It was Ego.
My Ego made me stand up.
I ain't dying until I land a cool punch of my own on that bastard.
Comical and ridiculous as it was, it brought a chuckle out of me and a similar kind of grin was plastered on my face.
I realised I was losing my sanity.
And what the hell, I was liking it.
"AAAAAHHHHHHAAAAAAA"
An utter war cry tore out of my throat as I rushed at the Divine General with a broken body, mind, and ambition.
Mahoraga seemed to grin and rushed as well. He was faster, much faster. He arrived near me within seconds.
However, just as he was near me, ready to end the fight once and for all, instead of directly charging at him, I let go of my footing and my inertia dragged me forward, sliding me between the gap of his open legs, to the other side.
Mahoraga stopped with a powerful stomp and turned around, but I was gone. The next moment I was on his back. I saw his snake-like tail connected to his head and at the last moment jumped to grab it.
Pulling myself with all my might, and with one leg on his shoulder, I grabbed onto one of his wings.
That earned me a very satisfying jerk from the jerk, telling me they were sensitive. Good.
I always wanted to be Tarzan. So I took the leap of faith, grasping onto the wings and using them as a lever to change my direction mid-air.
Mahoraga's entire body weight shifted by how I tugged on his wings. I turned back around on the wing, the laws of motion bringing me back to his head on the other side after one full motion, and with everything I had, I punched.
The punch was strong. Not a Black Flash, I doubt my body had it left in it to perform any more of those miracle punches, but it was strong enough to tear open the wing in my hand as I used it to enforce my weight mid-air and completely knock Mahoraga back.
He fell on his back with a thud.
I barely landed on my feet before they gave way, and I fell back.
And that was all I had.
But I was happy. Cause I had just plucked a pair of wings from heaven itself.
My grin only magnified seeing the pair of bloodied wings in my hands. It was my blood, though, but f*ck it. It felt so damn satisfying.
And then the adrenaline wore down when the beast once again got up. And he looked pissed.
The wheel on top of his head turned once, and his plucked-off wing was regenerated.
"That was pretty cool, wouldn't you agree." I grinned.
Next moment, a comet-sized punch drilled me down into the ground. Another one followed a heartbeat later. And then another.
Darkness crept into my vision. Everything was becoming numb at this point.
But that wasn't the end, not at all. The monster grabbed me by the chest and pulled me up, right next to his face, glaring down at me.
I looked back, or at least pretended to look back, since my vision was already blurry.
"Look, you kinda missed that spot I hit you earlier, there is still a black bruise. Guess your adaptation can be flawed as well, huh..."
He grabbed me by the leg and slammed me down hard. It almost reminded me of a certain green monstrosity.
But once wasn't enough for him. He did it again, and again, and again.
Blood pooled beneath me, my CE reinforcement doing the bare minimum to prevent anything too lethal, but it had its limits.
I didn't even know how many times it was, but by the time he was done, I couldn't move. I just hung by the leg, lifelessly, in his hand.
He scoffed and tossed me away hard toward a building.
At least pain was no longer an issue, when everything was numb, that is.
Before I knew it, I slammed into something, which broke my speed before once again I met a building.
"Ah... damn... I broke something."
My eyes barely landed on a figure with blond hair.
'Wait, isn't he the one.' My mind connected who this blond could be, and even with a broken body, my anger flared up. This was the guy who was responsible for all of this.
Seems like I ended up exactly where the fight started. All in a cycle, I guess.
He too didn't look in that great of a condition. Lying on my side, he had blood running down his face as well. His leg was twisted, no wonder he was still here.
My eyes turned towards Mahoraga again, the monster finally seemed to have his fill and was ready to end it. He walked step by step towards us.
The boy beside me panicked but couldn't move at all.
Just as Mahoraga was right on top of us, Sword of Extermination ready to carve us out, my lifeless body moved. I used every last ounce of power left in me to grab the panicking boy.
"Oi, what are you—"
He couldn't complete it before I had dragged him right in front of me. Like hell I was dying alone. He was responsible for this, we'll die together.
A small grin flashed on my broken, bloodied face. "Let's meet when we are down there, shall we."
