The Chimaera stared at me like I was the next challenge she wanted to crush beneath her massive paw.
Yeah… about that. I'm so not your match.
I reminded myself, not once, but twice, just to be sure I got the message. And yet, I was fuming with excitement. Not because I thought I stood a chance. No, I was well aware of my limitations. Ronith had held back when we fought. The Wraith? That mist helped far more than I wanted to admit. But this? This Chimaera wasn't going to do either. No handicaps. No gifts. Just pure, unfiltered violence, the very thing these type of beasts exists for.
But that was fine. I'd baited it into revealing itself. Played the weakling, armourless guy, long enough for her to drop her guard. That alone was a small win, an achievement in my books. Because now, I knew exactly what I was dealing with.
An Ex-Alpha. SS-ranked. Absolutely majestic daughter of a majestic bitch. And here I was, son of someone I don't even know, armour fully summoned, Snowhite in my hand, cloak gone, heart pounding, soul screaming—and still, I stood straight up, eye to eyes, my headgear calm as ever, covering the last of my open areas.
I stepped off the branch and dropped to the swamp below, my feet barely rippling the surface as I landed. Mana Walk kept me upright, the same technique the beast was using. Storm clouds above raged on, casting flickering shadows over the battlefield. The Chimaera stared at me, standing still on the water's surface like she owned it. Which, to be fair, she probably did; this is her arena, her area, after all.
Lightning danced across her body. Her eyes—four of them—glowed with an icy blue hue, pulsing in sync with the mana crackling around her. Her tail rose slowly behind her, a sleek black appendage tipped with a head resembling a snake's mouth open, tongue flicking, four canines visible, no eyes, no nose. Poison dripped steadily from the tip, each drop sizzling faintly as it hit the swamp... That's an intimidating display, I won't lie.
"... Where the fuck is Forza?" I muttered under my breath, scanning the skies like the heavens might send me a manual on how to survive this if she doesn't return as soon as humanly possible.
I knew she got startled by the Chimaera's first attack—sprinted upward with more speed than grace. Fine. Happens to the best of us. I made that mistake not long ago, too, back during the Wraith fight. Instinct kicked in, I ascended, and almost paid the price. But I didn't take this long to return to the damn battlefield, even though I by that point had already won!
She should be above me by now. Leading the charge. Laying down pressure. Anything.
"I get it, Forza, you're not a frontline bruiser," I said to myself. "But this? This is just a straight-up pathetic display of clumsiness."
As if to punish me for my critique, the Chimaera launched her attack. A barrage of thin, precise lightning shockwaves exploded from her mane—fast, crackling, merciless.
I lunged left, mana reinforcing my limbs, instincts taking over. I slid toward a patch of clustered trees—less ideal for cover, more like barely-passable interference. Still, better than open wide ground.
While dodging, I yanked a broken log from nearby with telekinesis and hurled it toward the beast, more to distract than to damage. She didn't even flinch. One of her own shockwaves intercepted the log midair, reducing it to splinters with casual ease.
"That's some real raw power," I muttered, ducking behind a trunk thick enough to buy me at least half a second if she followed up.
The battlefield was a joke—rain pouring down, everything damp, waterlogged with slippery terrain, and my opponent firing electric death from her body like a living mana turret. Yeah, definitely not designed with my survival in mind.
The Chimaera ceased her outward attacks. But the mana? It didn't fade. It redirected. No... she was casting again, redirecting her output.
Lightning wrapped around her like a second skin. Her mane rose, pulsing, surging with electricity as it engulfed her form. She wasn't just using the spell. She was wearing it, casting it outwards, in the form of small but violent sparkles.
I moved—fast—climbing up the tree with a burst of speed, scrambling for higher ground before the storm below exploded.
Then she moved.
No warning.
Just power.
She lunged upward, tearing through the swamp like a bolt from hell, her limbs shredding every obstacle in her path with brutal efficiency... Damn it! Evading means delaying the inevitable by just an additional second.
