The little twins ran through the dark forest, wearing simple clocks with masks to consul their faces. In the dark forest, they ran, ran as fast as they could.

They were monsters. Silent killers.

They were feared, and respected.

The lord of the land went to them, their people when he needed someone silenced. It didn't matter whom, even the people he was sworn to protect.

People died. Unknown, undetected, When someone died, it was the mantises who took the blame, who installed fear. So long as the Lord kept them under his thumb, then it mattered not who met their end.

But all that changed in one night, the night when the people rose up. The night the Mantises lair was breached and destroyed, their people slaughtered. The lord was disposed of. The fear that he relied on vanished, and he was dragged from his lofty perch. The fear gone, the people enacted all they repressed. He was beaten, stabbed, crushed, twisted impaled and drowned. The ugliness of humans shone through once again.

Alone, afraid, the twins fled, fled into the darkness.

****

Nel's blades grind against the writs blades of one of the twins as their weapons locked together. Pushing forward, the twin tired to break the deadlock, seeing that her opponent still had her eyes fastened shut.

Pulling back, the twin struck again with her two blades, three strikes that Nel parried with her short blade. After pivoting, striking both blades in horizontal arcs, Nel took a step back, missing the strike. Ducking, the second twin suddenly lunged forward with her right blade, aiming to impale Nel through the head.

With her eyes closed, Nel moved her head to the left, narrowly dodging the strike, continued moving to the side while her opponent passed by, performing a roundhouse kick that hit her in the back. Nel kept up the momentum as the twin fell forwards, pivoting around as she parried another strike from the second twin.

She's able to counter our attacks ..... All with her eyes closed. The twin thought as she glared at Nel straight in the face.

Pivoted, swinging her blades overhead, and bringing them down on Nel who dodged with quickstep right at the last second. The twin's blades followed through, spinning clockwise as her blades scratched the ground.

Nel reappeared a few feet away skidding to a halt short of one of the broken walls that were dotted around the area. Positioning herself sideways, raising her blade inverted which blocked across strike from one of the twins, with her arms held wide, the twin swiped her blades forwards again, aiming to cleave Nel in two.

Nel dodged with quickstep, repapering while backflipped over the twin, landing on the ground before skidding to a halt, facing the twin as she turned around.

"You certainly live to your reputation," The twin said, sounding more threatening than she did previously, holding her blades by her side. "But there's a limit to remaining on the defensive."

Nel stood at ease with her eyes still closed.

"Reacting purely on your instincts rather than your eyes certainly appears to counter our 'dummy check,'" The twin continued pointing out her blade, "but that means you can only react in defense."

As she spoke, a second twin approached from behind Nel, swinging her left arm towards Nel's neck. As the blade drew closer, Nel ducked down, avoiding the blow while kicking up upwards with her left leg. The twin blocked by raising her left arm, taking the brunt of Nel's kick in her armored gauntlet before striking down with her right blade.

"Even you cannot remain on the defensive forever,"

Nel rolled to her left to avoid the strike, regaining her footing as the twin leaped forwards again unleashing a flurry of strikes. Nel stood her ground, using both her dagger and short blade to parry each strike.

The second twin rushed in, running towards her sister, who ducked allowing her to pass overhead. Leaning back, Nel dodged the cross strike, raising her short blade to block a lung from the second twin, allowing her to pass by pivoting around to her second opponent who kept up the pressure lunging her left blade. Nel narrowly dodged by moving to the right, the blade leaving a small cut on her left cheek.

Feeling the sting, Nel gritted her teeth as she ducked to avoid decapitation, pivoted around and elbowed the twin in the gut to stagger her. She backed up to attempt a follow-up, but was interrupted when the second twin lunged forwards, attempting to follow up her attack.

"..... You're right," Nel muttered with a grin.

Raising her short blade to face the incoming twin, Nel opened her eyes.

The two passed by each other with their blades held out. All of a sudden, the twins mask cracked in the center and fell apart, showing off the astonished twin as blood fell from a light gash left behind by Nel's attack.

"LOUISE!!"

The twin skidded to a halt, a hand raised to her face, taking in that Nel had just broken her mask.

"I told you before," Nel turned around once again, her eyes closed once again. "You lost the chance to kill me,"

"Y-You......" The twin hissed, grabbing ahold of her face with her left hand, wiping out her right hand.

"L-Louise...." The other twin approached, seeing her sister begin to shake.

"YOOOOU!!" The twin charged into Nel, flailing her arms about in rage. Nel backed away again, dodging each strike with ease, pivoting while kicking away the twin away with a back kick.

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING THIS FOR?!"

Nel barely had time to recover before the masked twin lunged forwards, swiping her blades out.

"You look down on us," The twin yelled as Nel parried each strike, "Yet you have fallen further then we have!"

Nel quickstepped, reappearing behind the twin before turning to parry a strike from the unmasked twin.

