He moved so fast it was like the space between us vanished, and he appeared directly in front of me, completely bypassing my guard.
"Wha..."
His fist landed straight, which buried itself deep into the centre of my chest, right over my heart.
The impact was terrifying.
It physically stopped my mana core from pulsing for a full second.
'Ah shit.'
My breath hitched painfully in my throat as the room tilted wildly, and my ribs screamed in protest.
But I know exactly how to counter it.
I refused to take a fall like that all by myself.
I used the momentum of his own punch against him, twisted my torso sharply and drove my left fist upward in a brutal, desperate arc.
My knuckles smashed squarely into the side of his arrogant face.
The dual impact sent both of us flying in opposite directions.
We flew through the air like broken dolls and slammed hard into the stone walls on opposite sides of the massive training hall.
I hit the wall and coughed up a small splatter of blood onto the floor.
But my durability instantly kicked in to absorb the worst of the blunt force trauma.
Across the room, Zephyr slowly pushed himself up from the rubble.
A purple bruise was already forming on his cheekbone. His golden eyes glowed fiercely in the dim light, radiating unfiltered killing intent.
I wiped the blood off my chin and started laughing. I laughed like an absolute maniac.
The sound echoed loudly off the high ceilings.
"Well, well, well," I said, pushing myself off the cracked wall. I rolled my sore neck until it popped.
"Look who else kept his stats maxed."
We both pushed off the walls and moved toward the centre of the room at the same time.
Zephyr was the worst opponent anyone could ever get.
He was the protagonist of this world.
So naturally, he had the unfair power of levelling up way faster than all the other characters.
And the most annoying thing is that his unique ability outpowers everything else in existence.
His hands glowed golden as he aimed for another punch.
Whatever happens today, getting hit by those glowing hands is the absolute worst thing.
I tried to dodge to the left, but then he used his knee to kick mid-step, forcing me right back into his striking circle.
We repeated the dance.
His hands were full of raw power, moved really fast to land a hit on me, and I desperately dodged each one by a hair.
He threw a fake punch toward my stomach using his left.
I dropped my guard to catch it barehanded, not realising it was a stupid mistake.
The golden light wrapped around my fingers, draining my internal mana much quicker than I thought possible.
"Guh."
That gave him exactly two seconds of a wide-open target.
It was more than enough for him to land a devastating punch right on my jaw.
Bam.
I flew to the side again and coughed up more blood onto the mats, but I refused to kneel.
Zephyr walked forward slowly.
His steps were measured and calm.
It was a process to intimidate me and cause a psychological breakdown in my mind; his hands lit up brightly in the room.
I knew his secret, to tough it out for exactly one minute left until his special powers ran dry.
[God Hand]
[Ability to draw out the full power from one's core. If the user touches another person, he will drain their core entirely.]
'What an unfair matchup,' I thought to myself.
I stood up tall again and picked up my dropped iron sword from the floor, then focused my remaining energy, changing the steel's colour from silver to a deep black.
We both waited for a tense second before diving back into the clash.
My black sword swung fast, barely hitting his torso.
He could catch my sword with his bare hands. But while he drained the mana from the blade, his golden hands would still feel the sharp, painful cut of the actual steel.
I slashed in all directions.
He caught the blade between his palms.
I countered his block by jumping up and driving my knee straight into his face.
Bam.
Blood sprayed from his nose.
"If you wanted to get this physical with me, you really should have just asked," I taunted him, flashing an arrogant smirk.
"You are looking a little desperate today. Missing your pretty little familiar already?"
He glared at me, his jaw clenching hard.
Thirty seconds left on his timer.
Right when I was causing some real, lasting damage, Zephyr pulled his arms back and clapped his hands together.
A wave of golden energy spread across the entire hall.
The blast hit me squarely in the chest and made me fly backwards across the room, but I landed gracefully on my feet.
I was completely unharmed thanks to keeping my guard up.
Zephyr started smirking.
The golden glow surrounding his hands actually increased, burning brighter than before.
'So he still has some extra hidden away,' I thought, narrowing my eyes.
'Time to change the method.'
I dropped the black sword.
The metal clattered loudly against the stone floor.
I took a deep breath and made the rest of my mana flow directly into both of my hands.
My right fist was completely covered in freezing ice as my left hand ignited with a roaring red fire.
I looked across the room at the golden-eyed hero and gave him a slow smile that promised his ruin.
"Come here, Zephyr," I said softly, my voice filled with confidence.
"Let me show you death again."