I was around twenty-five meters up when I made my decision, the only one I could. No more climbing. No more running. I twisted my body midair, kicking off the branch and reversing direction. Snowhite pulsed in my grip. Mana surged beneath my armour, reinforcing every tendon and muscle, preparing me for what came next.
I fell, she rose—momentum and fate drawing us toward each other.
Her claws stretched upward, wide, hungry. Her mouth opened—far too wide, lined with a ridiculous number of teeth, each sharper than the last. Her eyes locked onto me, all four of them tracking my descent like I was the final course in some divine banquet.
Her tail swung low, coiled slightly, ready to strike.
I inhaled sharply. No time for panic. No room for fear.
This was it.
The collision course had been set.
The first and only strike sent me flying upward, straight toward the storm-wracked sky I had previously aimed for.
Effortless.
Efficient.
Economical.
"Thanks for the ride," I muttered under my breath as I soared, feeling gravity briefly let go, abandoning me during times like these.
That strong, huh?
Yeah. A completely different league.
The Chimaera wasn't done either. Using the very tree I'd launched from, she twisted her form midair and kicked off its thick trunk, following my path upward like a heat-seeking mana spell in fur and fury, and lightning.
I didn't wait.
Five mana arcs materialised around me instantly—compact, hovering, pulsing with raw mana and telekinetic tension. Each one was dense, not built for finesse but sheer impact. I didn't need precision right now. I needed force.
As expected, the Chimaera retaliated mid-flight, firing a storm of shockwaves from her mane, thin but vicious bolts of lightning that hissed through the sky like venomous threads.
I didn't hesitate.
REPEL.
The mana responded, uniting on instinct. A wave of force surged outward from me, slamming into the incoming lightning, which was then followed by 3 mana arcs I had summoned.
Collision.
Compression.
Combustion.
The midair clash detonated violently, shaking the air with a blast that split the sky—and just like that, the aerial battlefield was swallowed by smoke and static. Perfect.
I didn't bother fighting the pull of gravity. I welcomed it.
Twisting my body, I fell faster, diving into the thick smokescreen still rippling from the explosion. My senses sharpened, eye flicking, scanning—and there she was. The Chimaera, caught in the same fall, momentum beginning to give way, plus my arcs had landed directly on her.
I seized the opportunity.
ABSOLUTE ZERO!
Every rotation, every twitch of mana, every visible output of power—I cut it all. Cold. Silent. Still. I became nothing. A blind spot in her world. A ghost hidden inside a collapsing sky.
Even her four glowing eyes couldn't see me now.
Using only telekinesis for motion, I propelled myself downward. My remaining constructed mana arcs remained stable, not drawing much attention, as I tucked both arms over my head, diving like a spell aimed at destiny.
A sickening, metallic crack rang out as my armoured elbows smashed into the top of the Chimaera's skull. It was like hitting reinforced steel wrapped in mana and blessed by the gods of pain. My entire body shuddered from the collision.
Then came the unreal agony.
Cracks spiderwebbed through both my arms. Bones fractured. Armour shattered. Even with last-second reinforcement, it wasn't enough.
The Chimaera's skull was too damn thick—too reinforced. I'd caught her off guard, sure, but even that surprise attack couldn't bring her down.
I wasn't strong enough, no! I wasn't 'enough'. I immediately realised as I let go of my other two arcs, launching them at her at a point-blank range.
She reacted fast. Too fast. A massive paw swung wide, and before I could recoil, her claws engulfed my torso, wrapping around me with terrifying ease.
Then came the crash.
Together, we smashed into the swamp like falling titans, the entire landscape convulsing under the impact. Mud exploded upward. Water rose in violent waves. And just as I feared...
The lightning came.
Coursing through her claws, through her flesh, through the storm, and into me. The lightning burned against my armour and skin underneath its protection... Or at least that's what I felt like as unimaginable pain and shock took over.
I screamed, at least tried to—not aloud, not for her to hear—no, because I was deep inside the swamp... I couldn't really scream underwater. So this is where willpower met raw agony... Because this swamp? It wasn't just wet.
It was a damn conductor!
And I had just been plugged in with a tight grip, which felt like it was gonna crush me, sooner than ever.