"Why care for others? We are killers from now until the day we die!"

Nel raised both her blades, giving ground at the assassin's flurried assaults.

"Comrades are nothing more than a burden we don't need!"

Nel pivoted left, blocking a double over the head strike from the first twin while the second rushed in, in which she blocked with her lung with her dagger, locking them both in place.

With the loss of their ability, they threw caution to the wind, furiously striking in rage and frustration. The ability relied on them killing unseen. When faced with an opponent who could anticipate their moves even with their ability, they now throw caution to the wind.

"We are always alone," The unmasked twin said as she put pressure on Nel's short blade.

"We have no need of loved ones," The masked twin added, pushing her left blade onto Nel's dagger while drawing back her right wrist blade.

"You know it better than anyone,"

Nel suddenly gave way, taking both twins by surprise. Landing on her back, Nel kicked out, knocking two of them back. Both rolled across the ground recovering a few feet away as Nel jumped back to her feet.

Swiping their blades out, the two charged forwards again, zig zagging between each other. Nel stayed her ground, honing her instincts to predict their movements. When she felt they were within striking distance, Nel opened her eyes. She dodged the unmasked twin, pivoting around and kicking her away, the second twin crossed her blades together, activating her ability when she noticed Nel hand opened her eyes. Taking advantage of this brief moment, the twin threw caution to the wind, aiming for one blow to end the battle.

Yet Nel pivoted, having closed her eyes once again. Just as the twin struck, Nel ducked, striking at the same time with her short blade.

Blood erupted from a wide gash from the twins midsection.

"THELMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" The unmasked twin cried out.

"............" Frozen in place, the twin glanced down, seeing the wide cut that had torn through her gut.

Nel backed away, allowing the assassin to fall to her knees, holding her new wound. Her mask fell off, revealing her shocked expression, realizing that her life was at an end.

"I do know," Nel said softly, putting her short blade to the twin's neck. The twin could do nothing but gaze upwards, seeing her own blood splattered all over her killer's face, dominated by her glowing golden eyes. "Yet this is my decision. If she continues this journey, I'll be by her side to do what she won't."

Nel stood sideways, pulling her short blade across the twin's neck, avoiding the fountain of blood that burst from the deep cut. As her life drained from her, the twin could do nothing but glance towards her shocked sister.

"L..... Louise......" With one word, the twin falls forwards onto the ground.

"YHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" The remaining twin screamed in rage, jumping to her feet, charging at Nel. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" She screamed as she held out her arms. In her rage, Nel easily dodged her moving to the side while tripping her.

Tumbling across the ground, the twin recovered and lunged forwards towards Nel, screaming at the top of her lungs. Nel simply back stepped each wild swing, each blow aimed to carve her apart in what she imagined to be the most gruesome manner imaginable.

Following the flurry of strikes, the twin jumped back and lunged forwards trying to run Nel through. Once again, Nel sidestepped, extending her leg to trip the assassin through. She collapsed once again, and this time refused to pick herself up.

"T-Thelma..." She wailed, tears raining on the ground before her. She tried to pick herself up moving her right arm, embedding the wrist blade into the ground to push herself up. Nel suddenly stomped on the blade, snapping it in two.

"Seems I'm not the only one who's formed an attachment," She said coldly, holding her blades at her side. "Not that it matters much to me. To me, you're just someone whose face I'll soon forget."

"Thelma....."

Nel raised her short blade, preparing to stab down at the crying twin.

She then noticed the twins left arm twitching. With her eyes widened, Nel leaped back as the twin shot to her feet, swinging out her remaining blade.

"Ha ha...." The twin began to laugh, one that unsettled Nel, devoid of any sense of sanity. "No... I'm Thelma.... I'm Thelma.... HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The twin let out a hysterical laugh, one that caused Nel to tense. "Yes.... You didn't kill Thelma... I'm Thelma! And Thelma is Louise...."

"What in the world.....?" Nel muttered cautiously. She had killed her fair share of lunatics, mostly with relative ease. Yet that didn't change the fact that they were hard to predict. If she's like this from her grief, then she truly must have been towing the line for a while.

All of a sudden, before Nel could react, she drew out a silver cylinder from her corset and stabbed herself in the neck.

Nel jumped back further, holding out her weapons. On the twin, her blood vessels around the cylinder began to turn visibly black. What... what is this.....?

"Yes.... Yes.... I'm Louise......" The twin gritted her teeth as her body racked with pain. Dropping the cylinder, the twin hunched over as her body began to convulse, the muscles on her arms began to suddenly expand. "I... am... Louise.... I am.... Thelma..... I am..... We are...." She looked up, glaring at Nel with her bloodshot eyes. "THELMA AND LOUISE!!"

