*BOOM* Loud explosions could be heard from miles away. Birds flew away from the commotion and animals in the vicinity fled in fear. Shockwaves sent leaves flying and caused trees to sway from side to side.
Large craters were riddled in the forest where all the commotion was going on.
"Stop running you little shit!" Bill struck at Joren but he managed to evade quickly causing Bill to hit a tree, obliterating it in the process. "Come back here!"
Joren strategically kept a good distance from Bill, hopping from tree to tree, using his mana force to aid in his game of keep away. He would fire off mana arrows which would cut at Bill, angering him even further.
'Let's try something new.' Joren formed a ball of mana in his hand and started rotating it at high speeds. He had been working on new ways to use mana and he had an idea for one but never could test it out. 'No better time like the present. Let's do this!'
Shaping the rotating mana into the form of a bullet the size of his hand, Joren lept off the air, spun around, and threw the mana bullet at Bill.
The high-speed rotating bullet tore through the air arriving in front of Bill in an instant, but instead of dodging, he stuck his hand out attempting to crush the attack.
"I told you! Mana doesn't work against-" The bullet tore right through his hand leaving a gaping hole in its wake. Bill looked at his hand, stunned by the outcome. 'How is this possible?! Mana shouldn't affect me!'
As he was frozen in shock, Joren took this opportunity to fly down and deliver a devastating right hook to Bill's jaw. Although the force behind his punch was enough to knock a person's head off, because of Bill's newly found physique, all it did was make his head turn to the side, but since Joren's mana was laced with divine energy, Bill's mouth started bleeding.
"I'll kill you!" Bill clasped his hands together and stuck down with a double-handed strike, destroying the ground beneath him. Rocks and sediment flew everywhere forming a small dust cloud that temporarily blocked his vision.
Arriving from his blind spot, Joren kneed Bill in the side of the face, but Bill countered by swiping at him. Doding, Joren shot more mana bullets forcing Bill to move out of the way. He then made an aura sword and slashed at Bill's chest drawing blood.
Again, Bill slammed his fist down but once more Joren dodged. However, it was a feint and he kneed Joren in the chest, causing the wind to be knocked out of him.
Bill grabbed Joren by the head and slammed him into the ground. Lifting up his leg, he stomped as hard as he could attempting to squash him, but Joren rolled out the way, slashing Bill's foot in the process.
"Come on William! Don't tell me that's all you got!" Getting up quickly, Joren lept onto Bill's back and stabbed him with his Aura sword.
"Arhggg!!! You pest!!" he grabbed Joren and threw him into a tree. "I'm going to kill you!" He shoulder charged at Joren pinning him between himself and the tree with extreme force.
"Arhhh! Fuck...OFF!" Clenching his fist, Joren made the Aura sword, still lodged in Bill's back explode."
"Ahhhh." Bill felt his back singe with pain as he staggered back falling to his knees. Once he finally shook off the pain, the next thing he saw was a hand wrapped in a semi-pointed rotating mana sphere punching him in the face.
"Strike one!" Joren smiled as he barraged Bill with a fury of punches while his hands were wrapped in his mana bullets. He didn't stop laying the smackdown on Bill even as they toppled over. Now Joren was on top of Bill, pounding his face. [A/N: Pause]
As he was barely able to protect his face, Bill slowly became disfigured. His arms were battered and his face was getting the pounding of its life.
'How is this possible?! He's not even in the second circle so how is he beating me like this? Is he stronger than me? NO! This isn't how it was supposed to go! I won't lose!' "I WON'T DIE TO A BASTARD LIKE YOU!" With newfound resolve, Bill headbutted Joren causing him to falter momentarily. He then grabbed and threw him off of his body.
"I WILL KILL YOU!" Energy surged through his body and he charged at Joren with such force that the ground cracked with each stride he took. "You're dead!!"
Joren, getting up from the ground fired three mana bullets. His aim was slightly off which allowed Bill to dodge easily.
"Heh, You missed!" He channeled Infernal energy in his palm and struck at Joren when he felt his back get pierced by three objects. Joren had willed his mana bullets to turn back around plunging right into Bill's back and sending him to his knees.
Getting up quickly, Joren formed an Aura blade and plunged it directly into Bill's heart.
"Sorry, but your free trial on Infernal Fruits has ended. Please register within the next three days to get fifty percent off your next purchase." Joren spoke, blood dripping from his face as he smiled.
"What the hell are you-"
*SLASH* Joren chopped off his head before he could finish his sentence.
"Fuckkkkkk! Woooo! That was something else." Collapsing to the ground, Joren breathed heavily. His body was bruised and beaten. Now that his adrenalin was gone, he could feel some of his bones were broken. "I need to get stronger! If it wasn't for the divine energy, I would have been dead. And it's not like I can use it to aid in my strength, it only works against Infernal energy. Fuck, I'm beat." He closed his eyes and rested for a bit to recover some of his strength.
Bill's dead body started leaking Infernal Energy at a rapid pace. It corrupted the land and everything withered in its wake. Then, his body started to swell. All the Infernal energy that leaked from his body was absorbed back into him at a rapid pace. Even the infernal energy that plunged the village into chaos was absorbed by Bill's body.
"The fuck? That doesn't look good." As he sensed what was happening, Joren got up and tried to leave the area, but his injured body didn't comply with his actions. "Oh come on! I do some cool shit like killing this guy and now I can't even save myself!" He stuck his middle finger up at the sky and shouted "Fuck you, you Golden Bitc-"
Glenn swooped in and grabbed Joren before he could finish his sentence. He held Pantera in his left arm and Joren in his right. He rushed away from the scene trying to put as much distance between them and the swelling body.
*BOOM*
A large, loud, purple explosion obliterated everything in its blast radius. A purple mushroom cloud formed, reaching the sky which trickled with small sparks of lightning. The entire area was vaporized leaving a large part of the forest charred.
Glenn managed to get away in time but was still caught by the shockwave, sending him crashing into a nearby tree. Pantera was still out cold and Joren, in his weakened state, couldn't handle the force of the shockwave and passed out.
...
A hooded figure who wore the same clothes as the man Bill communicated with watched the entire scene play out. He stood hundreds of meters away observing what transpired and took out a crystal ball like the one Bill had.
"It failed," he spoke
"What happened?" the masked man asked.
"Bill was confronted by those mercenaries and he ate the fruit." The observer responded
"Hmm. Is he alive?"
"No. The boy killed him and after he did, Bill's body exploded."
"That's to be expected. The fruit wasn't meant to be consumed by humans in the first place. His body would have burst eventually, even if he wasn't killed. What a fool."
"Shall I continue with the plan?" The observer asked
"No. That place is compromised now. If the people are smart, they will alert the authorities of what happened here. We can't leave any traces of our involvement. We'll find another location that's rich in mana."
"And the mercenaries?"
"Hmm. Do the Red Bear Bandits still work for us?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, let them handle those mercenaries. After notifying them, return to the headquarters, the master has important things to speak to us about."
"Yes sir." The call was disconnected and the observer vanished as if he wasn't there.