"Tian...!!!"
Over on the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's side, a smirk played on his lips—a look of absolute triumph now that he had finally killed his opponent.
"Ahahaha!"
"Finally... I have killed you at last!"
But his face twisted in an instant. Through the billowing smoke, he caught sight of Yun Tian's hand firmly blocking his fist. His eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
"Impossible?!"
Yun Tian, though fresh blood was still pouring heavily from his head, forced every ounce of strength into his arm to stop the enemy's devastating strike. His eyes remained locked dead onto the Red-Eyed Black Dragon.
"If this is all you've got... you won't be bringing me down."
In that split second, he funneled all his raw power into his arm muscles. His flesh tightened as thick veins surged across his arms in rigid cords. Pushing his entire frame down, the ground beneath his feet splintered open from the sheer pressure. Then, from the center of his pupils, two sharp, brilliant streaks of magenta-pink light flashed with razor-sharp intensity. At the same time, glowing lines of energy rippled from his shoulders down to the backs of his hands, crackling with the violent, buzzing hum of electricity. He lowered his voice to a whisper:
"8%."
Instantly, a blinding aura of magenta light erupted all over his body. The surrounding air condensed violently as the winds kicked up into a howling gale, sending the necklace around his neck whipping through the storm. Even the Red-Eyed Black Dragon looked on, completely stunned by the spectacle.
Slowly but surely, Yun Tian's hand began to force the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's fist back, catching the beast completely off guard.
"To think you still have this much strength left..."
But before he could even finish the sentence, Yun Tian ducked underneath his arm, closing the distance until he was pressed right against the creature's chest. His arms locked around the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's waist like a steel vice. Lowering his stance and anchoring his weight firmly onto his heels, Yun Tian violently twisted his torso in a sharp semi-circle. The decisive movement utilized the pure centrifugal force to lift the massive giant clean off the ground. Without a single wasted motion, he held his opponent in a crushing grip, flipped his frame, and drove the monster's back straight into the earth.
BOOM!
A deafening crash shattered the air.
"Ack!"
Before the Red-Eyed Black Dragon could even regain his bearings, Yun Tian snapped back to his feet, clenching his fist and driving a straight punch directly toward the beast's face. A massive shockwave rippled out. Yun Tian's eyes narrowed—his fist had been caught right in the palm of the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's hand. The monster glared up at him; despite his injuries, a dark grin still stretched across his face.
"You're tougher than I thought."
The moment the words left his mouth, a lightning-fast kick buried itself straight into Yun Tian's stomach. The sheer pressure caved his abdomen inward, forcing his body to curl up before he was sent hurtling away. His frame skidded heavily across the sand, finally grinding to a halt right at the edge of the sea. The agony left him coughing violently, gasping for air. Out in the distance, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon stood back up, casually wiping away the streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. His gaze turned ice-cold, and in a fraction of a second, he vanished.
He materialized right in front of Yun Tian, catching the young man completely by surprise. Before Yun Tian could move, a massive hand clamped tightly around his throat. The monster leaped high into the air, dragging Yun Tian's battered body straight up into the sky. The crushing grip on his throat tightened with agonizing force, squeezing the air out of Yun Tian's windpipe until his breath failed him completely. Upon reaching the apex of their ascent, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon abruptly stopped. He stared down at Yun Tian, and then, the hand crushing his neck suddenly let go.
Before Yun Tian could fall, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon flexed his arms, unleashing a relentless, non-stop barrage of lightning-fast punches straight into Yun Tian's body, giving him absolutely zero window to breathe. The punches blurred through the air like a torrential downpour, dense and entirely without gaps. Left hooks crossed into right hooks as a violent storm of fists hemmed him in from every conceivable direction. A brutal, deep thrust to the gut made Yun Tian's chest seize up violently, expelling every last drop of oxygen from his lungs. His ears rang deafeningly as his vision blurred into a bloody smear. He could hear nothing but the sickening, brutal thud of tearing flesh and bone, feeling his body tossed around like a ragdoll.
Then, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon delivered a sledgehammer-like kick straight to Yun Tian's head, sending his body plummeting from the sky like a meteor, crashing directly into the waters of the Bach Dang River.
SPLASH!
His body began to sink deep into the water. His arms and legs refused to move as his consciousness steadily started to fade. The light on his necklace grew dimmer by the second, but his sheer willpower refused to break. He desperately tried to move his arms to swim back to the surface. By some miracle, his hand managed to twitch upward, but before hope could form, a massive, dark silhouette materialized right in front of him. It was the Red-Eyed Black Dragon. His hand slammed violently onto Yun Tian's face, ruthlessly driving his head straight down toward the riverbed.
"Agh!"
The brutal impact forced the last remaining air out of his body, sending the final trail of oxygen bubbles escaping from his lips as his vision went completely dark.
Up on the shore, Bao Uyen stared down at the river's surface. The anxiety in her eyes deepened to horror, her fists clenching so hard her knuckles turned white.
Deep beneath the riverbed, seeing Yun Tian steadily losing consciousness, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon merely sneered. Flexing his arm, he violently hurled Yun Tian straight up from the depths. Yun Tian's body erupted from the water, suspended helplessly in mid-air. The Red-Eyed Black Dragon shot out of the river right behind him, delivering a savage kick dead center into Yun Tian's stomach. The blow forced a massive spray of water from the young man's mouth, bending his spine backward before slamming him violently down onto the sand below.