****

Cliffs fist collided with Ling's outstretched palm, locking the two in place. Cliff pulled back his feet, throwing another punch that Ling dodged by twirling to his left, lowering his body while pointing out both middle and index finger.

Standing behind him was Van who slammed his hand to the ground, bursting root aiming to run the man through.

Chìbang!

Ling raised his left leg with the tip shining blue and lashed it out in a 360 degrees spin, the aura emitted shattering the roots before they could hit.

Freya stood behind the chaos. With her hands to the ground, she sent a large wave of mud to swallow the man. With his usual grin, Ling recovered his stance, standing sideways while throwing out his left hand towards the incoming wave.

Nùhou!

The mud was blasted away by the sudden burst of energy. Cliff charged in again, pulling back his left fist, trying to catch Ling off guard and land another blow. Unfortunately, Ling pivoted on his axis to the right, allowing Cliff's fist to past. SHIT!!

Ling pointed out his fingers as he spun. He stopped abruptly, jabbing into Cliff's left side. Grunting, Cliff swung his left arm out at his opponent. Ling ducked, pivoted around clockwise with his leg extended, slamming it into Cliff's gut before following up, turning around counterclockwise with his leg still extended, kicking Cliff in the back.

As Cliff reeled forwards, letting out a grunt of pain. Ling twirled around again before slamming a palm into Cliff's back. Nùhou!

The pulse sent Cliff forwards, tumbling across the ground until he finally stopped a good distance away.

"D-Damn...." Cliff groaned as he got back to his feet.

"Nice try," Ling mocked as Cliff got back to his feet.

"Damn it," Van grumbled, standing behind him. "No matter what we do he seems to dodge everything,"

He's right. Cliff painted, feeling the pain from the last jab. I can't tell if it's some kind of ability, but he's definitely predicting our movements in some way.

Throughout the entire bout, Cliff hadn't managed to land a single blow, with his agile opponent blocking, parrying or dodging each blow...... except for one punch.

What was different that time? That time he didn't dodge or see me coming. He must have some kind of blind spot.

"Now's not the time to be lost in thought!" Ling said charging towards Cliff.

"Oh no you don't!" Freya said as she sent a wave of mud toward Ling. With a grin, Ling skidded to a halt, raising his left leg as a blue aura at the tip. Pivoting around, he raised his leg up and performed an axe kick just before the mud hit, the aura released cut the mud wave in half. While his back was turned Cliff charged in again.

Ling then turned around, raising his left arm to parry Cliff's incoming punch, letting him slide forwards.

Cliff caught himself before he lost his footing, uppercutting to try and catch Ling, who leaned back, narrowly avoiding the blow. Still with a grin on his face.

Damn it.

Cliff followed up with a flurry of blows, and once again, Ling dodged, parried and sidestepped out of the way.

No matter what... he's still dodging my blows.

With a grin, Ling ducked following a right hook from Cliff, extending his arms out with his palms opened wide.

Oh Crap! Cliff's eyes widened, assuming he was about to be hit with the strange pulse that emanated from his palm. Instead, Ling leaped out of the way as a single sharpened root shot towards him. Cliff ducked to the right, the root shot past, cutting him on the left side.

"Oh no!" Van muttered, standing behind an outshot root, which had launched one of its branches.

He managed to dodge an attack from behind.

As Cliff fell, Ling appeared in his field of vision, turning before bending his arm a pointing out his fingers and thumb, which had the fingers and thumbs glowing blue. It was at that moment, Cliff finally realized-

Yao!

The dragonhead burst from before forced Cliff back, leaving behind a trail of dust in its wake that obscured him from view. "Hm.... You certainly don't fail to impress."

As the smoke cleared, Cliff was seen with his arms held up in a brace. His shirt and pants were torn in several places while his arms that took the brunt of the upcoming attack showed signs of damage as the skin had been peeled back in several areas.

"Not everyone can take the full brunt of that attack and remain on their feet."

Cliff collapsed to his knees, keeping himself from falling over by holding out one hand, painting. "Y-Your fingernails...."

"Hm?" Ling relaxed his stance.

"Y-You said it was a mana channeling... back at the ruin....." Cliff continued. "That requires you using a catalyst for your mana. It's focused on your fingernails... and that kick was through the very tip of your shoe..... Which makes that shockwave you send from your palm.... A mana focusing technique...."

Cliff spoke through exhausted pants as he tried to recover from the previous attack. But that doesn't explain how he's able to predict our moves.

Ling smiled, "Quite the observant fellow. Seems my first impressions of you were off. I simply took you for a mindless brute," He changed his stance, pointing out his fingers. "I believe I should reward you with some information. My fighting style is one taught in the imperial temple in Shu known as Dragon Martial arts. Each attack is related to the eternal monsters. The wings, the body, the tail, the jaws, the talons," A sly grin appeared on his lips, "The Eyes."

Cliff gritted his teeth.

