Coach, he's cheating!
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
At this moment, Rowen's heart was completely collapsing. That flame-manipulation ability, it was just shameless.
Maintaining a slight crouch, he locked eyes with his opponent.
In the next second...
Boom…!!
A huge burst of flames jetted out from behind Black·Rowen's right elbow, propelling him forward like a bullet.
The size and power of the flames were clearly much weaker now, proving that Rowen's earlier attacks hadn't been meaningless. Otherwise, a single mass of fire would've been enough to blow Rowen to pieces already.
But that didn't change the fact that Rowen was still at an overwhelming disadvantage.
Both of them were severely injured and incapable of executing any truly clean attacks, but without a doubt, the one who controlled flames had far more ways to keep fighting.
Thud!!
By the time Black·Rowen lunged in, Rowen had only just managed to stand.
A flame-boosted hook punch, or something like one, slammed heavily into Rowen's abdomen, but Rowen braced it with one hand against the biceps, drastically reducing its power.
Noticing that Rowen's left arm was already broken, Black·Rowen grinned. His free left hand also sprayed out flames as he brought it crashing down.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The savage punches hammered down like mallets, one after another, smashing into Rowen's head. In an instant, blood poured down his face. Yet he clenched his teeth and held tightly onto Black·Rowen's right arm, refusing to give him the chance to attack with both fists at once.
If this continued, death was inevitable, but letting go would mean dying even faster!
"I have to think of something!" Rowen's thoughts spun wildly, desperately searching for a way out.
Boom!
At that moment, a wave of dizziness washed over him. His body went limp, strength draining away.
Under the relentless blows, he finally hit his limit.
Blood seeped down from his forehead, soaking his eyelashes and blurring his vision. Feeling resistance surge from his arm, Rowen's expression changed instantly.
"Shit!"
In the instant Rowen's head spun, and his grip weakened, Black·Rowen seized the opening. He wrenched his fist free with a violent twist, then raised both hands, grinning savagely as he smashed them inward.
"Die!"
Bang! Kuāng! Dāng!!
Both fists collided with Rowen's temples from either side. His head buzzed violently, stars exploding in his vision. Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, his seven orifices were bleeding, flowing like little streams.
Seeing this, Black·Rowen snorted hot air from his nostrils and slowly released his grip.
Pū Tōng!
After taking such a devastating blow, all strength left Rowen's body. The moment he lost support, he collapsed heavily to his knees in front of Black·Rowen.
"Ha… Ha…"
Drawing deep breaths with visible effort, Black·Rowen reached out and pressed a hand against Rowen's head, preventing him from falling over.
"We're both stubborn as hell, aren't we?"
Bathed in the joy of victory, Black·Rowen lifted his head to gaze at the empty Underground World, both hands slowly sliding to the back of Rowen's head.
Bang!
He suddenly forced it downward while bending his knee, driving it up in a vicious knee strike.
Thud…
Under the massive impact, Rowen was knocked loose and sent flying, crashing to the ground.
His nose bridge was shattered, his face utterly ruined. His only remaining eye was half-open and unfocused, making one seriously doubt whether he could still hear anything clearly.
"You must be wondering why I'm doing this, right…?"
Continuing his merciless assault and confirming that Rowen no longer had the strength to fight back, Black·Rowen plopped down on the ground, panting as he spoke.
"You should've realized during that fight, we're one and the same. Not just our thoughts, but our personalities too. We are completely identical."
"I am you. Not some second personality. But precisely because of that… I have even more reason to kill you. To replace you!"
At that point, Black·Rowen's killing intent exploded.
"Because you make me feel ashamed! Because trash has no right to control this body!"
"Cough… cough… pfft!"
Rowen, lying on the ground, coughed twice. A mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spilled from his lips and slid down his cheek.
As that clot of blood left his body, Rowen's aura grew even weaker, teetering on the brink of death. However, Black·Rowen seemed not to notice at all and continued speaking to himself.
"The abilities that old bastard Imu showed were all within known limits. Being beaten to death was only a risk, not an inevitability. If it were me, I wouldn't have been careless in that second!" Black·Rowen ground his teeth, then slowly reined in his expression.
"Indeed, even with something like this happening, everything is still within your calculations. At worst, everyone abandons this world and goes somewhere the cosmic pirates appeared in those cover stories, starting a new life."