CRASH!
He lay cratered in the sand, coughing and hacking violently as a fraction of his consciousness began to patch itself back together. High above, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon prepared to dive down to finish him, but suddenly, his own chest seized with an agonizing pain. From deep within his keyhole markings, the purple-black miasma began to ooze outward. It wasn't a slow leak—the energy erupted violently, completely out of control, rapidly bleeding across his entire body.
The Red-Eyed Black Dragon let out a guttural shriek, slamming his key-sword hard against his chest. The dark aura swirled chaotically; his eyes narrowed as a crimson glare flared up, his teeth grinding together in pure agony. After a tense moment, the wild energy finally began to stabilize, settling back down into a controlled rhythm. Slowly drawing the key-sword back out of his chest, his ragged, heavy breathing gradually slowed. He stared down at his own chest.
"I can't drag this out any longer."
He snapped his gaze down toward Yun Tian lying below. The young man was painfully pushing himself up, and though his legs could barely stand straight, his eyes remained fiercely locked onto the Red-Eyed Black Dragon.
Looking down at him, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon let out a faint chuckle.
"To think you can still stand after taking all of those hits."
"Highly commendable."
"I would love to play around with you a bit longer... but it seems I've hit my absolute limit."
"Therefore, I shall finish you in a single strike."
The moment the words left his lips, he raised his arm high. From within the keyhole ridge, the purple energy began to spread, bleeding out across his body before channeling directly up into his raised hand. Gradually, the miasma condensed into a bizarre, crimson-purple orb. The very air around him shifted violently as the purple aura swirled, distorting the space itself. But then, the purple sphere began to warp into a deformed shape, stretching outward. From a simple orb, it mutated into a colossal, massive chain-link, the dark aura focusing heavily onto the razor-sharp spearhead of the chain.
Standing below, Yun Tian's eyes widened to their limits.
High above, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon stared at his massive chain-link, then cast a merciless look down at Yun Tian.
"This is my absolute ultimate strike."
"I only use it against those I deem truly powerful."
"Of all those who have witnessed this move, not a single soul has survived."
"So, consider yourself thoroughly fortunate to be the one to see it."
With a sudden flick of his wrist, he hurled his hand forward. Driven by pure momentum, the massive chain shot straight toward Yun Tian.
Down below, Yun Tian dropped his stance, throwing his arms up to brace against the oncoming chain head. The ground beneath his feet shattered instantly, caving into a shallow crater. The Red-Eyed Black Dragon was mildly surprised, but it wasn't enough to rattle him. Funneling raw power into his hand, the massive chain began to grind Yun Tian down, forcing his body to skid backward across the dirt. Yun Tian's eyes remained pinned to the chain, the veins across his arms bulging violently in rigid patches. The necklace around his neck, which had been emitting only a faint glimmer, suddenly erupted into a blinding, radiant flash of blue light. He let out a fierce roar.
The spearhead of the chain was slowly pushed back. Seeing this, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's eyes snapped wide open.
"It seems I must take this seriously."
Grolling with effort, the purple miasma within his keyhole surged violently, flowing straight up into his arm. The chain head that had been pushed back instantly locked in place. With a massive shove of his arm, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon drove the power forward, sending the massive chain screaming right back toward Yun Tian. Yun Tian channeled every ounce of strength to resist, the light on his necklace flaring with violent fury.
"Ahhhh!"
The chain head suddenly vibrated violently. Seeing the resistance, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon dug deeper, pouring more crushing force into the strike.
"Ahhhh!"
Both sides clashed with absolute, catastrophic might. Slowly, the massive chain began to close the distance, inching closer and closer to Yun Tian. The sheer, crushing pressure caused fresh, crimson blood to leak from his eyes, nose, and mouth. And then, the chain head drove straight into Yun Tian. A world-shattering explosion erupted. The massive shockwave caused the Tran soldiers, General Tran Quoc Bao, and the forces of the Red-Eyed Black Dragon to instantly freeze in their tracks.
High above, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon finally lowered his arm. His hand was now heavily mangled and damaged from the backlash of the dark purple miasma inside his body.
"To think it would inflict this much damage on myself..."
"No matter."
He cast a cold look down into the settling smoke below.
"As long as he is dead, it is enough."
But his eyes suddenly snapped wide in pure shock. As the smoke below dissipated, a painfully familiar silhouette remained standing right there. Yun Tian's body was covered in a horrific labyrinth of wounds.
"Impossible... How can this be?!"
The Red-Eyed Black Dragon simply could not believe his eyes.
Down below, Yun Tian's gaze remained relentlessly locked onto the monster.
"It's not... over yet."
He forced his foot forward, taking a single step. Suddenly, his vision blurred violently. His frame began to pitch forward as his consciousness rapidly spiraled into pitch black.
Thud.
His body collapsed onto the dirt. A heavy silence filled the air as a lone gust of wind swept across the battlefield. Before his consciousness faded completely, his ears caught a voice. Though it echoed from far away, he could hear it with crystal clarity.
"Tian...!!!"
He let out a faint whisper.
"It's... Bao Uyen's... voice..."