Chapter 32: When Power Transcended the Limits of the Body

Elden furrowed his brows as he watched the golden light radiating from Rowan's body.

"Could you at least do me the courtesy of explaining what that thing is before you blow yourself up?"

"As if I'd do that."

Rowan's smile was faint, but there was no hesitation in his voice.

The Heart of the Sun was not merely another elemental ability, nor was it a technique that relied on compressing mana or transforming it into a different form. It was something far more extraordinary: an artificial nuclear fusion reactor designed to imitate the internal dynamics of the sun itself, harnessing immense nuclear reactions to generate energy that could then be converted into mana.

Rowan had spent years developing it, searching for a way to overcome the natural limitations his body imposed upon his control over the elements. Ordinary methods could only take him so far. No matter how skillfully he manipulated the five elements, he remained constrained by the amount of energy his body could safely channel and the rate at which he could replenish it.

The Heart of the Sun was his answer.

Rather than depending entirely on the primordial energy surrounding him, he had created a source of power within his own body, one capable of generating energy on a scale that ordinary cultivation methods could never hope to achieve.

And now, for the first time, he had unleashed it at full power.

The amount of mana being generated was far beyond what a human body could contain. Energy no longer flowed through his channels in a controlled stream; it surged through them violently, turning every beat of his heart into another explosion of power. His body had become the vessel for a force it had never been designed to withstand, and the consequences were already beginning to show.

Cracks spread across his skin.

They first appeared on his chest, then extended toward his neck, arms, and face, resembling the fractures in a clay vessel pushed beyond the limits of its strength. Golden light seeped through the widening fissures, making the damaged portions of his body glow as though something incandescent were burning beneath his flesh.

The Heart of the Sun granted him extraordinary power, but at the same time, it was destroying the very body attempting to contain it.

Rowan paid it no mind.

His aura surged, expanding so violently that the darkness surrounding Elden was forced back for an instant. The latter instinctively raised an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding radiance, but the movement came too late to help him.

In the next instant, Rowan disappeared.

Elden couldn't even follow his movement.

One strike.

Rowan appeared directly before him and drove a fist into his face, sending him hurtling through space. Before Elden could recover his balance, Rowan appeared beside him, then above him, then behind him, unleashing a relentless succession of blows at a speed that the naked eye could no longer properly follow.

Each strike was stronger than the one before it.

Every movement left tears in the surrounding space.

Elden attempted to absorb the energy crashing into his body, but he found himself unable to keep pace with his brother's speed. Even when he managed to devour part of the force behind one attack, the next had already arrived, leaving him no time to convert the energy he had absorbed into a defense.

A blow struck his abdomen.

Another slammed into his chest.

A third sent him flying an enormous distance before Rowan caught up and struck again.

For the first time in the battle, Elden was the one being relentlessly battered, unable to find a genuine opportunity to retaliate. The advantage he had enjoyed only moments earlier had vanished, replaced by a storm of attacks that allowed him neither the time nor the space to gather himself.

Rowan, meanwhile, continued forcing his body beyond its limits, heedless of the cracks spreading across his skin with every movement. The golden light pouring from his body grew increasingly intense, but the fractures beneath it widened, threatening to tear him apart from within.

He knew he didn't have much time left.

Elden had realized it, too.

After another strike sent him hurtling through space, Elden finally abandoned his attempts to match Rowan's speed. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, steadying himself amid the chaos, then slowly opened them again.

"All right..." he murmured. "It seems I can no longer deal with you the usual way."

He raised one hand toward the heavens.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this trump card against you, Senior Brother."

The movement of space around him came to a halt.

It wasn't merely an impression or an illusion caused by the pressure of his aura. For one brief moment, it seemed as though the entire universe had held its breath.

Then an immense will descended upon the battlefield.

It was no longer simply Elden's aura. What emerged from him was something far greater, an overwhelming will that extended beyond the confines of his body and spread through the surrounding space, forcing every particle within its reach to acknowledge his presence.

"One with Heaven."

This was Elden's true trump card.

As the world's favored Chosen One, he possessed the rare ability to synchronize himself temporarily with the world. By drawing upon his unique status, he could elevate his control over the surrounding space to an extraordinary degree, allowing his will to resonate with the very domain in which he fought.

He was no longer merely a combatant standing within the arena.

Within the territory he controlled, he had become something closer to a master imposing his will upon the battlefield itself.

The layers of space bent to his command. The flow of primordial energy within his domain came to a standstill, and the streams of mana sustaining Rowan's abilities began to break apart one after another, as though the world itself had decided to abandon his elder brother.

Elden's objective was simple.

Cut Rowan off from every external source of energy, isolate him from the world, and force the Heart of the Sun to exhaust itself until Rowan's body collapsed under its own power.

For a moment, Rowan felt the four elements slip entirely beyond his reach.

The wind no longer answered his call. The earth could no longer provide him with strength, while heat and moisture vanished from the domain surrounding him. Even space itself seemed to grow heavier, as though every movement required him to shatter an invisible wall before he could proceed.

Elden had effectively turned the battlefield against him.

But he had made one mistake.

He had assumed that Rowan still depended upon the primordial energy surrounding him.

Rowan raised his head, a faint smile appearing across his cracked lips.

"I told you... the Heart of the Sun isn't merely an elemental technique."

