章 39: One Step Closer
While in the zone, Owen's control over his energy had improved tremendously which in turn made the use of his techniques more efficient.
The roof of the building he was standing on collapsed and fell due to the pressure behind Owen's jump.
He shot up towards the sky and as he reached the peak of his jump and began to descent, he turned his body and looked at the ground below him.
Jiyoung had still been levitating in the air using her ability, while the others were still standing where they had been since the start of the fight and were looking up at him.
Owen knew that he had just a few minutes of fight left in him.
Afterwards, his energy would be completely drained out and he would pass out from exhaustion.
He had just a few minutes to shatter his limits and evolve his haki, something he had failed to do several times already.
He was getting closer and closer yet he was still too far.
He looked back on the ground and saw Jiyoung about to close the distance between the two of them.
'She is trying to go for the final blow to end the fight.'
Jiyoung is an intelligent person.
Not speaking about academics or anything like that, but she was at least strong in the logic department.
And to her and anyone else with a good head over their shoulders, from the very start, this fight should have seemed illogical.
She did not understand the person she was bullying—no fighting.
She had at least thought that after getting caught in that explosion and having literally been burned alive, he would stop.
But no, he was unwilling to give up.
She had to give Owen credit for taking something from the level of illogical to preposterous.
And if he was not willing to give up, then she just had to knock him out.
The distance between the two of them continued to get shorter until only about 15 meters separated them, and at that moment, Owen unleashed his attack.
He clenched his fists and launched a punch.
Jiyoung was visibly confused, as there was no way that this attack could reach her from that distance.
However, contrary to what everyone expected, a fist-sized ball of fire came hurling down towards Jiyoung, who, surprised by the attack, decided to maneuver her path mid-air and dodge the attack by getting out of the way.
But as soon as she dodged, another fist-sized fireball, came towards her.
Before, she had decided to dodge the attack because she was surprised by it, but this time, she decided to tank the attack and continue to shorten the distance between the two of them.
BOOM!!
The fireball collided with her wind barrier and caused a huge explosion.
Meanwhile, the previous fireball collided with the ground below her and caused another huge explosion, creating a smokescreen.
Owen, on the other hand, continued to launch more and more of these small yet speedy fist-sized fireballs towards her with hopes to push her back a little.
However, Jiyoung, on the other hand, decided to take at least this attack seriously. She increased the amount of power she was putting in her barrier and, at the same time, created a huge gale of wind in order to dissipate the smoke clouding her vision.
The gale swept the battlefield with her as the center, yet as soon as the smoke cleared in front of her, Owen emerged.
He had used his Sky Walk and Soru to close the gap himself and launched his final attack.
Just a split second ago, his final fireball had collided with Jiyoung's strengthened barrier and now he was right in front of it.
While the fireball had dissipated after exploding, the heat still remained in the air, and while the heat this time was lower than what Owen faced in the explosion before, it was still enough to cause an intense burning sensation.
Yet Owen decided to just face the burn of it head-on.
This time, he couldn't even use his Armament Haki on his entire body since he decided to put everything in this final attack.
His attack landed on the wind barrier, creating intense shockwaves.
But still, he failed to break the barrier before him.
'Come on come on come on.'
Owen continued to press on with his attack. His fist, still not faltering and instead a faint golden glow continued to flicker on his fists.
It came and went again and again but it was never stable.
This was it.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
He is so close. Closer than he had ever been.
Which is why there was no going back for Owen right now.
While his attack was incredibly powerful, he still faced backlash from his own attack, and his arms were in incredible strain.
He could feel the muscles in his arms breaking apart one by one causing even more pain and discomfort.
Yet even then, no, because he was at this point, he could not stop his attack.
His desire to break this damn barrier grew more and more and he continued to put even more strength into it, pushing his body to the limits.
The golden glow over his fists continued to flicker more and more, growing more intense as each moment passed.
Yet it was still not stable.
'What am I missing?' Owen thought
Putting in more energy isn't the answer. I need to let the khaki flow out of my body and then into my opponent if I want to succeed.
An unsettled mind can never master the power of Haki. I need to clear my mind.
Calm and strong.
Calm and strong.
That's what I need my mind to be.
As this realisation kicked in, he decided to clear his mind of any thoughts at all.
He had been in pain yet he decided to ignore it.
There was no need to feel pain as it didn't help him.
He concentrated with his eyes closed, pulled out the haki from the deepest depths of his soul and let it flow without trying to control it.
I need to guide my haki. Not control it.
'YES!! THIS IS IT!!'
***
While Owen was going through this realisation and enlightenment, not even a second had passed in the real world.
Everyone was looking at the fight in awe and surprise as Owen launched his final attack.
Everyone saw how he tried to put more and more strength into his attack but had no luck in destroying the wind barrier in his path.
Everyone was convinced that, at least this time, he was finished.
But they were surprised yet again.
Out of nowhere, Owen's fist started to glow in a golden color.
And the glow continued to become more and more intense.
It looked as if golden flames were flowing through his hands.
It looked majestic, divine, even.
They appeared incredibly powerful yet, at the same time, calm.
As moments passed, they continued to grow even more intense, and then...
CRACK!!
Jiyoung's wind barrier cracked!!
For the first time in this fight, Owen's attack actually worked.
Jiyoung saw what was happening, but didn't try to enforce the barrier with more energy.
She finally realised what Owen had been trying to do in this fight and let it be.
The cracks grew wider and wider until Owen finally broke through the barrier.
Jiyoung just narrowly avoided Owen's attack actually reaching her and got out of the way.
Whereas Owen, guided by the momentum, ended up crashing into the ground below him, causing the dust to rise yet again.
Jiyoung descended from air and walked closer to where Owen had crashed.
Two more people came towards that place.
They were Owen's mom and Inhyuk who came to check on him.
Whereas Owen was already sprawled on the ground. Already passed out from exhaustion and in deep sleep with a small smile on his face.
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