Xavier distanced himself from the woman, his eyes still locked onto hers, unwavering despite the chaos surrounding him. He slipped into a combat stance, muscles taut with tension, and his body bore the marks of past encounters—bruises mottled across his skin and cuts bleeding slowly from his ragged flesh. His curly dark hair clung damply to his forehead, slick with dust and grime from rolling on the ground during their scuffle. His breath came in gasps, chest heaving as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
He analyzed her with lightning speed, racing thoughts tangling together in his mind. Hus's system, with its calculations and predictions, wouldn't help him here. This woman was unlike the grotesque creatures he had fought before—she was something else entirely.
'OK,' he thought, forming a mental profile. 'She's fast, experienced, and agile—this is bad news for me. Years of training are plain in her movements. And that sonic scream? She could unleash it at any moment without warning. The worst part is that she's completely naked, utterly unfazed, which she's leveraging to her advantage... somehow.'
As she glided towards him with a predatory grace, Xavier instinctively moved backward, calculating his options.
'It's either escape now or try to incapacitate her. But she's offering me no openings.'
"You know," he mused aloud, attempting to break the tension. "I didn't expect to be fighting a completely naked woman. Totally defies the imagination."
The woman scoffed dismissively, and in the blink of an eye, she surged forward. Her blade descended rapidly, aiming directly at his shoulder with lethal precision.
Alarm jolted through him; he raised his left arm to intercept her strike. With his right hand, he punched forward, aiming for her midsection. She adeptly redirected her blade to block, the clang of metal ringing sharp in the air as the force of his strike sent her skidding backward, unsteady on her feet.
'These gauntlets are impressive,' she thought, feeling the vibration travel up her arm. 'The force is considerable; I need to finish this confrontation quickly.'
Without hesitation, Xavier charged, fury igniting in his veins.
He swung a gauntleted fist towards her ribs—fast, precise, brutal.
She bent backward with an almost spider-like flexibility, evading the blow by mere inches. Her hair whipped around her face as she spun, her blade slashing through the air with deadly intent. Xavier countered, blocking with his forearm, steel meeting steel in a shower of sparks.
She danced like smoke, every motion fluid and impossibly graceful.
He followed up with a series of strikes—first a left hook, then a spinning elbow, and a rising knee—but she slipped through them all, her body bending in angles that seemed beyond human limits, her feet barely grazing the ground.
Then, like a tempest, she struck.
Her blade flashed brightly, slicing across his shoulder. Xavier grunted, the pain sparking as blood blossomed across his cloak. She closed the distance further, delivering a powerful kick to his chest that sent him reeling backward.
'Shit.'
Before he could regain his footing, she lunged, cutting into him again—her blade slicing through his thigh, his side, his arm. Each wound was shallow but precise, a carefully crafted plan to bleed him, weaken him slowly. He retaliated with wild swings, but she ducked and weaved, her movements an elegant dance of evasion as she drove her knee into his gut.
He doubled over, pain exploding through him.
With a swift, brutal motion, she grasped his head and smashed it into the rough stone wall.
The impact cracked the surface. Dazed, Xavier dropped to one knee, blood trickling down from a gash on his brow.
She stepped back, blade poised, her eyes glowing with an eerie intensity.
Xavier shook his head, fighting through the fog of pain.
The woman raised her weapon, and the runes along the corridor flickered violently as energy began to coalesce around her. Her form shimmered with a faint aura—pale hues of blue and violet like moonlight caught in a storm. The blade in her hand pulsed with raw mana, veins of energy threading through the metal, vibrating as if alive.
The air grew thick with anticipation.
Her blade hummed, charged with power.
Then, in a flash, she moved.
Fast.
With a horizontal slash, her blade cut through the air with a shriek of energy, trailing a luminescent stream of mana that hung in the air like a scar.
But Xavier was ready.
