Liquefication

Jarak forced Blaze to jump high aside, raising his head as the tattoos went from his right to his entire body. Ominous energy overtook his figure, wearing the intense, purple aura like a fluttering full-body cloak as it accentuated his presence inside the dungeon. To the dragon-slayers all around, he was no simple human; the chilling energy he emitted made him seem more of an extraterrestrial life form disguised as a human. Running away seemed like a smart choice now.

"You've got to be kidding me," Blaze murmured in disbelief, alarmed at Jarak's abrupt increase of strength. "He's hiding more?!" Her breathing quickened, realizing that something was going terribly metaphysical with Jarak.

Although the Hyper Surge itself was truly an incredible feat she stumbled upon, it was still the fruit of her labor after training hard for years. It was simply an unexplored occurrence in the human body. To be precise, it was the pinnacle of human potency! However, Jarak's display of power was unheard of, not even a myth.

"You… what are you?!" Blaze demanded to know as she was being pushed back by just his sheer energy. She dug her sliding feet into the ground, leaving two deep lengthy pits on the ground that resembled furrows on the field before she could come to a full stop. She grimaced, chills running down her spine held against the roaring presence of his power.

"HAHAHAHA! I didn't expect Hyper Surge to be that strong!" Jarak remarked. "Seems that you can use it at will, too. You're truly magnificent, Blaze Estereon of the fallen Ember Tribe, but is that everything you got?! Entertain me some more!"

Blaze cringed upon hearing his words. She knew she was notable due to her attitude and abilities, but not to the extent that even an ex-dragon-slayer would recognize her. How did he know she was from the Ember Tribe? More than that, how did he know that her tribe had been wiped out, even though their faction kept silent about it? Did he know something about the Frost Dragon's assault? Or did he really kill Winter Ashkin to retrieve such classified information?

Colleen wanted to fire an arrow at that bastard's face, but his current appearance had her trembling in fright. They all thought Blaze could win against Jarak since the exposure of her mastery of Hyper Surge, but to their dismay, Jarak immediately shot back with another trick up his sleeve, shattering all hopes of winning. Kingsley also wanted to be of assistance but realized they'd all die if they stayed any longer.

He couldn't let more of his men die for the sake of one, or his personal wants.

Without much of a choice, he reluctantly called for Blaze in his usual solemn tone of voice. "I will order everyone to escape… Do you have any objections?"

"No, Commander. Get Colleen and everyone out of here now," she answered without a moment of hesitation, not even sparing a look their way.

Her answer was, regretfully, what he expected from her. But the problem was, he could feel Colleen's sharp eyes drilling into the side of his head. "Blaze saved your life and now you want to abandon her?! How awful can you be, Kingsley?" she reprimanded, exasperated. She didn't look to have any intention of backing down.

But either way, Kingsley pulled Colleen into a firm hug, and he whispered into her ear, "You're right. Blaze is my savior and hero. But you were the one who taught me to keep moving forward and use my head instead of being a burden."

He gripped Colleen's shoulders, pressing his forehead against hers to show his resolve, and tears began streaming down their faces. "This is not easy for me too, Colleen, believe me. I just lost Alexandria. But I can't let more dragon-slayers lose their lives because of me. The hardest decision requires the strongest will, remember? Please, let's escape together and let Blaze's efforts not be in vain."

Tears continued to run down Colleen's face as she shifted her gaze to her best friend, seeking for assurance. But Blaze simply glanced over her shoulder and nodded, leaving her heartbroken before Kingsley dragged her away to escape.

Jarak smiled as everyone ran for their lives, unbothered. He was only interested in testing his might against Blaze.

With everyone gone, Blaze's eyes sharpened, her expression becoming cold as she could now truly focus. 'Time to move…'

Despite sensing something peculiar, something different about his opponent, Jarak quickly pounced forward, twisting his body a bit to extend his arm's reach and jabbing straight at Blaze.

'…huh?!' Jarak's eyes grew wide as his fist flew straight through Blaze's body as if she wasn't there at all, her body falling apart around his outstretched arm and melting to the ground.

An afterimage?! Was Blaze still faster than him? He was certain Blaze couldn't keep up with him anymore after he drew more from his source of power, but it seems he was wrong. And what was that melting process all about?

Boom-!!

Before he could come up with an answer, his chin was greeted with a bullet fist, snapping his jaw closed and forcing him into the air.

Blaze had patiently remained in her place until the very last moment to evade Jarak's attack, relaxing her muscles to the point that she could imagine herself as water. She slipped away before the sudden tension of her muscles allowed her a burst of speed to dock and counterattack with a lethal uppercut.

'She trained like hell to master those techniques for sure. I can't believe how patient she was despite being relatively weaker than me…her self-confidence is immeasurable. She wasn't cannon fodder after all!' Jarak thought with an irritated grit of his teeth. Blaze's implausible, fluid-like movements were proving to be much more than a pain in the ass. He thought the fight would be well in his favor after achieving strength greater than his opponent's, but it seemed he needed more than strength to beat Blaze.

Using the same technique, Blaze disappeared and rematerialized on top of Jarak's body while he was still in the air, glaring down at him. "Hey, earlier you were asking about my everything, right?"

Jarak gulped. He knew he was unable to counterattack while he was still suspended in the air, the most he could do was to raise his arms to protect his face from the incoming attack.

Bam-!!

Blaze slammed down on his wide-open stomach with everything she got, knocking Jarak's helpless body back to the ground, creating a massive crater in the process. For the second time today, Jarak the Backstabber was man-handled, buried alive by the Lioness of the Ember Tribe.