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Chapter 32: The Fight
🕑 Added 2025-07-24 12:55:34 +0000 UTCCole’s maniacal scream echoed through the stuffy storeroom, like a wild animal whose tail had just been stepped on. His battered body lunged forward with superhuman speed, the blade in his hand reflecting the dim light with a faint blue glow, indicating it was no ordinary weapon. Its sharp point was aimed directly at Owen, who was still kneeling on the floor, holding Jessica tightly in his arms…
And in that split second between life and death, Owen’s body reacted faster than his own thoughts.
He used all his strength to quickly push Jessica’s trembling body behind him, getting her into a safe corner behind a pile of wooden crates and a shelf that still stood firm. In that same instant, he twisted his torso to the side, dodging Cole’s blade at an angle impossible for a normal person.
SLASH!
The magic-infused blade only managed to slice through the hem of his shirt and his side, leaving a long gash from which fresh red blood began to seep. The warm, metallic scent of blood mixed with the smell of coffee and old dust in the air. It was a searing pain, but it was also confirmation that he was still alive, and that he still had something to protect.
As soon as Cole’s attack missed, Owen didn't let the golden opportunity slip away. He pushed himself up quickly and planted his foot squarely in the center of Cole's torso with full force!
Urk!
Cole’s voice went high from the impact. His body stumbled back a few steps, losing his balance, his back slamming into a wooden crate with a loud crash. Splintered wood scattered across the floor.
Having created some distance, Owen firmly raised his Muay Thai guard. His fists were clenched tight, held high to protect his face and torso. His shoulder muscles tensed, ready to explode into a punch. His cold, calm eyes were fixed on the enemy before him. Sweat he didn’t realize was there trickled down his temple.
"I'll kill you!" Cole growled hoarsely, repeating the same words, his eyes bloodshot with hatred and madness. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth sloppily and gripped the knife tightly, his hand trembling slightly with rage and pain.
Owen remained calm, his breathing steady. His eyes were focused, rapidly assessing the situation. The narrow, cluttered room, littered with the wreckage of shelves, limited his movement, but at the same time, it could be used as cover.
Cole continued to slash his knife at Owen with a mad frenzy, heedless of anything else, no different from a rabid dog. His attacks were crude and easy to predict, allowing Owen to dodge and counter every time the right moment presented itself.
SWOOSH~
WHIFF~
CLANG~
THWIP~
THWACK!~
ACK!!!
"Stop dodging if you have any guts, you coward!" Cole shouted in frustration when he saw his attacks were fruitless, and that he was being painfully countered by Owen’s fists, knees, feet, and elbows. Bruises of purple and black began to appear on his body, along with a growing exhaustion.
Even so, Cole had no intention of giving up, as if he had some plan in mind that would allow him to defeat Owen. He charged at Owen again, swinging the knife in wide, violent arcs, hoping to use the weapon's destructive power to slice Owen’s body in two. But the blade only hit the leg of a shelf stand that Owen had thrown at it, creating the melodic sound of metal being split in half.
SHING~
WHIFF~
Owen moved fluidly, stepping back to dodge the attack with perfect timing. His hair flew from the wind of the blade slicing past before he spun back swiftly, kicking at the back of Cole's knee with precision, causing him to lose his balance and collapse to the floor. Then he drove his knee squarely into Cole’s chin. The impact made Cole’s head snap back violently, his body lifting into the air as fresh blood splattered across a shelf.
CRACK!~
GAK!~
Even after taking a full-force blow to the chin, as an Awakened, Cole didn't pass out easily. He continued to get up and fight like a cockroach, his body battered and bloody, breathing in ragged gasps. The growl in his throat had not died down. The close-quarters combat between the two continued…
The sounds of fists hitting muscle echoed intermittently, interspersed with the terrifying sound of the blade slicing through the air. Droplets of blood began to appear on the floor each time one of them was injured. Owen still had the upper hand, but he couldn't get close enough to finish the fight, because the glowing magic knife was still extremely dangerous, and moving in such a confined space risked a counter-attack.
