With my vision blurring at the edges, I glared at the approaching doppelgänger—my own face twisted into something cruel and hungry.
My mouth tasted like iron.
I gathered the blood pooling on my tongue… and spat it straight into his eyes.
"Kh—! What the…!"
The blood splattered across his face, and he stumbled back with a strangled growl.
Clutching at his eyes, he began slashing wildly in every direction, his movements erratic and furious.
"You—! You coward!!"
Coward?
I let out a breathless, humorless laugh.
In a real fight, there's no such thing.
When death is staring back at you, only two things matter:
Who survives.
And who doesn't.
Everything else is meaningless.
The doppelgänger staggered, blinded and thrashing.
That tiny opening was all I needed.
Ignoring the throbbing in my ribs, I forced my battered body upright and sprinted toward him.
His blade cut empty air a hair's breadth from my cheek.
I tightened my grip.
One chance.
One strike.
—Squelch.
