Read Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) Novel by Only For You Updated 2025 -26 - Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) Chapter 3245

Footsteps echoed behind Andrew—measured, unhurried, deliberate.

He turned.

Less than thirty feet away stood Pablo Hearst, hands withdrawn from his sleeves, metallic fingers glinting beneath the pale daylight. The faint sheen of forged flesh reflected like tempered steel. His aura compressed the air itself, heavy and immovable.

Andrew exhaled once.

Then the fist came.

The diamond shadow swallowed the street.

It descended with the weight of a collapsing mountain. The air detonated in layers, stone bursting upward in waves. Shops along the roadside cracked; glass shattered in a violent chorus. The ground where Andrew had stood caved inward.

At the top of Chetvine’s Skytower, Guillermo narrowed his eyes.

“Direct hit,” Lorenzo murmured.

The dust rose like a storm.

But within that storm—

A pulse.

A different pressure answered.

The diamond fist halted mid-descent.

Not stopped.

Caught.

Pablo’s pupils contracted.

His arm trembled slightly.

Andrew stood at the epicenter, one hand raised, palm outward. Blood seeped faintly through his sleeve, yet his stance did not shift an inch. The aura around him spiraled upward like a rising dragon, coiling, compressing, expanding again.

Cracks spidered beneath his feet—but not from retreat.

From resistance.

“You talk too much,” Andrew said quietly.

The ground exploded outward.

A shockwave ripped down the street, tearing banners from storefronts and splitting lampposts in half. Pablo slid back ten feet before stabilizing, metallic feet grinding trenches into stone.

His expression changed.

For the first time—

Interest.

“Not bad,” Pablo said, voice steadier now. “To block Diamond Body at half strength.”

Andrew rolled his shoulder once. The joint popped softly.

“Half strength?” he replied. “You flatter yourself.”

Pablo vanished again.

This time there was no grand shadow—only speed.

Metal struck flesh.

The collision rang like a temple bell.

Andrew’s forearm met Pablo’s diamond palm. Sparks burst outward. The sound wave shattered windows three streets away. Their figures blurred—fist, palm, elbow, knee—each exchange compressing air into visible shock rings.

Every strike from Pablo carried crushing density.

Every counter from Andrew carried fluid violence.

Hard versus relentless.

Forged body versus tempered will.

At the Skytower, Lorenzo swallowed.

“Mr. Vazquez… this isn’t one-sided.”

Guillermo’s jaw tightened.

“He’s burning himself,” Guillermo said coldly. “He cannot sustain this.”

On the street, Andrew suddenly pivoted.

His palm struck Pablo’s chest.

A dull metallic boom erupted.

For the first time in his life, Pablo’s Diamond Body dented.

Not broken.

But dented.

He staggered half a step.

Andrew pressed forward instantly, aura surging to a terrifying peak. The pressure forced nearby parked cars to flatten at the roofline. Blood traced down Andrew’s wrist, but his eyes burned brighter than ever.

“You said rules belong to the strong,” Andrew said.

His fist drew back.

“Then let me show you—”

The air howled.

“—what strength looks like.”

He punched.

The impact did not echo.

It imploded.

The street folded inward as if gravity inverted. A crater tore open beneath them. Pablo’s figure shot backward like a launched projectile, crashing through three buildings before finally halting in a plume of debris.

Silence.

Then rubble shifted.

Pablo stepped out slowly.

The metallic sheen on his chest flickered. A faint fracture line ran across the surface of his diamond skin.

He looked at Andrew differently now.

Not as a junior.

Not as a rising star.

But as an equal.

Perhaps—

As something more dangerous.

“You…” Pablo said softly, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. “You’ve already stepped beyond Wyatt.”

Andrew stood in the ruined street, breathing heavier now—but steady.

“I told you,” he replied. “As long as I’m not dead—”

His aura rose again.

“—I can still fight.”

High above, Guillermo’s confidence began to waver for the first time.

And in the shattered remains of Chetvine’s main street—

Two forces prepared for the true beginning of their battle.