Scar and the mysterious girl stood on opposite sides of the clearing. The atmosphere between them shifted, thickening with tension that crackled like static electricity before a lightning strike.
Scar's mind raced through tactical assessments, discarding scenarios at impossible speed. His pistol wouldn't be fast enough—she had demonstrated speed that exceeded his reaction threshold entirely. His dagger was useless at his current range, and her apparent melee capabilities were unknown. Running would simply delay his death; she had demonstrated pursuit capability that matched or exceeded his escape velocity. Plus, it was a cowardly option.
The logical choice was either to surrender. Or to comply and talk things out.
But something in Scar refused to entertain those options. The same part of him that had stood at the forest's edge this morning and declared a new beginning. The same part that had fought through a galactic beast's onslaught rather than concede defeat. The same part that now stood in front of a girl who'd just tried to kill him, and felt not fear but something closer to defiance.
She clearly possessed power far beyond his current capabilities. But he wasn't going to stand down or surrender. That wasn't in his dictionary.
With a mental command, his dagger materialized in his left hand. Then….
[Accelerated Perception Activated]
[-3 EP]
The world ground to an agonizing, sluggish crawl. The falling leaves suspended in mid-air. The dust motes hovered like frozen stars around him and the girl.
Scar didn't hesitate. He pushed his Agility to the absolute limit, blurring forward at full speed to close the distance between them.
The girl didn't even flinch. As Scar raised his dagger to bury it in her chest, she merely furrowed her brows. Then her hand whipped upward, and a blade of condensed, solid pink energy instantaneously materialized in her grip.
CLANG! BOOM!
An explosive shockwave ripped through the clearing as the dagger clashed violently against the pink energy sword. A shower of sparks rained down, hissing as they scorched the grass.
Scar's eyes widened in genuine shock. His dagger was vibrating so violently it threatened to shatter the bones in his forearm. She had just blocked a full-speed strike from a Speedster dead in its tracks.
But Scar wasn't going to fight fair. His free hand came up, pistol aimed at her leg, ready to put a plasma bullet through her knee and end this fight decisively.
But the girl was faster. Faster than the gun, faster than his AP. Before he could squeeze the trigger, her leg whipped up and kicked the pistol out of his grip. The weapon went flying, tumbling through the air to land somewhere in the underbrush.
Scar stumbled slightly, his attack having been disrupted. Before he could recover, the girl raised her left hand, conjuring a second energy blade, and struck at his neck. Scar had nothing to block with, so he was forced to evade. He contorted his body, slipping under the glowing pink blade by a millimeter. The searing heat of the weapon scorched his chin as he kicked off the ground, executing a rapid double-backflip to put distance between them.
He landed in a low crouch, breathing heavily.
The girl didn't pursue. She let the second blade dissipate, resting the first casually over her shoulder. She tilted her head, her green eyes finally showing a flicker of mild interest.
"Your speed and combat skills are impressive," she stated clinically. "But they are still far inferior to mine."
Scar didn't say a word. He analyzed the situation rapidly. Just as he predicted, she was skilled, and her speed was terrifying. She was easily matching, if not exceeding, his own velocity, despite the fact that she clearly wasn't a Speedster. Her ability seemed to be energy-based.
But that was the reality of this world. There were people who could move incredibly fast, faster than sound, faster than the eye could track, and they weren't even classified as speedsters. They were simply trained individuals, or high-ranking mages.
So how did one differentiate between a fast human and a human with super speed?
Stamina.
The people who could move at superhuman speeds didn't have the endurance of true speedsters. They could maintain their maximum velocity for only seconds, maybe minutes, before their bodies gave out. A speedster could run at peak output for hours without tiring.
The girl in front of him was fast, but she wasn't endless. Scar could outlast her. He just had to survive long enough for her to tire.
The girl looked at him. Then she suddenly lowered her energy sword until the tip hovered inches from the dirt.
"This is just a misunderstanding," she said, her tone returning to its flat, apathetic baseline. "I'm not here to fight you."
Scar's expression sharpened into something dangerous. "You should have led with that," he said dryly, "before trying to blast a hole through my skull."
Then, he moved.
He blurred to the right, sweeping low to snatch his fallen pistol from the bushes. But instead of charging her, he planted his feet and hurled his dagger directly at her face with all his strength.
The black blade spun through the air like a buzzsaw. The girl reacted instantly, raising her free hand. A hexagonal barrier of interlocking, glowing pink energy flared to life in front of her, creating a shield.
But Scar was already two steps ahead.
[Accelerated Perception Activated]
[-3 Ep]
Time dilated. The spinning dagger inched toward the pink shield. The girl's green eyes were locked onto the projectile, focusing entirely on the incoming dagger. Exploiting the microsecond of her divided attention, Scar burned his stamina, moving in a wide, blinding arc that bypassed her frontal senses entirely.
Then before the dagger could strike her shield, Scar opened his left hand.
The dagger vanished from its trajectory in mid-flight and materialized instantly back into his grip.
By the time the girl noticed that he had disappeared from his original spot, it was too late.
Scar stood directly at her back, pressing the cold, metallic muzzle of his energy pistol against the back of her skull.
Her eyes widened, for the first time showing genuine surprise. She let out a gasp, knowing she had been outmaneuvered.
