Chapter 55: Beginning of the End (3)

He had been waiting for this exact moment for weeks. Patiently watching and observing the Cockroach's battles, his day to day life. All to prepare for this. The well-earned strength he acquired was due to his unyielding willpower and pushing his body to it's limits.

How many times had he come so close to death, just to barely pull through? How much pain did he have to suffer, especially going through his evolution, the one that nearly broke him?

'It was worth it. All… for this moment.' Scarface had a savage and sadistic grin, fists tightening so hard his knuckles crackled like thunder. He was eager to play with the Cockroach. To tear him apart and devour his insides.

He deserved it. He deserved to win. To become the greatest and strongest to ever exist. He was the Hunter, and Jason was his prey. For the first time in weeks, he felt like himself again. 

"Are you ready to die? Cockroach?" Jason frowned as he stopped in place, being a good twenty meters away from his opponent.

He hated that word. It reminded him of his previous self, the weakling with no power or anything special about him. That was something he never wanted to feel again. The sheer lack of ability to defend himself or to do anything at all.

The both of them knew the reality. If Scarface went all out from the start and didn't play around, he would have died in their very first encounter. It was… humiliating to be reminded of that fact.

"You will not have an easy death, this I promise. I will make you beg for it to end!" Jason spoke through gritted teeth as he rushed forwards as fast as possible, his armor and claws already out.

For some reason, it felt more natural to be in this state than previously. It was as if this form was the true him.

Scarface was ready and waiting, a grin on his face. The surrounding infected all roared out at once, excited at the spectacle before them, of two powerful creatures fighting to the death.

Arriving in front of him, Jason spat a glob of yellow acid at Scarface's head, forcing him to dodge to the side. Because he predicted which side he was going to go, Jason was already on top of him and punched him in the stomach, making him grunt and slide across the sand for almost two dozen meters.

Scarface chuckled as Jason rushed for him again, four umbilical cords emerging from his back. Each one went to different parts of his body while both of Jason's claws tried to puncture his left leg.

Facing this five attack assault, Scarface immediately jumped back, making every attack hit thin air. At the same time, his tongue shot out of his mouth towards Jason's head.

The speed was so fast Jason could barely even react to it. He managed tilt his head to the side as the sharp tongue ripped the side of his head open. Luckily, it wasn't enough damage to take him out of the fight.

Before Scarface could bring the tongue back, Jason used this opportunity to sever it one go. A growl came from Scarface as his mouth bled like a fountain.

Jason bolted for him immediately and was going to take this chance when he was dazed to strike. However, he felt something wrap around his legs, making him halt in place. Glancing down, he saw the same severed tongue acting like a python, constricting his legs and digging into them. It was as if it had a mind of it's own.

Hearing the booming footsteps, Jason looked up just in time to see Scarface right in front of him, using his right leg to kick him. By the expression he held, Jason knew the whole thing was his plan. Especially the way he acted.

With gritted teeth, he put up both arms and hardened his body to the extreme. The kick landed and Jason felt as though his body was about to shatter. He was sent flying backwards, the wind knocked out of him as stars appeared in his slightly blackened vision.

He was sent so far he crashed into the side of the Colosseum wall. Despite it's toughness due to the materials used, it instantly broke upon impact and he was buried inside. Before he could even get his bearings, Scarface appeared in his vision and dug him out of the wall.

He lifted Jason up high, squeezing him in his hand as hard as possible, before smashing him into the sand. Scarface ran forwards, dragging Jason through the ground before picking him up and once again smashing him down.

Unfortunately, when he wanted to do it again, Jason spat a glob of acid at his head. Scarface was caught off guard and couldn't dodge in time, the acid melting the armor and flesh on his face. He roared out in extreme pain and threw Jason across the arena, making him smash into another side of the wall.

Jason's head was ringing and he could barely see anything. His mind was cloudy from the damage he had taken, but he didn't have the luxury of sitting down and taking a nap. Shaking his head, he cleared up the dizziness and prepared to fight.

'I don't know if I can win. But I sure as shit will take a piece of him with me!'

