A lightning fast blow from her right fist came rocketing in, so fast that Jonathan had to use stamina redirection to counter it. He was propelled to the side, the sonic boom barely phasing him at this point. It was likely something that he would get used to over time. The woman withdrew her fist and stared at Jonathan.

“What manner of creature are you? You looked as if you had been flayed, and then left out in the wastes to dry.”

“I’m not from here,” Jonathan replied. “I have a proposition for you though.”

Before he could elaborate, the woman came in for another strike. He could tell that she was built for speed, unlike the other Uthraki leaders had been. Hushar had been much more physically powerful, boosted by his larger body. However, this one leaned into her natural size in order to boost her speed.

“You come into my village, attack my guards, and then demand an audience? I think not.”

The Uthraki sped up, starting to use a skill. With a sigh, Jonathan realized that this had already escalated. Still, there was no reason not to share his plan as he fought. As a fist whistled his way, coated in black flames, he met it with a blast of purple light. The sheer speed of his opponent was shown by the fact that his fist had only covered a quarter of the distance between them as he went. The two attacks fought for supremacy in the air, but Jonathan eventually got the better of his opponent. Although she was far higher level than him, most of her stat points had evidently gone into Dexterity, as he was still physically stronger.

“I seek to defeat Granath,” Jonathan said in the brief lull. “Will you help me? I understand that your people have a grudge against him.”

The woman looked conflicted for a moment, but then shook her head, continuing to fight. Jonathan gritted his teeth in annoyance, and kept going. The fight was more of an exchange of blows than anything else, seeing as Jonathan was too durable to take much damage, and the woman was fast enough to avoid his strikes. However, he still had some abilities in reserve. Eventually, he used one.

Flaring his Divinity into his gauntlets, he drew the attention of his opponent with his Rune of Beckoning. It was only for the briefest of moments, but it was enough for him to land a telling blow. His fist slammed into her cheek, cracking the bone and sending the woman flying into a nearby wall.

“Will you listen to me now?” Jonathan called out. Instead of a reply, he only heard a growl. A blaze of blood red light erupted from the swirling dust of the Uthraki’s landing spot, and a moment later a hulking figure emerged. With grotesquely enlarged features, and twisted horns, it looked like a demonic herald, sent to punish the damned.

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With a howl of bestial fury, the beast raced towards Jonathan. Despite its new form, it seemed to retain much of its previous speed.This was no doubt why the battle had seemed too easy before. Jonathan had expected more from an opponent at least fifty levels higher than his own.

The woman came hurtling in, her fists igniting the air around them. Jonathan shot to the side, his stamina redirection ability barely saving him. The fist snapped out and grabbed his foot a moment later, tugging him out of the air. With a whoosh, he was propelled upwards, flying into the sky. Below him, the Uthraki gathered power within her hands, preparing some sort of energy blast.

Jonathan gathered his own energy as he began to fall, sending a pulse of the Void down towards his opponent. A spear of crimson light raced up to meet it, and the two attacks exploded in midair, buffeting both fighters with a wave of wind. Jonathan started to fall a moment later, readying his Divinity for a powerful strike.

Elemental energy layered on top of his mana, with his Divinity growing underneath. With a battle cry, he flipped midair, making sure that his fist fell first. As he plummeted from the sky, trailers of power gathered around his form, allowing him to gather more and more energy from around himself. With a hiss, the complete nothingness of his Hungering Decay skill entered the world, eating away at the matter in its way. The hulking monstrosity that the Uthraki leader had become growled at him, raising its own fist to strike. That would prove to be a mistake.

Jonathan cocked back his fist and punched, projecting a bow wave of force even before his fist made contact with his enemy. The twisted form of the Uthraki leader stretched up to meet his blow, slamming its massive fist into his own. Crackling darkness roiled around the blow, and Jonathan felt the jolt run up and down his arm. However, he was made of sterner stuff than that, and he powered through, sending caustic energy racing into his enemy. There was a sharp crack as the Uthraki was slammed into the ground by the strike, and a cry of pain.

Jonathan landed a moment later, only to be caught by a sudden kick. It blasted through his guard and into his chest, shattering ribs and crushing organs. He shouted in pain and only managed to curl up into a ball to protect himself at the last moment. He bounced across the ground like a skipping stone, hurtling through a nearby hut. A few Uthraki were inside, and they seemed perplexed at his presence. Perhaps the sound of battle was so common in these parts that the inhabitants of this village had seen the fight as simply being par for the course.

In any case, Jonathan flashed past them faster than they could blink, exiting the house a moment later. He rolled to his feet, every breath coming like he was inhaling a lungful of glass. He wheezed as he tried to recover, hearing the footsteps of his opponent racing towards him. The Uthraki leader bulled through the house in front of him, her fist cocked back. Jonathan only had one recourse. He triggered Smite.