Child of Destiny

Chapter 2319: Sacred Neanderthal versus Desert Barbarian (Part 4)

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Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Seeing Heartless Dream calmly watching him while continuously twirling the Legendary Hammer around his body, Owen couldn’t help but raise his brows slightly.

He could try using his own Legendary Combat Technique to match his opponent’s momentum.

Unfortunately, Heartless Dream already had a considerable head start.

Trying to build enough momentum to catch up now would only put Owen at a disadvantage.

If he wanted to turn this into a true battle of momentum-gathering techniques, he first had to reset his opponent’s progress and bring the battle back to its starting point.

And there was only one way to do that.

He had to forcibly interrupt Heartless Dream’s rhythm by withstanding one of his destructive attacks.

After firming his resolve, Owen suddenly kicked off the ground and charged forward, taking the initiative to confront Heartless Dream head-on.

Bang!

Crackle! Crackle!

Golden arcs of lightning danced through the air behind him as his figure suddenly appeared before Heartless Dream.

The Desert Barbarian seemed to have anticipated his approach.

WHOOSH!

With a skillful rotation of the Legendary Hammer, Heartless Dream immediately brought the weapon crashing toward Owen.

Bang!

However, just before the hammerhead could reach him, Owen suddenly kicked off the ground and shot sideways.

Swoosh!

He narrowly avoided the attack, leaving a trail of golden lightning behind him as he appeared beside Heartless Dream.

His heavy mace was already swinging toward his opponent, but Heartless Dream reacted immediately.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Heartless Dream pulled the Legendary Hammer back and spun it around his body before redirecting its momentum toward Owen.

Whoosh!

Crackle! Crackle!

Owen changed direction again.

His body twisted sharply as he relied on his exceptionally high Constitution to withstand the tremendous strain caused by the sudden change in movement.

Swoosh!

Heartless Dream immediately adjusted the trajectory of his swing, causing the Legendary Hammer to chase after Owen once again.

The same exchange repeated.

Whenever Heartless Dream was about to strike, Owen changed direction.

Whenever Owen attempted to close the distance, Heartless Dream redirected the Legendary Hammer and continued its rotation.

Owen began circling around him at incredible speed, relying on his high Constitution and the enhanced mobility provided by his Thunderbird Divine Tattoo.

Lightning constantly flashed around his body as he shifted positions again and again, never allowing himself to remain in the same place for more than an instant.

Heartless Dream, on the other hand, relied on his powerful physique and terrifying reaction speed to repeatedly alter the trajectory of the Legendary Hammer.

Every time the weapon changed direction, however, another rotation was added to the technique.

Another layer of momentum was accumulated, and another increment of destructive force was born.

From the perspective of the spectators, Owen’s actions appeared almost suicidal. The longer this continued, the stronger Heartless Dream’s momentum became.

And wasn’t that precisely what Owen had been trying to prevent?

Yet Owen wasn’t actually trying to stop the Dance of the Golden Hammer anymore.

He was feeding it.

He was forcing Heartless Dream to continuously change the trajectory of the Legendary Hammer while keeping its momentum alive.

And that was exactly what Owen wanted.

He understood just how difficult it was to maintain complete control over techniques that accumulated momentum continuously.

The more power they gathered, the more difficult they became to control.

Eventually, there would come a point where the accumulated momentum exceeded the limit that the user could safely manage.

At that threshold, the technique became a double-edged sword.

It could crush the enemy, but it could also turn against the person wielding it.

A faint grin appeared beneath Owen’s helmet.

He wasn’t merely trying to stop Heartless Dream’s momentum. He was gambling on the possibility that Heartless Dream would eventually lose control of it.

And when that happened...

The backlash of that overwhelming momentum could become powerful enough to hurt its own master.

...

After waiting for quite some time, the momentum accumulated by Heartless Dream finally reached a terrifying level.

The wind generated by every swing of the Legendary Hammer had become powerful enough to tear through the surrounding terrain.

Even the gusts produced by the weapon’s movements had transformed into destructive forces capable of tearing apart anything caught within their range.

"Now!"

This was the moment Owen had been waiting for.

He suddenly changed the tempo of the battle.

Bang!

Owen rapidly created distance between himself and Heartless Dream while simultaneously gathering a tremendous amount of mana.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The golden mana rapidly condensed into a towering torrent that shot toward the sky, forming a massive column of energy.

Owen then raised his round shield before himself, hiding his body behind it as he lowered his stance.

Bang!

He suddenly kicked off the ground and charged forward.

The momentum behind his movement was so overwhelming that the terrain beneath his feet was torn apart as he advanced.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Shockwaves repeatedly erupted throughout the canyon, violently striking the surrounding walls and sending countless fragments of rock flying into the air.

’Class Fighting Style: Ultimate Move – Divine Charge of the Ancient Protector’

The towering torrent of golden mana immediately descended around Owen, engulfing his entire body.

