"Kuk, Kuk, Kuk!" A loud coughing sound echoed through the battlefield, and in the next moment, Lenny flipped backwards a few times before landing on his knees. His eyes locked on Jake, who was huffing and panting with sweat dripping down his fur-covered body.
’He’s strong. Really strong for a mere B ranked hunter. I’m not a hunter, but honestly, if I classify my strength, I’m no less than those pesky AA ranked. So how? How the hell is this bastard pushing me back ?!’
"Wondering how I’m pushing you back even though I’m just a B ranked hunter?" Jake asked with a wide grin, his chest rising and falling heavily as his nostrils flared.
Lenny rose to his feet, wiping the trickle of blood that stained his mouth, his glare fixed with hatred on the young hunter.
"It’s simple. I’m just a better fighter than your weak arse could ever be." Jake chuckled slightly as he raised his four hands, clenching his fists tight and signaling with a beckoning gesture for Lenny to come over.
"Let’s see if you will still run your mouth after I’m done with you!" Lenny roared. Without a second of hesitation, he kicked off the ground with a loud bang. In a split second, he was directly in front of Jake, his shadow casting over the gorilla hybrid.
His pincers shot forward in a heavy punch, but Jake, by the skin of his teeth, lifted his arms to block it. Even so, the force sent him skidding a few inches backward, dirt and rock spraying out beneath his heels.
That didn’t stop Lenny though. He leaped up, his leg swinging in a roundhouse kick aimed directly for Jake’s neck, but the hunter immediately ducked down, avoiding the deadly strike. In one fluid motion, he sprang from the ground, smashing all four palms into Lenny’s body.
Surprisingly, the man wasn’t hurled out of the air. Instead, his pincers clamped tightly around Jake’s gorilla arms, refusing to let go for even a second. The strength was monstrous, enough to make the veins bulge across Jake’s arms as he struggled to break free.
"You smashed me into the ground earlier? It’s only right I return the damn favor." Lenny cackled, and before Jake could even blink, he was lifted effortlessly into the air before being smashed back into the ground with bone-crushing force.
The earth quaked violently, a deep crater forming as cracks spread out like spiderwebs. Jake let out a guttural roar of pain, coughing out a mouthful of blood that stained the ground beneath him.
’Shit!’ he thought worriedly as the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
Lenny wasn’t finished. He immediately swung one of his pincers toward Jake’s head with brutal speed. The hunter barely tilted his head aside to the left, avoiding the strike by inches as the pincer slammed into the ground, blowing apart the dirt where his skull had been moments ago.
Before Jake could retaliate, another pincer came for his face, this time aimed directly at his eyes.
For a second, time seemed to freeze. The deadly blade-like tip was mere inches away, and Jake’s reflection glared back at him in its polished surface. His heart thumped wildly, each beat like a war drum inside his chest.
Then suddenly, a surge of strength coursed through his body like an electric shock. His muscles tightened, veins bulged, and his pupils shrank into sharp slits.
He slammed all four arms into the ground with crushing force. The next instant, the earth quaked violently, rumbling with destructive energy as the battlefield looked like it would collapse under the pressure.
Seeing this, Lenny instinctively attempted to leap into the air to avoid the tremors. Jake saw the opening and assisted his escape with a twist of his waist as his massive foot shot forward in a brutal kick.
The hybrid’s instincts screamed. He quickly brought both pincers in front of his face, shielding himself at the last possible moment.
Jake’s kick smashed into the pincers with overwhelming force, the sound echoing like a cannon blast. Lenny was hurled through the air, his body spinning as he was launched backward, dust and debris exploding in every direction.
Before he could crash into the ground, he flipped several times in the air before landing smoothly, his feet skidding a few inches across the dirt. He stabbed his pincers into the ground to stabilize himself, cracks splitting beneath the force.
"You know?" Jake spoke up as he leaped off the ground, landing a metre away from the crushed crater where he had been slammed moments ago.
"For the past one year since I became a hybrid, I never once found a reason to fully transform into my beastly form. I always relied on my crushing strength to take down my foes, only slightly increasing my power by about ten percent. That’s the highest I’ve ever gone," Jake said, his voice low but steady. He stared at his four hands, flexing them while keeping his eyes on Lenny, who was slowly rising from the ground with fury in his expression.
"But for the first time, you actually forced me to use fifty percent of my strength. That’s a first even for me."
’Huh? Is he kidding me? He’s been going at me this whole time with only half his strength? Tch! I refuse to believe that crap.’ Lenny scoffed inwardly as he straightened his back, the ground beneath his feet crunching with the weight of his stance. Latest content published on NovelHub(.)net
"So what? You want to cry to your daddy that I made you use fifty percent of your strength?! Kek!" Lenny chuckled, his laughter sharp and venomous.
"Me? Call my dad? Tch! If I did, he would annihilate you, your brother, your gang, your dad, and your whole generation in less than a minute without even breaking a sweat." Jake’s loud, short laugh followed, his sharp teeth flashing. The words caused Lenny to narrow his eyes in suspicion, though his glare betrayed the flicker of unease that passed through him.
’Is he trying to scare me or what?! The hell is this bluff supposed to mean?!’
"You know what? Screw you!" Lenny roared, his voice cracking the air. He kicked off the ground with tremendous force, fissures splitting and spreading wide from where he had been standing.
In a twinkle of an eye, he was directly in front of Jake. His pincers smashed forward without mercy.
The speed was overwhelming, even for Jake. The blow slammed into his body with brutal precision, forcing his eyes to bulge wide as blood erupted from his mouth. Yet even as his body was hurled several metres away, one thing remained—the chilling, defiant curl of a smile on his lips.
Jake twisted midair, flipping repeatedly in an attempt to stabilize himself, but before he could regain control, Lenny was already upon him. He appeared directly above, blotting out the sky with his towering form.
"Screw you and your fucking threat!" Lenny bellowed, his roar shaking the battlefield. With a thunderclap sound, his pincers shot downward like a guillotine. They slammed into Jake with monstrous force, driving him down into the ground.
The air itself quaked, a massive shockwave exploding outward and spreading for ten whole metres. The earth caved in, and for a terrifying second, Jake’s eyes rolled back as though he would lose consciousness.
But gritting his teeth until they nearly cracked, he fought against the pull of unconsciousness and forced himself to remain awake. His breathing was ragged, his chest heaving, and then—he saw Lenny coming at him again with relentless fury.
"Screw this!" Jake roared angrily, forcing his battered body to spin into the air in a desperate attempt to rise.
"You can rot in hell." Lenny coldly muttered, appearing in front of him as if he had warped through the air. Without hesitation, his pincers thrust forward with deadly speed.
The sharp sound echoed as the pincers pierced Jake’s abdomen, slicing through flesh and muscle and digging deep. Jake’s eyes widened in shock, blood flooding his mouth instantly as he choked, his gaze locked on Lenny’s face. The hybrid’s grin was wide and merciless, a predator savoring the moment of triumph.