Owen's muscles were tense with every movement. His body was beginning to feel the strain of the continuous battle, but his mind remained calm, like a warrior long-trained and ready to face any attack. Cole had now become a mere beast driven by emotion, while Owen was the silent hunter, waiting for the moment to drag his prey down in a single move…
As Cole's eyes filled with a clear and barely contained frustration and anger, he realized that if he continued to fight head-on like this, he would only face a pathetic defeat. Cornered, he decided to use the trump card he had been saving… the power that allowed him to control people as he pleased.
"AGHHH!" Cole roared, pretending to miss a powerful slash, causing him to lose his balance and stumble towards a pile of broken shelves. It was a move that looked desperate and left a massive opening… a lure that was too perfect.
Owen frowned slightly. His instincts screamed that something was wrong, but the opportunity to finish his enemy was right in front of him, so he decided to charge in.
And in that split second… as Owen was about to reach Cole.
Cole, who was pretending to stumble, had secretly reached into his coat pocket. The old silver ‘pocket watch’ was pulled out in an instant. The dim light reflected off its face, creating a sudden flash. Cole took advantage of the moment Owen was charging in to swing the watch quickly and discreetly past Owen's line of sight.
Tick… Tock…
Owen froze mid-stride…
Upon seeing Cole’s pocket watch, he suddenly felt dizzy. The whole world spun, the image before him blurring and overlapping, as if looking through a rain-drenched windowpane.
"It worked!" Cole smirked like a victor, seeing that his trap had succeeded.
He didn't wait, lunging towards Owen from an unexpected blind spot. In Owen’s blurred vision, he couldn't see which direction the blade was coming from at all.
But while his eyes were compromised… his other, evolved senses sharpened astonishingly.
He heard the faint sound of something slicing through the air… He felt the sudden change in the gentle air current… His skin felt a sharp object rushing towards it…
Owen twisted his body to the side with all his might, following his instincts at the last possible second!
SLASH!
Even though he dodged, he didn’t avoid it completely. Cole’s blade had sliced across his side again, leaving a deeper and longer wound this time. Fresh red blood gushed out, soaking his shirt. The pain was so intense it made him grit his teeth.
"Damn it!" Cole cursed, annoyed. He was extremely frustrated that his plan hadn't killed Owen in one blow.
At the same time, the effects of the hypnosis began to fade rapidly. Owen's dizziness disappeared, the blurred image sharpened once more, and now he understood everything that had happened…
He had just been tricked by Cole’s ploy. Not because he had forgotten about Cole’s hypnotic power, but because he never thought it could be used in a fight like this.
Owen raised an arm to wipe away the blood seeping from the new wound. His eyes stared at Cole without blinking, trying to avoid looking directly at the watch. He would not fall for such a cheap trick a second time… The fight had just escalated to another level.
The pain coursing through his body didn't break Owen’s concentration. On the contrary, it made his senses strangely sharp and cold. The warm blood seeping out was a reminder that this was real, and a single mistake meant death. He knew now that this fight wasn’t just about raw power anymore.
"Heh… never thought you could use your power like that," Owen said flatly, his breathing still even though blood continued to seep from his wound. "But the same old trick won't work on me a second time."
"Shut up!" Cole snapped back furiously, the veins on his temples bulging. "You're just a coward who only dodges!"
Hearing that, Owen couldn't help but twitch an eyebrow. 'What sane person would just stand still and let someone stab them?' he thought with pity. If he retorted with, ‘Then you stand still and let me punch you,’ he wouldn't do it either, right? So Owen ignored the mad dog’s nonsense and focused on the fight.
After he finished speaking, Cole charged at Owen again, but this time his attack pattern had changed. One hand still gripped the knife tightly, slashing aggressively, while the other hand held the pocket watch. He swung it back and forth with his movements, its silver gleam flashing in the dim light, trying to catch Owen’s eye.
Faced with this strategy, Owen’s vision narrowed instantly. He had to focus on the blue blade coming at him while simultaneously avoiding eye contact with the flashing glint from the watch. It was a fight that frayed the nerves to the absolute limit.
"Look! Look at this!" Cole shouted maniacally. He used the moment Owen had to turn his face to avoid the reflection from the watch to quickly slash his knife in a wide sweep.
It was an attack that almost succeeded several times…
But Owen was no longer relying on just his "eyes." He could feel the gentle air currents hitting his skin. He could hear the small, sharp whistle of the blade cutting through the air. He could see the way Cole twisted his shoulders and torso, making it easy to predict the direction of his attacks. Although there were times the blade grazed his arm, creating shallow cuts, Owen was able to survive every one of Cole's deadly assaults.
