(30 minutes prior to the explosion)
After his gift was suddenly activated out of nowhere, the biggest grin flashed on his face.
"….. Heh, just when I was about to call it a day, someone fun suddenly comes out and joins the fray."
"Hohohohoh, well I'm sorry for making you wait. It's just, going head on against an opponent I know nothing about isn't really a bright move to make."
"So you just allowed your subordinates to get roughed up in order to analyze me? That's quite coldhearted, aren't you supposed to be the head nun of this place?"
"Don't you dare patronize sister Teresa, we were the ones who volunteered to do this despite her constant refusal!"
"Yeah, that's right! If it meant increasing our chances of winning by even one percent more then we'll gladly pay that meager price."
"Enough, there's no need to explain yourselves any longer. Thanks to you all I've gotten a rough estimate on his skills, I am truly grateful."
Teresa bowed with her facing downwards to show her sincerity, causing the remaining sisters to respect her even more.
"Now then, your face tells me that your raring to go."
"Can't you see the red glow around me growing thicker? It's uncomfortable but I've been holding myself back for a while now. I might not be able to take it any longer so…. Let's Start Now!"
But despite his crazed shout, the only response he got was a raised palm.
"I know that you're at your limit right but please be more patient, I don't want to damage the premises so I would find it helpful if we fight deeper in the forest, that way you can go on a rampage as much as you want."
"Hmmmm, your right. I don't want to accidentally hurt the children inside either. Fine, lead the way!"
With a slight nod Teresa together with Jake and Ken started moving deeper into the forest.
"Will sister be alright? That man seemed extremely strong while the other one who came with him didn't even attempt to fight so he's a complete mystery."
Asked a nun nervously. Although she was confident in the head nun's strength, she couldn't help but worry after seeing the man singlehandedly taking down gifted humans one after another.
"You don't have to worry, if I remember correctly you've never seen Sister Teresa's gift, had you?"
Said an older nun to the nervous one
"Her gift?"
"Yeah, if she was already a monster without it, then now…. she's a full-blown demon."
...….
"I think this is far enough, shall we start?"
"Alright! Let's g--"
Thwack!!!
"oooooofff!"
Barely reacting to the nun's punch, Jake was able to guard his face with his hands.
{Damn, that hurts!}
A surprised Teresa suddenly said
"Oh, did I maybe underestimate you too much? I was certain that strike should've been more than enough to break a bone or two."
"If it was 5 minutes ago then that would've definitely broken my arm, good thing my gift already had time to charge, if not…"
Jake shuddered at the thought
"So it's a gift that grows stronger the longer it stays active huh, ok, noted."
After updating the strength of her opponent in her mind, she unleashed continuous attacks
A jab, a kick to the leg, a kick to the head, a knee to the stomach… she was completely dominating her opponent. Now that she knows her opponent grows stronger the longer this goes on, she was now aiming to end this battle as quickly as possible.
"This is only the third time someone has ever managed to push me this much. Even professional fighters wouldn't be able to do this, not to mention pushing me I've even dominated one in a fight once before! All your attacks are precise and sharp, but what makes them scarier is the fact that all of them aim exactly at my most vulnerable points."
"Thanks for the compliments, but I think you should start taking this seriously now."
"Hehehe, your right, this is a battle!"
He suddenly lunged at her while raising his fists, he threw it with all his might but she only side stepped once to evade the strike. She countered with a strike of her own and hit him straight in the chin but with his ever-increasing strength he was able to barely stay conscious.
Although at the start it was solely one sided, the longer the fight went on Jake started taking the upper hand.
"Tired already?!"
"You wish."
When Jake was about to strike her in the face, she suddenly evaded by jumping high into the air. While she was in the air her body suddenly turned at high speeds, and just like a whip she unleashed a roundhouse kick to his face.
"Arghhh!"
Being hit with a strike that hard while unguarded was devastating. Jake took too much damage to immediately continue so he plopped down on the ground.
"Fuck! What kind of she devil are you?"
"Devil? I'm just a normal nun you know?"
"Normal nun? Pfftt hahahahhahah!"
"Did I hit him too hard? Well I guess it's time to end this."
Just as she was about to end him with an axe kick her attack was suddenly blocked by the eyepatched man with another kick.
"That's quite a heavy kick, you trying to make him dumber than he already is?" -Kendrick
"Well well well, who would've thought that the pretty boy would actually be the stronger one."
"In terms of strength his still stronger than me, however, due to being too confident with his strength he fights like a starved beast. Although his attacks carry substance, against someone who is cool headed and with better skills his nothing more than a punching bag."
Teresa jumped backwards to create distance between them.
"How about it Miss? Ready for round two?"
"ummmmmm, yeah no thanks."
"Huh?"
Ken was dumfounded by the sudden answer
"Although I agree that your strong you should've already used most of your strength fighting Jake, I don't think you have the right to end this fight on your ow—"
Crack*
As if the space at the top of her head was glass, it suddenly shattered. After, a blood red cross suddenly came out of the cracks floating by Teresa's side.
Panicked by the sudden situation, Ken immediately took off his eyepatch and checked what Teresa's gift was. He didn't feel the need to use it as they were only dealing with nuns from an unknown town, and it was honestly annoying seeing multiple words come out in the air every time he looks at someone. But only if he did, then he would've force Jake to surrender even before the fight with the nuns began.
Teresa
[Gift: Cross of Atonement] Heavy weaponry gift]