strokinit Chapter 270: The Final Bell
Chapter 270: The Final Bell
Chapter 270: The Final BellRex knelt on one knee, the mud pooling around him. His body trembled, every muscle strained under the weight of exhaustion and pain.
He struggled to breathe, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps as his golden aura flickered weakly, like a candle in a storm.
What's happening to me?'
The thought echoed in his mind, relentless and suffocating.
How am I losing like this?
His body screamed at him, his abdomen throbbing with an intense, searing ache that refused to subside.
He clenched his teeth, his fingers digging into the mud as he tried to push himself upright.
I should be fast. Faster than ever. So why... why does it feel like he's even faster?
Rex glanced down at his trembling fist, his golden energy faintly glowing around it.
He clenched it tighter, but the familiar surge of strength felt distant, muted.
His mind raced back to moments earlier, to the punch Eratz had delivered to his face.
It shouldn't hurt... Ok... It should hurt... But not THAT much...
The memory lingered, gnawing at his thoughts.
Why does it feel like I'm missing something? Why does it feel like I never even touched him?
His eyes widened slightly, a creeping dread crawling up his spine.
No, more than that... what if I really haven't touched him?
"Done rearranging your guts?"
Eratz's voice broke through his spiraling thoughts, calm and unbothered, but carrying an undercurrent of sharpness. "Cuz I feel like pounding a little more."
Rex froze. His golden eyes snapped to Eratz, wide and trembling. He tried to respond, but the words caught in his throat.
His abdomen burned, the pain so raw it felt like a fire spreading through his entire core.
All he could manage were strained grunts and broken breaths as he forced himself to stand.
His knees wobbled, his body swaying precariously. Every movement felt like a battle against his own failing strength.
Gritting his teeth, Rex let out a low, guttural scream, his aura bursting outward in a desperate flare of golden light.
The sudden surge of energy lit up the battlefield, the radiant glow clashing against the darkness of the stormy sky.
But his eyes remained wide, trembling with a mixture of pain and disbelief.
Eratz's red eyes narrowed slightly, as he proceeded his own words. He raised a hand quickly.
"Wait..." he started, his tone shifting awkwardly. "Forget I said that."
For a moment, Rex hesitated, his aura still raging around him. Then, in a flash,
Rex moved, or rather, vanished.
In the span of a millisecond, he was above Eratz, his leg descending like a hammer of divine fury.
Another shockwave tore through the forest but quickly drown by Rex's scream as Eratz plunged his knee into his thigh.
The impact resounded like a cannon, the ground beneath them fracturing. Rex screamed, his voice filled with indescribable pain.
Before he could retreat, another knee connected, this time directly into his face.
Blood sprayed from his nose, his head snapping back with violent force. Rex reeled, but the follow-up strike, aimed at his throat, narrowly missed as he dashed back in sheer desperation.
He landed roughly, his legs giving out beneath him. Rolling across the dirt, he came to a stop on one knee, his breath ragged, his golden aura flickering.
Blood dripped from his nose, staining the ground beneath him. His glare locked onto Eratz, but the rage and frustration in his eyes were now accompanied by a third emotion growing in him.
Clenching his fists, Rex forced himself upright, his movements shaky and pained.
A guttural scream tore from his throat, and his aura flared wildly. Twin orbs of light formed in his hands, their brilliance blinding as he poured everything into them.
With a roar, Rex unleashed a barrage of explosive attacks. Light beams rained down upon the forest, each one detonating with a force that sent shockwaves rippling outward.
The trees disintegrated under the relentless onslaught, the ground reduced to smoldering craters.
Each explosion illuminated the battlefield like bursts of artificial sunlight, creating a hellish landscape of devastation.
The spectators watched in stunned silence, their faces pale as they witnessed the forest being consumed by destruction.
Rex's attacks were wild, desperate, and unrelenting, an attempt to drown Eratz in the chaos of his power.
But Eratz finally moved.
In a series of flashes, he traversed the battlefield with lightning speed. Each explosion narrowly missed as Eratz weaved through the devastation, his movements too quick to track. The forest became a blur of light and shadow, Rex's desperation growing with every failed strike.
With a scream of frustration, Rex summoned a radiant bird. The creature's wings extended wide, shimmering with celestial light as it soared gracefully into the air.
But before it could do more than cast its glow, a torrent of lightning rained down, shattering the bird into fragments of light. Raijinara's presence flickered briefly in the storm before vanishing again.
"AAAARRGHHHH" Rex's voice cracked, his desperation mounting.
He screamed louder, his aura flaring as he formed a sword of light in his hands. With a powerful swing, he slashed the air, sending a crescent wave of destructive energy tearing
across the horizon.
The ground split open, the slash leaving a glowing fissure in its wake.
Not stopping, Rex leaped high above the battlefield, his golden aura blazing as he unleashed a barrage of light beams.
The sky lit up with explosions, each one obliterating sections of the forest below. Trees were vaporized, the earth scorched, and the terrain reduced to a smoldering wasteland.
As the last of his attacks dissipated, Rex hovered in the air, his chest heaving as he tried to
catch his breath.
The golden glow around him flickered, his energy reserves depleting. He scanned the battlefield, his eyes narrowing as he
always summon it again.
Against an average fighter, one or two blows would be enough to end the fight, and Rex could
easily land a thousand.
But Eratz wasn't average, and he pushed him to his fatal mistake: using the beastification
with his seraphim, and adding the downsides of its power to his body.
His body that Eratz could make bleed with a single punch.
Added to that, with Rockbound Fury, Eratz's power had already been fueled to dangerous
heights and his spiritual training allowed him to see where an attack would land and where his opponent would move next.
Rex's speed was incomprehensible, and his strength was monstrous, but none of it mattered if Eratz could always predict his final destination.
The key was simple: Eratz didn't have to match Rex's speed. He just had to position himself
where Rex would be, moments before he arrived.
He never initiated an attack. He waited for Rex to make his move, using the drive of the attack
to take him by surprise and deliver devastating counters. To Rex, it was as if Eratz could read his mind.
He resorted to run again, zigzagging to throw him off, changing angles, increasing his speed.
Eratz's focus remained unshaken, his vision locked onto the path Rex would take.
He summoned Cinderblaze directly in Rex's path, stopping his race.
The beast erupted in flames, unleashing a fire field spell that disoriented Rex, forcing him to
falter mid-flight.
That hesitation meant reducing in speed, candy for Eratz's eyes.
In a single, fluid motion, Eratz closed the distance and slammed into Rex's back with bone-
crushing force.
The impact sent a grotesque scream echoing through the forest, a sound so raw and anguished that it reverberated far and wide.
The scream was not just a sound; it was a signal. Across the forest, every fighter froze.
Arin and Finn's expressions turned to stone, shock freezing them in place as the realization
sank in. Kaida, mid-flight, paused, her crimson eyes widening with dumbfounded disbelief.
Mercury, supporting Sia, her arm draped around the injured woman's shoulder, looked
upward.
Her blue hair shimmered faintly in the light of the distant battle as she murmured.
"... Eratz?" Her gaze sharpened as the truth dawned.
To Golden Cosmos, it was a sound of liberation, a song heralding their triumph.
To Infinite Twilight, it was the tolling of a death knell.