Marcus collided against the serpent's head with a fist that held the strength of a million men.
The shockwave that followed the collision sent a wave of destruction across the immediate area.
The scales of the serpent rippled from impact, yet its impenetrable armor remained defiant against Marcus' punch.
The massive serpent flicked its head towards the right with immense speed and power, sending Marcus flying, and crashing into an unfinished skyscraper.
Marcus crashed and tumbled through the building, breaking through walls, desks, and windows.
Marcus felt his body ripping and tearing with pain, yet his hatred wouldn't let him take a moment to assess the damage:
Emerging through the other side of the unfinished skyscraper, Marcus gritted his teeth and stabilized himself. He then quickly launched himself upward, pushing against the air and flying above the skyscraper.
There he locked eyes with the serpent once more, watching as it coiled its colossal body for another attack.
Marcus narrowed his eyes as he charged the serpent again. Diving towards it like a bullet fired from a .50 Cal sniper. His arms pulled back as his fists were balled tightly, and charged with ether.
The two opponents crashed into one another again, the resulting shockwave almost double the power of the first.
Marcus let out a raw, guttural roar, pushing against the serpent with all his might. His fists burned, his muscles ached, but his determination was unstoppable.
The serpent struggled against the force of Marcus pushing against its head, its neck struggling to keep up its head.
Marcus pushed harder gritting his teeth as his fists continued to bore themselves into the serpent's head. "Come on you bastard!" Marcus shouted blood and spit flying out of his mouth. "Drop like the worthless creature you are!"
The serpent's eyes narrowed as it flung its head in a backward arc, the rapid motion sent Marcus into a soaring spin.
Marcus roared as he attempted to stabilize himself mid-flight. The serpent, however, wasn't going to give Marcus the chance. It quickly slithered after him, its massive body ripping apart the earth beneath it, almost as if it were a living earthquake.
Marcus spotted the serpent coming after him and quickly raised a palm to charge an ether bolt. The silver energy in his palm rapidly spins and collects into a massive silver sphere.
"Die, you godless abomination!" Marcus shouted as he fired off the ether bolt.
The bolt of silver energy sliced through the air as it soared toward the serpent.
The serpent narrowed its eyes before pulling its head back, and opening its maw, white flames emerged and began colliding with Marcus' ether bolt.
The resulting collision went off in a spectacular burst of energy.
The serpent hissed loudly, the noise rocking Marcus' ears.
Marcus' eyes widened at the sight of the sight of the serpent speeding through the remnants of the energy collision. Its eyes narrowed as embers and smoke rose from its mouth.
Marcus frowned as he launched himself higher in the air, climbing about 200 feet in the air. The serpent paused as it looked up, watching Marcus with the eyes of a predator-hunting prey.
It then began to coil its body once more, the surrounding area shaking and rocking under its movements.
Marcus knew he wasn't going to win another head-to-head collision, so he knew he had to avoid this one.
Marcus quickly opted for another ether bolt, he placed both ends of his palms together with his fingers forming into L shapes. He then charged another blast of ether, his palms rapidly filling with the violent energy swirling in his core.
"Let's see how you try this on for size!" Marcus shouted and he pushed his hands forward. The massive sphere of silver energy that formed in his palms was quickly fired off.
The serpent swiftly dogged the incoming attack, moving its head to the right. The serpent's long body followed, like a whip.
Then, with its body already coiled, it launched its towards Marcus, its jaws opened wide, revealing its jagged and burned teeth.
Marcus narrowly escaped the serpent's attack, spinning to the left, as the rush of wind from the serpent whooshed by him.
Without wasting a second, Marcus quickly flipped around the serpent's back.
Marcus then landed on the serpent's back, planting his feet down hard. The impact was rough, but not nearly enough to hurt either Marcus or the serpent.
Now on the serpent's back, Marcus extended his hands into long silver blades and plunged them into the serpent's back.
Marcus was immediately greeted with hot steam and unrelenting heat. It felt as if he plunged his hands into the sun itself, but though it was painful, Marcus could feel the beast's flesh.
With a roar, he dug deep underneath the serpent's scales, causing it to howl in pain as it crashed into a nearby skyscraper.
The serpent bore through the skyscraper like a knife cutting through butter.
Marcus held himself close to the serpent's body. He was sweating from the heat, and nearly blinded from the steam, but he fought to stay on its back.
As the serpent emerged on the other side of the skyscraper, it crashed down onto the city streets and began thrashing around in destructive frenzies.
As debris and smoke filled the air, Marcus gritted his teeth, pushing his blades deeper into the serpent's hot flesh. "You can see it now can't you!" Marcus shouted his tone a mix of anger and frustration. "This is only the beginning!"
Marcus then yanked his blades from the serpent's back and jumped into the air. He quickly flew forward towards the serpent's head.
Upon Marcus removing his blades, the serpent narrowed its eyes as it hissed loudly. With a rapid turn of its head, it spotted Marcus flying towards itself.
Without wasting a second, the serpent pulled its head back and opened its maw. The white flames emerged to the call of the Serpent, approaching Marcus with a burning intensity.
Marcus swiftly changed directions mid-flight, opting to fly straight up. He climbed to three hundred feet into the air as the serpent continued to spit its flames. "Damn!" Marcus cursed as he dodged the incoming flames, "I can't get close."
This dance between titans continued for what felt like hours but realistically had only been a minute.
Marcus, no matter what he tried, couldn't avoid the serpent's flames and subsequently, the serpent realized this as well.
