“Do youthink you can beat me?” Johnny sneered, violent wind spiraling around his body hard enough to split the shattered laboratory floor apart.
“Our ranks are far too vast.”
Blood dripped steadily from my fingers.
My breathing felt heavy.
Pain burned through my ribs and chest every time I inhaled.
But despite all of that—
I smiled.
“We’ll see about that.”
‘[Blink].’
Space folded.
Johnny’s pupils contracted instantly as I vanished from his sight.
Fast.
Too fast.
I appeared directly in front of him.
Even Johnny looked shocked for half a second.
Still, his combat instincts reacted instantly.
Wind mana exploded around his body while he crossed both arms defensively, waiting for the impact.
Only—
I didn’t attack.
Johnny’s expression shifted.
Danger.
He sensed it too late.
Space warped behind him.
I appeared there instantly.
“[Stellar Impact]!”
Purple mana compressed violently around my fist before detonating outward.
BANG!!
The punch landed directly against Johnny’s back.
The impact exploded like a meteor strike.
The entire laboratory shook violently as Johnny got launched across the room like a cannonball before smashing straight through a concrete wall hard enough to collapse half of it inward.
Debris exploded everywhere.
I rolled my shoulder slowly despite the pain and smirked.
“How does that feel?”
For a moment—
Silence.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
The entire collapsed wall exploded outward.
Johnny stepped through the debris slowly while wind howled violently around him.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth now.
His gray eyes no longer looked calm.
No.
Now they looked furious.
“You little monster…”
The pressure around him exploded.
The laboratory ceiling cracked instantly as compressed wind spiraled around his body in dozens of rotating currents sharp enough to slice apart steel.
My instincts screamed immediately.
Danger.
Real danger.
Johnny raised one hand slowly.
“[Tempest Domain].”
The air itself changed.
Wind erupted throughout the entire laboratory.
Not random.
Controlled.
Every current.
Every movement.
Every particle of air became his weapon.
The pressure slammed into me instantly like a mountain.
CRACK.
The floor beneath my feet shattered.
Invisible blades tore across my skin from every direction simultaneously, opening dozens of shallow cuts across my body in seconds.
“Tch.”
I distorted space around myself immediately, twisting the surrounding air currents away from my body.
Johnny noticed instantly.
Then smiled coldly.
“Interesting.”
He vanished.
WHOOOSH!!
My eyes widened.
Fast.
Faster than before.
I twisted sideways instinctively just as Johnny’s kick sliced through the air beside my head.
The shockwave alone tore apart an entire section of wall behind me.
I retaliated instantly.
“[Stellar Impact]!”
Johnny caught my fist with one hand.
BOOM!!
Purple mana and compressed wind collided violently between us.
The force cratered the floor beneath our feet.
For half a second—
Neither of us moved.
Then Johnny’s expression shifted slightly.
Because despite the rank difference—
I was physically matching him.
Not completely.
But enough.
“Impossible.”
I grinned through blood-stained teeth.
“Yeah, I hear that a lot.”
Johnny’s knee slammed toward my stomach instantly.
I teleported upward at the last second.
The attack hit empty air—
BOOOOM!!
—and still blasted apart the floor beneath us.
I appeared above him immediately.
Space twisted around my arm violently.
“[Spatial Collapse].”
The air compressed inward around Johnny from every direction simultaneously.
His eyes widened.
Wind exploded outward instantly.
“[Cyclone Burst]!”
BOOOOM!!
The collision detonated midair.
I got thrown backward violently while Johnny slid several meters across the ruined floor.
Pain surged through my body the moment I landed.
My mana reserves were dropping fast now.
Too fast.
But something felt strange.
The longer I fought—
The clearer everything became.
Every distortion.
Every movement of space.
Every fluctuation of mana.
It felt…
Sharper.
Cleaner.
Like my mind was opening.
Johnny attacked again before I could think further.
Dozens of compressed wind spears formed around him instantly.
“Die.”
