Chương 44: Episode 41: "You tried...'

The moment I hit Dark Don, the sky broke open with sound. A shockwave detonated outward from the collision, ripping through the golden mountains like they were paper. Entire peaks bent for half a second—then snapped back wrong, like reality forgot its own posture.

"DAMN YOU'RE STRONG!" I shouted, sliding back through fractured stone. Dark Don didn't answer. He came forward instead. A single swing—too fast. I twisted under it. The air screamed where his fist passed. He kicked. I dropped my shoulder and ducked clean, the strike blowing a canyon line through the ridge behind me.

"Not bad!" I yelled, snapping my arm up to deflect his next punch. Sparks exploded on contact—lunar energy and celestial force grinding against each other like two collapsing stars refusing to die. Dark Don blurred. His body glitched —black and white flickers tearing through his outline as he phased forward.

"Blink if you can hit me."

"Ha!" I stepped aside at the last instant, his strike missing my face by millimeters.

"Bet." I shot upward. Booted him straight into the air.

"WOO! NICE!"

"DON'T GET COCKY!" he roared back, already turning mid-fall, lunar energy snapping like broken glass behind him. He dropped like a meteor. I angled through the sky, weaving between jagged floating rocks as the impact of his descent carved afterimages through the air. I slammed through a mountain. BOOM. The entire peak collapsed inward, crater blooming like the earth had exhaled pain. Before I could even recover— He warped behind me. BAM.

"OW!" I yelled, ricocheting through the sky and smashing into a ruined city below. Buildings blurred past in streaks of shattered gold and concrete light.

"Too slow!" I shouted anyway, forcing myself upright mid-flight. Dark Don darted left. Right. Then vanished. Reappeared in front of me. Our fists collided. The air cracked open. I twisted through the impact and got launched through twenty structures in a single line—each building exploding like dominoes made of glass and stone. Rubble rained like metallic confetti. He rose through it. A falling star turning upward. Uppercut aimed at my face—"Not bad!"

I grinned, launching into the sky and spinning sideways just in time. We met midair again. Then again. Then again. Every collision hit harder than the last, each one warping the sky around us into bending sheets of light. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He flashed above a golden peak. I dove straight at him. Left kick. Right kick. Hurricane spin.

"THINK AGAIN!" I shouted. He vanished behind me. A roar—too close. He surged forward— Missed.

"Ha! You'll have to do better than that!" I zipped sideways. Fired a violet beam straight up. The sky split open. Clouds peeled apart like torn fabric. Dark Don snapped his fingers. A planet-wide flash of lunar light detonated across the horizon. Mountains shredded in the distance.

"Argh!" I swerved as his right hook came in like a collapsing moon. I barely dodged—his energy tearing through a peak behind me, turning it into falling dust. Both fists slammed into my face.

"Not fast enough!" I laughed through the impact.

"TRY HARDER!" I vaulted above him, drop-kicked down, spun mid-air, and slammed my palm forward— BOOM. Lunar light bent violently and warped us both backward into the city.

"COME ON!" I screamed, darting toward him again. Fists reeling. Teeth clenched. Energy burning through my veins. He responded instantly. Lunar glass formed around him—layered, shifting, shimmering like a prison made of moonlight. I hit it. Once. Twice. From every angle.

"GET OUT OF THERE ALREADY!" He didn't move. Then— His hand shot through the glass. Grabbed my head.

"Damn it—!" Black-and-white lunar energy exploded from his palm. The world went silent for half a beat. Then darkness tore through my vision. He hurled me downward— reappeared— and slammed me forward again mid-fall. I spiraled through a building. BOOM. Rubble exploded outward in a perfect ring.

"RAHHHHHHHHH!!!" I roared. Celestial energy snapped alive again. My eyes flared. My body ignited. I shot forward—meeting his next strike with a shockwave that folded the air between us. He tried glitch-fists—white-black distortions tearing at space itself. I dodged through them, slipping between fractured frames of motion, then surged forward. A violet dome erupted around us. He blinked behind me instantly.

