Chapter 25

Trying to breathe without making a sound is so difficult.

"3..."

He started counting like it was some kind of game.

"2..."

I immediately turned, but the shadow men were starting to come through the door. I had to turn and walk between some crates that were lining the warehouse. There were several, enough I could probably hide if I needed to.

"1..."

I turned on my invisibility again since it seemed like he had dropped his aura now. Even though he could smell me, he can't see me exactly. I have to get out of here. I kept running down one lane and just barely jolted down another.

"Time's up..."

Wind pressure seemed to flow from his quickly changing location, only a few steps behind me. Three seconds was not a long time. I felt my adrenaline rushing through me, and simultaneously, while running as hard as I could, my body was healing the sore muscles.

The wooden crates behind me were getting tossed away from his immense pressure. What could I do?

"Invisibility again, huh? Hahaha, nothing I can't handle, Steven! You'll have to try harder than that."

I quickly took off my jacket and threw it to the side; maybe the scent might confuse him. He slowed down for a second in confusion but noticed the jacket laying on the floor. Thankfully, that bought me enough time. I turned back toward the area we fought earlier and started running even harder.

"Your little tricks won't save you now, fool!"

He seemed to be moving even faster now. Was he just playing with me? He was almost at me now; he could nearly grab my shirt.

I dove forward, reaching for the glowing white weapon that was left on the floor that he couldn't control anymore—the whip.

Just as I grabbed it, I twisted my body and fell on my back while swinging the tail of the whip around me.

Zzzzt

Almost like electricity zapping from the white whip, Talon was shocked. "Agh!" But he quickly covered his arms in black flame and deflected it away. He slapped my wrist, and my grip went slack. I dropped the whip again.

Talon pulled me up by my shirt collar and winded up a punch. "How long will your new abilities hold out against immense power?" He swung his fist toward my face. I tried to block with my hands again. My arms were numb and weak now. Talon raised his fist again but swung quicker this time. I could feel my arms quickly healing again, but it wasn't quick enough.

Smack!

My head was ringing. I was seeing stars, but everything quickly came back as he winded up again. This time, my arms were better now. I went for a punch to his face too.

Smack! His punch went wild as his own jaw was misaligned. He let go of me and grabbed his mouth. "Haha, so quick, it's truly remarkable." He quickly side-stepped into my range, and I swung but missed him as he ducked. Then he jabbed my gut. I keeled over, but this time there was no time for recovery. He kicked my head as I knelt down, and I fell over. Then he grabbed my leg, and his arm distorted into a more giant, muscular arm.

"Hahahah! Even our fight today has given me something new!" He lifted me off the ground and slammed me into the floor. His arm shrank again. My healing powers got me recovered again, but I could tell it was slowing down now.

"It seems it takes a lot of energy to use that one, huh? This shouldn't take much longer now." I stood up again, ready to block another punch. I couldn't keep taking damage like this. I focused on speeding up, and I was starting to see what kind of moves he liked to make.

A swing from my left, heading straight for my face. I turned to block, ready to switch to a lower guard again in case he changed, but this time he kept turning, and his punch missed my arms completely. But he used his momentum to spin and hit me with the back of his left hand. I staggered but stayed up this time.

"Enough games, Steven..." He seemed tired, and his face showed it as well. He spread his arms out, and a long black aura cloak dropped from his arms. Crows came out and headed straight for me. They were cutting my arms up, and I could barely see. Then I saw a glimpse of him above me, ready to slam me down with one last giant mutated arm.

There was no way to dodge this.

Crack

Splat