Facing each other, the woman and the man stared intently as they decided the best moment to start the contest. No words were necessary; after all, no words would change the decision to fight until one side yielded.

Soon, the woman stepped forward but launched herself at her opponent so quickly that in the blink of an eye, she was close enough to throw a punch at his face.

But just as fast as she was, the man bent his torso and dodged the punch, giving him the perfect opening to land an effective blow to her abdomen, making her spit saliva and be thrown back by the impact.

The woman was hurled several meters away but had no time to get up as the man reached her and, while she was still on her knees, kicked her violently again in the abdomen, sending her crashing against the nearby wall.

Still taking the initiative, the man quickly charged at her to deliver another punch, but just as he was about to hit her face, he missed the target and ended up striking the wall violently, causing the whole room to shake with the impact.

Not surprised by what had just happened, the man regained his posture and casually adjusted his clothes. He then turned and looked at the woman on the other side of the room, wiping the saliva that was dampening her own face with the back of her right hand.

“You look terrible, Inessa. I’d be embarrassed if I were you… A Dragon Lady tipped to ascend to Great Dragon Lady in just over 2 centuries, being dominated in a fight by a Great Dragon Lord… Hahaha, this is going to be one of those stories I’ll tell at friend gatherings.”

“Shut up, Akachi. It’s not over yet.”

This time, Inessa lunged at Akachi and tried to deliver a side kick, which he easily defended with the palm of his hand. Shortly after, she attempted a direct low punch to Akachi's abdomen, but that too was easily defended.

And so, a succession of blows ensued, ranging from punches to the face and abdomen, knee strikes, elbow jabs, and high and low punches. With impressive speed, Inessa managed to execute an astounding number of over 400 strikes in less than 1 minute of hand-to-hand combat.

Unfortunately for Inessa, even more impressive than her attack speed was Akachi’s incredible perception and defensive speed. He wasn't hit by any of the strikes, and humiliatingly for Inessa, he didn’t take a single step back.

Soon, she realized that this wasn’t yielding the results she wanted, so she decided to retreat to the other side of the room… Akachi, even seeing a big opening in Inessa's defense, decided to stand still and wait for her next move.

She then charged at him at full speed and launched a direct punch at his face. Akachi then made a move to block and deflect the blow with his forearm.

What he didn’t expect was that Inessa would use this opportunity to grab his forearm, twist her body, and pull his arm enough to throw him over her shoulder. And then…

Boom

Akachi was thrown violently to the ground, cracking the floor slightly where he was thrown down. He momentarily lost his breath and felt dizzy from the fall, making it difficult for him to recover instantly and get back up.

Unfortunately, Inessa didn’t finish her move; while Akachi was on the ground, she didn’t wait for him to recover before grabbing one of his legs and using it as a lever to throw him against the wall with supernatural force.

Booom

Once again, Akachi lost his breath and found himself unable to rise. Then…

Booom Booom Booom Booom Booom Booom

As if Akachi were a stuffed animal, he was hurled against the walls, slammed to the ground, stomped on, and brutally kicked multiple times. Inessa spared him no moment and gave him no time to recover.

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Only after a few minutes at this pace did Inessa finally stop throwing Akachi against the walls. She thought he had had enough to leave, so, tossing him aside like a dirty rag thrown into a basket, Inessa turned and said:

“Go… Leave my house.”

She felt a little regret and began to think about the consequences this little dispute would have for her territory in the future. After all, Akachi was an extremely important figure for the continent. Creating enmity with him was akin to challenging the Supreme Council of Bordium.

Still, she knew she wouldn’t be severely punished, as it was Akachi who had initiated the dispute within her territory. The territory of a Dragon is absolute; no other dragon can cause trouble or even enter someone else's territory without proper permission.