The spears shot toward me simultaneously.
Too many.
Too fast.
I inhaled sharply.
Then smiled.
Space folded around me instinctively.
Not manually.
Naturally.
The spears twisted unnaturally before missing me by centimeters as my body flowed through distorted space itself.
Johnny’s eyes widened.
“What?”
I blinked.
Wait.
That movement—
I didn’t consciously do that.
[You have gained an Epiphany.]
The blue notification appeared instantly.
My heartbeat quickened.
[Your understanding of Space has increased.]
The surrounding world suddenly looked different.
Space wasn’t empty.
It flowed.
Connected.
Linked together like invisible threads stretching across reality itself.
And for the first time—
I could see them.
A grin slowly spread across my face.
“Oh…”
Johnny frowned immediately.
“What are you smiling about?”
I looked up slowly.
Purple light flickered wildly around my body now.
Unstable.
Violent.
Beautiful.
“Nothing.”
‘[Blink].’
I vanished.
This time—
Johnny completely lost sight of me.
His expression changed instantly.
Then—
BANG!!
My kick slammed into the side of his ribs hard enough to bend his body sideways.
Before he could react—
‘[Blink].’
I appeared above him.
“[Stellar Impact]!”
BOOOOOM!!
My fist crashed against his shoulder and drove him straight into the floor hard enough to create a massive crater.
Dust exploded everywhere.
Johnny coughed blood.
Actual blood.
Shock flashed across his face.
“How are you—”
I appeared beside him again instantly.
Too fast.
Way too fast.
His eyes widened.
He barely blocked my next punch.
BOOM!!
The impact blasted him backward across the room.
I chased immediately.
Laughing.
Actually laughing now.
God—
This felt incredible.
The pain.
The adrenaline.
The mana surging through my body.
Everything felt alive.
[Your understanding of Star has increased.]
Purple mana erupted violently around my arms.
It felt hotter now.
Denser.
The stellar energy compressing around my fists became more refined with every attack.
Johnny noticed too.
And for the first time since the fight started—
I saw it.
Fear.
“This is absurd…” he muttered.
Then his mana exploded violently.
Fine.
If I was evolving—
Then he’d crush me before I could finish.
Wind howled throughout the entire laboratory.
The ceiling ripped apart.
Metal debris floated upward into the storm surrounding him.
Johnny slowly raised both hands.
“[Sky Burial].”
The atmosphere screamed.
Every floating piece of debris compressed together into hundreds of spinning projectiles coated in razor-sharp wind mana.
Then they all launched toward me simultaneously.
The laboratory disappeared beneath the attack.
I narrowed my eyes.
Space distorted wildly around me.
‘Move.’
My body obeyed instinctively.
Not thought.
Instinct.
I teleported between the attacks seamlessly while debris exploded around me from every direction.
One projectile grazed my arm.
Blood sprayed outward.
Another tore through my side.
Pain exploded through my body.
But I kept moving.
Faster.
Sharper.
Cleaner.
Everything around me slowed down.
I could see the flow of space itself now.
The connections.
The distortions.
The pathways.
[Your understanding of Space has increased.]
Johnny’s eyes widened further.
“He’s still evolving?!”
I appeared directly in front of him instantly.
His expression twisted.
He swung immediately.
Wind exploded from his fist.
I slipped around it by distorting space around my body.
Then punched.
“[Stellar Impact].”
BOOOOM!!
Johnny crossed both arms defensively—
And got blasted backward through three pillars.
The entire laboratory shook violently.
I landed lightly despite the exhaustion tearing through my body.
My grin widened.
“This is fun.”
Johnny slowly stood from the rubble.
His breathing had changed now.
Rougher.
Uneven.
His robes were torn apart in several places while blood dripped steadily from both arms.
“You…”
Wind spiraled violently around him.
“You’re only an [E-] rank.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“Was.”
The world suddenly pulsed.
A deep vibration echoed through my body.
Mana surged violently through every part of me.
