Chapter 79

He landed with a thud on the cart. The creature turned, its glowing eyes locking onto Owen. He could feel the malevolent energy radiating from it, a chill that seeped into his bones.

"Owen, be careful!" Masafumi called from above.

The humanoid creature let out a guttural growl, its claws extending menacingly. Owen considered a defensive stance: to wait and see what it could do. The park's cheerful noises faded into the background, and all that mattered was the fight ahead.

But in that moment of consideration, the human creature lunged. Swipe, swipe, swipe! Owen ducked and back-stepped, narrowly avoiding the attacks. He retaliated with a quick jab, aiming for its midsection. His fist connected, but it felt like hitting solid rock.

The creature didn't even flinch. It swiped again, and this time, Owen wasn't quick enough. The claws raked across his arm, leaving burning marks in their wake. He gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Owen's fists collided again and the gentleman creature swiped in response. Owen dodged. An uppercut, a punch to the side, a fist to the face, and a final kick to the stomach. 

'Combo, combo!' His eyes went deeper in battle and dropped down low. 'Dodge! Kick his ankles!' It was like hitting a stone pillar, it felt futile. But Owen kept going. Against a human, these attacks would have led to death. 

But they didn't. 

He landed another combo, then another. His fists were rushing at him, leaving nothing but blurs. That was when the leaper reeled back. The rock was beginning to crack. Owen's instincts were telling him to keep pressing. His eyes told him otherwise.

A hot blue glow appeared on its ribcage. Breathing in, its chest expanded that would have broken a normal human. Then he breathed—and the air was instead hot blue fire. 

Owen raised his hands to block it. Slam! He didn't have to. Jumping down to protect him was Masafumi. He took the entire brunt of the fire, not letting a single piece singe Owen's hair.

The blue fire stopped. Masafumi stood still, arms raised and burned blue. 

"Go!"

Masafumi's shout stirred something in him and the creature. The creature lunged again to attack Masafumi, and this time, Owen was ready. He ducked low and then surged upward, his fist connecting with the creature's jaw. The combination of weight, momentum, and natural strength could have bent steel and the gentleman demon was sent stumbling back.

Owen took advantage of the opening, aiming a kick at the human leg. The demon dropped to one knee, snarling in rage. Owen didn't let up and punished the creature with rapid punches.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Crack! Bam! Bam! 

His nail broke. This thing was literally harder than a brick wall. His attacks were getting faster and stronger. He kept coming with punches, keeping it off-balance just enough to keep it on one knee. Hands were raised to block and Owen deftly avoided them to smack his fists into his skull. 

In five seconds, he landed twenty punches. In another five, it was twenty-two.

'Faster, faster…!'

The familiar glow of blue erupted in his chest. Owen knew what was coming. "Ha!" So to interrupt it, he delivered a powerful axe-kick to its head. The creature's neck snapped downward, and for a moment, it seemed dazed. The blue fire dimmed.

Masafumi seized the moment and appeared next to him. His burned right arm trembling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of salt that he tossed at the leaper. The salt sizzled upon contact, and the creature let out an ear-piercing screech. It recoiled, its form flickering as if struggling to maintain its presence. The blue fire in its chest had gone from mighty to dim to fading entirely.

"Now, Owen!" Masafumi urged. "Kick it off!" 

The Ferris wheel cart was halfway down at an altitude of a hundred feet. That number was dwindling too.

Adrenaline renewed, Owen kicked at the creature's jaw and assaulted it with a series of rapid punches. That was his go-to, the fastest way for him to fight. He might have been hitting a brick wall. His knuckles might have been dripping in blood.

But victory was almost there. All he needed to do was push it off!

At long last, the creature recovered and reacted. Its claw reached for Owen and Owen stepped back. 

That was exactly what he needed. With this space, he could build momentum. His favourite.

His feet and hips twisting, he threw forward the ultimate roundhouse kick. The attack hurled the creature off the cart.

Owen felt the world go slow as the creature fell, fell, fell. It let out one final, anguished roar before smashing into the ground. No one noticed. No one felt it. The top-hat monster's existence dissipated into particles. Owen stood there, panting heavily, his fists still clenched and bloody. The Ferris Wheel continued its slow rotation.

A murmur of pain was the cherry on top. "Shit…"

Owen glanced over at Masafumi's burned arms. "Second degree burns," Owen noted. "We have to get someone to look over that."

"Do I look rich to you?"

"No. But health is wealth."

"Let's just get off." Masafumi winced, not knowing whether to put his burnt arms on his sides or keep them up.

The Ferris Wheel brought them back down to the ground and they jumped off early. Not a single employee noticed so they were able to get away smoothly.

"That thing came out of nowhere," Masafumi muttered. "Burn marks and we have no clue what happened. What was that thing and who summoned it?"

"And this amusement park…seems to be a hotspot for spirits."

"Spirits and demons definitely prefer places high in spirit density. Typically, that means dense populations and this is, of course, in the top biggest amusement parks in the world. That thing could leap seven feet at a time and was so powerful that it couldn't be fully summoned. So why? Why was the leaper here?"