Cyn felt the raw, brute force behind that punch—the wood around him exploded into splinters.

This old man… was dangerous.

In a flash, another punch shot straight toward his face. Cyn blocked with both arms.

B A A A M!!

The impact launched him through the tavern wall, sending him flying out into the street. He crashed into the stone wall of a nearby shop.

"Ghh—!"

He spat blood. He had to run. This man was too strong.

And worse—his Scar wasn't on his body right now.

Cyn grabbed an iron bar as he climbed out of the debris.

Those two had tracked him down—he knew it.

The old farmer's severed head was proof enough.

He looked toward the hole he had been thrown through.

Valgean stepped out with a mocking smile.

"You survived that?"

Cyn didn't want to show weakness.

He grinned back.

"How could a punch from a senile old fossil kill someone my age?"

People around them were frozen, confused about what had just flown out of the tavern.

Then came the sounds:

BAAM! BAAM! CRACK!!

Their fight accidentally "gifted" nearby shops brand-new side entrances.

Apparently, one main door wasn't enough today.

Cyn swung the iron bar at Valgean.

WHOOSH—BAM!

But to his shock, the bar bent around Valgean's arm like cheap rubber.

Valgean didn't even react.

If anything, the failure fed his pride—his grin sharpened into something feral, as if he wanted to crush Cyn's spirit, to show him how hopeless this fight truly was.

But Cyn twisted mid-air, his body flickering out of sight for a moment.

A sharp kick hammered Valgean's chin—hard enough to wipe that smug smile off his face.

The smile returned—

—only for Cyn to unleash another upward kick.

BAAAM!!

Blood sprayed from Valgean's mouth.

"Gh—!!"

The smile finally disappeared, replaced by pure, boiling rage.

With murderous eyes, he reached for Cyn's leg mid-air, intending to smash him into the ground.

But—

BAAAM!!

A brutal kick to his stomach nearly made him vomit everything he had eaten at the old farmer's house. His eyes bulged.

Valgean shot backward, crashing into a nearby shop.

B A A A M!!

A third new entrance opened. Shoppers now had three different ways to walk in.

Cyn smirked.

"So? Not bad for a young man's kicks, old timer!"

He knew Valgean could hear him… and that these hits wouldn't kill him.

A warning blared in Cyn's mind. Instinct moved his body.

The spot he'd just been standing in imploded under a devastating punch, stone tiles cracking apart like fragile glass.

It was as if Valgean had teleported above him.

Cyn stared, shaken. Even the flying debris hit him.

Then he saw it—Valgean's hands were coated in something dark… no, black, as if drenched in ink.

'He has a Scar…! I can't win. I just have to stall—maybe someone will come. The knights, or—'

But Valgean wasn't going to give him time.

Cyn dodged with desperate reflexes, but Valgean kept getting faster, stronger—growing mid-battle like a monster.

His punches grazed closer and closer.

And Valgean was subtly steering him northward—away from the capital, into the outskirts.

He knew exactly where he wanted the fight to go.

Cyn felt it clearly:

A single clean hit would cripple him—maybe even kill him.

And all because his Scar had vanished without warning.

Though he knew the events earlier might have caused that.

Punch after punch from Valgean, evasion after evasion from Cyn.

Finally, Valgean switched tactics—mockery.

"What's wrong? Hahaha! Is that all your youthful energy amounts to? Strong legs—for running? HAHAHA!

Once I hit you, you're as good as dead. Fight like a man! Maybe—maybe—you'll have a chance to entertain me."

Cyn's breathing was ragged, his speed demanded more oxygen than his lungs could supply.

"Hah… If you catch me, do whatever you want.

But you can't even do that right now."

Cyn was trying to push Valgean into blind rage.

Maybe if he stalled long enough, the Scar's duration would end—

If it had a duration at all.

But seeing Valgean's confidence… Cyn knew he shouldn't hope for a miracle.

City scenery faded behind them, replaced by rocky terrain and forest.

The northern side had no walls—it bordered mountains and cliffs above the sea, a natural barrier.

Cyn leapt back—

FWOOO—!!

—only to skid and crash into a tree that halted his momentum.

Damn it.

He cursed inwardly.

All he could see was Valgean's feral grin—

A perfect chance to maim him.

He didn't plan to kill him, but severely injuring him?

That, Valgean wanted.

BAAAM!!

Cyn pushed off the tree, launching himself upward.

The tree snapped backward like a catapult, throwing him with brutal speed.

But mid-air—

Valgean appeared in front of him.

Cyn couldn't dodge this time.

He braced with both arms—

And in that flicker of a moment, he noticed something.

Something that gave him… hope.

A tiny, involuntary smile formed on his bloodied face.

Valgean mistook it as acceptance of death.

Valgean slammed his Scar-empowered fists down.

Cyn was blasted into the ground, the impact flattening a five-meter radius.

A crater swallowed his motionless body.

He lay there, covered in dirt, blood mixing with soil.

His mouth was full of dust and iron—like he had swallowed his own tongue.

Warmth spread through him, a strange heat, like his final moments were slipping away.

Valgean approached.

"A pathetic insect…

But I'll praise you for one thing—you stopped one of my punches without your body tearing apart.

Though I doubt you'll be using your arms again."

Cyn's arms—those he used to block—were completely destroyed.

Bones crushed, flesh mangled, arteries shredded…

As if a truck weighing tons had run them over.

Valgean grabbed Cyn by the hair and lifted him skyward.

Cyn vomited blood, agony tearing through him.

Dirt clung to his skin, his half-closed eyes lifeless, staring into nothingness.

It reminded him of the moment he swallowed the pain core dose.

Cyn lowered his head slightly and head-butted Valgean's chest—

only smearing his beard with blood and dirt.

Valgean snorted.

"Hahaha—this is all yo—"

He stopped.

Something hot dripped onto his chest.

Wet… warm…

Blood.

Cyn's blood, mixed with saliva.

"Disgusting," Valgean snarled.

He punched Cyn's head repeatedly.

Cyn couldn't feel the pain anymore.

Valgean suddenly felt Cyn… bite him.

"What—?!"

He punched harder, annoyed, not trying to kill him—he still needed him alive.

To Valgean, these were childish, pathetic attempts to struggle.

The last thing he expected Cyn to do… was cry.

But then—

Valgean felt it.

Fear.

A crushing, primal fear surging from someone on the verge of death.

A shiver ran through him; his body went cold.

He had never felt terror like this—not since the night mercenaries violated him as a child.

With all his strength, he leapt backward, as if shaking off a heavy weight.

And then—

He sensed it.

He searched his clothes frantically.

Inside his vest…

Something that should have been there—

something he himself had placed there—

was gone.

He looked up.

Cyn stood there.

A murderous aura drenched the air around him—despite his broken, half-dead state.

Blood and dirt coated his hair.

His half-closed eyes were dull, empty.

But on his face…

A terrifying smile.

Between his teeth, clenched tightly, was something.

Something he couldn't grab with his ruined hands, so he used his mouth.

Craaack—!!

Glass shattered.

Blood streamed from Cyn's lips, mixed with shards—

He swallowed everything.

Even the glass.

It was the Syringe.

The syringe containing the blood of his Scar.

The syringe Valgean had taken from his final assistant.

Valgean clutched his chest.

His heart thundered violently—

He could hear the pounding.

But he knew…

That wasn't his heartbeat.

It was Cyn's heartbeat.

The heartbeat of his Pride Scar.

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