Jason dug himself out of the wall and landed on his feet, tearing apart the tongue still somehow wrapped around his legs. As soon as he did so, Scarface appeared in front of him full of fury and vengeance. His face was slightly ruined, with the armor burnt off and the flesh melted a bit.

'No resistance to acid?'

Sidestepping the downward strike, Jason kicked him as hard as he could in the knee, making him kneel. He got to his back before he could recover and wrapped his arms around his waist as much as he could. Then he lifted him up and tossed him onto the ground.

Due to the power of the throw, a dust storm was kicked up as Jason jumped on top of him. Although he could barely see anything, he could at the very least guess where to hit. All four of his cords went to his neck area while his claws slashed his stomach open.

Suddenly, pain erupted from his cords and his chest, forcing him to jump back. Looking around, he saw that each of his cords were cut in half while his chest had a massive diagonal slash across it. The cut was so deep he could even see bone as it bled massively.

Watching Scarface emerge from the dust, he saw his left arm had transformed into a pitch black blade that dripped with acidic blood. Despite the extreme pain of his weapon melting a little, Scarface had a wild grin to his face.

He swung his blade through thin air, making Jason's hair stand up at the sharpness. The blood on the surface of the blade was flung off, sizzling the sand it landed on.

"Time to die Cockroach!"

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Alice and her group had arrived at the entrance of the Orion secret facility. They had followed little clues and tracks all the way to here, courtesy of Athena.

"They should be in there. I think." Athena said, sounding a little unconfident. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You think? The fuck does that mean? Didn't you brag about how you're the best tracker ever? About how no prey can escape you?" Athena glared at the big sister, her voice cold.

"Better than you at least. You almost had us going around in a circle like an idiot. I'm 70% certain they came this way." Lily's face was void of any expression.

"Ah, I see. 70% you say? Truly incredible that someone as 'great' as you is only 70% confident! Must have been hard…" Her expression was still emotionless, but her voice was sarcastic as she mocked her.

Athena grit her teeth, rage beginning to boil within her as she fired back with fury.

"You bitch! I bet you're just jealous of how amazing I am! Does it pain you to know I am better than you? In every-" Athena puffed out her extremely large armored breasts, a grin on her face.

"-possible way?" Lily frowned and took a peek at her assets. She came to the conclusion that even if they were they same size, this bitch would still have her beat by just a smidge. Annoyed, she quipped back with harshness.

"Don't you know that saying about big tits and being a fucking moron?!"

"You-!"

As the two went back and forth firing shots at one another, Alice giggled to herself. She was concerned at first to how her sister and Athena would get along, but it turned out much better than she thought.

Suddenly, Asura marched past them all along with Trixie and the horde following. His three voices echoed through the tunnel sounding very annoyed, but at the same time very concerned.

"Enough of your petty squabbling! We need to find the Master! Now!" Anxiety was all over his faces as he charged ahead, followed by a worried Trixie and Alice. 

Normally he would try his best to butter up to the Mistresses, but he couldn't be bothered as of now. All that mattered to him, was finding his Master before it was too late.

Athena stared at his back and harrumphed, crossing her arms together as Lily did the same. They spoke at the same time, not liking the tone of his voice.

"Asshole." "Asshole."

They looked at each other surprised, before bursting out laughing as they followed after the group.

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Jason ducked down, letting the large blade swipe horizontally over his head. Before he could counter attack, Scarface's other hand clawed his stomach open and forced him back.

"Shit!" The wound was very deep and would have sliced him in half if not for his armor protecting him.

He tried to attack once again, but had to dodge Scarface's blade. Even though he wasn't an expert in using it, it was far too sharp and had a long reach, causing him to fall into a defensive position. 

While backing up, a dozen Bone Spikes filled with acid came from his wrists, shooting at multiple parts of Scarface's body. He managed to dodge most of them, but a few landed and broke on contact, delivering the payload on his chest and melting it.

Scarface simply gritted his teeth and charged forwards, slashing towards Jason once more who barely dodged. He tried to fire another round, but Scarface directly jumped out of the way, letting them fly by.

