Snap. Snap.
Reze snapped her fingers repeatedly, sending dozens of sparks toward Cael.
Boom! Boom!
One explosion after another! Cael was instantly engulfed by the fiery blasts. Everything nearby was obliterated by the intense heat.
Yet strangely, the explosions didn't expand outward—they contracted inward frantically. When the smoke cleared, Cael was gone.
Having lost sight of him, Reze immediately went on high alert, scanning every direction.
"How is Cael so much faster than before?" Her combat instincts made her glance upward instinctively.
"Oh no! Is he above?!"
By the time she realized Cael's position, it was too late. Cloaked in darkness, using the night as cover, Cael hovered above, a dense black hole the size of a ping-pong ball suspended between his chainsaw hands.
After doubling his Constitution and Agility, Cael had new strategies. He hadn't dodged the explosion—he used Dark Hole to tank it directly.
"I'm giving it all back to you. Liberation."
Boom!
Explosive flames erupted from the black hole, engulfing Reze instantly. Ten seconds later, the fire subsided.
Clatter.
Reze tossed aside a charred concrete slab she had been holding to shield herself.
"Wind and a black hole… such bizarre abilities. Cael, you really are a monster," she panted.
"You're not so bad yourself."
Vroom!
Cael spun his chainsaw blades and closed the distance. After the destructive power of Dark Hole's Liberation, it was time to get wild with the chainsaw. Strike while the iron was hot.
"Close combat again…" Reze murmured. Her explosive power was devastating at close range, but proximity to Cael suppressed her detonations. To deal damage, she had to create distance.
Boom!
Cael chased Reze through a shredded concrete road, his chainsaw carving a path of destruction. Reze's movements were simple but precise, evading by mere inches.
"Why are you dodging? Weren't you enjoying this chase before, Reze?!" Cael shouted, frustrated.
"Fine, then I won't dodge." Reze spotted a flaw in Cael's movement and pivoted, using his own momentum against him. She executed a shoulder throw, slamming him to the ground, then followed with a kick, pinning him further.
But Reze wasn't safe either; wherever she touched Cael, the black hole swallowed her impact.
"Cael, you're strong, but your skills still lag behind mine," she teased.
"Ha! Then I'll just have to learn from you!" Cael replied, feigning conversation while firing chains from his chainsaw.
Reze leaped to avoid the chains, finally learning not to get close. Taking advantage of the gap, she condensed a missile along her injured arm and fired at him.
"Bang."
The missile shot toward him.
Cael didn't dodge. If sparks could have this power, a single missile could level a hilltop. But he wasn't the only one to get hit.
Just then—
"Howl!"
The Typhoon Devil's ability activated. A Category 17 gale tore through the area, pulling Reze off balance and drawing her toward Cael.
"Oh no!" Reze faltered. Cael's combination of abilities was overwhelming, impossible to counter.
Clack clack clack.
Chainsaw chains wrapped her. Cael retracted the chains, pulling her closer.
"Come on, Reze. Let's see whose life is tougher!" He wasn't letting himself get hurt alone—if there was an explosion, they'd both feel it.
BOOM!
The world fell into blinding silence. Explosive flames centered on Cael and Reze, a second sun igniting the night. Roads, trees, utility poles—everything crumbled. Waves over ten meters high roared toward the shore, creating a tsunami that swept away everything in its path.
The next day, the first light of dawn appeared.
Caw—Caw—
Seagulls skimmed the surface as a Lunar Phase Fiddler Crab crawled from Cael's collar. He was the first to open his eyes, washed up on a beach, seaweed and debris tangled on him.
"Hiss… my head feels swollen…" Cael pressed one side of his head, rinsing seawater from his ear. After the massive explosion, he had lost consciousness and only now woke up.
"Explosion… Reze…"
"Right, Reze too!"
He forced himself upright, scanning the area. Soon, he spotted her near a reef—not far, still unconscious. Perfect. Strike first, gain the upper hand.
Cael grabbed a fleeing fiddler crab, tossed it in his mouth, chewing to replenish his energy. He limped toward Reze. Her purple hair was tangled with seaweed, but she was alive.
Heh. Cael chuckled. "In the survival contest, I win in the end…"
He condensed a black hole in his palm. Weapon Humans had a weakness—the heart. Remove it, and the fight ended.
Just as he reached for her chest, he noticed something strange. Normally, a drowning person washed ashore would lie flat, limbs spread. Reze's hands were tightly clasped, guarding something.
Cael's curiosity piqued. "Let me see."
Soaked from the seawater, her explosives were probably inactive. He turned her onto her back and pried her pale fingers apart.
"Hmm?"
Even unconscious, Reze's hands remained clenched. Her lips twitched as she whispered.
Cael applied gentle force, prying open her fingers one by one. His eyes widened as he saw what she had been guarding.
A wrinkled Paper Bell, soaked from the seawater—it was the one Cael had folded himself.
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