I charge first.
The ground beneath my feet cracks.
CRK.
Lucifer stands before me. His body upright. His shoulders relaxed. Both hands hang at his sides. He does not take a stance. He does not raise his hands. He gives no sign that he intends to attack.
He only looks at me.
I do not wait.
My foot presses against the ground.
THUD.
My body shoots forward. The distance between us disappears within a single breath. The Jiza stance forms instantly. My body lowers, my left shoulder slightly forward.
My right fist shoots out.
WHOOM—
The air splits.
The speed of the punch rivals that of a bullet.
Lucifer tilts his body slightly.
My fist passes through empty air.
I have already rotated my hips before my foot touches the ground.
My left fist follows.
WHAM.
The strike lands on his chest.
The impact is clear against my knuckles.
His body shifts only half a step. There is no sign of injury. No change appears on his face.
I pull my hand back and immediately rotate my leg.
A Loki kick sweeps from the side.
SWOOSH—
Lucifer steps back once.
The tip of my foot still strikes his ribs.
THUD.
A solid impact echoes.
I close in again.
The Leon step is short and fast.
TAP—TAP.
The distance closes once more.
Left-hand thrust.
TCHK.
Right thrust.
TCHK.
A third thrust toward his neck.
TST.
Some strikes land on his body—his abdomen, ribs, chest.
He merely rotates his shoulders slightly, reducing the angle of the attacks. His body shifts without hurry.
I do not stop.
A crossing step.
The Jiza stance shifts again.
A straight Paragon punch fires forward.
SKLASH—WHAM!
The blow lands squarely in the center of his chest.
Lucifer takes one short step back.
No more.
A right hook follows.
BAM!
He tilts his head.
Part of the strike still connects with his cheek.
His head does not snap back. It only shifts slightly along the direction of the blow.
An uppercut rises from below.
THUD!
The punch strikes his chin.
The heavy impact travels through the bones of my hand.
His body merely moves his back foot half a step.
I spin my body.
A Paragon kick rises from the side.
SWOOSH—
Lucifer rotates his body. The kick nearly passes through empty air.
The edge of my foot still hits his jaw.
CRACK.
A sharp impact sounds.
His jaw simply follows the direction of the strike before returning to its original position as if nothing happened.
I close in again.
A short Loki step.
Fast.
TAP.
My right fist fires.
BOOM.
A heavy impact against his chest.
My left fist follows instantly.
BAM.
A third strike.
THUD.
A fourth.
WHAM.
Some attacks he avoids by tilting his body. Some still land against him.
None of them stop him.
I shift my foot to the side.
My hips rotate.
A Paragon kick rises from below.
SWOOSH—CRACK!
My foot slams into his jaw again.
The air trembles.
His head only moves slightly with the direction of the kick.
The Jiza stance lowers again.
A chain of strikes.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Left fist.
Right fist.
A hook to the abdomen.
A punch to the chest.
Some strikes he evades with short steps. Some still land.
THUD. THUD.
Impact after impact rings clearly.
I spin.
A long Loki kick.
My body shoots toward his side.
WHOOSH.
A kick from the side.
WHAM.
Lucifer pulls his body backward. Part of the force still hits his shoulder.
A second kick rises from below.
THUD.
Impact against his ribs.
A third kick toward his knee.
CRACK.
His knee merely shifts slightly with the direction of the strike.
It does not bend.
It does not collapse.
I step back once.
Then twice.
My breathing remains light.
The healing within my body continues to work. My tense muscles recover instantly. My joints feel light again.
I move in once more.
This time without holding back.
All techniques move together.
A Jiza step.
Fast entry.
A Paragon punch fires.
WHAM!
Lucifer tilts his body. The punch strikes only his shoulder.
A Loki kick follows.
BAM!
He takes one short step back. The tip of my foot still hits his ribs.
A Leon thrust enters from the front.
TCHK!
Then another.
TCHK!
Some he deflects with small movements. Some still land.
I keep pressing.
My body moves without stopping.
WHAM! BAM! THUD! CRACK!
A fist slams into his chest.
A kick strikes his shoulder.
A thrusting hand aims for his neck.
Some pass through empty air because of his small steps. Some still land.
Yet none of them stop him.
I increase my speed.
My foot presses the ground harder.
BOOM.
The ground cracks beneath my step as I surge forward again.
A straight punch.
WHAM!
A hook.
BAM!
An uppercut.
THUD!
Lucifer moves more now. His body tilts, retreats half a step, then returns.
Some punches still hit his chest.
Heavy impacts sound.
No result.
I spin my body once more.
A spinning kick.
SWOOSH—CRACK!
My foot strikes the side of his head.
The impact is strong enough to make the air around us tremble.
His head merely follows the direction of the kick slightly before returning upright.
His eyes remain fixed on me.
I am already moving again before my foot touches the ground.
A Loki step.
Short.
Fast.
Right fist.
BOOM.
Left fist.
BAM.
An elbow rises from below.
THUD.
Lucifer shifts his shoulder, reducing the angle of the attack. Some strikes still land.
Yet he remains standing.
I attack again.
Punch.
Kick.
Thrust.
WHAM! BAM! CRACK! THUD!
Relentless strikes fill the air.
Some he avoids with small steps.
Some still land.
Not one of them stops him.
I finally stop one step in front of him.
My breathing remains light.
My body is still ready to move again.
Lucifer stands in place, staring at me deeply.
"Be yourself, son."