*Bam! Bam! Bam!*
"Hahaha! You're good!"
Both of us were throwing our fists continually, always ending up with our enemy catching it in their hands. Although we were in a life-or-death situation, my body was reacting so badly to how fun it was.
Letting out a right hook towards Grager's face, I was surprised when he suddenly changed his approach. Instead of just blocking it, he deflected it downwards, throwing me off balance. Before I could fix my posture, I could feel a big fist digging into my stomach.
*BAM!* "Kuuhk!"
"[Healing Winds]!"
As I was sent flying, I could feel the warmth of Sarah healing my body, instantly bringing it back to top condition. Catching myself with my arms, I flipped backward and as soon as my feet touched the ground I dashed forward again.
Using my wings to speed me up even more, I launched my fist towards his chest, not caring the had already put up a cross-guard.
"Hupp!", '[Explosive Fist]!'
*BOOM!*
The big bull was sent flying, even farther than I had been before, as the impact of my punch went through his defenses.
"You ain't getting away!"
Not wanting him to regain his footing, I dashed forward. Preparing a soccer kick to his head, I was surprised when I suddenly felt my foot sink into the ground.
*Don!* "Hurgh!"
Unable to react, I felt the air escape my lungs as his hoof kicked me in my gut, making me bend over.
*Fwoom!*
Grager took a step back as he rose from the ground, sensing the wind blade that was aimed toward his neck, giving me a chance to follow suit.
"Haha! Good! Let's keep fighting!"
He wasn't an easy opponent. Just in pure strength, he wasn't necessarily stronger than me, but his hand-to-hand proficiency was better than mine.
Adding to that weird mud ability he used to disrupt my movement, I had to calm myself down and think.
"Not coming? Then I'm going!"
Sadly, he wasn't about to let me, as his hands suddenly got covered in mud and he dashed forward.
*Bam! Bam! Bam!*
Our exchange of fists had begun again, however this time, there was a big difference.
"[Air Cutter]!"
*Don! Don! Don!*
Although it hurt my pride a bit to have Sarah helping me, this was not a situation where I could care. After all, it was not only my life at risk.
Although the demon skillfully blocked and dodged a lot of our attacks, he couldn't avoid receiving injuries.
"Argh! So annoying!*
*DON!*
Stomping one of his hooves, a surge of energy erupted from him, pushing me back. Before I could re-engage in the fight, he had already started dashing towards the one he thought of as an annoyance.
"Sarah!"
*Fwoom!*
Although I dashed forward as quickly as possible, with my wings trembling from the exertion of pushing me forward, I still didn't make it in time.
Grager had already reached her, his fist pulled back and ready to be launched.
"Now, please rest, girl!"
*Boom!* "Kyaak!"
Sarah's body fell to the ground, unmoving and limp, her mouth releasing a stream of blood in the process.
With the sight of Sarah's wounded body, the heat inside of me reached a new level, as if my whole body was on fire.
"YOU FUCKING DEMON!"
*BAM! BAM! BAM!*
My mind had already zoned out completely, my vision completely red and muddled. The only thing I could see was the smile on the face of my enemy.
Our dance had started again, now with my attacks fiercer than ever, and his movement ever more precise.
Somehow, everytime he managed to land a punch on me, I felt my body getting heavier and heavier, but I didn't care. No, I couldn't care.
"AAAAHHH! [Explosive Fist]!"
*BOOM!*
A big orb of fire had exploded in the air, as my fist had hit nothing. Then, I could feel my feet slowly sinking into the ground, with my body too heavy to get out of it.
Raising my head, I could see Grager with a devious face, obviously enjoying my current predicament.
"You have the mind of a warrior, but you lack the discipline of one. Calm down and look at your body."
Unsure what he was talking about, I let my eyes scan the state of my body.
Big chunks of mud was stuck on me, them being the reason why my body felt heavy I'm the first place.
"Shit!"
I couldn't shake them off, no matter how much I tried, almost as if they were part of my body now.
"That's not going to work! You were careless! Every time I touched your body, I planted a small bit of my mud, and they won't disappear until I stop providing them maryoku."
Having no idea what he was talking about, I somehow forced my head to calm down. While the idiot was busy spouting bullshit, I got time to think about the situation.
'Shit! If James was here, he would know surely have a plan! Where is that stupid goblin when his girlfriend is dying?!'
This wasn't a situation I was suited for. I loved fighting, but I wasn't suited for making sure that everyone I loved was safe. I wasn't smart like James, nor was I necessarily experienced in fighting like others. All I had was my power.
'If that's the case... I just need to bring out more power!'
*BRMMMM!*
Feeling my body heating up again, I activated my [Draconic Strength] while at the same time envisioning my body burning with strength.
'More, more, more, more!'
*Fwosh!*
Flames started to cover my whole body, and I could feel my feet changing underneath the ground. Every single strand of muscle in my body started straining, trying its best to contain the power in my body.
"What?!"
My enemy finally snapped back to reality, his gloating interrupted by what his eyes saw.
"HNGGGH!"
Forcefully lifting my legs, I managed to escape from the mud and before he could use the same trick again, I dashed forward.
"Argh?!"
Grager couldn't react in time to my newfound speed as I grabbed his face with my claws.
"HAUPPP!" *BOOM!*
The ground exploded as I used all the power I could muster and jumped up into the air. Still holding his face, I swung my wings to make me spin as fast as possible, before throwing Grager down with as much force as I could muster.
*BOOM!*
The ground exploded once more, as his body created a big crater around it from the impact. Yet, I was still not done, as I knew that I would collapse as soon as I stopped.
Therefore, I collected as much heat as I could in my stomach and started to compress it, making it more potent for every second that passed.
When it felt like my stomach would burst from the pressure, I finally released it.
*ROOOAAARR!!! CRACKLE!*
A meteorite ball of fire flew towards my enemy, the heat creating ripples in the air around it.
"Fuck!"
My enemy, who had all his bones already broken, could only watch as the ball of fiery death quickly closed in on him.
*BOOOM!!!*
A big pillar of fire reached towards the blood barrier around us as it expelled the life of the demon inside of it.
Still up in the air, I quickly put my eyes on my friend and tried to glide to her. However, as soon as I tried to put some strength into my body, my vision blacked out and I fell to the ground.
****
[James's Pov]
'Holy shit! What a fucking monster she is!'
Not only had Sophie somehow managed to fuse her body enhancement with her element, but she had also somehow unconsciously leveled up her fire breath as well. Even now, with Sophie unconscious, the pillar was still burning, albeit with it being a lot smaller than when the ball of fire made an impact.
While I was incredibly impressed, and a bit scared, seeing Sophie fight like a complete beast, I felt a little bit guilty when I thought of the reason.
When Grager had switched his focus to Sarah, I hadn't hesitated for a second to conjure Matt and sent him in to guard her body. None of them had noticed the little black being, as they were all too focused on the battle.
The result? I had gotten to experience the sensation of my body getting popped like a balloon, but Sarah had gotten to keep her life. She was merely unconscious from the impact.
Though it had taken a bit of time for me to snap out of the torment of dying, I had quickly made sure that there wasn't any danger to her life. Therefore, Sophie and Sarah emerged completely victorious, without anyone of them losing their lives.
'Thank Theia that they didn't need my help that much... How mad would Sophie have been if she knew I was here all along?'
Things had worked out great for my main body, not having to reveal any of my Skills to anyone while my friends were still alive.
However, things weren't going so well on the other side of the blood wall...
Even though Grager had said that the barrier blocked off mana connections, I had no issues seeing the bloodied Arthur lying on the ground.
'Do I have to intervene...?'