"That confidence of yours……yes, I was right to choose you as the one I impart some of my powers to, you have surpassed my wildest expectations……it has been many, many centuries since I have felt such a thrill," Remarked Lazarus, with a wide smirk on his face.

  "You haven't seen anything yet," I responded, as lightning crackled around my right fist.

  For an instant, time seemed to slow down nearly to a stop, as we both prepared to attack……and then, in a flash, we both shot towards each other at top speed, as I charged up the lightning around my fist. The instant he got within range, I swiftly pulled him in using Beckon, drawing back my fist as I did……

  "That same trick again? It won't wor-!" He began, before cutting off as I swiftly used Teleport to instantly close the gap between us and slammed my lightning-enhanced fist onto his torso with as much force as I could generate, eliciting a gasp of pain from him as blood burst out of his mouth and he got sent flying back.

  I used Teleport again to slip behind him and strained my muscles to drive my knee up as hard as I could, breaking his spine as it struck his back with a resounding blow, sending him zipping up towards the ceiling. I swiftly used Teleport to appear above him, and then balled my fists together with lightning around them and slammed them down on his midsection, sending him crashing down onto the ground with a devastating impact, which kicked up a massive dust cloud as his blood splattered everywhere.

  The dust was preventing me from using Teleport since I can't see through it, but it's fine……I charged up lightning in my hands and fired it straight down at where he'd landed……

  "Now, take this, Scarlet Lightning Incineration Cannon!"

  A bright flash of red simultaneously burst out from the dust, clashing with my lightning violently and crackling, before canceling it out. Lazarus then burst through the smoke with more Blood Magic charged up in his hands, his injuries almost completely healed, zipping away as I began to point my palm at him……looks like he's ready to react to Beckon and Repulsion, I'll stop using them until I can get close enough that he can't dodge……

  I used Teleport to appear above him, but he reacted instantly, firing a blast up at me, which I narrowly dodged, and then countered by using Teleport to appear to his right, since he'd just fired from his right arm. I slammed a kick to his side, breaking his ribs, before he fired the blast in his left hand at me, striking my right shoulder and scorching off my armor and some of my skin.

  He then swung his claws at me, I evaded one swing while the other left a scratch on my collarbone, before countering with a high kick up at his face, which he tilted himself backwards to avoid, my sole grazing his chin. Perfect, that went just as planned……I used all my strength to swing my foot back down, charging lightning into my heel and slamming it onto his chest, caving in his ribcage and sending him plummeting down, before he halted himself by spreading out his wings, keeping himself from crashing onto the ground as blood poured out of his rapidly-healing chest hole.

  I shot down towards him with lightning running through my arms and fists, unleashing a rapid electric barrage of punches at him, which he was mostly able to block and partially avoid, but I managed to land several hits. As I drove another punch towards his face, I halted my fist and swiftly opened my palm at the last second and activated Repulsion……in the blink of an eye, he vanished from my sight, as he got send zooming back with an immense and massive amount of force, his head nearly getting torn off as he crashed onto the wall.

  The front of his neck was ripped open, he stabilized himself in mid-air as it started healing by spreading his wings open……I used to Teleport to quickly close the gap and as I neared him, I used Repulsion again before he could fully heal , but right as I got in close, he fired out a drill-like blast of Blood Magic from his mouth, which pierced a hole through the right side of my chest, as I just about managed to evade enough to keep the blast from striking my heart. That was close……but I can't stop, I need to keep attacking!

  He then swung his hand, which was coated in a red glow, at me rapidly as I closed in on him, I evaded it as a shockwave burst out from it as he swung it past my head, before I flipped myself in mid-air with an angled flap of my wings and whipped my foot up at him, which he blocked with his forearm and swung his tail down at my face.

  I deflected it away with a bolt of lightning from my mouth, before swiftly turning myself upright and driving my knee up at him, which he blocked by bringing up his leg and getting it in the way, before driving a punch towards my throat, his fist coated in a red glow. I deflected his punch by hitting the inner side of his wrist with the back of my hand, and then slammed my forehead onto his……okay, that was a bad idea, his head is insanely hard, and I had definitely taken more damage than he did just now.

  He swung his other fist at my face, which struck the side of my mouth, knocking in a few of my teeth, before I swiftly grabbed hold of his arm and rapidly regrew my fangs, and began sinking them into his fist, when he suddenly broke away by slashing off his arm with his tail and got some distance away from me.

  I tossed his hand away and shot after him, unleashing a fierce barrage of lightning-enhanced punches and kicks at him rapidly, as my time limit with the x40 boost was starting to dwindle.

  My fist slammed onto the side of his head, as he retaliated with a knee to my stomach, I swiftly responded with a blast of lightning from my mouth, striking his throat. I drove my claws towards his throat, as he sliced off my fingers by driving his tail through his back and out the middle of his chest, and then struck my left shoulder with his right elbow, dislocating it.

  I then used Teleport again, and as he began to turn around, expecting me to appear behind him, I instead reappeared about a millimeter in front of the exact same spot I had just been at……and he realized that too late, as I grabbed his head from behind with both hands before he could turn back around, my Healing Factor mending my dislocated shoulder. Blood burst out of his eyes, nose and mouth as I hit him with Repulsion from either side, while also extending my fangs and moving in to sink them into the back of his neck.

  Before I could bite into him, I got sent flying back and crashing onto the wall as he slammed both elbows onto my midsection. As I plummeted down and crashed onto the ground, I reached the end of my time limit with the x40 boost, and all that was left was the twenty seconds with the x30 boost……this is bad, really, really bad.

  Suddenly, I felt a sense of bloodlust, it was faint, as if the person was deliberately trying to conceal it……and it was coming from above Lazarus. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Lagusa appeared, his arms morphed into mantis pincers. He swung them down at Lazarus, who swiftly extended and brought up his claws, blocking his strikes. Well, now, here's a golden opportunity……to kill two birds with one stone.

  Before Lazarus could strike back at him, I quickly used Teleport a couple of times, till I appeared behind Lagusa, and then swiftly drove my claws and tail through his back, as he let out a stifled yell of pain.

  "Damn it, why you-!" He gasped, coughing out blood.

  My tail pierced through his front and into Lazarus's chest, going through to his back and wrapping around his spine and pulling him closer, so that the two of them were firmly pressed against each other. My claws then went through Lagusa's body and burst out of the middle of his chest and……the tips of my claws pierced into Lazarus's back……alright, it's now or never!

  I began attempting to drain his life force with a massive sense of urgency, when suddenly, a red flash burst out in front of Lagusa, and the next thing I knew, I was being sent flying back with him against me, before crashing onto the ground. I glanced up, to see a hole in Lazarus's abdomen, which was rapidly healing.

  I see, since I'd notice if he tried to fire from straight on, he moved his hands behind himself with his palms on his back, and then fired a Blood Magic blast through his own body while also incinerating the end of my tail, to repel both Lagusa and me. I hadn't taken any damage, but Lagusa was missing a lot of skin and flesh on his front……oh, good, he's still alive, I need to kill him myself, not to mention that I had another use for him before killing him.

  I used Store to seal him away for later, before refocusing on the more immediate matter at hand……I was down to less than twenty seconds with Vampire Mode, that's all the time I had left to defeat him.

  "That was rather unexpected, but now that the distraction is over……let us get back to this brilliant battle……I hope you are still capable of entertaining me, Kuro……I can clearly see that, now, you are weaker than I am."

  Yeah, he was right about that……and I won't be able to put up a worthwhile fight for too much longer……I only have a handful of seconds to defeat him, because if I fail, then it's all over……and I can't afford to lose……

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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