In the smoke that filled the sky, Loki rushed out with red eyes.
The extremely strong muscles were like a body of natural armor. Being buried under a mountain, they were only slightly bruised, showing scarlet bloodshot eyes.
"Brother, your enoki mushroom is exposed." Lynch said, covering his eyes in mock horror.
"It's not your fault that you're small, but it's your fault that you still show it and scare people."
Loki was stunned and suddenly realized that his clothes had been turned into charcoal by lightning.
"Don't look! Close your eyes!"
Despite being the majestic giant king, he cared deeply about his pride. Walking around exposed was not something he could endure.
He resisted the urge to beat everyone to death, and immediately took off Dorner's pants and put them on himself.
Dorna was like a frustrated little girl, holding his knees and shivering.
"You didn't see anything, right?" Loki asked, flashing a wide, threatening grin.
Dorner shook his head wildly.
Lynch rubbed his forehead and sighed, "It's so small... maybe a magnifying glass would help me see it clearly."
"You're asking for death!" Loki roared, his face flushed with anger.
The Emperor of West Blue had mocked him repeatedly, even witnessing his most humiliating moment. Loki swore that he wouldn't rest until Lynch was destroyed.
"Muscle · Triple Punch!"
Loki unleashed three rapid punches at close range. They were so fast they formed a single straight line, creating just one loud sound.
Lynch effortlessly dodged and countered with an uppercut to Loki's chin. The impact forced Loki to stumble backward, twisting his neck to recover his posture.
Punching Loki felt like striking a dense rubber slab compressed to its limit—unyielding and springy.
"Physically speaking," Lynch muttered to himself,
"this guy might even surpass Kizaru. His raw strength is definitely Admiral-level... or beyond."
At least Kizaru wouldn't be so casual after taking a punch from Lynch in his half-animal form. Loki's ability to fully utilize the Muscle Fruit was impressive, but its strengths and weaknesses were too obvious.
The problem with the Muscle Fruit was its simplicity—all of Loki's attacks relied solely on brute force. It made him powerful but predictable and sluggish. Targeting his weaknesses would make defeating him easy.
If Kizaru wanted to kill Loki, he'd simply take to the sky, staying out of reach while raining down lasers. Loki likely wouldn't even touch Kizaru.
But with Hilda by his side, Lynch couldn't take such risks. He needed to ensure Loki wouldn't target her in a frenzy. That meant no tricks—only a direct confrontation until Loki was defeated.
Lynch crouched low, then launched a powerful punch aimed directly at Loki's chest. Loki staggered back, his body curling like a taut bow.
Still, he quickly recovered, crossing his arms over his chest and countering with a wild punch aimed at Lynch.
Lynch wasn't about to let him off so easily. He stepped in closer, raising his knee to strike as the clash intensified.
Loki stood at a towering thirty-five meters, while Lynch, usually six meters tall, had pushed his size to the limit—now standing at twenty meters. Though still only half Loki's height, Lynch's increased size gave him the leverage he needed to fight on more even footing.
Lynch aimed a knee strike at Loki's lower abdomen, but due to the height difference, his attack accidentally shifted toward Loki's crotch.
"My uncle!" Loki shouted in his native dialect, his expression twisting in panic.
Lynch had no idea what Loki said, but judging from the tone, it was likely a curse.
Loki tried to evade, but his efforts failed, and Lynch's knee grazed him.
The pain was excruciating—sharp enough to make Loki nearly bite through his teeth. His bloodshot eyes bulged as the agony surged through him.
Channeling his pain into power, Loki retaliated by swinging at Lynch's supporting leg before he could land another strike.
Anticipating the counter, Lynch tapped his toes against the ground and leaped up gracefully, shifting mid-air from a poised stance into a crushing attack.
With both feet, Lynch stomped heavily on Loki's back, forcing the giant to stumble and crash to the ground with a thunderous impact.
As Loki fell toward the ground, he quickly planted his palms to catch himself. His muscles bulged as he pushed off with a powerful backflip, regaining his stance.
Lynch wasted no time. He surged forward, his hands shaped like spears, aiming directly for Loki's eyes.
Loki raised his hands instinctively to block, countering with a backhand hook.
Using the opening, Lynch executed a move he had learned from Koshiro years ago. With precision, he flicked Loki's wrist, redirecting the force of the giant's swing to throw him off balance.
Loki's eyes widened in shock as he felt his massive body shift uncontrollably, dragged forward by Lynch's maneuver.
"Boom!"
Lynch's knee smashed into Loki's chin with devastating force.
The impact drove Loki's jaw backward, his muscular frame swaying as dizziness overwhelmed him. With a loud thud, the giant fell to the ground, silent and motionless for a long moment.
The chin, a well-known weak spot in boxing, proved to be Loki's undoing. No amount of muscle could shield it from the lethal precision of Lynch's strike.
A blow to the jaw can send a tremor directly to the brain, forcing it to shut down momentarily.
What felt like an intense, drawn-out battle actually lasted no more than twenty seconds.
"Lynch, you didn't kill him, did you?" Hilda asked nervously, cautiously stepping closer on her tiptoes.
"Relax. You've got to trust in his... resilience," Lynch replied, squatting down and stopping his fist just an inch from Loki's face.
He had no intention of ending it here. Instead, Lynch planned to wait for Loki to wake up and offer him a choice: submit or endure another round. After all, he prided himself on being the most persuasive person around—through fists if necessary.
"Shua~"
Loki's eyes shot open suddenly.
Before Lynch could react, two enormous biceps clamped down on his fist like a vice grip.
In one swift motion, Loki curled his entire body into a tight ball, trapping Lynch's arm inside.
Lynch blinked, dumbfounded. "What... is this?"
The tactic was so bizarre that it left him momentarily speechless.
"If you can't win, you just... curl into a ball? What are you, a turtle?" Lynch muttered, half in disbelief and half amused.
"Hahaha! Witness my ultimate defense!"
Loki's voice echoed from within the fleshy sphere as he hide his head in completely, leaving only a perfectly round ball of muscle on the ground.
Tom was curious, pulled out his rapier and stabbed at the ball with all his might.
The result? The meatball remained unscathed, while the sword shattered into useless fragments.
Unwilling to give up, Tom rummaged through his belongings and brought out an arsenal—an electric drill, firecrackers, syringes, and even gunpowder. He tried them all, one after another, on the indestructible ball.
When the smoke cleared, Tom was left exhausted and empty-handed, but Loki hadn't suffered so much as a scratch. Not even a single hair had fallen.
"Hahaha! How about it? Do you see now what the strongest defense looks like?" Loki boasted from within his protective cocoon.
Lynch, however, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "Alright, but here's the real question: how are you going to attack me in that form?"
Turning to Hilda, he added, "Hilda, are you sure your brother's IQ is normal?"
"Watch your mouth!" Loki growled from inside the ball.
"Of course my IQ is fine! And since you're so eager to die, I'll gladly help you!"
The fleshy sphere suddenly began to contract, and Lynch felt a powerful pressure closing in on his hand, which was still trapped inside.
If it had been anyone else, their arm would have been crushed by now.
Gradually, Lynch felt a sharp pain in his arm. Blood began to flow backward, and his arm turned purple from the immense pressure.
Loki kept squeezing with all his might, as if determined to destroy the arm completely.
"Have you forgotten that I'm a mythical beast?" Lynch said, shaking his head at Loki's lack of foresight.
With a thought, flames ignited on the trapped arm.
A loud scream erupted as Loki, realizing he was about to be burned alive, quickly released his grip.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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