Infinity, The Arcade Age

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, Vega's body slammed into the ground.

His twisted frame was drenched in blood—he'd been completely killed by that one move.

However, as his physical body perished, Qin Ming could clearly sense an enormous surge of spiritual energy bursting forth from the corpse.

It was obvious—what had died was just the body. Vega's soul was still very much alive and kicking.

Qin Ming wasn't the only one who sensed this—Rose did too. Without hesitation, she activated her sect's ultimate technique: Spiritual Seal Art!

Her own soul energy erupted outward, wrapping around Vega's spirit in an attempt to forcibly compress and seal it.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that her spiritual power wasn't on the same level. After all, she had cultivated through her own training, whereas Vega had grown by devouring the souls of others. How could their total power even compare?

So even without a body, Vega showed zero fear of Rose.

Not only did her technique fail to seal him, but she was instead pulled in—Vega began draining her spiritual power instead!

Worse still, along that link of energy, Vega was forcing his way directly into her—intending to possess her!

Watching this unfold, Qin Ming rolled his eyes hard.

Didn't I call it?! He knew this woman was a walking battery! All she ever did was hold people back!

When it came to psychic users, it was all about who had more raw power—there was no technique, no clever trick.

The moment Rose's spiritual strength proved weaker, she never had a chance to beat Vega.

She knew she wasn't a match—yet she still went poking the tiger?! What was she thinking—trying a sneak kill on someone who devoured whole sects? Was she afraid Vega wouldn't eat his fill or something?!

Qin Ming didn't really have a method to destroy a spirit, but that was fine—he might not be able to finish Vega off, but that didn't mean he couldn't hit him.

With killing intent surging up his arm, Qin Ming raised a hand and swung it down with full force.

Crack! With a chilling snap, the killing-intent-infused knifehand struck the air—splitting Vega's spiritual form cleanly in two!

Vega let out a shriek of pain and immediately fled, vanishing into the void.

No longer having her spiritual power siphoned—instead having absorbed some of Vega's—Rose dropped straight to the ground, fainting on the spot.

Having slapped the infamous spiritual leech into retreat, Qin Ming didn't even bother chasing him. Even if he could catch him, he lacked a way to finish him for good.

So, he simply ignored Vega's escape. Walking up to the corpse, he crouched down and picked up a key from Vega's body.

Looking at the legendary-grade key in his hand, Qin Ming couldn't help but smirk. He was just about to go help the others when he noticed something strange—ever since Vega's death, the surrounding fighters—who had been brutally strong and utterly fearless—had all collapsed to the ground in unison.

They had all fallen unconscious.

Clearly, with Vega's body gone, his psychic control had been lifted.

Everyone he had brainwashed lost consciousness due to the backlash.

Seeing so many powerful warriors lying helpless, Qin Ming rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought, debating whether to take this opportunity to... harvest a few benefits.

But before Qin Ming could make up his mind, he suddenly froze. The next second, as if sensing something, he lifted his head sharply.

At nearly the exact same moment, the ground above the Shadaloo underground base exploded! The ten-meter-thick layer of earth was blasted open, and a figure tore straight through the ceiling, crashing down in front of Qin Ming amidst a storm of dust and debris!

From within the smoke, a dark silhouette slowly stood up. And when Qin Ming got a good look at the figure, his eyes went wide.

Because the person who had just appeared wasn't a stranger—it was Akuma! The very same Akuma he had once defeated!

He'd actually come here on his own—and judging from his current state...

Staring at the man's now snow-white hair, the ominous killing intent pouring off him, and the aura of bloodlust that had increased at least fivefold, Qin Ming's expression turned utterly stunned.

Could this be the legendary… Mad Demon form?!

In the game lore, Akuma—being a martial arts grandmaster—had two paths he could take.

One was to fully embrace the killing intent, merge with it completely, and become a vessel of carnage—a bloodthirsty monster. That was the Mad Demon form.

The other was to achieve full enlightenment, master the killing intent entirely, and become its ruler. That was the Shin Akuma form.

Both transcended humanity—one becoming a demon, the other a god.

And the Akuma now before him—with eyes devoid of emotion, filled only with pure murderous intent—was clearly the former.

So the old bastard finally snapped! He broke his mental defenses and chose to fully fuse with the Killing Intent Wave, just to come beat me and reclaim his pride?!

He must have tracked Qin Ming here because of the Shun Goku Satsu earlier. As someone who had also mastered the move, Akuma would definitely sense the violent wave of killing intent when it exploded outward.

Qin Ming glanced up at the torn-open ceiling, then back at Akuma, now fully wreathed in killing intent and already in a battle stance. He couldn't help but grin.

"Looks like our final battle's coming a bit early… Akuma."

As he spoke, Qin Ming mirrored the exact same opening stance, his own aura of bloodthirst swelling around him.

The two locked eyes—and then burst forward at the same time, both using Ashura Senku to close the distance, following up instantly with their deadliest technique:

Shun Goku Satsu—Instant Hell Murder!

BOOM!

A massive shockwave exploded outward, blasting everyone nearby clear off their feet.

And as countless shocked eyes watched, Qin Ming and Akuma—after clashing equally in their opening strike—launched into a fierce showdown between martial brothers.

Hadouken!

Shoryuken!

Hurricane Kick!

Neither one played defensively—they just kept attacking wildly!

Qin Ming relied on his blood control ability to heal himself, while the Mad Demon version of Akuma used his killing intent as a restorative force.

Wounded as they were, both healed just as fast—trading blows while regenerating nonstop.

They fought from the secret base to the streets, and then from the streets into the city.

The crashing of buildings echoed endlessly as pedestrians screamed and scattered. The two of them tore through everything like demolition foremen—if it stood, they smashed it.

Qin Ming was blasted through over a dozen walls by a punch, only stopping after tumbling through several rooms that were torn apart by the resulting air current.

Akuma was grabbed and hurled like a battering ram—demolishing buildings and snapping vehicles in half as he flew nearly a hundred meters before crashing down.

After a full half hour of nonstop fighting, the two—each with incredible recovery powers—were still going strong.

But the entire city was now nearly leveled.

Buildings collapsed, cars were destroyed, and countless civilians were unintentionally killed in the chaos. The police and military forces that had rushed over were wiped out in swaths without even slowing the two down.

Qin Ming and Akuma had proven—with their fists—what it meant when two ultra-destructive martial arts grandmasters threw down in a city without holding anything back.

(End of Chapter)