'That won't work again. What else can I do...?' His eyes glanced at the excited infected in the stand and suddenly thought of something.

Once more he rushed forwards towards Scarface. Seeing the blade come down towards him vertically, Jason didn't dodge this time. Instead, he shifted his body only slightly while his right arm transformed into a Spiked Whip. His left one however, was chopped clean off.

He grit his teeth and ignored the pain, focusing solely on his opponent. With all his strength he still had within him, he struck the surprised Scarface in the head, sending him flying far away and dazing him.

When he landed, Jason's whip lengthened dramatically and wrapped itself around his neck before Scarface could get to his feet. Jason lifted him up and smashed him into the ground, just like what he had done to him previously.

He did this another two times before noticing Scarface about to cut off his whip. Before that could happen, Jason released him and threw his body across the Colosseum into the wall.

Not caring about him, Jason's tendril shot towards the still cheering infected in the stands. The one he was aiming for didn't even react due to how fast the speed was. The tendril dug into it's body and rapidly consumed it. At the same time it split into another piece, while still attached to the decomposing one, and struck the nearest infected.

By the time his first victim had died, Jason's tendril had connected and latched onto over three dozen infected, both common and special alike. All of them were consumed at the same time and at the same pace.

Suddenly, Jason's left arm began regrowing extremely quickly and his other wounds, externally and internally, were being healed rapidly. While that was happening, he looked towards Scarface's direction and frowned.

"Damned bastard…" Scarface didn't charge for him, but instead kicked up a massive sandstorm that covered the entire arena.

Jason wasn't a fool and knew what he was up to. He reckoned that Scarface would use his chameleon ability to blend in with the sandstorm and ambush him. And right on cue, he witnessed as Scarface simply vanished into the storm.

"At least I'm good as new." Jason's wounds had all healed, and his arm was regrow completely with no hidden injuries or side effects.

With a thought, his left arm transformed into a Spiked Whip. His eyes glanced around the sandy storm, trying his best to locate his foe. However, he truly couldn't find him. Unlike before with Zach, where if he focused he was able to faintly see him, it was much different now because of the storm working in his favor.

A minute had passed by slowly. Agonizingly slowly. Jason's nerves and senses were constantly heightened to the maximum, never once letting his guard down or underestimating his opponent.

Suddenly, he swept his tendrils around him in a 360 degree radius. Unfortunately, he didn't make contact with anything, surprising him. He thought that by now, Scarface would at least be close enough in range for him to strike.

"No way. He didn't leave did he?" He mumbled to himself. For a split second, he truly thought Scarface was making a fool out of him by leaving a while ago.

However, he soon heard extremely light footsteps coming from behind him, which happened to be in his extremely small blind spot. He turned around immediately and used his right tendril as a battering ram.

The faint shadow in the storm was struck and flew backwards. But there was no sign of happiness on Jason's face. Because that shadow was not the correct size, and was instead a normal Night Hunter.

"Fuck-" Before he could continue, a blast of searing pain erupted from his back, stomach, and lower chest. Looking down, he saw the massive black blade protruding out of him.

'Twice in a row in my blind spot?! Not a fucking coincidence!' 

Against his will, he was lifted up high, still connected via the blade. Despite being in a precarious situation, Jason still managed to fight back in this tough spot. His regrown cords erupted from his back and in lightning speed, attacked the enemy behind him.

Scarface, who was holding Jason up and about to strike with his other hand, noticed the cords coming. At first he didn't think much of it and was going to power through the pain. The areas Jason were aiming for weren't important in the slightest. He could take the damage and deal a far higher amount to his nemesis.

However, on a closer look, he saw a little colorless liquid drip down from them. With widened eyes, he immediately threw Jason away. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and suffered a minor hit on his upper thigh.

It didn't do much damage and in fact, barely broke the armor. A flesh wound that would heal in a few seconds at most. But the significant pain that came directly afterwards said otherwise.

The pain was great, but nothing he couldn't handle with a bit of willpower. The true problem was the damage it caused to his inner body. He could sense pieces of him dying off and although they were healing, it was very slow compared to before. 

