My Taboo Harem System

Chapter 117: Final

Denzel unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks on Patrick.

His fists moved left, right, center—one strike after another, each punch carrying even more force than the last as he continuously drove his KO strikes into Patrick’s face. Every blow landed cleanly, colliding heavily against his jaw without giving him even the slightest chance to recover.

For several long moments, Denzel continued his merciless assault until, finally, he threw himself into the air. Spinning through the air, he connected a gruesome kick squarely against Patrick’s face, sending him crashing violently to the ground.

Denzel landed a short distance away.

For a brief moment, everything fell silent.

He stood there, taking heavy breaths as he stared at Patrick’s motionless body lying on the ground. After steadying his footing and adjusting his posture, he let out a long sigh before finally turning around.

’I did it... I landed more than twenty KO strikes on him... that should do it’

As he began walking away, every step sent agonizing pain through his battered body.

This had never been Denzel’s original plan.

He had only intended to create a single opening, but when Patrick had carelessly lowered his guard and handed him that opportunity, he had poured everything he had into one final assault, and it had been more than enough to unleash his strongest attack.

As he continued walking away, there was only one thing occupying his thoughts.

Antonia.

The scorching pain consuming his body had become almost unbearable, and with the little consciousness he had left, all he could think about was getting back to Antonia.

But then, right behind him, a familiar voice suddenly spoke.

"You really do always manage to raise my expectations... don’t you?"

Denzel froze.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he slowly turned his head over his shoulder.

Patrick was standing.

His face was completely drenched in blood, while streams of blood flowed freely from both nostrils before dripping onto the ground.

Yet, despite his miserable appearance, he was smiling.

Visible shock spread across Denzel’s face.

’What the fuck...? How the hell did he survive more than twenty of those KO hits? Every single one landed directly on his jaw..’

Patrick’s smile widened slightly.

"Honestly... I entered this fight using nothing but basic attacks because I simply saw you as nothing more than an ordinary peasant who needed to be disciplined... I never intended to give you a quick or clean death. I believed you deserved to suffer until your own body finally gave up. But... you changed my mind. You actually managed to stop me, and you fought me as though we were equals. So... I’m proud of you, soldier. I want you to know... you fought well. And for that... I’ll fight you as an equal."

Patrick slowly drew in a deep breath before stretching his legs, and the moment Denzel saw that movement, his eyes narrowed.

Patrick then slowly raised both hands before bringing them together, leaving only a tiny gap between his palms, almost as though he were holding something invisible between them. As he released the deep breath he had taken, Denzel immediately felt it.

A tiny spark of mana had formed.

He could clearly sense the mana rapidly gathering between Patrick’s palms as it was continuously refined, and at the very same time, an overwhelming murderous intent exploded from Patrick, flooding the entire battlefield.

Patrick smiled inwardly.

’Now... it’s time for the predator to hunt his prey.’

However... What happened next was incredibly difficult to explain because it all happened within the blink of an eye.

The very instant that tiny spark of fire was created, Patrick immediately began refining it, intending to expand it into a massive flame—the very same attack he had attempted to unleash during his second encounter with Denzel at the village chief’s house before the knight had interrupted him.

But just as the fire began to spread...

The tiny spark suddenly vanished. Patrick blinked.

"Huh?"

This...

Had been Denzel’s plan from the very beginning.

During his second encounter with Patrick, Denzel had realized that Patrick’s mana surge was far more complex than Antonia’s own. Because of that, he had never once considered trying to manipulate Patrick’s mana directly. He already knew such a thing was impossible at this point.

He could only manipulate an element after someone else had already infused mana into that element.

Patrick created his flames by pouring his mana into the surrounding heat, and only after that process was complete could Denzel interfere with the fire itself.

There was another reason as well.

He couldn’t allow anyone to discover that he was an Elemental.

That was precisely why he had continued training his elemental control in secret all this time.

Everything...

Had been for this single possibility.

The faint chance that Patrick would someday charge a fire attack instead of instantly releasing it.

Patrick’s previous attacks had always been spontaneous.

He would instantly create the flames and launch them immediately, leaving Denzel with no opportunity to interfere.

But this time...

Patrick had charged the attack.

The moment Patrick began gathering the fire, Denzel immediately put his own plan into motion.

Since the fire had already been infused with Patrick’s mana, it had become an element Denzel could manipulate.

His original intention had been simple.

He planned to redirect the fire Patrick had gathered back onto Patrick’s own body, creating an explosion powerful enough to distract him.

But...

At that very moment...

Even Denzel himself couldn’t understand what had just happened.

The instant he saw Patrick gather that spark of fire...

He immediately moved his own mana.

Around the moment Denzel moved his mana, he had instinctively expected to simply separate Patrick’s mana and interfere with the fire.

Instead...

Something completely unexpected happened.

The mana within the tiny spark suddenly transformed into a massive screen of smoke that erupted outward, exploding across the battlefield and instantly covering the entire horizon.

Even Denzel was caught off guard by what had just happened, but he didn’t waste even a single second trying to understand it.

He simply took advantage of it.

Without the slightest hesitation, he charged forward.

Meanwhile, Patrick was left completely stunned.

’What the hell is going on? What the hell happened to my fireball?’

But that brief moment of confusion was all it took.

The instant Patrick shifted his gaze, he realized Denzel had already crossed the distance between them, his fist already drawn back and ready to strike.

The moment Patrick looked into Denzel’s eyes...

A deep sense of fear pierced straight through him.

Those eyes contained nothing but pure, burning rage, making Denzel resemble nothing less than a raging bull charging relentlessly toward its prey.

Patrick instinctively threw both hands up to block the incoming strike, but at that exact moment, the smoke surrounding them suddenly responded to Denzel’s mana. Countless streams of smoke rushed toward his fist, wrapping around it layer after layer until they formed a thick, hardened mass. Even then, it still looked like smoke, only it had become so incredibly dense that it was difficult to see through.

Without slowing down for even an instant...

Denzel threw the punch.

Patrick managed to block it with both arms.

But...

The force behind the strike was simply too overwhelming.

The instant the punch connected, Patrick’s bones shattered.

The punch tore straight through his guard without losing even the slightest bit of momentum before crashing directly into his face.

BOOM!!

With a sickening crunch, Patrick’s face was violently driven into the ground.

The sheer force of the impact caused the earth beneath them to explode with enormous spiderweb-like cracks spreading in every direction, while a violent gust of air blasted outward from the point of impact.

Patrick’s body remained buried in the ground for a brief moment before it bounced upward slightly from the recoil...

Only to collapse back down with another sickening thud.

His eyes had completely rolled white.

Blood poured uncontrollably from his mouth.

Denzel slowly lowered his fist before letting out a long, exhausted breath.

From that single glance alone...

It was painfully obvious.

Denzel had won.

He released another weary sigh before looking down at Patrick’s unmoving body.

"Stay down... motherfucker."

He muttered quietly to himself, already convinced that Patrick had finally been defeated. After taking a few steps, he began retracing his path toward where he had come from.

But then...

He suddenly stopped.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure standing beside him.

Denzel slowly turned around.

The instant he did... He saw the knight.

The knight simply stared back at him with an expression Denzel couldn’t quite understand.

He couldn’t tell whether it was hatred...

Or pure malice.

Right at that moment, Denzel’s body finally began to give out.

A mouthful of blood suddenly burst from his lips as his legs gave way beneath him, causing him to stagger before collapsing onto one knee.

’No... not now...’

Before he could force himself back up...

His body completely gave out as he collapsed onto the ground.

And instantly... He lost consciousness.