Golden light flared within his chest.

"As long as I have enough energy inside me, I don't care if you shut the entire world against me."

The cracks across his body blazed brighter, and threads of light spilled from them like molten lava escaping from a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Elden couldn't prevent the energy from emerging.

He had severed the external flow of mana, but he couldn't stop the reactor operating inside Rowan's own body. The Heart of the Sun continued generating power, feeding the golden radiance that threatened to consume its wielder from within.

And so, the battle continued.

The seconds passed slowly.

Yet every second brought Rowan closer to his end.

The fissures spreading across his body continued to widen, some extending all the way to his fingertips. Portions of his skin began to crumble, while his muscles gradually lost their ability to withstand the tremendous force passing through them. His body was becoming less a living vessel and more a shattered shell struggling to hold together long enough for him to finish the fight.

Still, he attacked.

Elden had regained control of the battlefield, but even with the advantage granted by One with Heaven, he couldn't bring the battle to a swift conclusion. The Heart of the Sun forced him to expend an increasing amount of power to maintain his synchronization with the world, while his body was still suffering from the injuries Rowan had inflicted upon him earlier.

Neither of them could sustain this indefinitely.

Eventually, Rowan understood the truth.

If the battle continued at its current pace, he would lose.

Not necessarily because Elden was stronger than him, but because his own body would collapse before he could achieve the result he wanted.

There would be no second chance.

No room for even a single mistake.

He had to end everything with one strike.

Rowan lowered his head and gathered whatever energy remained within his body.

The golden aura surrounding him began to contract.

Mana streamed inward from his extremities, converging upon his chest until all that power concentrated at a single point. His heart resembled a miniature star on the verge of detonation, its brilliance growing increasingly faint on the outside even as the energy compressed within it reached a terrifying density.

The light around him gradually dimmed.

Yet the pressure emanating from his body continued to rise.

Elden noticed the change immediately.

His expression shifted.

"Rowan... don't tell me you're planning to—"

He never finished the sentence.

His elder brother disappeared.

It wasn't simply a burst of speed. Rowan had torn through the distance separating them in an instant, forcing his way through the spatial domain Elden had imposed upon the battlefield. Every remaining fragment of strength was concentrated into that single movement, allowing him to overcome the resistance of the surrounding space and appear directly before his opponent.

There was no time to think.

No time to defend himself properly.

Elden saw a golden leg approaching his chest and instinctively twisted his body to the side, desperately attempting to evade the potentially fatal blow.

But Rowan was too fast.

Elden couldn't escape completely.

The kick struck the side of his chest.

For one moment, silence prevailed.

Then space exploded.

The sound came afterward. First came the shock wave, which tore through Elden's body and shattered his defenses, ripping apart the tissues that had attempted to absorb the incoming force. A massive portion of his chest ruptured, his stomach and part of his lung were severely damaged, and the overwhelming heat consumed nearly half his body.

Elden was hurled backward like a projectile fired from an enormous cannon, leaving a trail of blood and charred tissue in his wake.

He tore through layers of space, hurtling an immense distance before the surrounding domain finally managed to slow his momentum.

At last, he stopped.

Half his body had been burned away, and his chest was so badly mangled that every attempt to draw breath became a battle of its own. His black aura had warped beyond recognition, the enormous wings formed from darkness vanished, and the will that had dominated the battlefield only moments earlier began to dissipate.

And yet, he remained conscious.

Barely.

He tried to move his fingers, but only part of his hand responded.

Was... that it?

He couldn't even tell whether he had won or lost.

But when he tried to raise his head, he saw something that made him forget his pain for a brief moment.

Rowan.

His elder brother was still suspended in space, not far away.

But his body...

It resembled a clay vessel that had been shattered and hastily pieced back together.

Deep cracks covered him from head to toe, most of them no longer emitting their former golden radiance. Some of his limbs hung at unnatural angles, while much of the light that had once poured from his chest had disappeared, leaving behind only a faint glow that barely suggested the Heart of the Sun was still operating.

His body could no longer move.

He could barely even remain conscious.

Rowan had pushed himself to the absolute limits of his body, then gone beyond them, sacrificing everything that remained of his strength to break through Elden's domain and deliver the final blow.

He had succeeded.

But the price he had paid was almost as great as the victory itself.

Elden tried to open his mouth.

"Ro... wan..."

Only a broken sound emerged.

He wanted to ask whether his elder brother was still alive. He wanted to curse him for nearly killing them both. Perhaps he even wanted to laugh at the sheer stupidity of what they had done to themselves.

But he could do none of those things.

His vision began to fade, and he lost control of the domain he had commanded only moments earlier. The layers of space gradually returned to their natural state, while the overwhelming will that had engulfed the battlefield disappeared.

With the last remnants of his consciousness, Elden raised his trembling hand.

He extended one finger with tremendous difficulty, attempting to declare his victory.

He didn't even know whether Rowan had lost consciousness before him.

But he wanted to do it anyway.

Even if it was the final movement he would ever make.

His hand rose a little higher...

Then fell.

The light in his eyes went out.

Deep within the vastness of space, the two brothers drifted in silence, separated by only a short distance as their shattered bodies floated slowly through the darkness.

There was no victor left standing.

And no defeated man left capable of admitting defeat.