53: Chapter 53 Behind You

Based on the innate instinctual intuition of a Transcendent, the Explosive Flame King suddenly felt a chill strike his lower body.

Without time to gather strength, he made a split-second decision and threw the blazing fireball in his hand downwards.

The moment he threw the fireball, Song Xin's Flying Sword had already closed in on him, colliding with the fireball with a boom.

The cold, glinting Flying Sword suddenly pierced through the massive fireball, shattering it and turning it into countless small, scattering fireballs.

The light on the Flying Sword dimmed slightly, but its killing intent remained undiminished, still firmly locked onto the Explosive Flame King's vital points as it thrust forward rapidly.

This strike was Song Xin's desperate, all-or-nothing lethal move, containing the majority of her remaining mana; success or failure hinged on this one moment—either she would severely injure the enemy, or she would be plunged into a desperate situation herself.

However, just as the tip of the Flying Sword was less than half an inch from the Explosive Flame King, a cold sneer suddenly curled the corners of his mouth:

"Heh."

In an instant, surging flames erupted from his body once again, with speed and impact power far superior to before.

If anyone who knew the Explosive Flame King well were present, they would know that the truly terrifying aspect of his Special Ability, [Formless Tribulation Flame], was not the flames themselves, but the impact force generated when the flames erupted from his body.

The closer one was to the surface of his skin, the more the impact force increased exponentially.

If one were grabbed by the head with one of his hands, that surging, erupting flame impact force would be enough to blast the head of any B-Rank Hero into a mist of blood.

This was the reason he had undisputedly held the top spot in the G District for many years.

Under the powerful impact of the erupting flames, the Flying Sword, which had its momentum slightly reduced by the previous collision, only held its ground for a brief moment before being swept away by the explosive flames.

Then, the Explosive Flame King waved his hand, and those fireballs that had originally scattered in all directions instantly changed their trajectory, whistling in unison toward the building where Song Xin was located.

"Oh no, I've been tricked!"

Song Xin had already captured the situation through her clairvoyance and immediately realized she had been set up.

At this moment, the terrifying flame impact force displayed by the Explosive Flame King, as well as his ability to manipulate the detached fireballs at will, were all trump cards he had deliberately concealed earlier.

Realizing she could no longer dodge, she mobilized all her remaining mana to deploy a mana barrier.

The fireballs, wrapped in raging flames, struck the building in the blink of an eye like meteors chasing the moon.

The building, already in a precarious state due to the previous explosion, collapsed with a deafening roar, completely reduced to ruins of broken bricks and debris.

Amidst the ruins, a disheveled Song Xin struggled to crawl out; her hair was messy, and her face was almost devoid of color.

To withstand that last attack, she had almost exhausted all her mana, leaving her nearly drained.

"I didn't expect to fall here this time..." She muttered, staring ahead.

With her mana exhausted, no matter how many techniques she had, she was unable to use them.

She was now thinking, to some extent, that she shouldn't have wasted her mana so carelessly earlier, going around looking for fun.

Ahead, the Explosive Flame King held up one hand, a tongue of fire brewing in his palm, ready to burn Song Xin to ash at any moment.

"It's a pity; I waited for a long time but didn't wait for your accomplices."

"Are they not in this city, or do they simply dare not come?"

"Isn't he right behind you!" Song Xin suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to turn around and look?" The Explosive Flame King's eyes turned cold.

He was a radical within the Hero Association and had annihilated countless Monsters that were enemies of the Hero Association.

With the instincts he had honed in countless battles, if he couldn't even detect an enemy hiding behind him, then being the top B-Rank Hero would be a joke.

This kind of clumsy, childish trick of saying someone is behind him—even reacting to it slightly would feel like a huge insult to his intelligence.

"The end... Ugh."

Before the tongue of fire in the Explosive Flame King's hand could erupt, a fist wrapped in rolling thunder, like a cannonball fired from a chamber, slammed into the side of his face.

The power of this sudden heavy punch was astonishing, instantly distorting his face.

Under this unexpected impact, the Explosive Flame King flew backward uncontrollably like a kite with a broken string, crashing directly into the ruins.

"Let's go!"

Chen Moxuan activated [Swift Thunder Body], grabbed Song Xin, and turned to run toward another unfinished building.

Just from that initial punch, he already knew that the Explosive Flame King's Physical Body strength was even above that of Vice Principal Wang, whom he had beaten up before.

B-Rank Hero—if analyzed based on the descriptions he had seen, their strength was roughly on the same level as a Martial Artist of the Tiangang Realm in the Martial Arts World.

With his current strength, he believed that if he went all out and activated [Swift Thunder Body], he should be able to fight a Martial Artist at the Late Stage of the Qi Control Realm.

However, there was still a considerable gap to a Tiangang Realm Martial Artist.

"What were you shouting just now?"

While running, Chen Moxuan frowned and reprimanded her.

He had just used psychological techniques to eliminate hostility, approaching the Explosive Flame King to prepare a heavy blow for him.

As a result, he was startled by Song Xin's shouting and had to strike hastily in his urgency.

"I was a bit excited because I saw a glimmer of hope." A slightly embarrassed flush appeared on Song Xin's face as she chuckled,

"Besides, he didn't believe it anyway..."

Chen Moxuan's appearance was a surprise for Song Xin.

Her phone had always been kept by a mana Clone.

But in her urgency, she had dissipated all her Clones to consolidate her mana for self-preservation, so the phone naturally fell to the original Clone, and she had no way to contact anyone at all.

"How did you know I was here?" Song Xin asked curiously.

"I guessed it from the broadcast." Chen Moxuan answered.

"From the broadcast? Didn't the broadcast only mention that the Explosive Flame King was fighting a Monster? How could you know it was me?"

"I didn't know; I just saw the pillar of fire erupting from the direction near the mental hospital, so I felt it was necessary to come and take a look." Chen Moxuan paused and continued,

"You are very important to me."

He had no way to continue improving his strength in this world, and if he wanted to return to the Martial Arts World, he had to rely on Song Xin's Special Ability.

"Is that so? So I'm that important." Song Xin raised the corners of her mouth, laughing it off half-jokingly.

The speaker had no intention, and the listener had no meaning; at this moment, the two showed a high degree of tacit understanding regarding this easily misunderstood remark.

Just at this moment, a pillar of fire suddenly shot into the sky, penetrating one floor after another, blocking Chen Moxuan's path.

Immediately after, a figure wrapped in blinding flames darted out swiftly from the hole pierced by the fire, hovering directly in front of Chen Moxuan.

Scorching air currents spread out, baking the surrounding air until it distorted and warped.

"That punch you threw just now... it hurt a lot..."

The Explosive Flame King's eyes were bloodshot, revealing a terrifying ferocity, and the raging flames around his body were surging, ready to erupt at any moment.

Although Chen Moxuan's punch just now hadn't left significant marks on his body, the lightning wrapped around the fist had deeply stung his nerves.

"Can you still use your Special Ability?" Chen Moxuan asked Song Xin with a sharp gaze.

Song Xin was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Use [Otherworld Walker] on me right now."