"My hybrid state, hundred percent." Jake announced with a grin on his face.
And right on cue, Max slid to his knees, totally exhausted, and all he could do was watch how his allies were going to have to battle against the men.
The message flashed across Max’s face, but he waved it away weakly as his gaze was solely fixed on Jake’s fight with Lenny. The two stood on opposite sides, their murderous intent colliding in the air between them like an invisible wall.
Due to the Draconic roar, the man was frozen for a few seconds, but even with that, his body was twitching, trying its best to get out of the frozen state it was in.
That was a first for Max. Whoever heard the roar and was considered his enemy would normally be locked in one position, unable to move. But here, Lenny was actually resisting it. His muscles spasmed, veins bulging, as he fought to break through.
Jake crouched on all fours, his eight arms firmly planted on the ground, his eyes glowing and fixated on the man.
Then, like the sound of a cannon, he exploded forward with so much strength that the spot where he had been standing shattered instantly.
The earth caved in beneath his weight and power as he launched himself high into the air, directly above Lenny whose body was twitching harder than before.
Jake lifted all four of his fists, muscles bulging with raw power, ready to pound Lenny into the ground. In response, the man with all his remaining strength and willpower managed to lift his pincers up above his head in an X-shape.
The punch landed with so much force that a violent shockwave was blasted outward. The air itself seemed to rip apart under the impact.
The ground beneath the duo caved in almost instantly as deep cracks shot outwards like spiderwebs. Lenny’s eyes widened in shock as he felt his pincers split. Cracks appeared on the surface of the once-impenetrable shell, stunning him to the core.
"Come on! Are you suddenly growing weaker or what?" Jake questioned with a wide grin, his voice mocking as Lenny stared at his broken pincers in disbelief.
"Enough is enough," Lenny calmly stated. His tone carried a sharp finality that made the air heavier.
Almost immediately, his shirt was ripped apart as a hard rock-like shell appeared across his back, glistening with sharp ridges.
His leg hardened, encased in a chitinous armor that gleamed like steel under the battlefield’s light. In the blink of an eye, he exploded forward towards Jake.
"I’m going to finish you now. Once and for all!" Lenny roared, his voice reverberating across the battlefield.
Both men met dead in the center, their fists launching at each other with destructive intent.
The impact was catastrophic. Jake’s massive fist collided with Lenny’s pincers, and the result was a massive shockwave that tore through the air.
The blast was so violent that Max was caught in it. His body jerked back, knees sliding across the broken ground while a spray of blood erupted from his mouth.
He coughed violently, crimson staining his lips, his vision blurring.
’Like for fuck’s sake! How can a dragon not have immunity to poison?! What the hell is this?!’ Max roared inwardly, his thoughts heavy and muddled.
But he was met with silence. Pix didn’t respond.
"Crap." That was all Max could mutter as he wiped the blood from his mouth with trembling fingers. His eyes stayed glued to the clash in front of him, powerless to interfere, forced to watch.
Immediately after the punch, the two fighters landed almost simultaneously, the ground quaking under their weight. Lenny reacted first, swinging his chitin-encased leg with blinding speed towards Jake’s exposed abdomen.
But Jake’s monstrous reflexes kicked in. With fluid precision, he swung his other free arms forward, intercepting the strike. The collision produced another deafening bang that rattled the battlefield. The already ruined ground beneath them split further, fissures spreading outward like veins of destruction.
"You’re suddenly hitting softly. What happened?" Jake asked mockingly as his grin widened. He suddenly swung his head forward in a vicious headbutt.
But before the skull-cracking blow could connect, Lenny jerked his head aside at the last possible moment. His instincts screamed at him, and instead of retreating, he countered immediately, meeting Jake’s headbutt with a devastating kick launched from below, aimed to shatter bone.
The headbutt struck against Lenny’s second chitin-encased leg, producing a thin, almost invisible crack that went completely unnoticed by him. Fueled by anger, he immediately swung his pincers forward, aiming directly for Jake’s abdomen. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel{f}ire.net
But Jake, whose form was not only enlarged with more arms but also blessed with a terrifying surge of speed, suddenly blitzed away in a blur. The pincers whistled through the empty air, meeting nothing but resistance from the atmosphere.
The sudden acceleration broke the sound barrier, producing a sharp sonic boom that made the battlefield tremble. Before Lenny could process the failure of his attack, a deafening bang erupted from his flank.
His instincts flared in panic, forcing him to spin around and raise a pincer in front of his face. He barely managed to defend as Jake’s four fists came crashing down with unrelenting power.
"Ack!" Lenny groaned, the sheer force rattling his bones. His entire frame was lifted off the ground and sent hurtling backward for several meters.
Only by slamming his pincers deep into the dirt did he manage to slow his flight, his body carving a trail across the battlefield until he ground to a halt.
Pain throbbed through his arms, a dull but relentless ache that threatened to numb them. He clenched his jaw and lifted his head—only to freeze as Jake blurred into existence right before him. In the blink of an eye, the hybrid’s massive palm swung out in a bone-shattering slap.
Lenny ducked instinctively, the giant palm missing his head by inches. The strike crashed into the air with a thunderous bang that sent shockwaves tearing through the dust around them.
’How the hell did I suddenly end up on the defensive? I’m supposed to be on par with the double A-ranked hunters of the Hunter Association, yet a mere B-ranked freak is keeping me on my toes?! No! This started the moment he roared. That damned roar... it shook me to my core. He is no mere human. He is a hybrid. A fucking monster.’ Lenny thought with clenched teeth.
Desperation twisted into resolve as he kicked off the ground and propelled himself into the air. Then, like a meteor, he came crashing down with both pincers raised above his head. Jake reacted just in time, all four of his arms snapping upward to block.
The collision was catastrophic. The pincers slammed down with such force that Jake’s legs buckled, his knees bending for a fraction of a second. The earth beneath him shattered into a crater ten meters deep, dust and debris blasting outward like an explosion.
"Just fucking die!" Lenny roared, landing heavily before kicking off the ground once more. The sheer velocity turned him into a blur, dust and smoke trailing behind as if the battlefield itself was struggling to keep up.
Jake braced, his body tensed to block the next direct assault, but the strike never came. Instead, Lenny pivoted at the very last second with such speed and precision that the earth beneath his foot split apart in jagged cracks. Then, in the same motion, he reappeared right beside Jake, too fast for the hybrid to counter.
With every ounce of strength in his body, Lenny swung his pincers. The blow smashed into the gorilla hybrid’s side with an earthshaking crack.
The sheer power of the strike tore Jake from the ground, hurling him violently through the air. His massive frame was lifted and flung several meters away, crashing down in a heap as the battlefield quaked under the impact.
The shockwaves of the collision lingered, rolling out in all directions.