"So then.... I told you my secret, what about you?" Ling pushed. "You have a trump card hidden, yet you won't use it?"

Damn it....Cliff's fingers dug into the ground, each one leaving groves in the ground. He's only dodging by a slim margin. If I used a 'Level Up' I should be fast enough to land a solid blow.... But-

His mind drifted back to the battle with the Homunculi, where he used the Level up to defeat the one known as Edesa. And again with the lion, using it in its final phases. On both occasions, something occurred afterward, in which he was utterly useless. In the battle with the Homunculi, demons possessed them, and he could only land one blow. The memory of the previous battle with the man in front of him was still fresh in his mind and was part of the reason why they were in this mess.

If I use it..... I could beat him... but.... if something happens.... Damn it!

"You won't use it?"

While lost in thought he heard Ling approaching him with his fingers bent.

Zhao!

Cliff grunted as Ling's fingers struck him in the chest. In response, he threw out a haphazard punch, which Ling dodged by somersaulting backward, standing at ease.

Meanwhile, Cliff collapsed to his knees again, clenching his chest. "D-Damn...."

"In that case, I suppose there's no point putting this off." Ling pointed his two fingers. "The talons, as you discovered, channel mana through my nails, shooting into your body like an arrow. Two fingers can cause a sharp pain." He raised his ring finger. "Three stabbed into you should be enough to rupture your heart. You'll die before anyone comes to save you."

Ling suddenly stopped and jumped back as a mud fist raised from the ground, nearly upper-cutting him. "Right... I forgot about you,"

Suddenly, spikes jutted from the ground trying to impale the man. As though possessed, Ling weaved and danced between each and every jut from the ground, moving with elegance around.

"Clever, very clever," When there was a gap, he pivoted with a palm laid flat. Nùhou!

The outwards burst blasted apart a part of the earth, and flying out was Freya who had emerged from the ground.

"Oh no!" Cliff muttered as he saw the Samiet woman tumble on the ground.

"I was wondering where you were hiding. You've been quite elusive in your mud attacks." Ling approached her as she tried to get up off the ground. She turned around, seeing Ling lame over her. She watched speechlessly, an old fear creeping up on her.

Standing before her was a human, a human that wanted to kill her. A human....

No..... No.... D-Don't come near me..... She wanted to scream but couldn't. The scene changed for her, one of rain, her mother's body.... and the cold, uncaring silhouette of a human.

"You seem terrified," Ling said with a grin, holding up his fingers. "Don't worry, I won't make your death painful. I may not look it, but I'm quite a generous person."

He then suddenly moved backward, narrowly avoiding a swing from Cliff, who stood in his way in front of the Samiet.

"Y-You...." Freya muttered, gazing up at her savior.

"Let me get something straight," Cliff said to Ling, raising his fists. "I'm still your opponent."

"My how chivalrous," Ling mocked, pulling back three fingers in his left hand. "Then I'll kill you first and dispose of them afterward."

Cliff calmed his berthing, trying to ignore the pain that burned in his breast from where he was stabbed and the cut on his left side from Van's root. He was in bad shape and his opponent.

There's gotta be some way....

He charged forwards pulling back a fist. At the same time, Ling began to lunge forwards, pulling back his pointed fingers. Suddenly, a root shot from the ground and grasped around Ling's left foot as he lunged, causing him to momentarily lose his balance. Cliff's fist suddenly collided into Ling's face, launching him a few meters away, skidding across the ground before losing his footing, tumbling the remaining meters.

"I hit him....?" Cliff thought out loud, more confused as to why he suddenly landed a blow. He glanced down and saw the root that had snapped.

"Ha Ha Ha! Great, you got him!" Van called out with his hand on the ground.

While it was a blessing he finally landed a blow, there was something about it that puzzled him. Given that he was able to dodge nearly all attacks seen and unseen, it made little sense that he missed the root coming from the ground. Suddenly, he then remembered back to the battle in the ruin where Yuki managed to land a blow on him.

"Nice.... Very nice," Ling picked himself up from the ground, brushing the blood that was pouring from his broken nose. "It seems I've grown too confident."

...... It's worth a shot, Cliff turned to Freya standing behind him. "Hey. When you were hiding in the ground, is that part of your ability?"

Freya looked up, giving a weak nod. ".... But it seems it doesn't work against that human,"

"Maybe not.... But...." Cliff glanced back to Ling, who was turning to face Van. "Mind doing me a favor?"

Going against the flow

Meracle shot up coughing and spluttering.

"Oh good, you're awake." Standing beside her was Rodger and Steve. In Rodger's hands was a gourd he borrowed from Steve. "Good thing ya still had more of this stuff,"

"You didn't have to force it down when she was unconscious...." Steve mumbled.