The fight continued in this manner. Owen was now fully on the defensive, but every time he dodged, he always countered with a heavy punch or kick. He continuously left bruises on Cole’s ribs and thigh, causing Cole's side to be increasingly cornered by Owen.
And finally, Owen saw his chance…
The moment Cole swung his knife with all his might, leaving his torso wide open, Owen didn't hesitate. He dropped low, dodging the blade that sliced just over his head, before lunging back in with high speed. His right fist, packed with the power from his muscles transferred through his waist and shoulder, slammed squarely into Cole's solar plexus!
WHAM!!
"GAAH!" Cole doubled over in pain, all the air driven from his lungs in an instant. He held onto the knife in his hand, refusing to let go. His body was thrown back against the wall with such force that plaster dust rained down.
Seeing that he was about to be completely defeated, a final evil thought popped into Cole’s head… the method of a cornered dog with nothing left to lose.
His crazed eyes were no longer looking at Owen… they were looking past him, at Jessica’s form, trembling with fear in the corner of the room.
"If I have to die… you're dying with me!"
Cole ignored Owen completely. He used all his remaining strength to charge at Jessica!
"Jessica! Run!" Owen yelled, his heart lurching.
But it was too late… In this narrow space, there was nowhere for Jessica to run. Owen didn't have enough time to stop Cole before he reached her. So he decided to do the only thing he could…
He threw himself between Cole and Jessica, using his own body as a shield for her!
SHUNK!
A horrific sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. It didn’t hit a vital spot as intended, but it plunged deep through the flesh and bone of Owen’s left shoulder. The depth of the wound locked their bodies together at close range. Crimson blood sprayed everywhere, the warm droplets staining Jessica’s shocked and pale face.
"OWEN!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face with fear and pain on his behalf.
"AGHHH!" Owen gritted his teeth. A severe pain, like a red-hot poker, shot through his entire body, but there was no fear in his eyes. They blazed with a pure, unadulterated fury.
For Cole to get into close range to stab him… was a fatal mistake!
"This ends now!" Owen snarled.
Even though he was gravely injured, this close range was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Owen used his free right hand to lock onto Cole's wrist, which was gripping the knife, as tight as a steel clamp. Cole tried to twist the knife deeper into the wound but his eyes widened in shock as Owen began to do something inhuman…
He started to slowly pull the knife that was embedded in his own shoulder out!
"Urk… AGGGHH!" Owen roared as the blade slowly scraped past his muscle and bone, against Cole’s desperate resistance. Unfortunately for Cole, he wasn't a Power-Type Awakened, so his strength, even enhanced by mana, was far inferior to Owen's now.
SQUELCH~
Fresh red blood sprayed again as the knife came free from the wound. Owen’s face was contorted in pain, but he didn't wait. He immediately used the disarming technique Nova had taught him…
Owen used all his strength, twisting Cole’s arm up over his shoulder, using his body weight and momentum to throw Cole's body into the air before slamming it to the floor in an instant. It was a beautiful Judo throw, except Owen’s method was far more brutal and focused on destruction.
Because as Cole’s body flew over his shoulder, that arm was caught, twisted, and broken by the force from Owen’s arm and his own body weight!
SNAP! CRASH!
OOK! AGGGGHHHH!!!
The sound of the arm bone breaking echoed through the room, along with the sound of Cole's body being thrown hard against the floor. Cole’s eyes widened in extreme pain as he let out a pathetic scream. His arm was bent at an unnatural angle, his hand automatically releasing its grip, letting the knife fall to the floor with a loud noise.
CLANK!~
With Cole disarmed and still in shock from the pain, Owen, driven by adrenaline and rage, didn't let the opportunity slip by. He didn't hesitate for a single second…
He swung his right leg high, delivering a roundhouse kick with full force to the temple of Cole, who was lying on the floor!
THUD!
Cole’s head slammed against the concrete floor one last time. His eyes rolled back, his body gave one final jerk, and then he was still, finally unconscious…
The fight was over…
Silence consumed everything… leaving only the heavy, pained breathing of Owen… and the heart-wrenching sobs of Jessica. She looked at Owen's blood-soaked body with the utmost concern…
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