"G-GRAH!" I let out in pain as a fist hit my jaw awkwardly. The resulting pain made me stumble away. Until, I swung back at him, emptying out his lungs in the process.
Then, he spat on me with contempt, "HIT HARDER, BUG!" he roared as he charged and slammed against me. And, for a few moments, I was on the ground facing an unrelenting assault.
"How about I bite you?" I asked him a low growl before my jaws clamped down on his shoulder.
"BLOODY BEAST!" he screamed before he started to punch me with an extended thumb. Each time he tried to gouge my eye out before I spat him out. The relief that this gave him also let me kick him off. As awkward as it was.
"Feel like giving up?" I asked him before I struck at his chest. Only to be blocked by the swift raisure of his arms.
He then countered with a couple of jabs before he swung under. And I fell to the ground once again as if I wasn't more than two metres tall. Thankfully, I caught his leg before it fell down on me. And I swung him over in time with my roll.
"COME ON! I DIDN'T KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT!" I yell down to him before I grab him and hoist him over my head. But the shredding of cloth made it clear my grip was loose.
"BUT I HOPE THAT DID!" he yelled as I stumbled back, clutching my snout. He had just twisted out of my grip and struck me with his knee!
Yet, despite wanting to go at him again, I couldn't help but stumble back, "I hate this taste..." I comment to myself quietly. A thick layer of blood had been mixed in with my spit.
But, while I was focused on the daziness in my head and the blood in my mouth. He had charged at me again and was delivering a flurry of punches to my chest. Each blow broke and cracked my carapace until flesh was forced out. At least, until I was able to backhand him out of it.
From which I then moved on to trying to run him down. His swiftness, however, made sure I would not draw blood. And, instead, my momentum was used against me. He bent me over and swung up.
"GAH!" I choked loudly as bile and blood shot out of my mouth. I was then briefly in the air before a heavy thud rang throughout me.
"Get up, I'm not done with you." Seigunfrei asked me as he took this moment to catch my breath while I shuddered to my feet. Even now, I was still losing. I admit, though, I took a beating before we got here...
"You best hope and pray I am done with you quickly then, AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!" I told him with a low tone before I roared and struck him right on the forehead. Unlike how I would have taken it, however. He flipped back to his feet before he hit the ground.
"I can see why she came to me instead of, YOU!" he told me before I received more punches and more kicks. He then took my shredded up claw and squeezed it. I collapsed while letting out a bloodcurdling roar. He may have not been using magic, but it burned all the same
My other claw, though, was free so I grabbed the side of his head. Bringing him down as quickly as I could before dropping a fist on him. And while I hid the other, bloodier claw, I carried on slamming. Until he stopped me by the wrist.
"Look at yourself compared to me, Bug! She will never go back to you!" he growled up at me. And his words made me look into the mirror-like clouds. And he was indeed right. He might have been bruised and cut slightly.
But I was clearly thrown under a fully-loaded hauler...
"KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" I demanded when I got my arm free enough to grab his head. Loud bangs then filled my ears alongside muffled grunts. And, even further below, the ground cracked and split.
"Get off me, bug!" he said slowly when he finally got free. And, despite all my fury coming down on him. All my weight and bulk, he was still lifting me up. So I relinquished my grip and kicked my way out of his.
Once again stumbling backwards until I reached a pillar at the edge. And, for some reason, I felt tired, so very tired. My vision was struggling to stay clear and everything hurt. I was even starting to slip due to all the blood pouring down onto my smooth feet.
"I... Will..." I tried to say before I fell to the ground with a resounding crash. Tattered breaths kept on leaving me at every opportunity until I saw his boots appear in my narrowed vision.
"Just like last time." he commented before spitting down at me. And, then, as if it was the only noise in this vast chamber. I heard Rose's tubes tap the ground rapidly before I heard two bodies gently collide.
And, with anger renewing what energy I had left, I got up with a terrible growl, "I don't think so!" I uttered. Charging at him once again, getting caught the moment I got near him and her. Yet, I kept on pushing us past Rose who fell to the ground in shock.
"Th-That's enough!" she cried from the floor while me and him shuddered back and forth. Yet, this time, I was able to overpower him by not letting him abuse my size. And I was soon bearing down on him with exposed teeth and vicious growls.
"You heard her!" I hissed before I shot a sudden surge of strength down on him. Causing him to slip up and me to fall on top of him. I then lashed out with as much fury as I could muster. Striking at him until red blood splattered out each time his head flicked.
