Saving Grace

Damien grins as I charge towards him and says.

"give me everything you've got Collin."

I throw a punch but after he blocks it, he smiles.

"yes just like that, give me more of that."

he quickly counters me with a punch of his own, that causes me stumble back for a quick second, he grins and goes after me while regaining my foot balance with a flurry of punches and kicks, I then think to myself while blocking his attacks.

"shit I can't let him control the fight, I need to find an opening quick or I'll run out of mana if it stays like this."

I try to sneak in quick jabs but Damien manages to see through them and either blocks them or dodges them, but after exchanging punches with each other, I then finally notice an opening and quickly sweep his legs, knocking him flat on his back, I gain a little bit of confidence and go on the offensive.

"I can't give him any chance to recover."

I start throwing punches at his head without hesitation, but unfortunately none of them connect, and then in a blink of an eye, he lands an unexpected punch to my ribs with a lot of force behind it, that I'm pushed off of him, I then think to myself as he chuckles.

"I'm definitely going to be feeling this later."

Damien then says with a huge smile on his face.

"this platinum eyes power that I've inherited from you is truly amazing."

I click my tongue.

"he doesn't seem to be affected by any of my hits."

Damien raises his arms and shouts.

"Conjuration holy spears!"

many bright spears appear above him and while he is doing that, I quickly chant.

"mana shift."

I didn't waste anything and immediately chant at the first mana signature that appeared beside him.

"move."

as I elbow him into the ribs and land spinning back kick on the same spot, he chants.

"Fire!"

the spears come flying at me simultaneously, but then again they slow down around me, and I evade them effortlessly, I scan the area and don't see Damien's body heat, I then chant.

"mana detect."

I think to myself.

"I don't sense Damien's mana."

I put myself in high alert, while I continue looking around, but then suddenly a group of blue lights appear right in front of and then Damien emerges from it, completely catching me off guard, he lands a punch into my ribs and says with a devilish grin.

"this is payback for hitting me there."

he follows up with a headbutt on my nose, and hear a loud cracking sound that rings into my ear, I back and can't help but notice the massive amounts of blood pouring out from my nose, I put on hand it and think to myself.

"shit, this going to be a problem, but as long as I still my platinum eyes I should still be able to keep on going and not worry about dealing with the pain until later."

I then ask Damien.

"how did you manage to go through my self reinforcement."

he chuckles.

"you probably didn't notice since you've overloaded yourself with many mana consuming spells, but that self reinforcement was long gone."

I think to myself.

"damn I thought it would have lasted much longer."

Damien then waves at me and vanishes into the group of blue lights.

I then chant.

"mana detect."

I look around but I don't sense his mana or see his body heat, I then think to myself.

"fuck, I need to find my way around this, or I'll run of mana if he continues to play around with me with whatever this spell is."

I continue looking around, but still nothing, I then think to myself.

"he is waiting for my guard to be down."

suddenly I get stuck with a strong force from above me, I fall down and see Damien standing at the exact spot I was at, I quickly stand up and ask.

"where did you come from?"

he points up and answers with a grin.

"right above you, where you weren't checking."

I shout.

"you bastard!"

as I rush to attack him, he once again vanishes into the group of blue lights, I sigh on frustration.

"what the hell, how am I supposed to get him?"

I look up at the sky and then an idea instantly pops up into head, I think to myself.

"I need to bait him into attacking me and then unleash a counter attack."

I continue looking up in the sky hoping that he attacks me, and then as appears in front of me, I act like he caught me by surprise, he the laughs maniacally while landing another punch to my ribs.

"it's over now Collin! you've got no chance in beating me, if this is all you can do."

I then execute my plan and as I grab onto Damien's arm, I chant with a grin.

"wolf's rage."

I dangerous amount of strength surges throughout my body, that even the platinum eyes can't keep me from feeling it, I then squeeze down hard on Damien's arm, essentially snapping his bone in half, he looks at his arm with a shocked expression and shouts.

"you bastard!"

he tries to shake me lose but he has no luck breaking free from my bone shattering grip, he then shouts.

"if you can do that, then that means I can do it as well."

but before he gets a chance to chant, I use my other arm and forcibly keep his mouth shut, I then tighten up my grip on his face and let go of his arm, I begin to repeatedly punch him in the stomach, not allowing him to escape from my grasp, I then think to myself.

"I can't believe this is working."

but just as I say that a sharp pain runs through my whole body, I collapse to the ground losing all my strength within seconds and then I start spewing blood from my mouth, I start feeling the damage that I've taken since I started fighting Damien, I then think to myself while suffering in pain.

"wolf's rage really backfired on me."

Damien takes notice of my screams of agony, he laughs.

"I really thought you had me there."

even with my vision slowly darkening, I notice Damien squating besides me and looks me in the eyes.

"well it's been fun, but I should really put you out of your misery."

as I close my eyes accepting my fate, one last thought popped into my head.

"I'm sorry Ellena, Celeste, Rosie, Hope, Shiho, Anthony, Edward and Sarah, I couldn't get the job done."

after completely closing my eyes, Damien says.

"this wouldn't have happened if you'd just join me."

he sighs.

"you were a worthy opponent, but this is goodbye."

after saying Damien says goodbye to me a loud bang echoes through the night, and Damien lets out a painful groan, I open my eyes and see a small hole on his right shoulder and as he grabs his shoulder to stop the bleeding, I hear Leonard's quivering voice shout.

"you got her Selshruuk!"