"No... no. Leave me, you bastard. Release me." The boy shouted back, struggling, but it was already too late.
The Sword of Extermination flashed and dug right through his chest, coming straight for my heart. At the last moment, I shifted him and myself ever so slightly so that the blade, instead of going to the heart, went through the upper shoulder.
But I was done. Pinned down, bleeding, and finished.
There was nothing left anymore.
The boy's eyes slowly lost their light.
They say that at the last moment of one's life, we can see our life flash in front of our eyes.
I couldn't see a thing. No matter what I did, my vision was just that of a loner, who tried and tried until the end stood in front of him.
Or perhaps...
It wasn't the end.
My dull eyes snapped open, with newfound energy, the last burning flames powering through.
With all that I was worth, I squeezed every last bit of my remaining cursed energy and reinforced my hands.
And grabbed onto the sword which pierced us.
"Got you now..."
I took a very painful and deep breath in. It felt like my lungs refused to expand, but I forced it through nonetheless.
And shouted with utter desperation.
"JOGOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The voice seemed to echo through the emptied city of Shibuya, ranging far and wide, until a flying curse up in the night sky, hovering just before a dazzling sun, snapped open his one big closed eye.
Fire shone in it. It turned with the very desire to burn. A yellow cape fluttered behind him with the dazzling light of the sun at his back.
"For one last time, let me show everyone why I'm the curse born of the Earth and Fire."
"TAKE IT... THIS IS MY PEAK!"
Jogo shouted, a menacing smile on his face.
"Maximum Technique - Maximum Meteor!"
With all of his strength, the curse hurled the giant meteor of molten iron and fire right at where I was.
Mahoraga seemed to sense it. He turned his head back slightly to observe and immediately planned to remove the sword and dodge the attack.
However.
"First Trade... No Movement."
Suddenly, a greater force wrapped around his body, completely halting every and all movement for both of us.
A big grin plastered on my face.
"Even if the sure-hit effect of my domain is not active, my domain is still deployed, you big shit, and you're currently touching me.
Meaning I can trade."
If he had eyes, they would have widened by now. Those wings fluttering around almost gave that impression.
"Second Trade... Attacks Received On The Back Do Much More Damage, In Exchange For Attacks Done On The Front."
Mahoraga's back suddenly went hot. Because he was not facing the attack, he was facing the building where I was pinned. Only I could see the giant meteor coming.
The wheel on Mahoraga's head tried to spin, but I was making trades much faster for it to start adapting.
I looked right at him, struggling to move, but my technique had him, with almost no time to adapt.
If I had used my sure-hit effect from the start, then he would have long adapted to it. If I had my barrier up, then he would have broken that.
However, without a barrier or sure-hit effect, there was nothing to adapt.
And nothing to stop Jogo's attack from reaching us.
"Say, Mahoraga... how does it feel to look down on us mortals from your divine throne... is it any different?"
The meteor burned through the air, and as it closed in, the heat increased, and the nearby buildings started to melt.
"Do you know how much I lost facing you? I lost my very sanity, you bastard." My eyes teared up.
The night sky lit up with a brilliant hue of red and orange as the entirety of Shibuya saw a sun descending.
"But I have to show my gratitude... only by facing you could I reach my zenith."
He obstructed much of my vision, but I could catch the descending death behind the hulking figure of Mahoraga.
"In the gaps of your shadows, I have seen light, Mahoraga..."
I smiled. A genuine, heartwarming smile to express my appreciation at what I had learned. To express what I had gained.
Finally, the meteor arrived, engulfing everything with light and heat.
"To think a curse and a human together beat the divine..." I chuckled.
It almost felt like even the Divine General, at that comment, stiffened.
"Can't you see it, Mahoraga?" I raised my voice, blood pumping harder, breathing labored.
"Don't you think so too... that
That is...
...
That, this is...
"ABSOLUTE CINEMA!"
xXx
A/N : MAN ! building up to this chapter took everything out of me, its not just the MC who was fighting. He just happens to take more damage between the two of us.
I gave my all. Hope you like it. Love You Guys !
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