"But your carelessness… this could've been avoided!"
He glared furiously at Rowen.
"So when I call you trash… do you have any objections?"
Rowen didn't answer. He no longer had the strength to. His half-closed single eye slowly lost its focus, the light within fading away.
"This flame is my rage, manifested in the form of fire."
Whoosh!
Flames ignited in his palm. Staggering slightly, Black·Rowen stood up and shuffled over to Rowen's side, looking down at him with icy indifference.
"Now… die!"
Boom! Kā cā… creak!!
A jet of fire burst out like a torrent surging from a water tower, rushing straight toward Rowen. However, with a violent explosion, the Fire Pillar suddenly detonated.
Blazing flames engulfed both of them. Amid the clash, a dull impact rang out… something had been pierced.
"Pff!"
Black·Rowen staggered backward, clutching his throat, staring ahead in disbelief.
Illuminated by the raging flames, Rowen, with his body wrapped in scorching fire, flesh burned and charred had fallen in a different direction. The left hand facing Black·Rowen slowly lifted, raising a single finger, the internationally recognized gesture of contempt.
Then it fell limply.
Seeing this, Black·Rowen's face twitched, the corner of his mouth trembling.
"Tch!"
Thud…
As the sound faded, he collapsed as well.
The finger driven into his throat had directly shredded his trachea and carotid artery. Blood rapidly pooled beneath him. Even if he were undying, survival was impossible.
"As expected… of me."
Weakly sprawled on the ground, Black·Rowen gazed with complex emotions at Rowen, who was gradually being swallowed by the flames. At last, he closed his eyes, a faint smile lifting his lips.
"To wait for the most perfect moment… thanks for all the trouble."
The damage inflicted by Thunder Plow · Heated Blade wasn't something that would fade easily. The reason he had relied on flame propulsion to attack earlier was because his throat had been critically injured, oxygen supply was difficult, and he didn't have the stamina to support normal movement.
By contrast, although Rowen looked far worse, his injuries were all external and didn't affect his breathing.
One gained, one lost… the advantage was clear.
Thus, Rowen's only chance to counterattack was the instant Black·Rowen launched another flame-jet assault. As long as he didn't use that jet-like propulsion, at that moment, his body would be completely unable to evade.
But that required the opponent to be extremely close, and in Rowen's condition, once he counterattacked, he would have no strength left to dodge either. Being engulfed by flames would mean certain death.
Yet he still did it.
With every ounce of strength he had left, at the instant the attack was launched, he drove his finger into the other's throat… a mutual kill.
The reason he hadn't counterattacked the moment he was knocked down was to make the other believe he had completely run out of strength, to lull him into carelessness.
"That bastard… everything's a scheme…"
As that final, chaotic thought faded, Black·Rowen's consciousness sank into sleep.
Crackle…
In the dark space, only the crisp sound of burning flames remained. Two figures… one prone, one fallen, gradually went still.
No one knew how much time had passed.
The flames slowly died out, revealing a charred, desiccated corpse, with wisps of blue smoke rising from it. Black·Rowen lay pale-faced, blood soaking his body and hardening into a crust on the ground.
Gurgle…
Then, the surrounding darkness seemed to come alive. "Tentacles" extended from it, wrapping around both corpses. The white mist symbolizing light vanished from Rowen's body, while the black smoke symbolizing darkness likewise faded from Black·Rowen.
Something monstrous seemed to lurk within the darkness, dragging the two bodies inside.
Under the influence of some unknown force, the two corpses pressed together. Black·Rowen's skin began to melt away bit by bit, slowly fusing with Rowen's charred remains.
Suddenly, a radiance far stronger than the earlier faint white mist burst forth from the newly reborn body, growing brighter and brighter.
Even the surrounding darkness was dyed white by it.
"Failed again? Which time is this… thousands now?" A slightly confused murmur echoed in the white world, followed by a sigh.
"Oh well. This result doesn't surprise me."
Then…
Shuā!
Rowen flipped up to his feet, staring at the pitch-black surroundings with a puzzled expression.
"Emmmmm…"
After two seconds of silence, Rowen touched his completely intact, handsome face, then pulled a cigar from a familiar pocket.
"Where the hell am I this time?!"
"Anyone there? Can I borrow a light?"
(End of Chapter)
This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395