"Huh? Just die already." Raphael uttered in exasperation, the air around him fogging as he breathed rapidly.
'I'm down to my last use of Acceleration. I have to make this one count,' Raphael thought to himself, gearing up for the final showdown.
Across from him—about a hundred metres away—a furred creature raised its gaze to Raphael, narrowing its cold eyes and staring him down.
It was a humanoid creature with the distinct features of a bunny mixed in with it. Hard white fur—each hair strand like iron fibres—which had now been stained with blood, powerful quads, knees and ankles, long ears standing upright above its head, while possessing sharp fangs and claws.
Its eyes were fairly human-like… the only difference being that they had two pairs. The second pair was just above its cheekbones.
This was the Ena'Ori Race, one of the few races said to be related to demons. They possessed great speed and agility, planned battles with their sharp, creative minds—predicting their opponents actions in fine detail and counterattacking in ingenious ways.
It was said that they were one of the most feared races participating in the Evolution Games…
"And yet here I am… Without a scratch," Raphael muttered to himself.
"Or maybe not!" He added a second later as he hurriedly twisted his torso, evading a claw swipe.
A red line streaked behind the bunny man as he moved, transitioning from one movement into the next with practiced expertise.
Raphael wasn't slacking either. With a simple mental command, he had drawn power from his Evolution Seed, activating the last of his Accel Charge and gaining an immense boost to his speed, agility and reflexes.
And then he reacted.
A little, dark blue aura waved off him, small and easily inconspicuous. But his loyal fans who had seen his last fights knew what was to come.
Raphael took a step to the side and seemed to fall right into a kick from the Ena'Ori warrior. But then he grabbed the leg and torqued his upper body, using the generated momentum from the kick to spin and redirect the force with a hook.
The Ena'Ori warrior retreated, successfully dodging the punch, but unlike him… Raphael had a very useful gear on him.
"Blade Arc," Raphael uttered, his gauntlet turned darker than it already was, and a crescent arc of energy left the tip of his hand.
The Ena'Ori expected this already. Raphael had been using that attack for a while now, and none of them managed to land. He even began to wonder why he kept doing it.
Suddenly the crescent blade exploded, taking the Ena'Ori off guard.
Now he knew why.
He had ducked, waiting for it to pass over his head, however, he hadn't expected his Human opponent to use such treachery.
"Pathetic," the Ena'Ori said in a voice inhumane, deep and… Dry, somewhat.
His voice sounded like sandpapers rubbing against each other, still, Raphael understood what he said.
He had a lot to say too. He really wanted to let some things out, but he couldn't be distracted, not at a time like this.
The Ena'Ori warrior's thighs tensed, his fists were pulled down to his sides, and he erupted with a double punch right after, smashing Raphael right in the guts and sending him into the sky.
Raphael's eyes widened, and he coughed out saliva mixed in with specks of blood.
His vision blurred, and he almost passed out.
He snapped back to reality at the last second and crossed his arm, blocking an axe kick aimed for his head before rocketing down to the ground.
Raphael twisted his body like a cat and landed on all fours nimbly.
The Ena'Ori spun midair and landed with another axe kick. The ground cracked upon impact as Raphael dodged, a tremor shaking the surrounding ten meters and creating micro fractures in it.
The Ena'Ori stomped a foot, raising some pebbles into the air.
He slapped them hard, and they shot forward like bullets, ripping through the air at subsonic speeds.
Raphael swung his hands, releasing several blade arcs that intercepted and destroyed the attacks midway. Without waiting for more to come, he took the lead and crossed the distance between them in a flash, sunk into a stance and threw a punch.
The Ena'Ori easily evaded, but a follow up forced him to dodge again.
Raphael blended his attacks, spontaneously fusing multiple into one and sending them out in a seamless pattern.
The Ena'Ori felt the pressure build up and eventually, stopped dodging and engaged.
He blocked a hook and returned the favour with a straight swift jab.
Raphael, tilted his head slightly, weaving out of the way and raising his knee. The Ena'Ori retaliated and blocked the knee with a downward elbow strike.
Raphael dropped his leg and took a step forward. He coiled his other leg to the back of the Ena'Ori's and slammed into him with his shoulder.
Both fell. The aim? Cracking the Ena'Ori's skull with the hard concrete ground.
However, using his superior agility, the Ena'Ori warrior glided into a back flip fluidly, and at the same time pulled Raphael by the hair.
This led to a scenario where Raphael was almost dunked, face-first, into the ground.
Feeling the danger approaching, Raphael went with the flow, grabbing the ear of the Ena'Ori and performing a front flip too.
The ridiculous situation forced them both to ditch their attacks and save themselves. So they retreated, landing a few meters away from each other.
Raphael wasn't letting the Ena'Ori off however. He took off like a bullet, raising a cloud of dust as he spun into a kick.
The wind turned with him, bending due to the pressure created by his movement—almost like the blade of a wind turbine.
The Ena'Ori blocked with an arm, slashed at his leg and drew blood, but Raphael didn't even flinch.
Most of the blood on the Ena'Ori belonged to him. His body had gone through rigorous wear and tear, but he had somehow healed his wounds time and time again.
No human had lasted this long against an Ena'Ori, yet he was giving the Ena'Ori warrior a tough time.
'My poisons don't work,' the Ena'Ori thought, getting surprised by something new again.
'If all those don't work, then I'll have to deal a devastating damage he can't heal from in time.'
The Ena'Ori frowned, his eyes darkening as a red aura spiralled around him.
"You've forced my hand, Human. I didn't want to use this so early in the Game," the Ena'Ori said as he took a stance and whispered:
"Poison Engine…"