He dropped low, rolling across the uneven floor just as the blade narrowly missed, the mana-infused edge slicing through the space above his head and sending sparks flying as it grazed the stone wall, carving a deep groove into its surface.
He sprang up into a crouch, the gauntlets flaring with a renewed intensity, eyes locked onto her.
A smirk danced on her lips, the glow in her eyes brightening.
"You're quicker than I expected," she said, her voice smooth and deceptively calm, the blade still aglow with untamed mana.
Xavier wiped away blood staining his mouth with a grimace, fists clenched in resolve.
"Shut up."
She tilted her head, her glowing eyes narrowing.
"You're still fighting?" she said, her voice a silk-wrapped dagger. "You should have surrendered. You were never meant to resist."
He remained silent, determination carving his expression.
In a sudden burst of ferocity, he lunged.
Lightning crackled around him as he propelled himself forward, fist drawn back, the gauntlets blazing with an all-consuming fury. The air itself rippled as he aimed for her chest with what he intended to be a finishing blow.
But she was already moving, like a breath of air.
Her body twisted fluidly, slipping past his strike as if the very laws of physics had bent to her will. His punch struck the wall behind her, exploding in a shower of stone flakes—but she was already gone, positioned behind him in an instant.
Before he could react, her hand pressed against the small of his back.
His eyes widened in horror as realization dawned.
Then came the scream.
A sonic eruption erupted through the corridor, violent and cacophonous—like a thousand shards of glass shattering against stone. The walls trembled under the force. The floor cracked beneath him. The runes shattered, showering sparking light around them. Xavier was ripped from his stance, hurled backward like a rag doll cast aside.
He collided with the wall, the sickening crack reverberating through him.
His vision detonated into a blinding white haze.
Then darkness followed.
A high-pitched ring consumed his ears, drowning out the chaos, rendering him disoriented. His limbs felt heavy, each movement a struggle as if they belonged to someone else. His breath caught in a vise-like grip in his throat. The world spun violently, twisting in on itself, as he fought to regain control.Xavier distanced himself from the woman, his eyes still locked onto hers, unwavering despite the chaos surrounding him. He slipped into a combat stance, muscles taut with tension, and his body bore the marks of past encounters—bruises mottled across his skin and cuts bleeding slowly from his ragged flesh. His curly dark hair clung damply to his forehead, slick with dust and grime from rolling on the ground during their scuffle. His breaths came in gasps, chest heaving as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
He analyzed her with lightning speed, racing thoughts tangling together in his mind. Hus' system, with its calculations and predictions, wouldn't help him here. This woman was unlike the grotesque creatures he had fought before—she was something else entirely.
'OK,' he thought, forming a mental profile. 'She's fast, experienced, and agile—this is bad news for me. Years of training are plain in her movements. And that sonic scream? She could unleash it at any moment without warning. The worst part is that she's completely naked, utterly unfazed, which she's leveraging to her advantage... somehow.'
As she glided towards him with a predatory grace, Xavier instinctively moved backward, calculating his options.
'It's either escape now or try to incapacitate her. But she's offering me no openings.'
"You know," he mused aloud, attempting to break the tension. "I didn't expect to be fighting a woman who's completely naked. Totally defies the imagination."
The woman scoffed dismissively, and in the blink of an eye, she surged forward. Her blade descended rapidly, aiming directly at his shoulder with lethal precision.
Alarm jolted through him; he raised his left arm to intercept her strike. With his right hand, he punched forward, aiming for her midsection. She adeptly redirected her blade to block, the clang of metal ringing sharp in the air as the force of his strike sent her skidding backward, unsteady on her feet.
'These gauntlets are impressive,' she thought, feeling the vibration travel up her arm. 'The force is considerable; I need to finish this confrontation quickly.'
Without hesitation, Xavier charged, fury igniting in his veins.
He swung a gauntleted fist towards her ribs—fast, precise, brutal.