The energy spiraled around him as he charged forward, gradually transforming into the massive manifestation of an ancient beast made entirely from golden light.

ROAR!

The enormous beast surged forward together with Owen, creating an unstoppable wave of golden energy that swept toward Heartless Dream.

Seeing Owen charging directly at him, Heartless Dream couldn’t help but grin.

He immediately understood what his opponent was trying to accomplish.

Given the tremendous momentum he had accumulated throughout their previous exchanges, Heartless Dream knew that controlling the Legendary Hammer had already become increasingly difficult.

However, he understood his own technique better than anyone else.

He knew exactly where its limits lay. And he was aware of what would happen if the momentum exceeded the amount he could control.

That was why he had been carefully monitoring the momentum throughout the battle, constantly adjusting his movements to keep it within a manageable range.

Owen’s plan wasn’t unknown to him.

In fact, Heartless Dream had deliberately allowed the situation to reach this point because the very danger Owen was trying to exploit could also become his greatest weapon.

"This is what you’re aiming for, isn’t it?" Heartless Dream’s grin widened as he continued twirling the Legendary Hammer around his body.

"You want to kill my momentum?" He narrowed his eyes. "Then... let’s see if you can withstand this first."

Owen had deliberately created distance to execute his ultimate technique.

That meant Heartless Dream also had the time and space he needed to prepare his own decisive strike.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

He continued rotating the Legendary Hammer several more times, carrying the momentum accumulated throughout the battle into one final sequence.

At the same time, Heartless Dream began pouring his mana into the weapon.

Crimson trails of energy spiraled around his body alongside the rotating hammer.

The mysterious tattoos covering his body began pulsing violently, releasing an increasingly dense flow of crimson mana.

The energy gathered around him soon transformed into countless waves of destructive power that continued circling his body.

Then—

A massive demonic face suddenly manifested behind Heartless Dream.

Its appearance resonated perfectly with the crimson tattoos covering his body, as though the strange markings had awakened an ancient power sleeping within him.

ROAR!

The demonic creature released a deafening roar that shook the entire canyon.

The next instant, its massive form suddenly collapsed into the Legendary Hammer.

BOOM!

The hammer erupted with terrifying crimson radiance while Heartless Dream waited.

He continued watching the approaching figure and waited until Owen had entered the effective range of his attack.

Only then did he finally swing the Legendary Hammer downward.

WHOOSH!

’Golden Hammer Divine Art: Heaven Destroying – Shattering Strike’

BOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion immediately erupted the moment the two attacks collided.

For an instant, it looked as though two colossal entities had appeared in the middle of the battlefield.

One was a gigantic golden shield formed from Owen’s charging force.

The other was an enormous crimson hammer carrying the terrifying might of Heartless Dream’s accumulated momentum.

The two manifestations repeatedly collided, with the crimson hammer continuously pressing downward as though it intended to crush everything in its path.

But the golden shield stubbornly endured. It refused to yield even an inch.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every collision generated another wave of destructive energy.

The resulting shockwaves repeatedly swept through the surrounding terrain, tearing apart the canyon walls that had already been pushed to their limits by the previous exchanges.

BOOM!

The left side of the canyon finally collapsed.

Countless rocks came crashing down as enormous clouds of dust erupted into the air.

The collapse quickly spread to the opposite side.

BOOM! BOOM!

Large sections of the canyon walls broke apart, threatening to bury the entire battlefield beneath tons of rubble.

Even the spectators were forced to react.

Felix immediately stepped forward and snapped his fingers.

Snap!

Invisible ripples of vibration spread through the air before forming a massive barrier that shielded the others from the incoming shockwaves and debris.

On the other side, Fleeting Dream also made his move.

He raised one hand and summoned a rapidly rotating vortex of desert sand.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The spinning storm swept across the battlefield, shredding the incoming shockwaves and weakening their destructive force before they could reach the others.

Despite the chaos surrounding them, everyone’s attention remained fixed on the center of the canyon.

No one wanted to miss the result of the clash between the two god-level experts.

The collision between the crimson hammer and golden shield continued for several more seconds.

Neither side showed any signs of yielding.

Then—

The immense manifestations finally began to collapse.

Crack!

Faint fractures spread across the surface of the golden shield.

At almost the same time, the crimson hammer began to break apart into countless streams of crimson energy.

BOOM!

A final explosion erupted from the center of the battlefield.

The golden shield shattered while the crimson hammer also collapsed.

Countless motes of golden and crimson light scattered through the air before gradually fading away.

At the same time, the thick cloud of dust slowly receded.

Silence descended upon the canyon as everyone instinctively held their breath.

They all stared toward the center of the battlefield, waiting to see who had emerged victorious from the final collision.

As the last traces of dust finally dispersed—

Everyone’s eyes widened.

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