Chapter 1293: Fireworks
Sky Rat couldn't see anything, only reaching out his hands to feel around blindly.
He sensed that Earth Rat seemed to still be moving, so he reached down to touch his own waist again. Those hands, however, remained ice-cold, and their strength was pitifully weak.
A few seconds later, Earth Rat's hand slipped from Sky Rat's body, and there was no more movement.
Sky Rat paused, then stretched out a leg to kick Earth Rat. He found him lying motionless on the ground like a corpse.
He was so frightened he dared not make a sound. Though his body was now covered in wounds, he had indeed survived. Even if his eyes were destroyed, as long as he could find Sky Snake, the "Twin Blossoms" in that room would restore him completely.
The only problem now... was how to evade those "ants" outside the door?
Most of the "ants" were demoted "Earth Grade" fighters; their physical condition was no worse than his. In his severely injured state... was there still a way to escape?
Sky Rat stood in the room in a daze for a long time, feeling as though he had stumbled upon a bizarre method of survival.
Perhaps, at this moment, this was the only way to safely cross the corridor...?
He kept his bleeding eyes tightly shut, groping his way through every corner of the room amid the constant pounding on the door. Soon, his hand landed on a rusty metal candlestick on the table.
He grabbed the candlestick, then stripped off his tattered shirt and, at an awkward angle, jammed it into his own back.
With a series of agonized screams, the eyes on Sky Rat's back were all destroyed. To be safe, he reached around and touched the area again, confirming that his back was nothing but mangled flesh, before finally relaxing.
He let out a bitter laugh, and the candlestick clattered to the floor. He muttered, "What a pity... No matter if it's you or the 'ants' outside the door, no one can do anything to me tonight."
Earth Rat lay completely still, motionless where he was. It seemed he had done everything he could; now there was nothing left but helplessness.
Sky Rat fumbled forward one step and said, "If only you had opened the door sooner and let those monsters in to tear me apart... how could things have come to this?"
Silence answered him once more, accompanied by a faint, fading breath that was about to disappear entirely.
Sky Rat snorted and spat on the ground. Then he turned and made his way to the door. He carefully pulled it open, and the pounding ceased abruptly.
He waited a few seconds, then heard the sound of bare footsteps circling around him for a while before finally, hesitantly, entering the room.
Their footsteps were filled with confusion.
Sky Rat bared what few teeth he had left. "It worked... it worked... cough... I'm still the final victor."
A tall, scarred Earth Rabbit happened to slip past the "ants" at that moment and arrived at the doorway, just in time to see Sky Rat, covered in blood, open the door and step out. He furrowed his brow.
Sky Rat was still alive. That meant Earth Rat had failed.
That smooth-talking, sharp-tongued Earth Rat had ultimately not managed to avenge himself.
Earth Rabbit had originally come to see Sky Rat's corpse, hoping to find peace before he died. But the things of this world never go as one wishes.
Thinking about it, it wasn't hard to understand. He himself was strong and robust, yet he had only managed to kill Sky Rabbit with the help of the "ants." How could Earth Rat have killed Sky Rat unscathed?
"In that case... I'll have to do it myself..." Earth Rabbit paused. "Brother Rat... let me take revenge for you... you shouldn't mind..."
But just as Earth Rabbit prepared to act, he was seized by a violent coughing fit. He felt his own life slipping away. Though every instinct in him tried to suppress his breathing, a single moment of relaxation caused him to choke up a mouthful of blood.
The figure of Sky Rat before him gradually blurred. Earth Rabbit could only lean against the wall and slowly sink to his knees.
Perhaps this was still too much of a stretch. Trying to fight two "Heaven Grade" opponents in a row... if every "Earth Grade" had this kind of strength, how could they have been oppressed for so long?
He lay down against the wall and saw, inside the room Sky Rat had just left, Earth Rat lying face-up with a smile on his face. He wanted to say something, but the moment he opened his mouth, only coughing came out.
The violent coughing made Sky Rat slightly suspicious. Though he couldn't see, he sensed that the newcomer meant him no good.
"Who's there?" Sky Rat asked.
Earth Rabbit glared at this blind Sky Rat with eyes full of hatred, but he could do nothing. He didn't even have the strength to speak. Prolonged lack of oxygen made his head throb with pain, and everything before him began to blur.
Enduring the searing pain in his chest and lungs, he took a deep breath, then fixed his eyes on Sky Rat. If Earth Rat had already lost, why was he still smiling?
The next second, he noticed something strange about Sky Rat's neck, but Sky Rat himself, covered in wounds, had overlooked this detail.
"Ha..." Earth Rabbit let out a faint laugh. "So that's it... you old bastard... even you have your day..."
"Who...?" Sky Rat turned his head toward the source of the sound.
"I'm... a spectator who came specially for the fireworks... haha..." Earth Rabbit had no strength left; he could only raise his head with difficulty. "Your current appearance... is exactly what I wanted to see..."
"Fireworks spectator...?" Sky Rat paused. Suddenly remembering something, he quickly reached up and touched his neck.
A metal collar was fastened around it, and he had no idea when it had gotten there.
He recalled that Earth Rat had touched his neck earlier.
Could it be that he hadn't been trying to choke him... but had simply taken the opportunity, at the last moment, to give him the metal collar he had been carrying all along?
But just now, Earth Rat hadn't only touched his neck—he had also touched his waist. Could it be that...
Sky Rat hurriedly felt his waist, only to find it empty. All the bomb detonators were gone.
An extremely uneasy premonition began to spread through his heart. He felt as if he had been tricked. Not only was there no way to escape death, but he had also personally gouged out all the eyes on his back.
He staggered back, only to hear a soft laugh from the ruined room.
"Haha... you old scumbag..." Earth Rat gritted his teeth and said, "I told you I'd kill you with my own hands... otherwise, this whole trip would have been meaningless. How could I have let the 'ants' tear you apart? Just go to hell peacefully... I'm quitting..."
"Wait!"
Before Sky Rat could finish, Earth Rat's thumb had already pressed the detonator.
A dull explosion rang out. The collar around Sky Rat's neck emitted a blinding white light. Then a torrent of blood, like a fountain, spattered onto the ceiling before falling to the ground like a filthy rain.
The falling raindrops kept pattering against the floor, leaving the barely breathing Earth Rat and Earth Rabbit in silence.
"Ha... thank goodness..." Earth Rabbit looked at the scattered fragments of flesh and blood. It was a long time before he spoke again. "Finally... I get to see Sky Rat die before me..."
Earth Rat leaned against the wall, unable even to reply.
"Brother..." Earth Rabbit tried to speak to him. "Can you make it...?"
Earth Rat shook his head weakly after hearing this.
"It's okay... it's okay, brother..." Earth Rabbit gave a bitter smile. "It doesn't matter if you can't make it... at least we'll win this fight. We will, after all..."
As he spoke, Earth Rabbit seemed to lose confidence. His expression gradually turned dejected.
After all...
Will we win?