She bent backward with an almost spider-like flexibility, evading the blow by mere inches. Her hair whipped around her face as she spun, her blade slashing through the air with deadly intent. Xavier countered, blocking with his forearm, steel meeting steel in a shower of sparks.
She danced like smoke, every motion fluid and impossibly graceful.
He followed up with a series of strikes—first a left hook, then a spinning elbow, and a rising knee—but she slipped through them all, her body bending in angles that seemed beyond human limits, her feet barely grazing the ground.
Then, like a tempest, she struck.
Her blade flashed brightly, slicing across his shoulder. Xavier grunted, the pain sparking as blood blossomed across his cloak. She closed the distance further, delivering a powerful kick to his chest that sent him reeling backward.
'Shit.'
Before he could regain his footing, she lunged, cutting into him again—her blade slicing through his thigh, his side, his arm. Each wound was shallow but precise, a carefully crafted plan to bleed him, weaken him slowly. He retaliated with wild swings, but she ducked and weaved, her movements an elegant dance of evasion as she drove her knee into his gut.
He doubled over, pain exploding through him.
With a swift, brutal motion, she grasped his head and smashed it into the rough stone wall.
The impact cracked the surface. Dazed, Xavier dropped to one knee, blood trickling down from a gash on his brow.
She stepped back, blade poised, her eyes glowing with an eerie intensity.
Xavier shook his head, fighting through the fog of pain.
The woman raised her weapon, and the runes along the corridor flickered violently as energy began to coalesce around her. Her form shimmered with a faint aura—pale hues of blue and violet like moonlight caught in a storm. The blade in her hand pulsed with raw mana, veins of energy threading through the metal, vibrating as if alive.
The air grew thick with anticipation.
Her blade hummed, charged with power.
Then, in a flash, she moved.
Fast.
With a horizontal slash, her blade cut through the air with a shriek of energy, trailing a luminescent stream of mana that hung in the air like a scar.
But Xavier was ready.
He dropped low, rolling across the uneven floor just as the blade narrowly missed, the mana-infused edge slicing through the space above his head and sending sparks flying as it grazed the stone wall, carving a deep groove into its surface.
He sprang up into a crouch, the gauntlets flaring with a renewed intensity, eyes locked onto her.
A smirk danced on her lips, the glow in her eyes brightening.
"You're quicker than I expected," she said, her voice smooth and deceptively calm, the blade still aglow with untamed mana.
Xavier wiped away blood staining his mouth with a grimace, fists clenched in resolve.
"Shut up."
She tilted her head, her glowing eyes narrowing.
"You're still fighting?" she said, her voice a silk-wrapped dagger. "You should have surrendered. You were never meant to resist."
He remained silent, determination carving his expression.
In a sudden burst of ferocity, he lunged.
Lightning crackled around him as he propelled himself forward, fist drawn back, the gauntlets blazing with an all-consuming fury. The air itself rippled as he aimed for her chest with what he intended to be a finishing blow.
But she was already moving, like a breath of air.
Her body twisted fluidly, slipping past his strike as if the very laws of physics had bent to her will. His punch struck the wall behind her, exploding in a shower of stone flakes—but she was already gone, positioned behind him in an instant.
Before he could react, her hand pressed against the small of his back.
His eyes widened in horror as realization dawned.
Then came the scream.
A sonic eruption erupted through the corridor, violent and cacophonous—like a thousand shards of glass shattering against stone. The walls trembled under the force. The floor cracked beneath him. The runes shattered, showering sparking light around them. Xavier was ripped from his stance, hurled backward like a rag doll cast aside.
He collided with the wall, the sickening crack reverberating through him.
His vision detonated into a blinding white haze.
Then darkness followed.
A high-pitched ring consumed his ears, drowning out the chaos, rendering him disoriented. His limbs felt heavy, each movement a struggle as if they belonged to someone else. His breath caught in a vise-like grip in his throat. The world spun violently, twisting in on itself, as he fought to regain control.