The battlefield erupted once more.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Kragar came straight at me.
No feint.
No hesitation.
Only overwhelming force.
His fist descended like a falling mountain.
I shifted to the side.
The fist missed my head by inches.
BOOM!!!
The ground behind me exploded.
Fragments of volcanic stone shot into the air.
I stepped forward.
My claws flashed toward his throat.
Kragar raised his arm.
CLANG!!!
My claws struck his forearm.
Crimson sparks scattered.
His other fist immediately came toward my chest.
I twisted.
The punch grazed my side.
Pain exploded across my body.
I ignored it.
My tail swept toward his legs.
Kragar jumped.
I followed.
Our fists collided in midair.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The shockwave spread across the battlefield.
We were thrown apart.
I landed first.
Kragar landed several meters away.
He didn't even pause.
He charged again.
So did I.
BOOM!!!
Fist against claw.
BOOM!!!
Knee against elbow.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Flame against blue energy.
Every exchange lasted less than a breath.
Kragar's physical strength was still greater.
Every time we collided directly, the difference was obvious.
His strikes carried more weight.
More force.
More destruction.
But Beast Ascension had closed the distance.
I could keep up.
I could see his attacks.
I could react before they reached me.
And most importantly...
I could hunt.
Kragar threw another punch.
I ducked.
His fist passed over my head.
I stepped inside his guard and struck his abdomen.
BOOM!!!
His body bent slightly.
I followed with my elbow.
BOOM!!!
Then my knee.
BOOM!!!
Three strikes.
Kragar's body shifted backward.
Only one step.
His crimson eyes locked onto mine.
Then he grinned.
He swung.
I disappeared from his range.
His fist smashed through the ground.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The battlefield shook.
I landed behind him.
My claws descended.
Kragar turned.
CLANG!!!
Flame collided with claws.
He grabbed my wrist.
His fingers tightened.
The pressure nearly crushed my bones.
I twisted my arm.
My other claw slashed toward his face.
Kragar released me and leaned backward.
The claws passed across his forehead.
A thin crimson line appeared.
For the first time...
I had drawn blood.
Kragar touched the wound.
He looked at the blood on his fingers.
Then his grin widened.
His aura changed.
Not larger.
Heavier.
I narrowed my eyes.
His flames were changing.
Not larger.
Denser.
Every time he attacked, pure destructive force was being created.
The crimson flames around his body became smaller.
But the pressure increased.
He wasn't becoming skilled.
His movements were still brutal.
Still direct.
Still barbaric.
He was simply learning to become more efficient.
And cause more destruction.
Kragar raised his fist.
A small flame appeared around his knuckles.
I watched it carefully.
It was tiny.
Almost insignificant.
Yet the moment it appeared...
My instincts screamed.
Danger.
I immediately moved.
Kragar vanished.
BOOM!!!
The tiny flame passed beside my shoulder.
The air behind me disappeared.
Not exploded.
Disappeared.
A straight line of destruction tore through the volcanic ground.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The earth split for hundreds of meters.
My eyes narrowed.
That small flame...
Contained more destructive force than his previous attacks.
Kragar hadn't increased the amount of energy.
He had simply stopped wasting it.
He turned toward me.
Another tiny flame formed.
This time around his palm.
I moved before he attacked.
Kragar followed.
His palm struck.
I twisted my body.
The flame brushed against my side.
BOOM!!!
My body was thrown away.
I crashed into the ground and rolled several times.
I dug my claws into the stone.
SCRAAAAAPE!!!
I stopped.
My breath became heavier.
The side of my body burned.
I looked toward Kragar.
He was walking toward me.
Slowly.
The crimson flame around his hand was still tiny.
But every step he took made the battlefield tremble.
I smiled.
So that's how you fight.
Not by releasing everything.
By turning everything you release into destruction.
Kragar suddenly disappeared.
I moved.
BOOM!!!
His fist passed where my head had been.
I stepped around him.
My claws struck his shoulder.
CLANG!!!
He turned.
I was already moving.
His fist followed.
I ducked.
His elbow came next.
I blocked.
His knee followed.
I jumped.
His hand reached for my ankle.
I twisted in midair and kicked his face.
BOOM!!!
Kragar's head snapped backward.
I landed.
He recovered immediately.
He charged.
I charged too.
This time...
I didn't meet his strength directly.
I moved around it.
His fist came.
I slipped past it.
His knee rose.
I stepped outside its range.
His elbow swung.
I lowered my body.
My claws struck his ribs.
BOOM!!!
I moved again.
His fist followed.
I avoided it.
My tail struck his knee.
His stance shifted.
I attacked his exposed side.
BOOM!!!
Kragar staggered.
Only for an instant.
But an instant was enough.
I appeared above him.
My claws descended.
Kragar crossed both arms.
CLANG!!!
The impact drove him into the ground.
BOOOOOOM!!!
A crater formed beneath his body.
Dust exploded outward.
I landed at the edge of the crater.
Silence.
Then—
BOOM!!!
Kragar burst from the crater.
His fist came straight toward me.
I crossed my arms.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The impact sent me sliding backward.
My claws carved deep lines into the stone.
I stopped.
Kragar stood across from me.
His body was covered in crimson cracks of light.
His flame was burning tighter than ever.
He was still stronger.
That hadn't changed.
But neither had I.
I could follow him now.
I could read his movements.
I could survive his attacks.
And I could hurt him.
The distance between us had narrowed.
Not because I had surpassed him.
Because I had found a way to fight him.
Kragar raised his hand.
The tiny crimson flame returned.
Smaller than before.
Denser than before.
More destructive than before.
My eyes narrowed.
The next attack would be different.
I lowered my body.
Blue energy tightened around my limbs.
My claws touched the ground.
The beast within my blood stirred.
Not as a voice.
Not as another consciousness.
As instinct.
As power.
As the will to rise.
Kragar's crimson flame compressed further.
I watched.
Waiting.
The predator inside me became completely still.
Not because the hunt was over.
Because it was waiting...
For the moment to strike.