Mark dodged the target's attack, but she was faster than him by a great length, latching her fingers into his arm with great force and at an incredibly shocking speed. With her fingers clawed deep into Mark's flesh, she pulled him towards herself, breaking his stance and forcing him to stagger forth in a stunned state; his left arm paralysed from the numerous wounds inflicted on it.

Before the target could sink her teeth into his flesh, Mark spun around at the last second, tearing his arm away from her grasp and utilising the velocity of his sudden movement to bash the side of her face with his elbow. Pain attacked his mind, but he managed to stand strong – he was not ready to die here, not after he had told that man he wasn't going to throw his life away.

"Why are you trying so hard to kill me…" Mark was reaching his limit, the pain had consumed every part of his body, and he was ready to collapse at any given moment – yet, he wondered why the target had not given up for some reason by now. He had not done anything harmful to her in his life, yet she was putting in so much effort to terminate him.

The target was about to dash forward, but she paused. He had broken her neck with that attack and was taking its sweet time to heal. Although the process only took a few seconds, it was very strange to the target whose expression had changed. She was finally showing signs of fatigue as well.

"If you don't want me to try so hard, why don't you drop down and die? You give me so much trouble, other humans would have died by now, yet you are still talking…" The target – for the first time in this fight – dropped her grin and sighed. She licked the blood off her fingers, and then released her stance, "I wonder why you have struggled so hard up to this moment, but it is all pointless now."

The grin returned, and before Mark could say anything, the target disappeared from his sight.

He braced himself: a cold feeling rising in her heart as he looked around himself carefully. He could not discern his directions anymore, but he did not want to stand like last time and let her attack him the way she pleased. Before he could stabilize his thoughts, he felt something smash into the side of his waist – a thought crossed his mind, but before he could act, he was blown across the area into a mountain.

His face smashed head-first into the mountain, creating a deep crater. Mark felt his ears ringing as he pulled himself out of the crater, his nose burning as he bled profusely. He felt as if his face was going to come apart at any given time. Despite all these, he gathered strength and managed to keep himself in a sane state of mind.

"No matter how hard you struggle, you can never defeat me! When it comes to sheer power, I am not just a few steps ahead – I am beyond you in every possible way." The target drew her feet back, drawing a line across the ground as she took in a deep breath, and then she dashed forward, "Just drop down and die!"

The earth beneath her shattered to dust, and in a fierce explosion of sound, all the dust scattered behind her, and she vanished into thin air – appearing right beside Mark a second later, slamming his face right back into the mountain, causing it to crack even further. She drew his face out, and then she repeated her action coldly, every movement she made cold and heartless.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Damn you!" Mark roared in a rage, spinning around to elbow her in the side of her torso, causing her to freeze from the shock. Before she could recover, he wrestled his head away from her grasp. Head-butting the target to keep her stunned for an even longer period, Mark shoved her away from himself – slamming the side of his leg into the side of her waist in an enraged kick, utilising a hundred per cent of his strength.

The target was blasted to the side, tumbling down to a frozen halt amid rubble and dirt. She was in her stunned state for a few more seconds, which was due to her raised fatigue from all the hits she tanked head-on. After some time, the target staggered to her feet – this time, her fatigue seemed even more obvious to Mark who watched with a careful gaze.

"Hahahaha. I am laughing, but we know that neither of us finds this funny at all." As soon as she was done speaking, she dashed forward again. This time, at a speed doubling that which she had been showing in the past encounters, her eyes still distant and cold, a cruel hidden in her gaze as she gazed upon the motionless Mark.

"Bang!"

Mark coughed up blood the second the target's attack landed – it was a direct hit to his torso, a hit that was powerful enough to rock his insides. His head was also 'moved' by her attack; forced into a wild spin that forced Mark into a stunned state. He staggered back, struggling to gather himself quickly.

"Boom!"

Before he could do that, the target drew back her leg again and then raised it at a fast speed – delivering a kick that landed on Mark's jaw. The force from the attack was strong enough to sweep him off his feet, and this left him vulnerable to her next attack. She grabbed him by the leg and then threw him into a mountain that stood tall in the distance.

As soon as he was sent flying, the target chased ruthlessly, making sure that the back of his head was buried into this second mountain. He lay there still for a while, and she heaved whilst standing before Mark's still body. Of course, she did not believe he had died from her attacks – but she was not trusting when it came to the durability of the mortal body and its variations.

"Damn it…" The target heaved, collapsing to her knees as she began to pant heavily. After a while of heavy panting, she loosened up her defence unconsciously and then she collapsed to the ground a second later. A few seconds after she had collapsed, all the wounds on her body began to heal slowly. She began to breathe harmoniously, seemingly to have fallen into a deep sleep.

[Survived Incendiary Commander level battle, No XP Granted]

[Battled an Ancient Descendant (Special Event), No XP Granted]

[In Exchange of XP, four new abilities have been learned. All Statistic reviewed improvements that span over 50%! Proximity Sensor received new much print, pending upgrade and installation]

Mark remained in his position. He left his eyes closed, wondering what was happening around him. He wondered why the attacks had suddenly ended. He found it difficult to breathe as the attacks had wiped out nearly all of his energy – wrecked a few of his internal organs and left him in a terrifyingly bad shape. He knew that he had a chance of dying if he didn't reach the medics in time.

He opened his eyes and rose from the foot of the mountain, standing to his feet to find the monster that had attacked him lying peacefully on the ground. He remained calm, wondering the several ways he could handle this discovered threat. Should he leave her here? Dump her body where she would not be able to harm anyone else? Should he kill her now that she is defenceless?

Mark scanned the area, locating his sword just some metres away from her position. He cleared his head, not wanting his rage and fear to overcome his foresight – a vision that would lead him further to his goal, not deter him away from it. He did not have all the time in this world – Mark thought to himself as he took a step forward – so what would it be?