The hole in her chest merged itself closed again as the radiant aura that surrounded her, hovered over the wound.

The beast woman had fully recovered and pointed her black nail towards me with a terrifying expression.

“I like that face, the one humans always make right before I eat them live.”

Gulp!

The distance between us wasn’t that far, with a single movement she had appeared in front of me and raised her arm to the side. It swished through the air and created a heavy gust of wind.

I managed to avoid it by the edge of my hair by activating my Rush skill but it was too hard to put distance between us. No matter how fast I ran, she met me at every turn.

The difference in our abilities was just too great to rely on speed or strength. I began to wonder if there was anything at all that I could beat her at.

As she reached out to grab me, I ducked under her arm and slashed my blade across it. Fur scattered but not a drop of blood was shown.

‘H-how…?! I used the Chakram's when I made that hole in her chest before, so why…why didn’t it affect her now?! Is it her fur, is it protected by mana?’

“Frustrated?” The beast woman asked.

Her sinister grin was above me, she opened her mouth and a row of fangs came into sight. She drove her jaw towards me and I pulled away in panic.

A wall hit my backside and I had no more Shadow Steps left to use…I had nowhere to run. Her vicious teeth were seconds from reaching me and the gap between us swiftly disappeared.

‘If I can’t run then I’ll meet your challenge head-on. That’s right, I have strength of my own!’

Her arms were lowered to her sides, her fangs were the only issue. They were a weapon of their own right but it was all that she had used, if I found a way around it, I was safe.

I widened my stance and raised my right arm to my side. She appeared awestruck and did nothing to block it. She must not have thought much about my strength, not that I blamed her. I wasn’t nearly as large as her.

“Berserker…” I wound up my fist as far back as I could and pivoted all my force behind that one punch. “–Blow!!”

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Green mana surrounded my arm and formed the hulking shape of a muscular arm over mine. Her entire face contorted with an ugly expression of shock and pain as my fist connected with her jaw.

Wind pulsed out between her face and my knuckles as I used all the weight of the punch to throw her back. Her body was heavy but I felt strong, strong enough to move a mountain.

The full effects of the orc’s strength surrounded my fist as I tossed her body across the room like a ragdoll. She crashed into the other side of the room and sent a wave of cracks throughout its solid stature.

The orcs' green light faded from my arm and I stared at my hand in disbelief.

“Strong…”

A pair of eyes appeared from beyond the dusty corner of the room, the beast woman stepped out of the dark and glared daggers at me. The corners of her mouth twitched as they curled up, almost as though they weren't sure what expression to show.

“That’s right, I like it better when my food hits back a bit! It makes it more fun like that, just don’t get carried away, you’re still just a human!” She roared.

‘That punch worked on her, she doesn’t seem so invincible anymore. Since my blades only managed to cut her skin, I’ll have to test if that’s the case with my skills as well.’

{User has challenged the Beast Demon, Eshner to a fight}

{The winner will be decided through death}

{Do not die}

‘What’s this, Uriel’s suddenly talking?! Always with that bad timing…’

“Eshner…?” I muttered.

Her eyes jolted wide with excitement and she tilted her head back a bit in a confident manner. “You know my name, then you must know how strong I am, human.”

“No,” I replied.

I caught her off guard with that response. The large smile on her face straightened out and she was at a loss for words.

“I’ve never heard of you but…it looks like you’re related to Ellios and Uriel somehow. I want you to tell me why exactly, before I kill you.”

Her lips dropped and her mouth hung open. Both her eyes filled with black and her pupil lit up with a potent yellow glow. The strong coverage of mana that hung around her, spread.

The fur that covered the ends of her hands and feet spread up and across her body, it wasn’t long before every spec of her healthy complexion had been hidden under thick white fur and black stripes.

She had become a beast in every sense of the word and grew to a monstrous size, she would have easily towered over any of the largest men in Istoria with a body like that.

A large thud erupted at the end of the room as her front paws hit the ground. She lowered her back and let out a fierce growl, then saliva ran down the corners of her mouth and dripped to the floor.

“You piece of shit…you’re looking down on me? I’m a demon, one of the strongest creatures in this damn Tower! I’m a predator, you’re just prey!”

A health bar wrapped around her shoulders to display the terrifying amount of difference between our stats. My jaw dropped as I stared ahead at the three bars of health that hovered above her.

{Boss grade monster has been detected}

{Eshner the Beast Demon}