Qinze Taichiro didn't waste any time on nonsense.

He spread his arms wide as his snow-white kimono billowed wildly in the howling sea wind. His skin, originally smooth as jade, suddenly bulged with purplish-black veins that squirmed crazily beneath his flesh.

"Crack—"

A hair-raising crunch of snapping bones rang out.

This was immediately followed by the sharp tear of splitting cloth.

The exquisite kimono exploded into countless fluttering shreds.

With no clothing to obscure it, Qinze Taichiro's body began to swell at a speed that defied all biological logic.

In the blink of an eye, his slender human frame expanded and stretched out.

His skin rapidly hardened, covered over by layers of dark purple scales that gleamed with a cold metallic sheen. Each scale was the size of a millstone, their edges razor-sharp, reflecting a spine-chilling glint under the moonlight.

"Roar—!!!"

A roar that sounded neither human nor beast erupted from deep within the throat of the mutating monster.

No human vocal cords could produce such a sound; it was infused with the primordial tyranny and malice of ancient times. The soundwave transformed into a tangible shockwave, pressing the surrounding sea surface down several meters across several kilometers.

Immediately after, a mind-shattering scene unfolded.

The monster's neck muscles squirmed frantically and tore open, and amidst a foul-smelling mist of blood, seven massive serpent heads forcefully burst forth!

Each serpent head was as large as a mountain, its eyes glowing crimson like red lanterns. Their dark tongues flicked out, and viscous venom dripped from their fangs onto the sea, sizzling as it corroded the water and rising into thick plumes of ghastly green poisonous fog.

This was Qinze Taichiro's true form.

The symbol of calamity in Sakura Country's legends—Yamata no Orochi.

No, to be exact, seven heads.

"Rumble—!!!"

Having transformed into a hundred-meter giant beast, Qinze Taichiro slammed heavily into the ocean.

Tens of thousands of tons of seawater were instantly displaced, triggering a terrifying tsunami hundreds of meters high that surged wildly in all directions.

The previously calm sea immediately turned into a boiling cauldron.

Seven hideous serpent heads reared high, blocking out the moonlight and enveloping the tiny figure of Zhao Qingcang in shadow.

Facing a horrifying sight capable of driving ordinary people mad, Zhao Qingcang's aged face remained completely impassive.

He merely floated quietly in midair, letting the foul sea breeze mess up his graying hair.

Reaching out lightly into the the void, there were no dazzling light effects.

A faint flash glimmered on the Spatial Ring at his wrist, and a pair of pitch-black, ancient-styled gauntlets appeared in his hands out of thin air.

The gauntlets were forged entirely from an unknown black metal, their surface devoid of any luster, as if capable of swallowing all surrounding light.

Embedded at the knuckles were several dusty spatial crystals. Unremarkable at first glance, they faintly radiated terrifying fluctuations that warped the surrounding space.

This was Zhao Qingcang's famous Legendary weapon—【Void Disruptor】.

This pair of gauntlets had accompanied him on the battlefield for fifty years, smashing the heads of countless exotic beasts and soaked in the blood of innumerable enemies.

Ever since he stepped back to the second line twenty years ago to command the Military Command Center, this pair of gauntlets had been sealed away.

Today, the Divine Artifact saw the light of day once more.

Zhao Qingcang slipped the gauntlets onto his hands with meticulous precision, as though performing a sacred ritual.

As he clenched his fingers into fists—

"Buzz—"

A dull hum of vibration sounded out.

Fine black cracks actually appeared in the space around his fists, like a shattered mirror.

"Come at me, beast."

Answering him were seven deafening roars.

"Zhao—Qing—cang—!!!"

All seven massive serpent heads roared simultaneously, their voices overlapping into a demonic din that pierced the ears.

In the next second,

the sea exploded.

Qinze Taichiro struck first.

His immense body displayed a terrifying speed that completely contradicted its size.

The central serpent head shot forward, carrying tremendous power as its ghoulish maw gaped wide, biting down fiercely toward Zhao Qingcang in midair!

This strike was lightning-fast and immensely heavy.

The air compressed in front of the serpent head, forming a visible wall of high-pressure air.

If bitten, even an SS-Rank Expert's physical body would be reduced to a pool of mush.

However,

just as those foul fangs were about to touch the corner of Zhao Qingcang's clothes,

the old man's figure vanished into thin air.

It was not an afterimage left behind by high-speed movement,

but true spatial teleportation.

【Instant Flash】.

The giant serpent head bit on empty air, its terrifying bite force causing the air itself to detonate.

"Too slow."

An indifferent voice suddenly sounded directly above that serpent head.

Zhao Qingcang's figure appeared like a ghost.

Hanging upside down in midair, his right fist was clenched tight, muscles bulging on his arm, stretching the sleeve of his military uniform taut.

On the black gauntlet, the gray crystals suddenly blazed with blinding light.

A terrifying repulsive spatial force compressed and condensed frantically at the tip of his fist.

There were no fancy moves.

Just a simple, unpretentious straight punch.

"Bang—!!!"

The fist struck heavily against the massive serpent head.

Time froze for a split second.

Immediately following,

a visible transparent wave expanded frantically outward from the point of impact.

It was a shockwave generated by the violent compression of space.

"Roar—!!!"

The struck serpent head let out a muffled groan.

Its iron-hard scales, impervious even to missile bombardment, shattered like glass under Zhao Qingcang's single fist, exploding into a rain of fragments.

The terrifying force penetrated its skull and acted directly upon its colossal body.

Qinze Taichiro's massive body, weighing tens of thousands of tons, was forcefully sent flying backward by this single punch!

His massive serpentine body plowed a groove dozens of meters deep into the sea, kicking up two hundred-meter-tall walls of water.

Only after being knocked back a full hundred meters did Qinze Taichiro manage to halt his momentum, his seven serpent heads crashing messily into the water, churning up monstrous waves.

In the distance, atop the city walls of Nagato Port...

The Daxia generals watching this scene through the long-range monitoring formation felt no exhilaration at all; instead, deep worry filled their eyes.

"Can the Marshal win?"

The hot-tempered, bearded lieutenant general from earlier flushed red with excitement, swinging his fist forcefully: "Don't say such disheartening nonsense! The Marshal will definitely win!"

On the sea,

Zhao Qingcang slowly drew back his right fist and lightly shook his wrist.

He looked at the churning waters in the distance, making no move to pursue his advantage, but simply waiting in silence.

For Yamata no Orochi, which possessed abnormal regenerative abilities, an attack of this magnitude was at most an appetizer.

A few seconds later,

a low, sinister laugh echoed from the turbulent area of the sea.

"Hehe... hehehe..."

The seawater parted.

The seven serpent heads slowly rose once more.

The serpent head struck by Zhao Qingcang earlier was now a mangled mess of flesh and blood, a piece of its skull caved in, and one eye shattered, oozing black pus and blood.

Yet this did not hinder its movement in the slightest.

In fact, at the wound, granules of flesh squirmed frantically, healing the injury at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seven pairs of crimson eyes glinted intently at Zhao Qingcang; there was no pain in their gaze, only manic murder intent and excitement.

The central serpent head opened its maw, giving voice to Qinze Taichiro's signature tone.

Only this time, his voice lacked its previous composure, tinged instead with a touch of bloodthirsty fanaticism.

"Hahaha..."

"Not bad... not bad at all..."

"Zhao Qingcang, your fists are pretty punchy."

"Much tougher than I imagined."