Confrontation Q vs. Ezali!

A sneer appeared on the woman's face as her grip tightened on her sickles' handles. My words appeared to strike a nerve with her, but that mattered little to me.

 After all, I planned to finally put an end to my opponent once and for all. To do that, I must figure out what is happening whenever I manage to attack.

Jerking my forearm horizontally, I used my fleeting, but overwhelming strength to shatter the curved blades digging into my flesh. Despite them being enhanced with fire magic, the metal snapped like mere toothpicks. Her eyes widened like saucers as I clenched my fist and prepared to swipe away at her with that same forearm.

Pain shot throughout my arm as the foreign object became lodged within my limb. 

It was rough to make me wince and if not for this newly enhanced body of mine, then I'd likely have been incapacitated for a while now. A stream of crimson poured from my wound, staining both my pants and the dirt whenever I made my move.

I aimed for her face, but instead, a loud crack occurred as the woman's hand swiftly intercepted my fist. Her grip was incredible as she managed to not only halt my momentum in a single move but also withstand the blowback of it. It was then that I noticed something from the exchange. On that exchange, my attack was not repelled but stifled with pure strength.

"You're pretty strong for a mage, but you still got limitations, don'tcha'?"

My words must've seemed like taunts to her as her eyebrows wrinkled in response. While that may seem to be the case, I was merely making an observation. This woman has proved to be quite the thorn in my side, and I think one thing has been the main contributing factor. That one thing is her use of magic. Within Infinity Unleash there were plenty of people running around with a similar build that she has.

They were immensely strong and magically powerful super beings running around that I had to contend with. While a slim majority of them were either fellow Fairies or Kitsunes, many others were parading themselves as the main characters of that world. Combining speed with strength and useful magic is a good strategy to defeat your opponent, but there are flaws that one could exploit. That is only if you could figure out what type of magic they are using. In this woman's case, I did not.

"I have enough strength to beat you, so don't get ahead of yourself.", the woman responds before moving to step back.

"If that was the case, then you wouldn't be struggling right now. I'm tired as a motherfucka, but even then you're about to buckle."

While she did manage to stop the initial impact, this whole time I've been pressing my fist against her. While she firmly resisted at first, quickly a chip in her armor became evident. Sweat slowly accumulated on her temples as the woman's face warped with signs of struggle. 

While her resistance was valiant, she was ultimately no match as she gave up ground. Her body twisted as my fist shattered through her guard, and she was forced to quickly move to avoid my strike.

My fist whiffed passed her torso, but landing that punch was not my intention from the start. It was nothing more than a setup from the start. The woman was quick to try to recover, but since I was close to her I had achieved my objective. My arms stretched out and soon after she found her wrists come into my grasp. Watching her eyes lit up in panic brought a sense of satisfaction to me.

"You can repel my punches, but grapples are fair game. You shoulda known better than to ditch your advantage and fight me like this."

My grip tightened as she flailed like a fish out of water. She tried with every fiber of her being to break my hold, but there was no use. It was necessary for my safety that I manage to neutralize the blades in her hands, and there is no better way to do that than to go to the items themselves. The pain of her stab only increased with time, and I'd much rather not deal with any more of this nagging pain.

"Tch- Why are you standing in our way?! This town is none of your business, so why stick your neck out?!", The woman spoke with intensity.

Her question was valid. Probably from their perspective, I was sticking my neck out when it was none of business. 

"Well, It isn't personal. Simply busi-", my response was cut off immediately.

While I was speaking, a familiar face pulled up on me. A shoulder barreled into my torso as that bastard with the eyepatch attempted to tackle me by my waist. The rudeness of the attack completely caught me off guard, and while it was not enough to stagger me, it did achieve one thing. The impact of the attack sent shockwaves throughout my body and with that, the wound on my arm began to reverbate.

I didn't expect it, but that momentary shock completely paralyzed that limb. This was her chance and she pounced on it. There was little that I could do as the woman snatched her arm to freedom. She twisted the shattered sickle in her hand with the remnants of the curve, her attack arched towards my neck.

