Kevin spat out the blood in his mouth, and his sea-blue eyes instantly became incomparably serious and vigilant.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, assumed a defensive stance, and focused all his attention on Kalpas across from him.
"You... aren't bad!"
Seeing Kevin remain standing after taking one of his heavy punches, Kalpas could not help praising him. A beastlike grin spread across his face, and fighting spirit burned in his eyes.
"Hahahaha! You'd better not fall right away."
Kalpas laughed loudly, his voice brimming with passion and excitement.
This was exactly what he had been hoping for... an opponent!
Before the words had even left his mouth, Kalpas abruptly vanished from where he stood. Before Kevin could react, a black shadow had already appeared in front of him. Kevin felt his chest tighten, as though a thousand-pound weight were pressing down on him, leaving him nowhere to dodge.
Killing intent—killing intent so dense it had become tangible! Kevin had never encountered such boundless, pure killing intent before.
Kalpas clasped his hands together and smashed them down heavily toward Kevin's chest, pouring all his strength into the strike.
Kevin's expression turned grave. At the critical moment, he desperately threw himself backward, and Kalpas' clasped hands swept past the tip of his nose by the narrowest margin.
When it came to combat technique, Kevin surpassed Kalpas by far. Unlike Kalpas, he was not accustomed to relying on brute force.
Kevin suddenly grabbed Kalpas by the front of his jacket. Using the momentum from leaning backward and a clever application of force, he hurled the unprepared Kalpas into the air, then smoothly executed a beautiful shoulder throw and slammed him heavily into the ground.
The shoulder throw had borrowed Kalpas' own force. His back struck the hard concrete floor with a muffled impact, shattering it beneath him and sending both of them crashing down to the next level.
Kevin knew that something of this degree would not cause Kalpas much harm. Before Kalpas could recover, Kevin clenched his right fist, raised his left hand protectively before him, and drove a heavy punch straight into Kalpas' face with lightning speed.
The punch carried astonishing force, smashing the still-dazed Kalpas through another floor and sending them both plunging farther downward.
Kevin did not stop. He chased after the falling Kalpas, and each time before Kalpas could land, Kevin's fist followed close behind. Every punch fell like a sledgehammer, and the floors and walls of each level shattered thunderously beneath Kevin's relentless blows.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Smack.
Kalpas finally recovered and caught Kevin's fist in one hand. "What? Didn't eat enough earlier? Put some more strength into it!"
Then, instead of dodging Kevin's attack, Kalpas met it with a punch of his own.
Faster.
Stronger!
Bang! Bang-bang!
The two of them plunged through dozens of floors while trading blows. Wherever they passed, broken flooring and rubble flew in every direction, filling the air with dust.
At last, after smashing through the final basement floor, the two landed heavily on the hard concrete of the parking garage on Basement Level Six...
Kevin's white T-shirt was covered in dust, its once-crisp fabric now wrinkled and crumpled.
A corner of Kalpas' black jacket had been torn open, exposing glimpses of the white lining beneath.
But landing did not mark the end.
Their fists moved like two machines operating at full speed, colliding violently throughout the spacious parking garage. Tremendous impacts echoed from the floor beneath their feet, while their clothes scraped against the ground and stirred up clouds of dust.
The two fought fiercely across the empty level, the force of their punches and kicks spreading cracks across the concrete walls.
"Come on! Don't hold back! I know you still haven't used your full strength!"
"..."
Just then, a deafening rumble erupted overhead. With its foundations destroyed, the entire building could no longer support itself and collapsed thunderously amid their battle!
"Aaaaaaahhhhh—!"
Charles plummeted from high above.
"Help! Big Brothers, help me!"
Bang! Kevin reacted first. He kicked off the ground with both feet and shot into the air like a razor-sharp arrow, pulling the little boy into his arms. He dodged the falling debris and continued climbing upward.
But merely dodging would not help. Sooner or later, countless fragments of rubble would bury them alive. They were six floors underground.
At that moment, Kalpas caught a collapsing slab of flooring with both hands and shouted, "Move!"
Once Kevin had carried Charles out of the way, Kalpas used the slab to smash a hole directly through the wall.
Seizing the opportunity, Kevin stepped onto the slab and escaped through the opening.
The next second...
The building collapsed completely, steel reinforcement bars and concrete piling together into a small mountain.
Kalpas...
Had not made it out.
He had been buried in the basement, more than ten meters beneath the surface.
When Charles failed to see Kalpas emerge, he immediately burst into tears. "Big Brother Kalpas! Waaah! Big Brother Kalpas!"
He tried to run toward the rubble and dig through it, but Kevin grabbed him. "Right now, it's too dangerous over there. More debris could fall at any moment."
"Waaaaah! Big Brother Kalpas is gone! Big Brother Kalpas was buried!"
It was obvious that the little boy truly adored his Big Brother Kalpas.
But under the current circumstances, even Kevin was incapable of digging a person out from beneath an entire collapsed building. That would require large-scale construction machinery.
All he could do was pat the little boy's head and say gloomily, "I'm sorry."
Those words only made the boy angrier. He pounded Kevin's thigh with his fists and shouted, "Let me go! I'm going to save Big Brother Kalpas! I don't want Big Brother Kalpas to die!"
Just then...
A tremendous clattering came from the rubble, as though something were struggling beneath the shattered stone.
Boom!!
Then came a deafening explosion. Massive slabs of reinforced concrete were blasted outward from within by an enormous force, erupting like a volcano!
"How noisy. Who said I was dead?!"
Kalpas' voice rang out from the exploding ruins. He was covered in blood, his hair disheveled, yet his eyes burned like raging flames. Punch by punch, he smashed apart the concrete and steel surrounding his body, breaking free from the rubble that should have buried him alive.
Kevin and the little boy were both stunned. Not only was Kalpas unharmed, he had become even stronger and more violent. A terrifying presence radiated from his entire body. He did not resemble a living person at all, but rather an immortal machine built solely for battle.
Moreover, Kalpas was carrying two people in his hands. They were Charles' parents, whom Kalpas had rescued.
It turned out that Kalpas could have freed himself first, but he had chosen to remain behind solely to save those two people.
To Charles, this was his home.
Kalpas still remembered carrying his luggage and traveling all this way with Charles, clearing away the obstacles and monsters blocking their path, eating the blood-scented food prepared by Charles' parents, and fighting every obstructer with all his might, all because he wanted to see what Charles' "home" was really like.
Therefore, Kalpas would not allow them to die.
Kalpas casually tossed the two people onto level ground. Clenching both fists, he staggered toward Kevin, terrifying fighting spirit blazing in his eyes. "Good. I'm fine! Again! Let's continue... slaughtering each other..."
With that, Kalpas fell face-first onto the ground.
He still wants to continue...
Kevin remained silent as complicated emotions surged within him.