Kanjuchi didn't want to give the enemy any room to maneuver. He didn't underestimate Feruzi because of his apparent frailty. He thought he might have skills that could compensate for his physique. He had to be a long-distance fighter, with passive techniques that activated automatically.

I'm going to increase our distance even more to avoid counterattacks. Let's see how he reacts to that...

He pulled out a pistol and fired several times at the ex-sabbi. The elderly man ran for cover and avoided the shots. Kanjuchi established that his opponent should not have Repulsion as a Dominant Function or Auxiliary Function, if he did, he would have used repulsion fields as a shield.

He's not very good at defense, he must be a poor hand-to-hand combatant. Maybe he'd be better off attacking melee.

Feruzi had barely started the fight and was already wheezing. Setting up an Axé Discharge Session through a barrier generated by zimbas was exhausting. It demanded a lot from the medium. He would avoid exchanging punches with his opponent as much as possible. Unlike Nyatui and Mashal, who had this profile, his fragile health didn't allow it.

He caught his breath, put both hands together and concentrated his Axé in the palms of his hands. He then formed a long oval with his hands. Gahiji's subordinate soon understood what was happening. Feruzi was spreading his Axé in the air, he was shaping something big.

"Mirror of the Inconscious."

Kanjuchi pointed his right hand towards his enemy. He stretched out his index finger, left his thumb vertical and closed the other two fingers. His hand became like a weapon. He lowered his thumb several times as if to fire. Tzummm, a hail of bee stings about seven centimeters long flew towards the ex-sage. Feruzi covered his face with the sleeves of his tunic.

Despite the attack, he managed to shape a large flat mirror with a polished surface and no frame. The images were reflected with incredible clarity. The only thing that separated them from reality was the inversion of the reflection.

"Your attack didn't work. I managed to complete my Ofó in time."

"It's no use. He's already dead. Look at his forearm."

Feruzi felt a sting in his left forearm. He looked at it in dismay. A single sting had hit his limb like a dart. Around the sting, a reddish area five centimeters in diameter appeared. Itchy inflammation formed with astonishing speed. It felt as if something was melting under the dermis.

"Argh! What have you done?"

Feruzi, you're poisoned.

You've let your guard down, you old fool!

Stop bothering our medium, Feruzi, are you all right?

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Selassié, I've been poisoned, but with what exactly? This guy is dangerous.

Kanjuchi stretched out his arms. He let out a muffled smile from beneath his carved wooden mask. He proudly described Feruzi's symptoms:

"You've been poisoned by my apitoxin. In less than five minutes, you'll go into anaphylactic shock. Until then, you'll suffer a lot before you die. Rhabdomyolysis will tear your muscles like paper, and hemolysis will destroy your blood cells. A generalized hemorrhage will leak out of your pores."

Feruzi gave a bewildered smile. His vision was blurred. He was sweating profusely due to his fever, but his body was as cold as a rock of ice. His head ached as if a hot iron had been shoved into his brain. The pain gave him urinary incontinence. He bent over and vomited.

He rose from the floor feeling dizzy. The world around him seemed to distort. No shape seemed fixed anymore. He tried to remove the stinger by applying Axé to it, but as he tried to pull it out, the stinger stuck further into his forearm.

"My stinger has micro bristles all along its length. You should see your face now, old man. Your sclera is bluish, your skin is dry. You're thirsty, aren't you?"

Feruzi's skin was yellowish and full of rashes all over. It gave him the appearance of Swiss cheese. He itched and burned as if he had been bathed in hot coals. He tried to articulate a few words, but his mouth was swollen. Kanjuchi put his cupped hand to his ear and asked:

"Huh, what did you say?"

"Mirror... of... Transfer."

A frame appeared around the mirror summoned by Feruzi. Two girls, from the bust up, framed the mirror. There was one at the top of the piece, and on the opposite side, there was another upside down, like a playing card. They wore silver crowns and scarlet veils. One of their arms served as the side of the mirror. With their arms free, they held out their hands to Kanjuchi, as if inviting him into a deadly embrace.

Feruzi fell to his knees. The soldier was paralyzed with fear. The symptoms of the apitoxin no longer manifested themselves in the ex-sage. Calmly, he stood up. He straightened his forearm. He blew all the air out of his lungs. He faced Kanjuchi with confidence.

Next time you fight, bring a geriatric diaper, old man.

If it weren't for my ancestor, Iregi, I'd teach you a lesson.

That would be nice, Feruzi. That idiot never shuts up.

Please be quiet. We're going through difficult times here.

The soldier felt a sharp pain in his forearm. He brought it close to his masked face. The sting was embedded in it. The phalangite pretended to be under the influence of apitoxin. He staggered and spoke in a slurred voice:

"But how? You were supposed to be dead, old man! It's not possible that you hit me with my own sting. This must be an illusion."

"It looks like the poison has turned against the little bee. I'm sorry, it's not an illusion. When my mirror reflected it, your Axé and the vibration of your Inner Portal was registered on the surface. I can reflect any attack against you."

"Hehehehe, you imbecile! Venomous animals are immune to their own poison. I'm not going to die here. I'll go down shooting, everyone will die. Uaaargh!"

A stinger emerged from each of Kanjuchi's bleeding pores. They dripped poison.

"You'll kill even your companions that way."

"I don't care about their lives, I care about my mission. Die, you stupid old man."

Kanjuchi fired thousands of stingers from his pores. At high speed, the poisonous needles

"Mirror of the Death Pulse!"

Kanjuchi collapsed to the ground. His entire body was pierced. All around him, thousands of stings were embedded in the ground. He felt like he was going to die, but he wanted to know how he had been defeated, even using the full potential of his abilities.

"I won't accept being beaten by an old man like you. Like... bluogh! How did you do that?"

"Your murderous intent becomes damage to yourself inside the Mirror of the Death Pulse."

Kanjuchi looked at the mirror. Its frame was dark, as if it were a tattered shroud or a flag destroyed by time. In the reflection of the image, he had killed everyone present. Feruzi, due to his proximity, was the hardest hit. Gahiji's subordinate smiled madly.

"This is a reflection of your unconscious. A projection of your violence, your desire to cause suffering to others, your doom."

Feruzi turned away. He was no longer talking to an enemy, but to a corpse.