Cer was far from having a stable state of mind. The confrontation of being met with someone that made up for more than half of her thoughts caused her to instinctively freeze. Turmoil brewed from the well of her heart as a rising rage formed a lump in her throat.

To see Raoul puppeted like that caused all facets of rationality to shut down.

Electricity vented past her clenched teeth like the breath of a dragon.

“Terrified?” Terrent, the Disciple of Nilhim, humored at the sight of Cer’s trembling. “Trepidation afflicts all. Terror is a natural enemy of the mind, so much so that living beings cannot avert their eyes from it. But deep down it will always exist, waiting for an opportunity –”

An electrical aberration of a fang was sent his way. He swiftly intercepted it with a black, shadowy fang of his own. The two canceled out each other, creating a dull explosion that sent ripples across the flower field.

“Me? Terrified?” Cer’s crimson eyes began to steadily glow like a red-hot blade. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. The Deaf Paw must still be alive. What a joke. So you’re confident that you can keep coming back no matter how much you’re killed?”

Her words were spoken as a warning.

Terrent did not see this as such, interpreting her speech as a way for her to stall for time. The pride of an Impuritas was laughable in Cer’s eyes, and she wondered where exactly his confidence came from.

“Is the gift of Marduk not befitting of us who are driven by an inert, most reasonable cause? It’s natural to fear death. The gift of resurrection gives confidence to us who are weaker to go against the titans of this world.” He argued, speaking as if infallible.

Cer scoffed, positioning herself on all fours.

“Big words for pieces of shit that prey on the weak willed. With a tongue like that, I’m sure you’ve never been beaten the brink of death before!” She shot forward, leaving behind a trail of fire.

Her trajectory was not perfectly straight. She zig-zagged her way straight to Terrent, sending bite after bite from multiple directions.

“Can you really fathom to bear your fangs against your own brother!? He who led the Solemn Paw!?” The black paw of a wolf swatted them away right as the two clashed.

Cer sent a punch to his face but was blocked by the man’s forearms. Their auras of black and blue joined the fight, creating a destructive field that instantly withered all life that dared to enter. The red flowers were reduced to cinders. The blood of the rivers evaporated.

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“Brother? Heh. So what? You’re an imitation. Did you really think that’d stop me from caving your face in?” Cer almost couldn’t believe that they were this stupid. “Manifest all the nightmares about me all you want!”

She unleashed a combo of punches, claws, and electrical bites. Many were blocked by mirrored attacks. The Stats Terrent possessed were nearly identical to Cer’s, however, she could tell that her HP was severely lacking in comparison.

“Gladly. You dare bite the hand that was lent to you. It’s a shame the Deaf Paw was unable to kill you that day. Keep trembling, Moon. You’ll soon succumb to your worst nightmare!”

Raoul was a clinically cruel person, and his fighting style was copied. There were no wasted movements. Every contraction of his muscles served a purpose. Raoul was superior in every conceivable way to Cer in hand-to-hand combat.

But that did not seem to matter to her.

“Nightmare this, nightmare that. Do you even know what that means!?”

A black claw threw Cer backwards. She backflipped and skidded along the ground, watching Raoul’s eyes become possessed with dark swirls. In the next instant, a beam of black energy was fired in her direction.

“Total oppression. That is what a nightmare means. You must have feared your older brother. Animals before you are humans. Demi-humans in every sense of the word.” The black aura surrounding his figure like a candleflame morphed into a giant wolf.

She threw herself to the side, her legs encased with electricity as she seemingly glided along the flattered flower field. Her body lowered to the ground as she lunged from place to place, dodging the beam as she closed the gap yet again.

Her movements were just as polished as Raoul’s.

Cer sent a flurry of bites in his direction, attacking the giant wolf that snapped its jaw back. She suddenly flung herself into the air to dodge a strike, leaving her completely vulnerable to its incoming fangs.

However, Cer did not need to worry.

“So you’re telling me you’re a human fighting as a Demi-Human? Then you should be able to feel it too.”

A stray bullet fired from the fleeing Sana struck it from the side of the head.

“That healer –!?”

The aberration collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, allowing Cer to fall towards Terrent like a lightning bolt. Electric fangs consumed Terrent. The damage was nowhere near enough to severely injure him, however, he took far more damage than he was expecting. He briefly retreated, throwing himself back as he tried to swat the persistent Cer away.

But she moved as though she could see seconds into the future. Her eyes pierced into his own, never blinking, nevermind straying away. So how was it possible that she could dodge his attacks if she was not focused on them?

“… Animal…”

The wolf aberration appeared again, attempting to intercept her but to his shock, Cer zipped past it. She allowed the wolf’s teeth to lacerate her body in order to bypass it.

At the same time, she was shot with a healing bullet, instantly closing her wounds faster than they were opened.

“Intuition. Instinct. The kind of thing humans have to train for. We are born with it. I didn’t take the Impuritas to think they’re above Demi-Humans! For monsters, you cling onto the image of humanity like it’s the only thing you have left. How fucking laughable.”

Her face appeared inches away from his, her eyes brimming with an unexpected emotion.

“You’re… not afraid…?”

What he saw in her eyes was not fear.

It was fury.