From Bullets To Billions Chapter 761: A Broken Vow

The fight between Hugo and Hercules was growing more intense by the second. The resounding crack of Hercules’s slap echoed across the docks, warning everyone nearby that getting caught between the two of them could easily cost them their lives.

Hercules kept one hand firmly planted on Hugo’s shoulder, his thick fingers digging into him. He was making sure that his former student couldn’t retreat or rush towards anyone else. With Hugo trapped in place, Hercules raised his other hand and swung it across his face once again.

The slap landed on the opposite cheek with tremendous force.

Hugo’s head snapped to the side, and his cheek turned raw and red almost immediately. Blotches of blood appeared across his skin where the impact had torn it open.

In some situations, a slap could be even more painful and effective than a punch. It spread the force across a larger area, and when it came from someone with Hercules’s strength, it was no ordinary strike. If anyone other than Hugo had received such a blow, Hercules might have ripped the skin straight from their face.

He might even have knocked their head from their shoulders.

Hercules lifted his hand again, preparing to deliver another slap, but Hugo managed to gather his will and raise his arm in defence. Hercules’s palm struck his forearm instead, covering almost the entire width of it.

The impact sent a violent sting through Hugo’s arm.

"What the hell is this?" Hugo shouted. "Are you doing this because you want to watch me suffer? You aren’t even bothering to throw a proper punch!"

Hugo struggled against Hercules’s grip as the pain throbbed through his body. He wanted to move, but the hand on his shoulder held him firmly in place. He raised both arms, intending to knock it away, while carefully watching Hercules’s other hand in case another slap came towards him.

That was when Hugo noticed something.

As Hercules drew his hand back, his fingers twitched slightly. Sweat covered his face, and even his palms were wet. His breathing had become heavier, and although he was attempting to hide it, his expression looked strained.

Hugo immediately swung both hands down against Hercules’s arm.

The sudden strike knocked the larger man’s grip away, freeing him. Hugo quickly stepped back and stared at his former master. Hercules didn’t only look tired. He looked ill, as if he were desperately trying to suppress an unbearable pain inside his body.

’It must be the injury,’ Hugo realised. ’He received such a serious wound. Even if he survived, he was practically on the edge of death. There’s no way he could have escaped from that without suffering any lasting effects.’

That realisation filled Hugo with renewed confidence.

He charged forwards before Hercules could recover. As he approached, Hugo bent his knees and used his explosive strength to leap into the air. He swung his fist upwards, striking Hercules beneath the jaw with everything he had.

Hercules’s head snapped back until he was staring at the sky. For a few moments, his vision became blurry, and his balance started to disappear beneath him.

Hugo had used the momentum of his jump, combining it with his superhuman strength to increase the power of his attack. Although Hercules was still physically stronger, Hugo could make up for some of the difference by putting his entire body behind each strike.

While Hercules stumbled backwards, Hugo saw his opportunity and refused to let it pass.

He moved forwards and unleashed a series of punches, hammering Hercules across the body from one side to the other. Every blow pushed the larger man back a few inches, his feet scraping across the ground as Hugo continued his assault.

Hercules gritted his teeth and endured the pain. His senses still hadn’t completely recovered from the blow to his jaw, and his body wasn’t responding as quickly as he needed it to.

’My heart is under too much strain,’ Hercules thought. ’If I continue pushing myself like this, what will happen to me?’

Another fist struck his side, followed by one against his chest. Hercules’s arms felt as though they were about to drop uselessly beside him. The wound near his heart burned with every movement, and each time he tried to draw upon more strength, the pain became worse.

Still, Hugo continued to hit him.

’Does it even matter if I die?’ Hercules wondered. ’I have done so much in my life that perhaps death is exactly what I deserve. Despite everything that happened, I still managed to live peacefully afterwards. Perhaps that was already more than I had earned.’

Hugo’s fists continued to crash into his body.

’It should be fine if this is where my life ends...shouldn’t it?’

As Hercules lowered his gaze, he saw the angry scowl on Hugo’s face. Slowly, that expression began to change. The longer Hugo continued punching him without receiving anything in return, the wider his smile became.

Hugo believed he had won.

Seeing that smile awakened something inside Hercules. Even if he deserved to die, there was still something he needed to accomplish first.

’No. I cannot allow it to end like this. No matter what happens to me, I have to eliminate the last piece of evil I created.’

Despite the pain spreading through his chest and his body’s desperate warnings, Hercules moved.

He forced both hands between Hugo’s approaching fists. Then, with a sudden burst of strength, he swung his arms outwards and knocked Hugo’s hands aside.

Hugo stumbled from the force. Before he could regain his balance, two enormous hands reached towards him. He barely saw Hercules move before his entire body was lifted from the ground.

A moment later, his back crashed against the floor.

The concrete beneath him shattered from the impact, breaking apart as his body was driven into it. Before Hugo could recover, Hercules moved on top of him and pinned him down. His knees trapped Hugo’s arms against the ground, preventing him from fighting back.

Hugo struggled, but Hercules’s weight and strength were too much for him.

"What now?" Hugo asked, staring up at the man above him. "Are you really going to kill me? I thought you made a promise never to take another life. That was why you couldn’t finish me the last time."

"No," Hercules answered. His breathing was heavy, but his voice remained firm. "The last time we met, I had already decided that I would take your life."

Hugo stopped struggling for a moment.

"The scar across your face was the result of my attempt to kill you," Hercules continued. "I didn’t spare you because of my Vow. I simply failed to finish what I had started."

Hercules raised both hands into the air. He closed them into enormous fists, tensing every muscle in his arms as he stared directly down at Hugo’s face.

Pain tore through his chest as his heart pounded, but he refused to stop. He had already made his choice. Whether this final act cost him his Vow or his life no longer mattered.

"But this time," Hercules said, "I will end it. I will end all of it!"

He swung both fists down with tremendous force.

Hugo watched them descend, waiting for Hercules to hesitate. He expected the fists to slow down before they reached him. Deep down, he still believed his former master wouldn’t be able to go through with it.

They never slowed.

Both fists slammed directly into Hugo’s face. The tremendous impact tore through muscle and shattered bone, crushing his skull against the already broken concrete beneath him.

Hugo’s vision instantly went black.

His body stopped resisting, and all of the strength disappeared from his limbs. Pinned beneath the man who had once saved and trained him, Hugo’s life came to an end.

Hercules had killed his former student and broken his Vow.