Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1551: Final punch

Rain’s journey through life had been marked by betrayal and abandonment. Wrongly branded a criminal and cast aside by those he once trusted, he harbored a deep-seated distrust for society. This sense of betrayal had left him jaded and wary of forming new connections, causing him to focus solely on protecting his family, the only ones he felt he could truly rely on.

In his new life after reincarnation, Rain’s initial years were consumed by this protective instinct, with little room for empathy or concern for others. The wounds of his past experiences ran deep, shaping him into a guarded and self-reliant individual. Similarly, the dragon god, lacking any meaningful bonds, existed in a state of isolation, caring only for his own well-being.

Their shared history of suffering had instilled in them a sense of detachment from the world, driving them to prioritize their own survival above all else. This mutual sense of disillusionment and self-preservation colored their perceptions and interactions with the world around them.

"Well, you had your second chance, so you won’t get any pity from me," Rain shrugged.

The dragon god clicked his tongue... hearing just the possibility of someone pitching him annoyed him like never before... he couldn’t allow that, but Rain refusing to do so felt even more insulting to him.

In the next moment, the dragon god made up his mind and then suddenly attacked him... his body was smashed like never before, and he felt his bones crushing his organs as Rain was pushed backward.

Before he could stop, the dragon god aura changed and the copied Rain’s technique... his whole body glowed with energy and thanks for that, the attack made Rain fly to the dizfabr as his body was crushed and his limbs fell apart as he left the Atmosphere of the planet.

"Just a single minute’s worth of stamina and this technique can do this much..." The dragon god said, and then he checked his body. "I am fine with this level of attack since my body is much stronger than a human’s body."

The dragon god couldn’t help but smile and improve his mood thanks to that. That technique was truly useful... but soon the smile disappeared since he began to feel inappropriate... the goal of his reincarnation and Rain’s was to decide the best vessel for the overseer, but since that technique wasn’t originally his, it made him feel like he was like that... even though he didn’t want to play the overseer’s game.

"The next attack will kill him, and that should be enough to get rid of this annoying feeling..." The dragon god thought and then clenched his fist.

The dragon god teleported thousands of kilometers away and soon saw Rain’s body approaching. He was unconscious and completely battered, but that didn’t make the dragon god relax. He doubled the cost of energy of the second attack and then launched it when Rain got within range... only to see Rain turn around at the last moment and then suddenly headbutt him.

The dragon god’s punch missed and then the red head was completely smashed thanks to the attack, but Rain didn’t stop there... Even without limbs, he was still able to run behind the dragon god and then headbutt him once more and keep pushing him back to the planet.

Rain kept using Origin Strike with his forehead and kept pushing the dragon god, who tried to fight back, but soon he felt his body getting incredibly heavier for some reason... before he could understand what was going on, they returned to the planet, and Rain smashed the dragon’s god body against the surface of the planet... a good part of the surface had been destroyed, but the impact made half of the planet be covered with fissures, such was the power of the attack.

Rain suddenly jumped out from the massive crater that his attack created, and then his body began to heal while he showed a harsh expression as he watched the crater...

Eventually, the dragon god teleported away from the hole and began to fly while breathing roughly... that didn’t make any sense. He still had mana; he used way more mana than stamina.

"You think that you can copy me and that is that?" Rain asked. "You should at least take a few seconds to realize the weaknesses of the techniques you steal. You deserve the title of stupid dragon instead of dragon god."

It didn’t take long for the dragon god to realize what had happened... using that technique consumed a lot of stamina. While he had millions of points of stamina and he could recover that in less than five minutes, both attacks used more than half of his stamina and Rain’s attacks decreased his stamina even more. It was a simple tactic...

"From the moment you said that you learned some skills from me, I knew that you would use that technique again and then I waited for it while also preparing for it... I maxed out the counterflow technique in the meantime and increased its efficiency, all for the sake of this moment," Rain said.

"Such a simple technique wouldn’t work on me that much... you wouldn’t have the time to improve it or make it level up either," The dragon said while sweating cold.

