Shu lay there, black spots dancing before his eyes.
A burning numbness radiated from the left side of his face, followed by a belated, piercing pain.
He gasped for air, every inhalation feeling like knives slicing his lungs, every exhalation heavy with the metallic scent of blood.
He loosened his fingers and realized he was clutching a piece of tattered cloth from [Shu]'s shoulder, along with some torn skin.
And [Shu], whom he had dragged down, lay on his side less than a meter away, panting just as painfully and violently, his chest heaving like worn-out bellows.
Shu withdrew his gaze and tried to prop himself up with his arms again.
But his arms trembled violently. He slipped twice, barely managing to turn over onto his back, lying side-by-side with [Shu], staring up at the smoke-obscured sky.
Between them, only the sound of breathing that seemed ready to snap at any moment remained.
Is it over?
No.
From the corner of his eye, Shu saw [Shu]'s hand clawing at the muddy ground, rhythmically, as if gathering strength, or perhaps searching for a leverage point.
His legs were also twitching slightly, heels unconsciously digging into the ground.
Shu's own fingers twitched slightly too.
It's not over yet...
A ruthless refusal to yield squeezed the last drop of warmth from the depths of his heart, sending it flowing toward his nearly stiff limbs.
It's not over yet!
Almost simultaneously, like two rusted machines, they lunged at each other with desperate force!
Shu rolled violently to the left, pressing his left side toward [Shu].
And [Shu], almost at the same time, bent his right knee and drove it hard into Shu's rolling torso!
Thud!
A dull sound of impact came from both their bodies.
They rolled and wrestled on the ground.
Their movements were clumsy and chaotic.
Yet every attack, every movement carried a vicious intent to crush the other's bones and tear their flesh.
They used knees to strike, wrists to smash, teeth to bite, heads to butt...
Every attack made their already broken bodies groan under the burden; every defense caused wounds to burst open, spilling more warm liquid.
Shu's fist landed limply on [Shu]'s ribs, sounding like knocking on rotten wood.
The return punch from [Shu] also drifted lightly into Shu's shoulder, numbing half his body.
They were like two dying beasts tearing at each other in the mud and blood, consuming each other's last bit of vitality in the ugliest way possible.
With a slip of his footing, Shu was pinned under [Shu]'s weight.
Seeing [Shu] raise his hand again, using his positional advantage, Shu lifted his hands to block, but his weak, aching arms seemed to betray him.
The downward strike was heavy and fast, smashing Shu's head violently to the side.
Turning his head back with difficulty, another heavy, powerful punch crashed down.
[Shu] straddled Shu, panting heavily. One punch, another punch, another punch, and then another.
Continuous heavy blows made Shu's vision black out; his oxygen-deprived lungs burned like fire.
He seemed unable to even maintain the thought of defense anymore, his hands hanging powerlessly at his sides.
Then, just as [Shu]'s fist came down again, Shu suddenly jerked his head up, slamming his forehead hard into [Shu]'s nose bridge!
Crack! The sound of nasal bone shattering.
[Shu] groaned in pain and fell backward, while Shu himself was slammed back onto the ground by the recoil.
But at least, the initiative had returned.
It was obviously harder for [Shu], whose rhythm had been broken, to adjust than it was for Shu.
Shu seized the opportunity to roll over, pinning [Shu] beneath him. Straddling him, he raised his equally powerless fist and smashed it down onto [Shu]'s face, punch after punch, exactly as [Shu] had done to him.
Only, Shu's fist had long lost most of its power; he relied solely on gravity to inflict negligible damage.
Below him, [Shu] blocked futilely with his arms. Occasionally, he managed to grab Shu's wrist and pull him off balance, sending them rolling into a tangle again.
Smoke drifted slowly, shrouding this small, cruel colosseum.
The two figures separated once more amidst the dust and pools of blood, like two pieces of rotten wood snapped by a storm, collapsing separately onto the cold, hard ground, less than two meters apart.
This time, neither lunged again immediately.
Time seemed dragged out by viscous blood and extreme exhaustion.
Only the violent yet weak rise and fall of their chests proved that life had not completely departed.
Can't stop...
They both had reasons they couldn't lose.
And stopping... would mean truly losing...
Similar thoughts were the final driving force.
They looked at each other.
The distance was very close.
Close enough to see every smear of blood and bruise on the other's face, to see the embers burning to the very end in their eyes.
There was no battle intent left in their eyes.
Only...
I must do this.
Obsession was like a chain binding their hands and feet, dragging two exhausted people to run endlessly.
Thud!
The dull sound of collision rang out again.
Like two sandbags, they bumped into each other, bouncing slightly apart from the recoil.
Their attacks had lost all form. Perhaps at the start of this final brawl, they could still form proper fists, but now, they were merely struggling not to fall down.
Sweat, blood, and mud mixed together, making their figures even more blurry and indistinguishable.
Finally, in another clumsy struggle, [Shu] used a tiny, extremely weak advantage in his shoulder to push Shu down beneath him.
He could barely see the exact position of the person underneath him. Relying solely on feeling, he raised his numb right hand, driving it with sheer will, and smashed it down tremblingly toward where he assumed Shu's face was...
Bringing Shu's body down with it.
Below, Shu had absolutely no strength left to defend. His half-closed, cloudy pupils reflected the approaching fist.
And just as Shu was ready to accept what might be the final blow, his bloodshot eyes caught a fleeting glimpse of a colorful spot of light in that instant.
Oh...
So... I actually did something earlier?
Even he had almost forgotten that during those frantic calculations earlier, he had secretly "saved" a tiny bit of possibility, buried at the bottom of his nearly exhausted Authority.
Hum...
A faint, almost inaudible energy chime.
[Shu]'s fist, already running on empty fumes, seemed to hit an absolutely smooth barrier.
There was no immense recoil force, only a gentle yet irresistible deflection force traveling up his arm, completely destroying the last bit of balance supporting his body.
His body tipped. The posture he maintained solely by willpower collapsed completely. Like a tattered sack with its frame removed, he stumbled back two steps, then fell thoroughly onto the ground, splashing up a small puff of dust.
This time, he didn't even have the strength to try and struggle.
[Shu] lay face up on the cold earth, his chest heaving weakly. Aside from trembling, his body could no longer make any effective movement.
It was over.
Finally...
It was over.