BANG—!
A dull, heart-palpitating sound of impact.
The fist slammed solidly into [Shu]'s face.
The immense force jerked [Shu]'s head back violently. His entire body, as if struck by a giant hammer, lifted off the ground and was thrown backward.
In that instant when his consciousness blurred from the heavy blow and his control over the Pseudo-White Cell domain suffered a fatal interruption—
The chaotic domain, having lost its only restraint and guidance, acted like a popped balloon. All the accumulated, frenzied, disordered rule-transformation energy found its only outlet, collapsing inward at unimaginable speed.
Then, it detonated completely!
BOOM————————!!!!!!!!
An ultimate shockwave, indescribable in color and composed purely of annihilated chaotic laws, exploded in a perfect sphere centered on where the two had been standing.
Wherever the shockwave passed—whether molten lava, vitrified glass, or those twisted spatial structures—everything was instantly assimilated, decomposed, and then hurled outward with even more violent force.
A massive pillar of light, thousands of meters in diameter and mixed with countless bizarre colors and turbulent energy currents, shot straight up into the high sky, blasting toward the depths of the universe.
This attack even briefly dispersed part of the ionosphere, leaving a terrifying spectacle like divine wrath in the Antarctic night sky.
At the epicenter of the explosion, two figures were flung violently in opposite directions like rag dolls by irresistible force. They traced long parabolas in the air before finally crashing heavily several kilometers away.
Their bodies smashed two deep craters into the ruins of the unrecognizable ice plain, splashing up sky-filling dust and shattered ice.
The moment Shu threw that last punch, he had converted the last bit of his controllable power into a thin shield wrapping his whole body, prioritizing impact defense.
This allowed him to avoid direct erosion by the disordered rules while being thrown by the explosion.
But Shu still took the full brunt of the physical impact damage. He didn't know how many bones in his body were broken, and his internal organs were severely damaged. Like a piece of smashed porcelain barely maintaining a human shape, he lay at the bottom of the crater, with only extremely faint breathing remaining.
The raging shockwave slowly subsided, and the bizarre pillar of light reaching the sky gradually dimmed.
This ravaged area of Antarctica seemed to temporarily return to deathly silence.
Hummmm————
The world was a chaotic, continuous, piercing ringing in his ears.
And mixed within this string of ringing that constituted the world was the sound of his own heart beating frantically yet weakly, like a worn-out bellows.
Shu's consciousness bobbed on the edge of a dark abyss. Every time he tried to surface, he was ruthlessly pulled back by the severe pain coming from his whole body.
It was as if every cell was screaming; the pain of self-disintegration tortured his remaining sanity like death by a thousand cuts.
But he didn't give up struggling.
Finally, just as his consciousness broke through the ice layer, Shu in reality finally opened his eyes and let out a heart-rending cough.
Then, he felt a cold, rough sensation.
Not ice.
It was soil.
This was the dark black rock and soil dug up from the depths of the Antarctic permafrost by their earlier madness.
Fine gravel dug into the countless wounds on his back, bringing a stinging pain that no longer mattered.
It was just that his body felt like a clay figure that had been thoroughly smashed and then barely glued back together; not a single part listened to his commands.
How many bones were broken?
He didn't know.
Were his internal organs still in their original positions?
He couldn't feel them.
His left arm...
Oh, the right arm that had regenerated earlier was now hanging limply, seemingly without even the strength to lift.
The multi-colored healing light had long extinguished. The Authority of [Hope] was like a completely dried-up spring, leaving only a burning emptiness.
His Honkai energy was also nearly depleted; only a few dregs flowed in his meridians, bringing a needle-like numbness.
But...
It wasn't over yet.
This thought was faint but stubborn, like the last spark of a candle in the wind.
He began to struggle.
Every tiny movement was accompanied by the pain of tearing muscle fibers and the tooth-aching sound of bone friction.
He tried his best to turn onto his side, using his relatively intact left shoulder and elbow to press against the ground. Bit by bit, he "pried" himself up from the crater he had smashed into.
This process was as slow as time standing still. Blood and sweat mixed with dirt dripped from his forehead, blurring his already dim vision.
Finally, he knelt up, then tried to support his body weight with trembling legs.
On the first attempt, his knees went soft, and he almost fell forward again.
He gritted his teeth, blood seeping from his gums, a leaking hiss sounding in his throat, and exerted force again—
This time, he stood up, swaying.
His vision was spinning and dim.
Thick smoke mixed with dust, energy residue, and steam shrouded the surroundings; visibility was less than three meters.
Besides the stubborn tinnitus and heartbeat, he couldn't hear anything.
The world had been stripped of color and sound, leaving only pain and suffocating exhaustion.
And a desolate, blurry grayness.
But his gaze instinctively scanned through the thick fog.
Where was he?
The battle wasn't over yet... He could still stand, and he hadn't confirmed that his opponent had lost combat capability...
This was the reason he was still struggling now.
So...
Where was he?
Where was [Shu]?
Just as this thought arose—
The smoke on his left suddenly disturbed.
That wasn't wind.
Shu, discerning a staggering, chaotic rhythm in the sound, felt his cloudy pupils shrink sharply. Using his last shred of reaction speed, he tried to turn his head.
But he was too slow.
A figure smashed out of the gray fog!
It was [Shu]!
He looked even worse than Shu.
And his running posture was extremely bizarre; he was "charging" by relying on forward-falling inertia, like a marionette with dislocated joints.
His face held no expression, only pure will to advance.
Shu couldn't even assume an effective defensive stance.
Then, [Shu]'s right fist, equally covered in cracks and blood, carrying his entire body weight and final momentum, smashed solidly into Shu's left face, as if in revenge for that punch just now!
Thud!
The muffled sound wasn't loud, yet it caused Shu's barely maintained balance to collapse completely.
The world spun; a field of stars mixed with darkness exploded before his eyes.
He fell backward.
But before his consciousness plunged completely into darkness, some deeper instinct drove him.
As he fell, his left arm, which could still move slightly, grabbed forward violently!
His fingers touched rough fabric, then slippery, warm skin.
He gripped it deathly tight, using his last bit of strength.
Crash—
Shu fell, and [Shu], grabbed by the only remaining tattered cloth on his body, was also yanked down violently by this downward force. Like entangled vines, the two crashed heavily onto the cold, hard ground together.
Dust flew into the air.