"I had time, and I had the means," Rain said while smiling. "I could have done much faster if I hadn’t used the time aspect against you."

The dragon god could tell that Rain didn’t use the other aspects just to annoy him, but the time aspect consumed more energy than the others, so... at that moment, the dragon god realized what had happened. While Limitless Breaker was active and he was using the time aspect, his stamina recovery speed was much higher than before, and he also could use the stamina that he would recover in the future with time magic... with all that in mind, he could have maxed out the counterflow technique several times... since that wasn’t a spell, it was physical skills and those skills required stamina to level up.

The dragon god panicked and soon did the same thing, he obtained access of his future stamina and then his body got lighter again. However, that was within Rain’s plans and he realized that when he saw him smiling.

"You never learn... there are rock, paper, and scissors games that are less predictable than you," Rain said. "This will be the final solo attack against you. To prove to you that brains are as important as brawn and without it, your brawn is useless."

There were many things that Rain could do using the power of the aspects to deal with that situation. However, his intentions didn’t change, to defeat the dragon god, he had to break his spirit by showing the difference between them at a very basic level with no tricks and no flashy moves... making the enemy realize that even the simplest techniques can become the most lethal in the hands of a true master...

In the end, Rain raised his right index finger and then pointed toward the dragon god. It was ridiculous to think that he would be able to do anything with that alone, but the dragon god still raised his guard and then used all of his heads to smash him when Rain suddenly moved...

In the next moment, eight of the nine heads of the dragons fell on the ground as blood began to gush from the wounds. Considering the appearance of the wounds, it looked like something massive that ripped the heads apart with their bare hands... as if that wasn’t enough, the body of the dragon god began to form cracks around itself... as if he had charged that technique for far too long... the dragon god stopped moving all together with an expression of shock in his face. If he were to move too much, his body would fall apart and even he wasn’t sure if he could regenerate from that.

"Do you get it now?" Rain asked as he lowered his right arm, and then the same began to fall apart as if it was turning into dust. "Having that much stamina means nothing if your body can’t handle it. Decreasing your endurance would make all that energy into poison to a frail body with too low endurance. Attacking with your heads made the whole thing worse for you. Well, I was planning to target your heart, anyway. You should recall the technique Precise Strike, which is five levels below the Counterflow technique. Regardless, it is time to finish this since I am done with you."

At that moment, the dragon god realized that there was a very fundamental difference between him and Rain... as a dragon, he was already born with power higher than most, and he was able to build his strength in a safe environment... not even when he became the next dragon god, he had a difficult fight in his life. He always overpowered his opponents.

As for Rain, he was born with little, but he valued the little that he had. He lost the house he was born in; he lost the second house that he grew up with, and then he lost his grandparents, thanks to the wars. He was born weaker and had to check as possible paths to become strong enough to protect himself... even though he had become that strong to defeat the machine gods and the dragon god, Rain still decided to finish that battle with his allies. He opened portals to where he left them and then began to emerge from it.

"Woah... is this the worst that you have shown yourself so far?" Terra asked.

"I am not sure. At this point in time, it is hard to say," Seara said. "We can say that now that looking like he had been beaten like a bitch seems like Rain’s default appearance."

"... So much disrespect... anyway, this can wait," Rain said. "This is the final strike, and since we are together in this, my final strike will be your fine strike as well. I hope that you all are satisfied with this."

Everyone nodded. That had been a very long journey... as long as they win and survive, they don’t care how it ends exactly. With that in mind, they stood behind Rain, and their presence alone powered him beyond the limits of what should be possible.

"What is your name?" Rain asked. "You never told anyone your name until now. Do you want to die and be forgotten like that?"

"... Yes, this life was a mistake," The dragon god said and then closed his eyes, and then he finally let go some spheres of light from his body; they were the final relics. "I lost, but at least now I know that the overseer lost too."

Rain didn’t say anything. He just unleashed his final serious punch on the Dragon god...