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Michael's talons started digging into both of his shoulders. Tymon winced and gritted his teeth in pain as he felt his skin tear from the talons as they were embedded deeper.

Tymon could feel his blood soaking his clothes which surprised him.

In the next instant, Michael lifted upward, dragging Tymon's body along, and threw him higher into the air. Immediately after releasing Tymon, Michael used his Luminous Thread cintracy again, but this time he created a slashing attack that covered a wide area.

Thinking fast, Tymon used Blackout again, only this time as a barrier. It couldn't completely protect him from the attack, but it did reduce its damage.

When Tymon undid his technique, he had multiple wire-thin lacerations covering the front of his body.

Judging from what I just felt, that attack would've cut me into pieces had I taken it full on, Tymon thought as he placed his hand on one of his wounds.

Staring down at Michael, Tymon noted that Michael's talons and threads were made of light, explaining why his Shield cintracy didn't protect him from them.

Tymon cursed himself for not using spirit enhancement fast enough as he floated back down to face Michael.

He would never admit it, but his body felt wrecked from all the damage he'd taken so far.

"You may be unable to die like me, but you cannot heal like I can," Michael said, addressing Tymon as he floated back down to his level. "Plus – as I have stated already – you are significantly weaker than me and cannot control your full power yet. You cannot win against me."

Like I haven't noticed that already, Tymon thought to himself. Even though I'm more powerful and neither of us is using our hybrid forms, I'm still at a disadvantage.

Tymon realized that simply being more powerful than someone didn't cement a win. Not when the difference in power wasn't vast enough.

Given Michael's superior strength, impossible speed, and ridiculous healing, Tymon had already concluded that he was unlikely to beat him.

Tymon was nearly ready to forfeit, knowing there was no point in continuing, but when he looked at Michael's face, he saw the look of pity Michael was giving him.

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This stirred up an unbelievable amount of frustration within Tymon to the point that he refused to give Michael the satisfaction of admitting his defeat.

Tymon's mind raced as he tried to come up with a way to win, but any feasible plan required one crucial thing...

If I could just grab him one more time... Tymon thought.

He could simply apply Last Breath to his spirit energy and cover the entire area, but with Za'Fia and Alissia so close...

No. He needed a different approach.

Blackout could work, but Michael would probably expect me to grab him again. Unless...

Tymon used Blackout to surround them both in darkness again.

"This again? Where is your creativity," Michael critiqued as he used his Brilliant Radiance to ward off some of the darkness around him.

Tymon applied spirit enhancement to his entire body and Last Breath to his fists, activating his Black Fists technique.

Rushing in as fast as he could in such short distances prevented him from reaching peak speed. Still, he attacked Michael, who, predictably, was prepared.

As Tymon would rush in, he'd land a hit that Michael would block. Then he quickly receded into the darkness. With each impact, he increased the amount of Last Breath he infused.

He did this repeatedly until he noticed Michael subconsciously diverting more and more of his spirit energy into the same spot Tymon kept targeting: his arms, leaving the rest of his body a little less protected.

"This is disappointing," Michael spoke. His tone clearly expressed his growing impatience and disinterest.

"Why not just admit defeat?" He asked. "Your attacks have become predictable and lack even the little strength you once displayed. I am not fond of bullying the weak – I believe this has gone on long enough."

"Nah, I've figured out a way forward already," Tymon declared from the darkness.

"Your goading won't work. This fight was only meant to show you the difference between us," Michael replied calmly. "Now that it is clear, I have no reason to continue. You have lost."

"Tell you what, if I don't break through that protection of yours with my next two hits, I'll admit defeat," Tymon proposed.

"You sound confident," Michael said.

"I am."

"Fine. Do your worst," Michael replied.

Tymon commenced his next attack exactly like the others. By now, he had his Black Fists nearly at full power, and as expected, Michael was focusing most of his spirit enhancement onto his arms.

"One more attack," Michael stated solemnly.

Tymon smiled in satisfaction.

"One more attack," he repeated back.

Tymon began flying around as fast as he could within the sphere, avoiding Michael's light. As he flew uninterrupted, he eventually reached his top speed of Mach 3. He knew Michael could sense where he'd be coming from, so he tried something new.

He used the darkness within the sphere in conjunction with his Dark Shift cintracy to generate multiple shadow paths he could teleport through. His presence was virtually untraceable as he used the shadow paths to appear from any of their dozens of locations while still keeping up his momentum.

Although this method was brilliant, using Dark Shift this way was steadily draining Tymon's energy.

"What is this," Michael asked in confusion.

Before Michael could wise up, Tymon used his confusion to his advantage and struck.

Appearing from a shadow path in the darkness behind Michael, Tymon prepared a full-powered Black Fist as he entered Michael's light.