"Myow! That was gross!" Meracle complained, grabbing her throat, glaring at Rodger. "What the heck did you-" While she was yelling she suddenly realized the pain she felt in her body was starting to fade away. "Nyew...?" Surprised, Meracle jumped to her feet, stretching herself. "Wow, the pain’s gone-" She then twitched as a sharp stinging pain struck her. "N-Not completely gone...."

"It's Phoenix dust." Steve said to Meracle, "It can act as a pain relief while slowly heal the body."

"That's how it works?" Rodger said with a clueless look.

"You should know this Loser," Steve scoffed. "Anyway..." He then looked to Meracle who had collapsed back to the ground, sitting with her legs crossed. "Who are you?"

"Nyew...? Oh right," Meracle puffed out her chest. "I'm Meracle St. Gertrude, the aid of Arch sage Elaina."

"Who?"

"A crazy old witch who told us to come here," Rodger answered for Meracle who nodded.

"..... Just what have you been doing for the past five days?"

"Myow... are you guys ok?" Meracle asked, glancing at Rodger and Steve, taking note of their tattered clothes. "You were against that weird floating guy. Was he that strong?"

"Yeah... be he was no big deal in the end," Rodger boasted, folding his arms. "After all, I am the son of the legendary Adventure Graham. A floating bastard like that is nothing to someone as awesome as me."

Steve held his tongue. He knew full well that Rodger was feeling frustrated in how the battle ended so anticlimactically. The two of them had been at odds for so long and both had to put aside their pride. Even then, their opponent was not only powerful; at no point in the battle did he use his full power, and the two only scored a victory by default.

A small distance away was the downed Leone, drifting in and out of consciousness. She had only just regained consciousness when the two Samiets walked onto the plateau.

Those two..... Wasn't Robby fighting them......? Don't tell me...... did Robby lose....? She thought, feeling a small portion of her strength return. Damn it...... what the hell's going on....?

****

Van involuntarily gulped as Ling strode towards him, rubbing his nose. "Seems I became too overconfident, leading to me becoming careless. A mistake on my part that I can assure you will not happen again."

He stood a couple of feet away, standing sideways.

Van stood uneasy, standing with an outstretched root to his left. He tapped it, which created small spikes that fired towards Ling, who raised his palm, sending out a pulse that blasted away the incoming projectiles.

Van then slammed his hands on the ground. All of a sudden, a massive forest of roots emerged from the ground, spreading out across the area. Ling leaped up before the roots reached him, landing on one of the roots.

"That ability of yours is quite bothersome, I must confess." Still riding the root, Ling leaped from his spot just as wooden spikes jutted out from his position. He then spun around in the air as more roots fired towards him.

Chìbang!

He sliced through the incoming root in which it split in half. Landing on the ground within the forest, more roots raising its ground, aiming at Ling who pointed out his fingers.

Yao!

The burst of mana blasted apart the incoming attack. A majority of the roots remained intact and coiled around to consume the martial artist.

"Not bad," Ling said with a grin. He then put a hand on the ground as he extended his left leg. A blue burst shattered the entire forest of roots with an afterimage of a tail tore through the wood. Van was forced to brace himself from the splinters.

"Curses...." Van hissed, seeing Ling standing amongst the broken forest of roots.

"That magic of yours is quite spectacular I must confess," Ling suddenly broke into a sprint towards Van.

"D-DANM YOU!!" In desperation, Van slammed a hand to the ground, sending a massive root that reared upwards, causing Ling to halt, seeing it rise above. Suddenly, branches began to break off, sending a hail of large sharpened roots towards Ling, who spun, ducked and dodged the intense attack.

With a leg extended, Ling struck upwards, a blue projected tale forming which split through the main root, followed by a second kick, which presided to blast away the remaining roots.

Forced to brace himself, Van raised his arms, as Ling continued his charge towards his target. Distracted, Ling only regained his senses when Ling was a few feet away, where he lifted from the ground, turned with his fingers pointed.

In one swift movement; Van was hit eleven times in the space of a second as Ling continued forwards, skidding across the ground with his arms extended. The Samiet collapsed to the ground, landing on his front.

"You're still alive," Ling said as he stood at ease, seeing his opponent struggle to get back to his feet. "I can't tell you how impressed one as small as you was able to survive being 'stabbed' that many times."

Van gritted his teeth as he got onto his hands and knees. His body certainly felt as though it had been stung repeatedly. Looming over him, Ling placed his foot on Van's back, pushing him back down.

"Yours is truly a magnificent race. Holding your own against a horde of demons with magic many humans lack." He said as he twisted his foot into the poor man's back. "It's almost a pity. Must be either fate or simply bad luck that your village happens to hold such a monstrosity."

"M-Monstrosity....?" Despite the pain he was, Van turned his head to glare up at the man, "D-Damn it.... what are you humans after?" He hissed. "What on earth could drive you to- AHHH!!!"

