Zergeref fist slammed into Gustav's gut the next moment, sending him flying towards the building on the left.
Gustav did a flip in mid-air and landed on the side of the wall with his legs before pushing himself forward with immense force.
Bang!
The wall caved in, blasting to the side as Gustav arrived back in front of Zergeref with an outstretched hand.
Zergeref moved towards the left at the last instant and threw out his left palm towards Gustav's ribs area as his body shot forward.
Gustav felt the rippling shockwaves headed for him and spun his body in mid-air while also throwing out his own palm in response.
[Palm Strike Has Been Activated]
His palm and Zergeref collided, causing both of them to be blasted backward.
But once again, weird metallic screeching sounds played out in Gustav's ears, messing with his movement.
'He uses the power of sound. That's why he's able to predict my movements,' Gustav analyzed as he landed back on the ground and dashed forward once again to clash with Zergeref.
'Who is this person. I can sense from his bloodline energy that he's just a Martial rank and yet he's able to trade blows with me?' Zergeref was astonished as he repeatedly clashed with Gustav.
Even though he was using different sounds to mess with Gustav and slow his movements, Gustav could still keep up with him.
He jumped backward, dodging another of Gustav's punch that nearly slammed into his gut.
"For a Martial ranked you sure are more powerful than I expected. It's time I got a little more serious," While Zergeref was speaking, Gustav dashed forward again.
pah!
Zergeref snapped his fingers, causing an invisible wave to spread around the place.
It covered more than a thousand feet of radius across the vicinity.
"Cocoon of sound," As he muttered these words…
Boom~
Gustav was suddenly struck backward as a loud sound exploded in his eardrums.
Several hundred feet behind, he landed on the ground with blood oozing out of his ears.
Gustav's vision swayed as he tried standing to his feet only to be assaulted with loud sounds. Every single movement caused a loud sound to be blasted into his eardrums, causing him to pause his movements and hold onto his ears.
After so much effort, he finally managed to stand to his feet with his hands covering his ears as he stared at Zergeref in front.
Zergeref stood in place with a smile on his face.
"SEE I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO TOUCH YOU TO ATTACK SO LONG AS YOU'RE UNDER MY COOCOON!" Zergeref happened to be whispering, but every single word he said blasted in Gustav's eardrums loudly regardless of the fact that he was covering his ears.
'Just what is this power?' Gustav wondered as his face squeezed up in pain. His head was ringing due to this, and even his own movements were extremely loud to him, causing him to stand in place.
"GET LOST!" The instant Zergeref voiced this out in a normal tone, it blasted across the place like an explosion sending a sound wave of destruction forward that blasted Gustav backward.
The words rang in his ears loudly and kept echoing, disabling him from being able to think properly or perform any actions.
Bang!
The entire vicinity vibrated intensely as Gustav blasted through the building and landed about a thousand feet away from his initial location.
Zergeref smiled and took a step forward.
Bang!
The moment his feet made contact with the ground, another soundwave was sent forward, which slammed into the building in front, causing it to be crushed as it started crumbling to the ground.
Every single step taken sounded like an atomic bomb going off. At this point, the entire vicinity was caving in due to the force of the sound.
Gustav managed to jump to his feet as he spotted a part of the building in front of him collapsing and dodged it.
"Ugh!" Gustav moaned in pain as his ears suffered from the rumbling noise of the building collapsing along with his movement.
Blood still kept oozing down his ears as he felt his eardrums might explode anytime soon.
Zergeref stood several hundred feet away and stared at Gustav with a look of surprise.
"If my strength wasn't sealed, you would be dead ten times over, but it's still mind boggling that you're still alive even after all this…" He was still whispering, but it sounded really loud in Gustav's ears.
'How long will it take?' Gustav asked internally.
("Almost there… In five..") The system responded.
("four…")
Earlier, Gustav had asked the system if it could shut down his hearing functions. He could bear the physical force from the sound. Still, if it kept messing with his ability to form thoughts and battle strategy, he would eventually lose and die horribly.
("One and Zero… Congratulations you're deaf now,") The system announced in his head.
Gustav sighed in relief as he finally looked forward and put his hands down.
He had never been so grateful for silence as he was now. Zergeref was still whispering up ahead, but now he couldn't hear a thing. Also, his movement didn't give him headaches like before.
Gustav's eyes squinted as he glared at Zergeref, who was still whispering.
Swwoossshh~
Gustav suddenly charged forward, closing the distance between both of them in an instant as he sent a fist hurling at Zergeref's face.
Zergeref was extremely shocked at the sudden sneak attack, but his head was already swerving to the side to dodge Gustav's fist from the instant he moved forward. Every sound in the vicinity couldn't escape Zergeref's hearing, including minor body movements, but Gustav only made a sound at the moment he dashed out, which was what surprised Zergeref the most. Before anyone made a move, their bodies would make certain sounds in preparation for that act.. It was impossible to normally hear these sounds, but due to Zergeref having a sound-based bloodline, he would be able to hear these sounds and use them to predict the enemy's actions.
