Max soared through the sky, his black wings cutting through the air as he dodged another swipe of Varek's claws.
The half-bat creature was relentless, his blood-red eyes locked onto Max with a vengeance that left no room for reasoning.
While speeding up to make some distance between them Max kept considering his options.
He had the radiation mirror, but this guy was out for blood, and his abilities were still unknown, the thought of it breaking by mistake and killing them both was too risky.
He could simply throw it at him and escape inside the mirror world, but that would be his last option as he still valued the mirror highly.
"damn !..." cursed Max in frustration.
Alternatively Max could have used his [World of mirrors], or one of the teleportation items to escape, but the compass in Varek's hand was a bigger problem. If it could track him, running wouldn't solve anything, moreover Max had a bad temper and and this guy was asking for it.
"Fine," Max muttered under his breath. "If you want a fight, let's fight."
Max pulled out his shotgun, spinning mid-air to face Varek. He fired the first shot, the bullet teleporting an inch away from Varek's chest.
Bang!
The impact landed, but Varek barely flinched, his powerful body shrugging off the damage with only a slight injury.
Max cursed. "Yep! he's a B-rank. Why wouldn't he be?"
Varek roared, lunging forward with his claws extended. Max dodged, and turned again flying forwards, and used Mystic eye on his clothes to look backwards as he fired again.
Bang!
The second shot grazed Varek's shoulder, drawing a thin line of blood.
The chase continued, Max weaving through the sky with Varek hot on his heels. Max fired shot after shot, each bullet teleporting to its target with pinpoint accuracy.
Bang! Bang! Bang!.
Varek simply couldn't dodged the strange bullets, leaving shallow wounds on his arms and legs.
Max used [Mystic Eye] again leaving a mark on the distant trees below as they started flying at low altitude.
As Varek was about to Fly Above The Mark, Max switched his perspective to it.
He fired another shot, this time using the mark to teleport the bullet directly into Varek's wing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullet tore through the membrane, causing Varek to falter mid-flight. He roared in pain, his wing flapping awkwardly as he struggled to maintain altitude.
"Got you," Max muttered, firing again.
This time, Varek raised his hands, and a shimmering barrier of sound formed around him and split to three parts, one slightly bigger than Varek himself floated behind him, and two smaller ones one at each hand. It was a skill called [Sound Barrier].
The shield absorbed the next few shots, leaving Varek unharmed.
Max gritted his teeth. "Of course he has shields. Why wouldn't he?"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shootout continued, Max firing his shotgun fifteen times before finally putting it away.
Varek's [Sound Barrier] held strong, but the damage to his wing had slowed him down slightly, giving Max a small advantage.
Varek retaliated with a sound attack, the short-range blast narrowly missing Max as he twisted out of the way. The attack shattered a nearby tree, sending splinters flying through the air.
W! Woosh!
Max dove into the thick woods below as if escaping, his wings folding as he landed on the forest floor.
He darted between the trees, using the dense foliage as cover, running at high speed.
...
Varek followed, crashing through the trees with a roar. Looking around Max was no were to be seen.
But He simply pulled out the compass from his space ring, its needle spinning before pointing directly at Max's location.
"You can't hide from me!" Varek snarled, his voice echoing through the forest.
Max cursed under his breath. "That damn compass..."
The two of them ran like phantoms through the forest.
One thing was off, and if Varek was observant he would have noticed that Max was slightly slower than he should have been, and one of his many space rings were missing.
But at such a high speed battle, even if he noticed somehow he would have ignored it.
The chase led them out of the forest and into a vast plain, a massive cliff looming above them.
Max looked at the huge stone wall, then ignored it as he used [Mystic eye] and quickly switched between two marks he left on the way, firing at Varek's wings and eyes.
Bang! Bang!
The shots were precise, coming from under and above Varek where there were no shield, but Varek's reflexes were sharp.
He couldn't dodge but he moved his head slightly as the bullet hit his eyebrow, though his wings took more damage.
"your dead" roured Varek as he retaliated with another sound attack, the short-range blast narrowly missing Max as he twisted out of the way.
Max slowed his pase, near the base of the cliff. He turned to face Varek, his shotgun raised and his expression calm.
Varek stood a few meters away, his Sound Barrier shimmering around him. His blood-red eyes burned with rage, but Max's smirk never wavered.
"Alright," Max said, his voice steady. " time to dance."