Ling applied more pressure to Van's back. "We wish to correct this world. And the only way to do that is by removing those that have held it stagnant for so long. Yet only through calamity can we truly save this world. That is why we are doing this. We wish to create a new world."

"Wh-What....?" Van grunted under the pressure. "Y-You mean that Nine tails thing....?"

"You think we are attacking this village for the fun of it?" Ling continued driving his foot. "I was honestly hoping those Celtic Hoard fools would handle the dirty work, but it seems our opponents were more tenacious then we realized. Especially taking down a man with ties to the Fira black market."

"C-Celtic Hoard?!"

"In reality, it only took us to breach the walls and flood the village with low-level demons to achieve our goals. All it took was a bit more effort on our part."

"Wh-Way are you even doing all this?! To create a new world?"

Ling then ducked, just as a spike of mud flew over his head. Glancing in the direction of the trajectory, he saw Freya, still where she was.

With a smile, Ling raised his foot and sharply kicked Van to the ground. He then turned to face Freya, who stood a few miles away, pointing out three fingers on his left hand. "As I said, we simply wish to correct this world," He then charged forwards to Freya who slammed her palms to the ground. Spikes jutted from the ground where Ling trod, but Ling spun and dodged them as acrobatically as ever, "and if that requires a few sacrifices in order to obtain in," A mud wall formed between him and Freya, of which he spun on his axis, slicing through it with his left three fingers, pulling them back before lunging forwards at the woman "THEN SO BE IT!"

Suddenly, a fist burst from the ground just before Ling hit, hitting his jutted out fingers, which let off an audible crack.

"!!!!!!?" Ling Skidded and jumped back in shock, grasping his left hand. "Wh-What...?" Glancing down, he looked in horror as his three fingers that were pointed were swollen and bent in unnatural positions.

"Finally worked it out,"

Ling's widened eyes glanced back, seeing Cliff emerge from the ground. "H-How...?" Ling muttered, half astonished by the surprise attacked, half reeling from the excoriating pain from his broken fingers.

Freya collapsed backward on the ground, letting out a sigh of relief. I-It worked....All she could do was glance up at the human she had buried in the ground a short while ago.

*****

"I think I have a way to beat him," Cliff said to Freya, keeping his eye on Ling as his attention was drawn towards Van. "For that, I need you to bury me right in front of you, then draw him in."

"What?!" Freya glanced up at Cliff, astonished by his suggestion.

"Don't worry. I won't let him get hurt you. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you?!" Freya yelled in outrage. "I.... I can't trust humans. My mother made that mistake helping that man, and it was the same humans that killed her in cold blood for no reason! And now you dare ask me to trust you while I draw that human towards me?!"

Cliff said nothing.

"Why.... Why should I trust you.....? A human like you...?" Freya muttered.

"I can't give you a reason," Cliff finally spoke. "I can't change your mind, and I won't try. But If I don't figure out a way to beat this guy, my friends home could very well be destroyed."

Freya stood speechless, unable to find the words to argue back. She saw her husband trying to defeat the human, and like before he was playing him for a fool.

"But.... how can I trust you...?" Freya asked again.

Cliff looked over his shoulder at her, and smiled. "Because I'm a hunter. We protect people,"

*****

Freya could do nothing but look up to the human who had just saved her life. She took the risk, placed her trust in a human. And he in kind protected her, and caused her opponent major damage.

"Thanks," Cliff said, keeping her eyes on Ling. "Best go to your husband. I think he needs more help then I do."

Still reeling from the experience, all Freya could do was nod before getting up from the ground, running across the field. Ling ignored her, still clutching his broken fingers.

"Quite a cheap blow," Ling mocked as he tried to regain his posture. "I can promise you that won't happen again."

"You're right," Cliff said as he began to charge forwards, with his fists clenched. "Cause I'm going to beat you!"

"Are you?" Ling grinned. "Because it won't work, I can tell your movements before you make them." He mocked as Cliff approached him. "For instance, you'll start by throwing out a left punch."

Cliff threw out his left punch as predicted, which Ling backed away from. What he didn't predict was the dirt he released which went into his eyes. As he staggered from the irritant, Cliff followed up with a right punch that connected with the man's face, followed by another hard blow to the body, finishing off with an uppercut to the chin.

"GHAAA!!" Ling was sent flying backward, tumbling across the ground before coming to a stop on his belly.

Both Van and Freya stared in disbelief, seeing Cliff finally scoring three consecutive hits that the man couldn't dodge at all.

"Wh-What the-?" Ling was flabbergasted, picking himself up from the ground, holding his mouth, wiping away the blood that seemed to leak from his mouth.

"I finally worked it out," Cliff spoke as he relaxed his stance. "You're a sensor, aren't you?"

Ling's eyes widened.