"CELESTIANITE WEAKLING! YOUR TRIBE DESERVES PAIN!"

"How is the tribe feeling pain if I'm the one getting smashed?!" I yelled, ducking another blast and sliding through collapsing buildings. I zipped forward. Right in his face.

"BE FOR REAL, DARK DON!" I twisted through his hooks, slipped a gut punch, vaulted over a collapsing ruin, and kept moving. Everything behind us stopped being architecture. It became shrapnel weather. He launched forward. Fists raining. Beams erasing streets. Mountains collapsing like they were tired of existing. He grabbed my head again. Slammed me into a mountain. Dragged me across it. The entire peak split open like a zipper of stone.

"NOT FAST ENOUGH!"

"Yeah?!" I kicked off him mid-drag and launched upward. Sky cracked. I twisted mid-air. Power gathered. A shot erupted from my core—peaks collapsing outward as white-black energy shot straight into the sky. Rocks detonated upward like reversed gravity.

"RAHHHHH!" he screamed back. I felt it now. That shift. I charged KX. Hair lifting. Eyes burning. Veins glowing with celestial lightning. I streaked sideways.

"You can't hide!" He vanished. Reappeared behind me. Reality snapped. Light fractured like broken glass. I shot past falling mountains, energy coiling around my arms. Then— KX jump. I tore through space between golden peaks, everything blurring into streaks of light and motion. We collided midair again. Fists locked. Energy exploded outward—lunar versus celestial tearing the sky apart.

"Is that all you got?!" I yelled.

"Never!" he answered. Twin star collision. Mountains trembled. Clouds shredded. He fired a beam. I clapped my hands—"RACING STARS!" A celestial beam dropped from above. He canceled his attack instantly. Lunar energy spiraled into his palm— and swallowed mine.

"…What?" He cracked his neck. Grabbed my head again. Gravity inverted.

"NO—!" I was launched across mountains like a broken comet. Everything became blur and impact. I stopped midair. Barely. Energy coiled deep inside me. I exploded forward— BOOM. Split the sky open.

"YEAH! FEEL THIS!" I screamed, KX flaring violently as lightning crawled through my body. He just watched. Arms crossed. Smirk sharp. Finally interested.

"Finally," he said quietly.

"Let's see what you've got." We moved at the same time. The collision tore the mid-sky apart. Mountains trembled like they were scared. Clouds ripped open. Fists blurred into nothing. I twisted through his strikes, grabbed one arm, spun him midair, and slammed him into a mountain so hard the entire range shook. He vanished again. Reappeared. Glitch-white fists.

"HA! TOO SLOW!" He launched me upward like lightning itself had kicked me. Pain detonated through my body—but I forced forward anyway.

"I CAN'T KEEP UP?!" I yelled, pushing through the pressure. Kick. His face snapped sideways. He dropped like a missile. The ground below him caved in. I landed, flipped through collapsing terrain, and shot after him. Mountains kept falling behind us like dominoes. I appeared behind him again. Energy coiling. KX flickered. Unstable.

"… Time… to end this?" I whispered. A trembling celestial ring formed in my hands. He vanished. Uppercut. I got launched through clouds. Sky turned orange-white chaos. His fists became micro-blurs—thousands of hits stacking into one continuous reality break. I screamed. The sound echoed across fractured mountains. He twisted. Lunar fire erupted. Slammed into me. The shockwave erased everything for a second—mountains, sky, distance—just white. Snap. Reality reassembled wrong. He hit me again. Side. Then again.

Downward. I crashed through the Room of Zeniths tower. Concrete exploded outward. Glass turned into rain. I hit the ground. Hard. Silence. KX flickered. Dying. Vision blurred. Dark Don landed nearby. Arms crossed. That same smirk.

"Pathetic," he said. I lay there. Barely moving. Base form again. Energy sputtering like a dying star. Everything around us—city, sky, mountains—kept shifting like reality couldn't decide what version of the fight was real.