The pressure around me exploded outward.
Johnny’s eyes widened instantly.
“No way…”
Blue screens appeared rapidly before my vision.
[The Title: The One Who Refused is reacting strongly to overwhelming opposition.]
[The bearer refuses defeat.]
[The bearer refuses submission.]
[The bearer continues advancing against impossible odds.]
[Bonus Growth Activated.]
My body trembled violently.
Pain surged through every muscle simultaneously.
Then—
Something broke.
Not physically.
A limit.
Mana erupted outward from my body in a violent wave.
The laboratory cracked apart around me.
Johnny instinctively stepped backward.
“What the hell—”
[You have gained an Epiphany.]
[Your understanding of Space has increased.]
[Your understanding of Star has increased.]
[Your understanding of Space has increased.]
[Your understanding of Star has increased.]
[Your understanding of Space has increased.]
[Your understanding of Star has increased.]
The notifications continued flooding endlessly across my vision.
And each one made the world clearer.
Sharper.
I could feel space bending around my fingertips naturally now.
The stellar mana inside my body roared like a living thing.
Then—
BOOOOM!!
A pulse of energy exploded outward from my body.
Dust blasted away from me in every direction.
Johnny froze.
His face finally lost all composure.
“…No.”
The System notification appeared.
[You have broken through to [E]Rank.]
Silence filled the laboratory for half a second.
Johnny stared at me like he was looking at a monster.
“He broke through…?”
Disbelief filled his voice completely.
“What kind of monster are you?!”
I slowly lifted my head.
Purple light glowed faintly within my eyes now.
Space distorted subtly around my body without conscious control.
Honestly—
I didn’t fully know anymore.
But one thing was certain.
I felt stronger.
Much stronger.
I rolled my shoulders slowly while grinning widely.
“Round two?”
Johnny’s expression twisted violently.
Then he attacked.
No restraint.
No calmness.
Pure killing intent.
“DIE!!”
The entire laboratory erupted into chaos.
Compressed wind exploded toward me from every direction simultaneously while Johnny rushed forward at blinding speed.
But now—
I could see everything.
I sidestepped the first blade effortlessly.
Teleported through the second.
Collapsed space around the third.
Then countered instantly.
“[Spatial Collapse].”
Space folded inward around Johnny violently.
He slashed outward with wind mana immediately—
But this time the distortion didn’t fully break.
His eyes widened.
The pressure crushed inward harder.
I appeared directly beside him.
“[Stellar Impact].”
BANG!!
The punch landed directly against his ribs.
Something cracked loudly.
Johnny coughed blood violently as the force launched him across the room.
Before he could recover—
I was already there.
‘[Blink].’
Another punch.
Another explosion.
Another crater.
Johnny retaliated desperately with a wind blade toward my throat.
I bent space around it instinctively.
The blade curved away from my neck completely.
His pupils shrank.
“That’s impossible—”
I grabbed his wrist instantly.
Purple mana erupted violently around my arm.
“No.”
I smiled widely.
“This is.”
“[Nova Break].”
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The explosion swallowed the entire laboratory.
Light engulfed everything.
The reinforced walls shattered instantly.
The ceiling collapsed inward.
Shockwaves erupted across the entire underground facility while space itself cracked visibly around the epicenter.
Johnny screamed.
For the first time during the entire fight—
He screamed.
I stood at the center of the destruction breathing heavily while debris rained around me.
My entire body screamed in pain.
Blood covered almost every part of me.
Mana exhaustion clawed at my mind.
But I was still standing.
Across the ruined laboratory—
Johnny slowly pulled himself from the rubble.
Barely.
One arm hung uselessly at his side now.
Blood covered half his body.
His wind aura flickered unstably.
And his eyes—
His eyes looked horrified.
Because now he understood.
I wasn’t trapped in here with him.
He was trapped in here with me.
Also this is the last double chapter.
My updates will become one chapter daily, but of course with a double every few Saturdays.
So stay tuned