"When you mentioned 'eye's' as part of your martial arts, that was the only thing I can think of. I remember Dale's ability as a Sensor is about discovering and detection, while Nel's ability took it a step further, especially with her eyes. That's the only thing I can think of as to how you seem to predict my moves.

"My fighting style involves focusing and distributing mana in my muscles, which increase when I punch. You sense where I'm focusing my mana and act accordingly. But there are flaws in that ability,"

Flaws....? Ling scowled. D-Don't tell me....

"Back at the ruins, you didn't notice Melvin when he cast his spell because he had used up most of his mana against that lion. And Yuki.... you didn't see coming at all, which is how he was able to slug you before.

"When I punched you the first time, for whatever reason I wasn't focusing my mana and you didn't see me coming. That means you focus on detecting mana from your opponent when dealing with mana users, so when they change their attack pattern with normal attacks you can't react in time.

"But even then, your sensor ability has gaps. You can only focus on one attack, meaning there's a gap of a second where you cannot predict another attack. That's how the old man tripped you before. You were focused on me so you couldn't see it coming."

A smile kept up on Ling's lips, as he softly chuckled, "Not bad. Not bad at all. Seems I grossly underestimated your intelligence. To think you worked it out after our short bout," He said with a voice that betrayed no hint of malice. "It is as you said. Dragon Pulse Martial arts is used primarily to combat mana users. As such, I will confess, I have a weakness against those who cant use mana. But as you discovered, it requires focusing on my opponent to predict their moves."

Ling stood at ease, holding back his left hand.

"While you have worked that out, don't think that spells victory. In fact, I feel I should stop wasting time and bring this to its natural conclusion."

Cliff put his guard up, unsure of what was to come. Even if he now understood how his opponent was predicting his attacks that still left the question of how to beat him. He'd taken a considerable amount of damage, and he was still feeling the stabs from before, as well as the cut on his left side. What was more, now that he understood his opponent's attack, it was likely the battle was going to escalate.

Ling moved his left leg back, which began to glow blue. Weibā!

He then raised his leg up, the aura increasing in size and ferocity. Feeling a ting of danger, Cliff immediately jumped to the side as Ling began to move, the aura manifesting in a large, transparent tail, which shattered the ground in a long line.

"What the-?!" Cliff recovered on the ground, glancing back to Ling who lowered his leg. Looking up, he saw Ling charge forwards, his arms hanging low. Cliff raised his arms as Ling leaped from the ground, with a flying roundhouse kick enhanced by the blue aura.

The hit was enough to break Cliff's guard, and he followed up, pointing out his three fingers on his left guard, slicing upwards.

Yao!

The fingers left a shallow cut that extended upwards from Cliff's chest. That was followed up by a kick that pushed Cliff back.

Without giving him time to recover, Ling raised his leg up once again, which shone with the blue aura. Cliff was forced to jump out of the way as Ling attacked with the ghost tail, which slammed into the ground vertically. Cliff rolled, having jumped to his left, and was still on the ground when he saw Ling raise his other leg, forced to roll again as the next attack also slammed into the ground.

This guy's.... Gritting his teeth, Cliff charged forwards. Seriously pissing me off!!

With a grin, Ling raised his left leg, which once again was coated in blue aura.

Weibā!

He sends another powerful tail towards Cliff. This time, Cliff ducked down, dodging the wave. He charged forwards, pulling back his left fist before punching upwards. Ling dodged the blow by backstepping away.

"I thought you'd learn I can sense when you're going to attack," Ling said. He the pivoted around getting into Cliff's guard, striking upwards into his chin with a right palm strike. Cliff reeled backward, and Ling moved back, pointing out his right two fingers. "What a shame."

Cliff looked down as he saw Ling approaching him with his fingers pointed, just as he planned. He then kicked Ling in the shin, causing him to stagger. "Wha-"

Before Ling could recover, Cliff slammed his fist into his cheek, taking a step forward as he drove his attack forwards, launching Ling away again, causing him to crash through the ground.

"Ha," Cliff let out a huff along with a smile.

"D-Damn it....." Ling groaned as he tried to pick himself up from the ground, his left cheek now swollen. The difference in the two combatants was in there body builds. Ling's build gave him increased mobility and flexibility, able to outmaneuver his opponent. Cliff was the opposite, able of tank damage at the cost of mobility. While Ling could land several blows on his opponent, they were not strong hits as per his opponent. On the opposite end, he couldn't take nearly as many hits as his opponent who punches admittedly did a lot of damage.

I-I not only underestimated his intelligence... he was able to adapt to it and land a few more blows... he was able to adapt in such a short space of time...

Cliff charged in as Ling tried to get back to his feet. Given the blow to his leg, which was still shaking as well as the pain he was in, even though he could sense what was happening, he couldn't dodge.

N-No choice....

Ling stood just as Cliff's punch slammed into his gut.

Yao!

