Fire was consuming everything. With every passing second, the air grew thick and heavy. Time was running out before the whole place came crashing down.
That human monster deactivated his barrier and threw two strikes at me. For some reason, they felt slower this time. I managed to dodge both. But when he swung his leg, it was so fast I barely had time to cross my arms to block.
The impact shattered the bones in my wrists and forearms instantly.
"Come on, you piece of filth. Show me something interesting. Something that makes me feel alive. Something that can actually hurt me for once."
His eyes changed. His composure snapped. That patience turned into a raw, piercing fury that felt like it was stabbing me in the chest. He looked disappointed in my fighting style— in the way I struggled to protect the thing I needed most.
Then, he let out a roar that made the rubble tremble:
"Thirty-five percent… activated!"
I didn't grasp the magnitude of it. Not until I felt it.
The pressure.
An invisible force began crushing every bone in my body, as if gravity itself had shifted around him. It was unbearable—a weight that didn't belong to this world. As the pressure intensified, he raised his voice again:
"Kneel, brat… you are in the presence of a King!"
And I knelt. I couldn't help it.
The sheer terror and the sudden shift in the battle were incomprehensible.
Panic seized me. I couldn't move a single ounce of my being.
I was finished. Dragon had just proven his absolute superiority.
The original plan was never to defeat him, anyway.
Even an idiot could see the gap between us.
I only needed one wound. Just one. That would be enough to save Valentine's life.
I had no other choice.
I'm going to stop time and hit him so fast he won't be able to defend himself.
I won't give him a chance to activate his barrier.
It's time to end this.
"You bastard! TEMPO, activate!"
I froze every trace of movement in space. I surged my entire body with electrical pulses, each one stronger than the last. If the lightning wasn't enough to bring him down, I would turn my hands and feet into flames so intense they would tear him apart.
While maintaining the charge, I concentrated the flow of time, heating my limbs until the internal heat erupted into fire.
I'll incinerate this bastard where he stands.
With the unstoppable speed of a lightning bolt—Tempo in full effect—and searing flames cloaking my hands and feet, I was ready to strike with every bit of strength I had left. With every last drop of blood and sweat in my soul.
Even if I overload and die after the impact.
Even if I fail to save my dear friend.
I'm leaving everything I have right here, in this filthy, dark, broken, and terrifying place.
I refuse to die here!
I still have things to do. Smiles I need to protect. Promises I swore to keep. So, here I go.
"Get ready, Dragon, because this is going to hurt, you damn bastard!"
I lunged at him like prey baring its fangs and claws at the hunter in its final moments. After all, the weakest link in the food chain can't just die without giving its all before vanishing.
It's called "the grit of the weak"—a desperate will to survive that hunters can never understand. They're used to hunting, not being hunted.
Everything went silent; I heard nothing but the hum of the lightning and the roar of the fire about to strike his face.
Yes, definitely… this time, someone was going to get hurt.
However, my body was screaming "danger." The closer I got to him, the denser the air became. It was the perfect setup for Dragon to counterattack. Yet, he remained motionless, and that was what made it so terrifying.
But then, the strike stopped.
Impossible! I don't believe it! His barrier just activated even with time frozen!
Dragon was a true monster. Not even time itself could stop him. But my perseverance was greater. I concentrated the lightning's power into my right elbow, shoulder, and forearm, and cranked up the intensity of the flames in my fist.
I shattered his barrier into a thousand pieces.
I wanted to replicate the force of a gunshot to blast through that hideous wall.
It worked perfectly!
The blow was heading straight for his face.
"Return Tempo! Brat!" Dragon roared.
But… I only managed to graze his left cheek. Once again, I took two hits at a speed my senses couldn't even detect, let alone react to. I was sent flying, crashing into a pillar until I was buried in the stone.
"Something is bothering me," Dragon muttered.
Now, I was truly finished.
I couldn't move a single finger.
All I could hear were his complaints and grumbling.
No more compliments like at the start.
He was beyond pissed. But his rage wasn't directed at me. It seemed like he recognized my ability.
"That ability! That disgusting way of stopping time! It gets on my nerves!"