Yet, I had not paid enough attention to my surroundings. And, instead, I came face-to-face with a spell made up of swirling, razor winds. I barely got away from him before the spell struck and was watching in terror as he got up. Yet, it became clear he had no intention in moving.
"Roseli, behind me!" he barked as I quickly moved to the other entrance. And, a stalemate ensued with a terrified woman in-between us.
"STOP IT!" she screamed before she broke down crying.
"Roseli, you know why I have to do this, so don't try to stop me." he told her with a soft tone that did not match his posture or state.
"I know... I know..." she whimpered before he gaze slowly turned to me while I struggled to stand against a wall.
"Stay out of the way..." I told her, but, she did not move. So I went to try and move her instead for some reason. Yet, that just made him sacrifice his magic to keep me away.
"DO NOT LAY A FINGER ON HER!" he screamed as he swung over and over. Sometimes to my arms, sometimes to my body. They all hurt, and I showed it as much. Each time, he just kept pushing me further and further back.
Until I felt my body seemingly open up when my foot lanced out to provide support. And, he was too quick to realise what had just happened. So I had to try and keep myself out here for long enough so a spell could form. But, he was too strong...
"Nin... Please..." Rose began to say, and, he stopped and looked back at her in confusion, "Beat him... BEAT HIM!" she cheered on...
She cheered me on...
"Roseli...?" he let out in shock as his grip suddenly loosened. A mistake he would come to regret as Rose's words had the opposite effect on me. And I cocked my arm back while he was distracted. It was then too late for him to realise why a blue light had appeared.
Then, a bright explosion roared to life as I felt him leave my grip. And, for a brief moment, I knew he was in that arcane fireball. I then felt joy and happiness when I saw him lying on the ground. But, he was not out yet.
So, I watched with concern as he picked his bloody self up before he snarled at me. Despite what he had just heard as well, he maintained a rigid form. He did not just lash out at me like I had been doing with him. Yet, what Rose said clearly still bothered him.
He just wouldn't stop looking at her as his body shuddered. And, once again, I charged at him. But, to confusion that only filled me afterwards. I struck him down with a solid swing to the head. A blow that sent him straight into a pillar before he fell down cold.
"That's it...?" I asked no one as I stared intently at his still form. Had I won? Did I, like, was this the moment where I triumphed? Where I actually won...?
"Nin..." I heard a tearful, joyous voice behind me let out quietly before I felt something I haven't felt in a long time. I felt the warm body of Rose as she tried to envelop me as much as possible.
"No... Get..." I started to say, some anger still in me. Anger meant for her. But, I just couldn't get her off of me, and, I fell to the wall and slid down it.
"You did it..." she reminded me before her tears began to roll down my bloody chest. And, for a moment, I felt happy. Happy enough to forget what had just happened. Happy enough to just stroke her hair and breathe.
"One fight is all I can do then, huh?" I asked her for no reason over than I wanted a reason to smile at a bad joke.
"N-No, there's a... Come on, my Love!" she said, calling me that name again. And, while it lingered in my mind, she pulled at me until I went along with it. But, I had to slam my foot down to stop myself just falling down again.
"A little h-help...?" I asked her with a painful wheeze whilst clutching my side. All this pain was becoming increasingly noticeable and I was barely holding it in. Maybe I could just start swearing over and over. Yet, Rose's touch made it bearable, I did not want her to let go.
"Come on, it's not far this way." she told me urgently as she tried to rush me down the hall Seigunfrei came through initially.
"What's this w-way?" I asked her before I slammed a claw on the way. The blood coating it, however, made sure I could never get a good grip.
"Sei- He told me that, after he would somehow beat you," she started to explain before she laughed, "that he would take us here to recover."
"H-How would he know that?" I asked, ignoring the details regarding their plot.
"He asked the people who gave us these." she told me before she passed me the device. I then just dropped it and left it behind so I could focus on not falling over. Rose might've been offering me support, but, she was not strong enough to hold me, should I fall.
"I would very much like to get there, then." I tell her with a nod as her tail flicks at me. The smile she had was soon to disappear as well, once she saw the blood on those fine hairs.
"Don't worry, my love. I'll see to it that you can prove yourself once again." she told me, and, once again I found myself ignoring her words. I just wanted to pretend she was not that oblivious to what she had just said.
"D-Down there... Is that it?" I asked her with a heavy wheeze. I really was on my last legs at this point and the energy put into me by combat was vanishing.