At the same time, he slammed his hooked fingers into Cliff's chest, which immediately caused him to grunt in pain. Ling was once again launched backward, tumbling across the ground. Cliff on the other hand collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest as he felt an intense pain resonating within his breast.

Wh-What the.....? Why's my chest feel like it's been ripped apart....?

Ling on the opposite end of the field coughed and spluttered, all while letting out a weak laugh as he tried to pick himself up from the ground, clutching his chest. ".... It took a lot longer than I thought.... No thanks to that body of yours...."

Cliff looked up, clutching his chest tightly.

"The talons shoot mana from my fingertips, designed to penetrate the body," Ling spoke as he got back to his feet, waddling over to Cliff, trying his best to mask the pain he was in. "It attacks the body from the inside... as well as disrupting your mana flow."

Cliff gritted his teeth as he saw Ling looming over him.

"I'm definitely impressed. No foe has been able to last this long against me," With a sly grin, Ling bent down, pulling back his three fingers on his right hand. "While you had a lucky escape back at the ruins, here, now, you won't be so lucky," He then launched his fingers forwards, aiming for Cliff's chest.

All of a sudden, the ground below suddenly softened below Ling's feet, causing him to lose his balance, throwing his attack off to gently graze Cliff's right cheek.

With the opportunity presented, Cliff struck upwards, slamming his right fist into Ling's outstretched arm, breaking the bone with one swift blow.

Cliff followed up, ignoring the pain he felt in his chest, with a left hook that slammed into Ling's right side. Feeling his ribs crack, Ling coughed up blood as he was launched away again, tumbling on the ground.

Wh-What was.....? Clutching his right side he saw the two Samiets, mostly on the woman with her hand firmly planted on the ground. In the events that had transpired, Ling had completely forgotten about them, his attention focused solely on Cliff. When he was about to finish Cliff off, Freya had softened the ground below him to mud, causing him to stagger and miss, leaving him wide open. Th-This can't be....!

"Your third weakness...." Cliff grunted as he picked himself up from the ground, clutching his chest. "You're way too sure of your abilities...... You got overconfident, and that left you wide open," He spoke as he made his way over to Ling, who was glaring up at him.

"Honestly, I don't understand any of this.... How you bastards can launch this kind of attack, brush it off as some kind of crusade or calling it a battle for freedom.... And to be honest, I don't care at all about that," Cliff stopped short of Ling, watching him struggle to get back to his feet, his broken left arm dangling helplessly. "But you guy's almost killed us.... You nearly killed Allisa.... And you're burning the little brats village to the ground. I think that justifies us to lay waste to your madman of a master and his band of crazed assholes."

Cliff lowered his large arms, beaten and bruised, he glared at his opponent. "What's say we finish this?"

With the amount of damage Ling sustained from Cliff's enhanced punches, he could barely stand. He thought only of the time he fought Cliff back at Löwe Höhle, and grossly underestimated his capabilities. He then got overconfident with his abilities and then became careless. Now, he was suffering the consequences of his arrogance. No.... It's not over....

Yet he remained defiant. His mind drifting to the man he chose to follow. The cold, cruel, insane master he chose to follow. His dream, his ambition, the kind that drove him to leave Revolution. His dream to correct the world.

That man who will destroy the world. The man who will save the world.

Throwing caution to the wind, Ling kicked out his left leg enhanced with aura. Cliff raised his right arm and blocked it, the kick leaving its mark, penetrating his skin, but not breaking him.

"DAMN YOU!!!!!" Ling pivoted around, to take Cliff's head, the phantasmal tale reappearing. As he came around, Cliff punched into Ling's shin, followed by and audible crack as the bone cracked, the tail dissipated.

Ling turned around, feeling the pain in his leg. He then sensed something coming from underneath, roots that he saw bursting from the ground, followed by a realization.

I-I can't dodge!!

The roots burst and wrapped around his legs anchoring him in place.

From further back, Van held his hands to the ground. "I'VE GOT HIM!!" He called out to Cliff, swallowing his stubborn pride. "FINISH THIS!!"

"AHHHHHHH!!!!" Cliff roared as he unleashed a barrage of fists, slamming into his opponent repeatedly, beating him black and blue.

I-I can't!!

Cliff halted his attack, taking a step back.

"Now."

He pulled back a fist.

I-I need to dodge!!

"You're."

He can't...... I CAN'T LOSE HERE!

"FINISHED!!"

Cliff's fist slammed into Ling's chest with an absurd amount of force. Blood gushed from Ling's mouth as he felt his rib cage buckle under the blow. The roots anchoring him in place snapped and broke, launching Ling like a rocket, sending him over the edge of the plateau. Broken and bloodied, Ling fell motionless into the lake below.

Relaxing, Cliff spat out a goblet mixed with blood. "Let that be a lesson for you," He said, rubbing his left cheek, "don't fuck with a Hunter."