If that wasn't bad enough, his limbs and body started to go numb, indicating the poison was of a paralyzing kind as well.

As for Jason who had already recovered, he already approached Scarface and was only a few meters away from him. Due to his opponent being dazed by the poison, he took this opportunity to bind him up using his webs. He didn't think it would last long, but if it kept him in place for even a few seconds, it was good enough.

Sticky and silver webs shot out of his wrists quickly, aiming for his left bladed arm first. Scarface saw it coming, but the poison dulled both his reaction time and stiffened his limbs. He could only watch powerlessly as Jason wrapped him up in a bundle.

While Scarface was trying to get out of the webs, Jason stood in place and concentrated with all his might. He needed to get rid of that bladed arm and a sharper weapon was required to do that. The claws were good, but their lethality was spread out over every finger.

What was needed was to concentrate all that sharpness into one place. His arms turned into countless black tendrils as they tried to shape into the desired form. It wasn't easy as Jason had to basically rearrange his cells and force them into what he wanted.

However, after a minute of trying and unearthing his potential, both of his arms finally changed into blades. They were long, almost as tall as him, and glimmered lightly, showing just how sharp they were. The edges were pitch black but the middle was white like bone. Which is exactly what it was made of.

"Badass..." Jason admired them for a moment before rushing as fast as possible towards Scarface. He was almost out of the web and the poison seemed to be wearing off. Jason knew he needed to take this window to deal as much damage as possible.

Seeing him coming with the new weapons, Scarface gritted his teeth and managed to get his claw free. He ripped and tore at the webs, but it wasn't enough.

Jason came up to Scarface's left arm and in a single downward swipe, severed it. However, despite losing an arm, Scarface anticipated this tragedy would befall him and counter attacked by punching Jason in the face.

After sending him flying away, Scarface managed to remove the rest of the webs and the poison's rampage of his body had halted as well. There was still some numbness, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

He bent down and picked up the severed limb and tried reconnecting it. If he held this state for enough time, it would connect on it's own and he wouldn't have to wait a few minutes for a new one to regrow.

But Jason wouldn't give him a chance to do so. He came right before Scarface and slashed his chest open with both blades, producing two several feet deep cuts. Scarface roared put in pain and tried to strike the slippery bastard with his severed limb, almost like he was using a club.

Jason easily dodged it and got around behind him, slicing off his left leg and making Scarface tumble down. However, while falling, Scarface dropped his other limb and used his right claw to swipe at Jason's face.

Although caught unprepared for such an attack despite losing another limb, Jason managed to barely dodge the strike so he didn't lose his head. Unfortunately, his left eyes were completely ruined as was the left side of his skull, even showing a part of his brain.

"AHH!"

The massive amount of damage caused him to stumble and nearly fall to the floor as he cried in pain, tears forming in his other eyes due to the agony. It was like nothing he had ever felt before.

However, he gritted his teeth and stopped himself. Ignoring the unimaginable pain and focusing all his rage onto Scarface, Jason jumped on top of him. Within a split second, he used his right blade to chop off his opponent's remaining arm.

Even in this state, Scarface didn't give up and shot out his regenerates tongue while losing his right arm. It struck Jason right in the throat, going out the other side. Even though Jason severed it, the wild tongue curved and dug into his body to do as much damage as possible.

"B-B-Bas-thard!" Because of his punctured throat, Jason's words were garbled. His arms turned back into their clawed form and he grabbed the still moving tongue, ripping it to shreds and finally ending this long battle. For good measure, he decided to chop off the last remaining limb.

Jason turned to Scarface, a sadistic grin on his face as one of his arms turned into a tendril and consumed a couple stunned infected on the stands. He had already wormed into their minds and dominated them when Scarface lost. There were two reasons as to why this process went over so smoothly.

One was because of a lack of loyalty. Scarface hadn't dominated them for long, so naturally their allegiance was extremely low. They only followed him because he was stronger and an Alpha. The second reason was extremely simple. Scarface had lost to Jason, making him the superior infected.

When his wounds were fully healed, he cackled madly. 

"Are you ready for your punishment? You potato fucker?!"