It was clear that was an attempt to put me down for good. Metal blurred and it took every ounce of my speed to just lean back in time to not have my throat slashed. Fortunately for me, it was barely enough. The man around my waist warped his arms around it and began to squeeze me as tightly as he could. I could tell that he was attempting to bear hug me, and in slight motions, he moved to another action.

"Hell nah, you one-eyed bastard!"

I couldn't believe it, but he was trying to lift me off of the ground to slam me. That shit was dead in the water. If he were to succeed in that, then this fight would be over in favor of them. I wasn't keen on allowing that to happen, so I dead-weighted him. With the weight of the man holding me down, it made evading all the more difficult.

"Ezali, finish him! Don't allow this chance to slip past you!"

For the first time in a while, the distraught bellows of Charleston echoed from a distance. The deer beastman was watching with bated breath when I dismantled nearly all of the protection that he had in front of him. All that remained in between me and answers were these two stubborn individuals. There was a noticeable twitch from the woman when Charleston barked orders. It appears that this mysterious woman had a slip-up. 

Since his yelling transpired around the time of her recovery, Ezali was not thrust into a moment of hesitation. Hesitation is good for me.

Tensing my muscles, I mustered the strength necessary to swing the woman away by her wrist. Her foot landed into the crevices that she managed to create, and her ass met the dirt. That only left me with only one person now. This bastard latched himself onto my waist, but I dropped my center of gravity and then wrapped my arms around his waist. 

He struggled defiantly upon realizing what my intention was. Though unlike him, I was strong enough to get the job done. His feet left the ground and before he knew it, he began flying several feet.

"Sullivan, bind him!", Ezali ordered.

The man with the eyepatch crashed onto his back, but he immediately recovered. The muscular man pivoted using his arm as he pulled himself in my direction. He charged low with his arms outstretched. His intention was clear. 

It was so clear that countering his movements was a simple task. Clenching my fist, I shifted my body away from his charge and swept his feet from underneath him. The man now known as Sullivan ate the dirt.

Naturally, Sullivan attempted to spring up from the ground, but I didn't allow him to do so. In a fluid motion, I pulled my foot up and buried into the center of his back. I mustered my strength and with its impact, the ground around us fractured.

I assumed that would be the end for him, but right after there was a defiant resistance underfoot. The man tensed as he battled my foot for a position in the crater.

"You're a persistent bastard, I'll give you that!"

I'll give him credit for being far more durable compared to his comrades. Considering that he and Ezali are formidable opponents, I suspect that the two of them are higher-ups within Bernard's gang. It must be nice to have such competent enforcers.

"Tch- Don't count me out yet! I ain't dead!", Sullivan growled despite his struggle.

"I know, but-", I attempted to respond, but as I spoke I was once again attacked.

Ba Bump! Ba Bump! Ba Bump!

Sharp edges reached out, slashing towards my chest. My body leaned, but despite my efforts, blood leaked from my shoulder. With my flesh severed and my blood exposed to the elements, a sudden rush filled my left arm. 

I couldn't stop my eyes from widening as the returning Ezali lashed out with her new dagger. The very air whiffed as time after time, I managed to narrowly avoid her assault, and once I surrendered Sullivan from my grasp, he pushed up from the ground.

There was no opening for me to exploit from Ezali's assault, and safely out of range was Sullivan. The man's hand rose above his chest and it was then that I knew something big was going to go down. There was only one thing that I could do before I became completely overwhelmed.

'I believe that I have some type of healing factor, so I hope this doesn't bite me in my ass later!'

There was only one way to remove the dagger from Ezali's erratic hand. While not ideal, I stopped forward into her attack and Lady Luck was on my side. Immense pain shot throughout my left shoulder as her blade feasted on my flesh. 

It drank my blood, and when it had its fill, allowed streaks to run down its chin. On command, I tensed my muscles as tight as I could, and when she couldn't remove it for a split second, my fist found itself directly in her stomach.

The wind whipped up in a fury and with it brought foreseen impact. The woman's eyes widened in surprise as my punch shattered the defensive stance of the woman like a plate of china. It was then that I noticed a difference… This time, I was not faced with the blowback of my attack. She finally reaped what she had sown.