Whenever Marcus would charge the serpent's head or upper neck, it would spew its white flames in defense. Though simple, this tactic worked to a devastatingly good degree.
"Fine!" Marcus snarled as he assessed the serpent from the air. If he couldn't attack its upper body, "I'll go for your tail instead!"
Marcus changed targets and swiftly made his way towards the serpent's tail. Marcus knew there weren't any vitals there, but maybe he could find a weakness here that worked elsewhere.
The serpent quickly noticed Marcus' change in focus. It began swishing its tail in a taunting fashion the massive, muscular appendage moving slow and steady.
Marcus frowned, this had proved it to him. This serpent wasn't just some mindless creature, it was sentient. "Good." Marcus spat as he charged his fist with ether, "makes this revenge even sweeter."
Marcus pulled back his arms as his fists began engulfed with silver energy.
Upon reaching the serpent's tail, Marcus pushed both his fists forward with all his might.
Unfortunately for Marcus, the serpent moved its tail at the last moment whipping it around Marcus and smashing it against his back.
Marcus felt the air escaping his lungs.
The serpent hit him hard, its scales cutting through his skin and breaking his bones. Marcus went crashing into a nearby building, smashing against six floors and walls before landing on the bottom floor in a massive crater.
Marcus coughed up blood from within the massive crater. His body rapidly began healing itself, yet Marcus could already feel the exhaustion creeping from within. Marcus grimaced in frustration as he smashed his fists against the floor. "God damn it!" He shouted as he quickly picked himself off the ground.
He looked up through the holes he created when he fell through the building. There he saw the serpent looking back down at him, its head turned so that its eye looked directly down at him.
Marcus felt his hatred growing exponentially, this monster wasn't taking him seriously in the slightest.
Weak.
Pathetic.
Worthless.
That's what Marcus was, he wasted his time thinking, tick, tick, tick, and his mind raced to find a strategy.
But that was his problem, he was planning out his moves with thought and intent. It made him slow and predictable.
Don't think.
Just fight.
Use instinct and trust your gut.
For the first time during this fight, Marcus smirked. "Alright then, let's start from the bottom." Marcus squatted down within the crater. He began charging his fist with ether as he took a deep breath.
He then jumped, the shockwave from his takeoff rocked the entire floor, shaking the building to its foundations.
The serpent hissed as it watched Marcus, pulling back its head as it prepared to fire its flames once more.
This was usually around the time Marcus would prepare to dodge, but this time he kept forward, aiming his fists towards the serpent's jaw.
The serpent soon began spitting its flames, which were so hot that they began to cook Marcus almost immediately upon contact.
The pain was unbearable, Marcus felt as if he was burning in hell itself.
His body rapidly healed to combat the damage, but this only caused him more pain, as his nerves continuously regenerated after being burned away.
Marcus let off a primal, rage-filled scream as he fought through the flames.
After what felt like an eternity in hell, he emerged through the other side of the serpent's flames, a smirk played on his lips.
He didn't have to dodge the flames.
The serpent's eyes widened seeing Marcus emerge from its flames.
Marcus however, refused to give the serpent time to process this newfound revelation, opting instead to make due on his promise.
He swiftly dived towards the serpent's head, his fists charged with an abundance of unregulated ether.
Crashing his fist against the serpent's scaley head, the resulting impact produced a shockwave triple that of the last, creating visible waves.
The serpent howled loudly as its head went crashing into a nearby building, splitting it in twine.
Marcus, now with the upper hand, swiftly pressed the advantage.
The serpent slowly rose its head from the destroyed building but was sent crashing back down with another punch from Marcus.
Marcus didn't relent; he followed up with a third, then fourth, and fifth punch, each one harder and faster than the last. The scales on the serpent's head began to crack and break under the pressure.
Marcus didn't stop, his mind going blank with rage.
The serpent began to thrash its lower half around wildly. Marcus could hear the sounds of buildings crashing and debris flying overhead, yet he continued his relentless assault until eventually the serpent's hot flesh was revealed.
A wide, wild grin played on Marcus' lips as he morphed his hands into long silver blades.
He quickly plunged them into the hot flesh of the serpent, and what followed was the loudest, most
Violent sound he could have never imagined. He only heard it for a second, before he went deaf.
Marcus began laughing at the absurdity of it all. Here it was, a beast of power and unimaginable strength, screaming so loud it burst his eardrums.
As the serpent's hot blood spewed and scorched Marcus' flesh, he continued to bore deeper into the serpent's skull, until eventually, he reached the bone.
Upon seeing the blood-stained skull of the serpent, Marcus felt a surge of adrenaline and strength.
This battle was coming to an end.
Marcus used his surge of strength to push and break through the serpent's skull.
The serpent, realizing its impending demise, began to thrash in a panicked, rabid manner. It swung its body into any and everything it came across. The surrounding area was flattened by its frenzied movements.
Marcus began laughing maniacally as he began ripping chunks of the serpent's skull. "You can feel it can't you!" Marcus shouted, "That fear, it drives you mad doesn't it!?"
Soon marched reached the serpent's brain, it was moist and pulsated rapidly. Marcus' eyes widened with glee as his gaze fell up the serpent's brain.
Marcus quickly began charging a massive amount of ether in his palms and began firing it off into the serpent's brain.
The fried gray matter went flying everywhere.
The massive serpent began twitching and twisting with an out-of-control seizure. Marcus continued to push deeper and deeper into the serpent's head, noticing the further he got, the greater the serpent's resistance was.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of burning and ripping flesh, the serpent ceased its movements, its massive body going limp.