BOOM!
A second black sphere detonated behind him, stopping his momentum and slamming him into the ground with a deafening crash.
Jack coughed, blood spraying from his lips as his body twitched.
Yet, before he could even catch his breathâ
Asha was already above him.
Her black flaming foot descended like a meteor.
BOOM!
Jack's body sank into the stage, the tiles beneath him shattering like glass.
"GAAAHH!!"
He let out a hoarse scream, but his blood energy did not weaken.
Instead, it flared even stronger.
Jack twisted his body unnaturally, bending in ways no human should be able to, avoiding Asha's follow-up strike as he slashed his blood-coated sword upwardâ
CLANG!
A black sphere caught his sword before it could touch her.
Then, before Jack could pull awayâ
SQUELCH.
Asha's hand pierced through his shoulder.
Jack's entire body froze.
For the first time in the battleâ
He felt fear.
Asha leaned down, her masked face mere inches from his ear.
"You're nothing but a beast relying on instinct," she whispered.
Her voice was cold. Empty.
"Let me show you the difference between a monsterâ"
Her black flames expanded, consuming Jack's entire arm.
"âand a predator."
Jack screamed as his arm began to disintegrate, the black flames eating away at his flesh, his blood, even his very essence.
His struggles grew weaker.
For the first timeâ
Jack realized he was losing.
Jack's body convulsed, the unbearable agony of his burning arm sending his mind into a chaotic frenzy. His blood energy surged wildly, trying to resist the devouring black flames, but it was useless.
Asha's power was like an abyss, consuming everything it touched.
Butâ
Jack was not someone who accepted defeat.
"AAAAAGHHH!"
A monstrous howl erupted from his throat, his blood-soaked aura suddenly boiling with an even greater intensity.
His crimson energy twisted, exploding outward, forming tendrils of liquid blood that surged toward Asha like a pack of frenzied beasts.
But Asha remained unfazed. Read the latest on My Virtual Library Empire
Her black flames flared, consuming the tendrils before they could even touch her.
SHHHHHHH!
The blood evaporated into the air, leaving behind nothing but a faint crimson mist.
Jack, however, did not stop.
His eyes turned completely black.
Thenâ
BOOM!
His body blurred, moving at a speed even faster than before, his sword flashing forward in a series of relentless slashes.
Asha's black spheres shifted like a flowing tide, moving with her, deflecting every single attack with eerie precision.
"MORE! MORE! MORE!" Jack bellowed, his voice turning almost inhuman.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
His blade danced through the air, unleashing crimson arcs of blood energy that surged like rivers of destruction.
Butâ
Asha countered everything.
Not a single attack landed.
Her ten black spheres moved flawlessly, deflecting every strike, absorbing every energy-based attack, leaving Jack with nothing.
His speed was monstrous.
His strength was overwhelming.
But against Ashaâ
It meant nothing.
Jack's attacks grew more and more frantic.
His mind screamed at himâ
She's playing with me.
"DAMN YOU!!"
His blood flared one last time.
From his forehead, an enormous red sphere of blood energy began to condenseâ
This time, it was different.
The air trembled as the blood sphere compressed, its size shrinking but its power skyrocketing.
It burned with an intensity that made even the ground beneath them melt from the sheer pressure.
AshaâŠ
FinallyâŠ
Stopped moving.
For the first time since the battle beganâ
She stood still.
Jack's lips curled into a manic grin.
"DIE, DIE, DIEEEE!!"
He unleashed the full power of his blood sphere laser.
BOOOOOOM!!
A crimson pillar erupted from his forehead, tearing through the stage, obliterating everything in its path as it surged straight toward Asha.
The attack was unavoidable.
There was no escape.
The geniuses watching held their breath.
Even the air seemed frozenâ
Thenâ
SILENCE.
The pillar of destruction vanished.
Jack's eyes widened in disbelief.
His strongest attackâ
His ultimate blood laserâ
Was gone.
No explosion. No resistance.
JustâŠ
Erased.
Then, a single voice echoed through the stage.
"You bore me."
Jack's body froze.
Asha hadn't moved an inch.
Her black flames still burned, unshaken, untouched, unchallenged.
Jack staggered.
His mind refused to believe it.
But his body understood.
He had lost.
Completely.
Jack staggered, his mind struggling to process what had just happened.
His ultimate attackâerased.
His most destructive powerâworthless.
Something inside him snapped.
His veins bulged. His black eyes twisted, cracking as blood leaked from them. His muscles swelled unnaturally, the bones within his body groaning under the pressure.
Thenâ
BOOM!
A crimson shockwave exploded outward.
His entire body transformed.
Jack's skin peeled, revealing a shifting, pulsating crimson surface underneath. His hair turned to threads of blood, slithering wildly like tendrils.
His mouth tore open, his teeth elongating, his voice becoming a beastly growl.
Jack was gone.
All that remained was rage.
Berserk Jack had awakened.
Asha's gaze lowered slightly, taking in the change.
"Interesting," she murmured.
BOOM!
Jack disappeared.
Asha's eyes flickeredâ
Swoosh!
He appeared behind her, his blade descending like the wrath of a god.
Her black flames surged, forming a barrierâ
CRACK!
Her first sphere shattered instantly.
Asha's expression remained calm, but her fingers twitched.
Jack's speed had doubled.
"MORE! MORE! MORE!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He attacked with a mad frenzy, his blade a blur, his blood tendrils slashing like whips, his body moving like a nightmare.
Asha's spheres blocked, deflected, counteredâ
But one by one, they shattered.
Second sphereâDestroyed.
Third sphereâDestroyed.
Fourth sphereâDestroyed.
Asha's breath turned slightly ragged.
Jack was exhausting her.
His power was not unlimited, but in this berserk state, his body was a furnace of destruction, burning his very lifespan to fight.
Andâ
It was working.
Fifth sphere.
Sixth sphere.
Seventh sphere.
The stage trembled, cracks forming across the floor as each exchange sent devastating shockwaves through the air.
Jack had no strategy, no techniqueâno elegance in his attacks.
Just pure, unfiltered slaughter.
His movements were wild, unrestrained, driven only by the relentless hunger to destroy. He did not think. He did not hesitate. He fought like a beast unleashed, a storm of blood and fury tearing through everything in his path.
And yetâ
Even as he overwhelmed herâŠ
Even as he pushed her to the edgeâŠ
Asha never fell behind.
She adapted. She countered.
No matter how many times Jack came at her, no matter how much power he poured into every blow, she stood unshakenâa fortress that would not crumble.