Scar smirked maliciously. Without a single word of warning, he pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The deafening crack of the plasma discharge shattered the silence of the forest. Flocks of avians shrieked and scattered from the canopy.
The girl's heart thumped wildly against her ribs. But she didn't fall. She was alive?
She stared straight ahead, watching the blue plasma bolt completely incinerate the trunk of a tree directly in front of her. The smell of scorched wood and burnt ozone filled her nostrils.
Scar had missed. On purpose.
The girl gritted her teeth and instinctively tried to shift her weight to counterattack, but Scar jammed the burning-hot muzzle painfully into her scalp.
"If you move," Scar whispered, his voice a cold, venomous hiss right beside her ear, "the next shot will put a hole in your brain. And this time, I won't miss."
The girl froze. The muscles in her neck were taut like steel cables, but she managed to keep her breathing incredibly steady. She didn't panic.
"I'll ask you only once," Scar demanded softly. "Who are you?"
"Rose," she answered. The boredom was finally gone from her voice, replaced by a begrudging compliance that only a loaded gun pressed to her skull could enforce.
Scar furrowed his brow, keeping his grip tight. "What were you doing here?" he asked.
"Hunting." Rose replied.
"You look a little too young to be an Hunter," Scar noted cynically.
"So do you," Rose scoffed.
Scar dug the pistol barrel deeper into her skull, making her wince slightly. "Let's not forget whose gun is pointed at the back of whose head," he said. "I would watch my tongue if I were you. Now answer my question. What are you really doing here?"
Rose let out a heavy, frustrated sigh. "I'm telling the truth. I snuck into the Hunting Grounds to hunt. I've been here since dawn. I was resting nearby when I heard a noise, so I decided to check it out... only to find this clearing filled with dead beasts. I didn't even notice you were here until you suddenly pointed a gun at my face."
Scar considered this. Her story was plausible, and his enhanced perception told him her heart rate was steady, her body language consistent with honesty. But trust was a luxury he couldn't afford.
"Wow. So you are capable of saying more than a few words," Scar teased, his breath ghosting over her ear. "What happened to the proud, almighty warrior from two minutes ago? Not so superior now, are you?"
Rose gritted her teeth. Pure rage flashed across her face, and her green eyes flared with a bright pink luminescence.
And before Scar could react, she moved.
She dropped straight down into a sudden crouch, throwing her entire body weight downward with explosive speed. Scar, who had already speculated her making a move, squeezed the trigger instantly.
A blue plasma bolt erupted from the barrel, but she had already cleared the trajectory. The shot sailed harmlessly over her head.
Then using her downward momentum, Rose planted her hands on the dirt and spun like a breakdancer. Her foot swept through Scar's ankles with the force of a swinging sledgehammer.
Scar's feet were ripped completely out from under him. The world tilted, and he slammed back-first into the hard dirt, the impact knocking the air from his lungs.
Before he could even attempt a recovery roll, Rose was on him. She stomped her feet viciously onto his right wrist, pinning his dagger hand to the earth. And with a fluid, blinding motion, she kicked the energy pistol from his left hand, sending it flying into the brush.
With her free hand, she conjured a long, lethal spear of pink energy and leveled the glowing tip directly between his eyes.
She stood over him, a triumphant smirk finally breaking her cold facade. "Hm. It seems the tables have turned," she chuckled.
Scar tried to push off but she inched the spear closer to his eyeballs. "Ah, ah. I wouldn't move if I were you."
Scar let out a defeated sigh. He lay pinned in the dirt, staring up at the blinding tip of the spear. Then, he smiled.
"Well played," Scar said, his voice entirely devoid of fear. "But… you forgot to pin my feet."
Rose's eyes widened in realization, but it was too late.
Scar torqued his hips and drove his right heel violently into the side of her right knee—striking a critical, unprotected nerve cluster with superhuman force.
Rose yelped in genuine agony. Her leg buckled instantly, her balance completely shattered. She stumbled forward, her weight shifting off his pinned wrist. As she fell, the pink energy spear dissipated into thin air.
With his right hand free, Scar moved like lightning. As she collapsed over him, he caught her against his chest, instantly bringing the obsidian dagger up and pressing the razor-sharp edge directly against the side of her neck, right over her carotid artery.
"Checkmate," Scar whispered.
"Not quite," Rose hissed back, revealing a sly grin.
Scar froze. He suddenly felt a sharp, concentrated heat pressing directly against his abdomen. He glanced down.
Rose had conjured a short, six-inch blade of pink energy in the cramped space between their bodies. It was aimed perfectly at his stomach, the tip already singing the fabric of his black tracksuit.
It was a stalemate.
Because of the grapple, their faces were mere inches apart. And for the first time, Scar got a clear, detailed view of her face. She was undeniably stunning, possessing a sharp, fierce beauty that contrasted wildly with Alicia's soft, elegant innocence. Her breath was warm against his jaw, and despite the sweat and gore of the surrounding clearing, she carried the faint, distinct scent of fresh roses.
Rose stared back at him, her vivid green eyes scanning the hard lines of his face and the unnatural glow of his purple irises.
Suddenly, her brow furrowed. The rage in her eyes was replaced by profound shock.
"Wait..." Rose breathed. "Aren't you Henry Myers? Son of Felicity Myers?"