I Refused To Be Reincarnated

*****

After a hundred thousand times, Adam's proficiency reached an entirely new level. Instead of short mana bursts, he excited and destabilised the atoms behind his limbs, creating minor explosions to propel them with incredible speed. With this new technique, he finally rivalled body refining experts in the late stage of the second tier.

Developing this technique also helped him refine his mana control, making it subtler and more lethal.

Despite his improvement, he continued to struggle against the ruthless, devilish Gaston, primarily due to his lack of proficiency in spear techniques, which posed a significant obstacle in their confrontation.

Yet, he could see his nemesis' growing frustration as it took him longer to end him. He also understood that in his piercing blue eyes, he was just an ant refusing to die, far from a genius like him. Be it in magic or body refinement, he was indeed weaker, but the most annoying and impossible-to-understand thing for Gaston was his persistence.

****

After countless deaths, his relentless dedication bore fruit. With each failure, new ideas and applications for his combat style blossomed in his mind until finally, after four hundred thousand attempts, his spear proficiency matched Gaston's.

"Why can't you give up?!"

Gaston's voice reverberated against the wet ground, his exasperation vanishing in the dark confines of the scarlet space. According to his previsions, Adam should have given up long ago after witnessing the immense gap in their strength and the agony of dying so many times.

Yet, the annoying cockroach shattered all his expectations, and his determination never faltered. Slowly, Adam improved himself until he finally found it troublesome to defeat him.

Adam looked at his nemesis, his lips curling into a mocking smile, before saying. "Who do you think I am? I never gave up, even against the bear! I'll grind you down until you die! Hahaha."

He looked at Adam, his lips curling in disgust, and an ominous glint flashed in his eyes as he gazed at the madman. He had always been proficient at predicting other people's thought processes, no matter their origins or upbringings. However, Adam entirely escaped his comprehension.

After their initial battle, he concluded that Adam was a rational strategist guided by logic. So why did he persist in choosing the most irrational path when faced with overwhelming strength?

He had never encountered such a peculiar adversary. The more he provoked him, the more dangerous Adam became; the more he tormented him, the more unyielding he grew. None of it made any sense.

"If we were outside..."

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He couldn't help but mutter through gritted teeth. If Adam could die in this space, he would have ended this battle long ago.

"I don't care! I already killed you. You are just a nightmare from the past like the bear once was," Adam spat, his muscles tensing as he moved his Ethereal Radiance for their impending clash.

Instantly, he reacted by taking a defensive stance, glaring and cursing the pest inwardly. After so long, he really felt stuck in an infinite loop with a madman who became stronger after each iteration.

Without a word, Adam took the initiative, closing the distance by propelling himself forward as his frame blurred and booming noises resounded. Then, a bright flash of light cut through the dreary space to cleave his nemesis in half.

BOOM

More booming noises resounded, increasing the spear's velocity until only its crystalline reflection was visible.

In response, Gaston calmly observed the descending spear before evading it by slightly moving his body to the side, unfazed by the speed. Then, he swung his scarlet guandao diagonally from bottom to top in a lethal counterattack.

BOOM

However, before the guandao could reach its target, another boom resounded in his ears. With enlarging eyes, he saw a flash of light burn Adam's hands. Following their movement, the spear's shaft suddenly appeared in his strike's trajectory.

CLANK

The metallic noise of their weapons colliding echoed loudly in the empty space, making both fighters take a few steps back.

Glaring at Gaston with a provocative smirk, Adam dashed like a predator out of blood, thrusting his spear to impale his nemesis.

And once more, Gaston observed the spear, his blue eyes glinting before he deflected the weapon instead of dodging it. He noticed it. The strike was a feint and lacked strength. Therefore, he seized the opportunity to launch a devastating combo while the spear was hanging.

His arms blurred into motion, rising wind and disturbing the scarlet liquid covering the ground as his guandao zoomed into Adam's head.

With such exquisite timing, the incoming blows should have been unavoidable.

However, Adam let go of his spear, freeing his hands before putting them on the strike's trajectory.

BOOM.

Using his new mana technique, a wave of scalding heat blasted the guandao backwards, allowing him to parry the attack. Then, his punch darted towards his nemesis' face as another explosion rocked his elbow, propelling it like a piston.

Sadly, Gaston's eyes were as sharp as ever. He dodged and adjusted his footing before his right leg pierced the wind in a powerful roundhouse kick approaching Adam's ribs.

'Shit...' Adam thought as snapping sounds filled his ears and his feet left the ground. Propelled a few meters back, he tried to get up, only to vomit blood. Despite his enormous progress, Gaston still had the upper hand. It was as though nothing could escape his nemesis' eyes.

"Your progress in spear and mana techniques is commendable, really. Even I don't entirely understand how you make those explosions. But no matter how much you improve, the reality remains the same. You can't win. We are just wasting our time in this endless battle," Gaston said, trying to convince him for the umpteenth time.

With difficulty, he raised his head to glare at his adversary. Despite the blood flooding from his mouth and nose, his eyes were the same: a swirling vortex of defiance, anger, and madness.

"I wonder why you are trying so hard to make me surrender. Makes me want to do the opposite."

He saw his enemy's frustrated sigh. Then, the splashing noise of his boots colliding with the liquid reverberated in his ears as he charged to end him.

'I won't lose again!'

Gritting his teeth to endure the agony, he propelled himself forward, evading the descending guandao by a hair's breadth to tackle Gaston.

Alas, would the same strategy work twice against Gaston?

With lightning-quick reflexes, Gaston threw his knee at his chin, making the world spiral and distort in his eyes for a second. Yet a second in these types of high-intensity battles was all it took to determine a victor. With a short step back to adjust the distance, Gaston's guandao turned into a scarlet flash as he brought it down.

"ARGH!"

Forced to recover from his daze through the blood-curdling pain of having his left arm severed, he used his right hand to fire three mana bullets to counterattack before his severed limb could hit the ground.

Unfortunately, his aim was off. The projectiles flew and passed above his nemesis' grinning face.

"ARGH!"

Another agonising scream reverberated as his legs flew in the air, forcing him to the ground like a powerless cripple facing a monstrous beast towering above him and playing with its food before devouring it.