While she thought about this, Inessa had already taken a few steps away from Akachi when she heard him getting up but not moving toward the exit. She didn’t pay it any mind and continued walking toward where she had been sleeping. But then, she was forced to stop…

“Hahaha… Funny, I thought we were just getting started… Hahahaha”

Laughing maniacally, Akachi was there, in perfect posture and with the same mocking expression on his face. Even his clothes were clean and tidy, as if he hadn’t suffered anything at all.

“You’ve really gone soft, Inessa. You’re hitting like a child…” Saying this in a tone of mockery and provocation, Akachi adjusted his combat posture, put a wicked smile on his face, and beckoned Inessa to fight using his index finger.

“YOU…”

Insulted and even more irritated by Akachi’s provocation, Inessa lunged at him again, and the two began exchanging even more violent blows. This time, Akachi was also active and countered the strikes he defended.

Some hits landed, others were defended, many missed entirely… After several minutes of exchanging blows, the result was far less apparent than one might imagine.

Neither of them was tired; no wounds or injuries were apparent, not even their clothes were torn or dirty. It was as if they hadn’t fought at all and continued staring at each other before the fight, even after having been battling violently for over 15 minutes.

“Let’s stop playing, Inessa. I already told you I can’t come back another time because the matter is urgent. We don’t have time to waste here.”

Akachi knew he shouldn’t rush the fight; in his calculations, it should last at least 10 hours… But unfortunately, Akachi couldn’t stay away from the baby for that long, at least not until the baby was adopted.

So, knowing he was wasting precious time, Akachi decided to raise the level of the fight and finish it within 1 hour. Thus, after stepping back from Inessa, Akachi began to manipulate the energy he was emitting mysteriously.

Soon, his entire body was filled and covered with that energy, resulting in a faint golden glow emanating from his whole body, mainly at his feet and hands, where the golden glow was more intense.

“…”

Inessa noticed that the fight would become more difficult and also began to manipulate her own energy, covering her entire body with it, resulting in a faint red glow all over her body and a blood-red glow on her feet and arms.

“Then let’s go…”

Fuuuuu

Making the first move, Akachi charged at Inessa at a shocking speed, even by the previous standards of the fight. Even the air in his path heated up due to being abruptly compressed by Akachi's movement.

Then, when he was within reach, Akachi launched an uppercut at Inessa, which she easily dodged. Almost immediately, Inessa countered with a hook to his stomach.

Suffering the blow, Akachi used the gap to deliver a cross that landed squarely on Inessa's face. He quickly followed with a side kick that she defended and countered with a sweep that was also ineffective.

Taking a step back, Akachi lunged forward again, but this time he opted to apply a sneaky and dangerous strike, lowering his torso and launching a compass kick followed by a monkey flip Kick.

*Thud*

*Clap*

*Boomm*

Caught off guard by Akachi's unexpected moves, Inessa ended up receiving the powerful blows to her torso and face, being thrown against the wall by the first and knocked to the ground by the second.

But she recovered quickly, and when Akachi was about to hit her with a push kick, Inessa dodged the blow, grabbed his extended leg, and advanced to get close enough to hit him with a brutal sequence of upward elbow strikes, horizontal elbows, and a spinning elbow.

Smack Smack Smack

Unfortunately, Akachi couldn't dodge any of the blows and could only raise his guard to protect his head. Even so, Inessa’s strikes were strong enough to break through his guard, allowing him to take almost the full impact of the blows.

To finish the sequence, Inessa applied a low kick that brought Akachi down, followed by a brutal kick to his stomach that sent him flying to the other side of the room, where he only stopped when he hit the wall.

Wiping the blood that had finally begun to trickle from her lips since the fight began, Inessa waited for Akachi to get back on his feet.

Akachi, for his part, stood up with the help of the wall but leaned over to spit a mouthful of blood mixed with saliva. He also cracked his neck and moved his jaw to lessen the impact of the blows he had received.

“Now we’re fighting… hehehe” he said as he turned to get back into fighting stance.

“Don’t blame me for this later…” Inessa said before launching herself at him at full speed.