arm hung slightly wrong. Blood ran down his face and neck while his breathing was rough and ragged.

Still, his eyes remained locked on the Red King.

The Red King walked out of the dust, also injured. His horn was broken. His chest armor was cracked open. Dark blood stained his mouth. One side of his face was swollen from Victor’s earlier blows.

But he looked happy.

"You are the first warrior on this world who has made my blood heat," he said, and there was genuine respect in his voice, not mockery. "I will remember your name, Iron Saint."

Victor gave everything he had left.

His mana erupted around him, turning his body into a glowing mass of compressed force. The ground beneath him sank while cracks spiderwebbed outward. His muscles strained. The metal gauntlets on his fists cracked from the pressure of his own power.

CRACK. CRACK.

Everyone nearby felt the air change, becoming thick and hard to breathe.

Aiden knew this was Victor’s final attack.

Victor charged.

The punch landed directly in the Red King’s chest.

BOOOOOOOM!

The sound was like thunder exploding at street level. The Red King was launched backward through two buildings, one after another, each structure collapsing from the force.

CRASH. CRASH.

Dust covered the entire street. Hunters cheered again, louder this time, desperate to believe it was over.

Aiden stared into the dust with his heart pounding.

For a moment nothing moved.

Then the Red King stepped out.

His chest was caved in slightly. Blood poured from his mouth. His breathing was heavy.

But he was still standing.

And he was smiling wider than before.

Victor tried to raise his fists again, but his body failed him for half a second.

That half second was enough.

The Red King crossed the distance and drove his fist into Victor’s stomach.

THUD.

The impact lifted Victor off the ground. Blood burst from his mouth. Before he could fall, the Red King caught his arm and crushed it in his grip.

CRACK.

Victor swung with his other hand, still refusing to quit despite the broken arm and internal injuries. The punch landed against the Red King’s cheek, turning his head slightly.

The Red King paused.

Then he nodded once, almost approving.

"Your world did produce one worthy warrior," he said quietly.

Then he broke him.

He slammed Victor into the ground hard enough to create another crater.

CRASH.

Victor tried to rise. The Red King stomped down on his chest, cracking the ground beneath him.

CRACK.

Victor’s hand twitched toward his broken gauntlet, still trying to fight even with his body shattered.

The Red King didn’t drag it out. He gave Victor a warrior’s death.

He drove his fist down one final time.

BOOM.

The street shook.

Victor Hale, the Iron Saint, Earth’s strongest frontline hunter, went still.

The silence after was worse than the battle.

No one cheered now.

No one moved.

Hunters stared in horror. Civilians began crying. Callum’s face drained of color while his hands shook. Aiden’s grip tightened around his sword until his knuckles ached.

For Aiden the moment was crushing. He had watched Victor fight like a legend. He had watched him hurt the Red King. He had watched him become hope for everyone around them.

And now that hope was dead in the street.

The Red King stood over Victor’s body, breathing hard but victorious. He looked wounded but not weakened enough. The battle had cost him, but it hadn’t broken him.

He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

Then his gaze shifted.

It landed on Aiden.

The Red King turned fully toward Aiden.

At first Aiden thought it was random. Then he realized it wasn’t. The Red King wasn’t looking at him like another civilian. He was studying him. Measuring him. Recognizing something.

Maybe it was the energy that killed his generals.

Maybe it was the Sword Aura around him.

Maybe it was the fact that Aiden didn’t run when everyone else did.

Callum took a step back behind Aiden with fear written across his face. Aiden moved slightly in front of him without thinking, placing himself between his brother and the king.

The Red King’s smile returned.

He stepped over Victor Hale’s corpse and began walking toward them. Each step was slow and heavy. The battlefield seemed to shrink with every movement he made.

Aiden could feel the gap.

This wasn’t one of the generals.

This wasn’t an orc chieftain.

This wasn’t something he could overpower with one desperate technique.

The Red King stopped a few meters away.

Up close he was terrifying—injured, bleeding, and still radiating enough pressure to make Aiden’s body scream at him to run. But Aiden didn’t move. He held his sword even though his hands were tense.

The Red King looked from Aiden to Callum, then back to Aiden.

He spoke calmly, almost warmly, like a warrior inviting another warrior into the arena.

"You killed my generals."

Aiden said nothing.

The Red King tilted his head.