My Life Depends On It

Her tail swayed in the air behind, generating tremors of energy. Multiple spheres of water formed around her tail and with a single strike, Mahiru threw all the spheres at Lex.

"Shit!"

Lex cursed and immediately jumped high in the air. The spheres collided on the ground where he had been standing, triggering multiple explosions at once.

Mahiru growled at the sky as multiple spheres of water appeared around her. Lex's expression turned grim since he knew that each sphere contained the same power as his Aura Blast.

Getting hit by one of them would be equivalent to being punched in the gut a dozen times.

[ The EE energy inside her body is wrecking havoc. How is she able to use the EE inside her body to generate this much power?! ]

'She is a demi-human, Elfie. Judging by her looks, she is some kind of fox-girl. We don't know anything about the powers of the other races.' Lex explained

"Grawr…" Mahiru growled lowly and directed her hands upwards.

The sphere of water shot towards Lex. Extending his hands outwards, Lex decided to use one of his new moves.

"Domain of Stillness."

All the water spheres heading in Lex's direction suddenly went still on their spots. One by one all of them exploded in the sky.

Water shot out from the spheres and fell on top of Mahiru. Even in a berserk state, the fox-girl was surprised by what happened in front of her eyes.

Domain of Stillness. As the name suggested, the move allowed Lex to exert a force field from his hand that countered everything coming his way.

Everything inside the range of the attack would be frozen at its spot, allowing Lex to control it momentarily.

The only downside of the attack was the bleeding that Lex faced. A vein popped in his forehead and his blood flow sped up to cope with this powers.

Lex retracted his hands, canceling the force field. He quickly grabbed a pill from his pocket and ate it to control his blood flow.

'She seems to have calmed down.' Lex noticed that Mahiru stood still on the ground.

Her split pupiled eyes were glowing blood red and observed him from afar. Lex kept his eyes focused on Mahiru as well. He decided to fight from the sky since Mahiru would be at a disadvantage due to his position.

Unfortunately, his reason was long.

In the blink of an eye, Mahiru vanished from her spot on the ground. She reappeared in front of Lex and brought her hand down on his arm.

He didn't have the time to push her back and focused on defense. Lex tried to create a barrier between his arm and her hand.

However, Mahiru's attack wasn't normal. Her nails grew long enough to make her hand resemble a claw.

She scratched down with her hand, pushing through Lex's barrier and striking his skin.

*HISSS*

A sizzling sound was heard as both Lex and Mahiru moved backwards in the sky. When he looked at his arm, a frown appeared on Lex's face.

The cut on his arm was sizzling and steam was coming out from the wound.

[ She possess a water based skill. All the water around your wound is immediately turning into steam. It will cause you external as well as internal burns. ] Elfie informed.

'She is dangerous…'

Lex eyed Mahiru who was somehow floating in the air. On closer inspection, Lex saw water bubbles continuously shooting out form the bottom of her foot.

They disappeared seconds after appearing but still managed to keep Mahiru in the air. It showed how unpredictable ungradable abilities could be in the hands of an experienced user.

Lex knew that staying still could lead to another ambush. Without wasting any time, he showed through the air with his fists closed.

Mahiru also shot forward and the two came face to face. Pulling back their fists, both of them punched forward.

Lex covered his punch with telekinetic force whereas Mahiru strengthened hers by forming multiple layers of dense water.

Their fists collided, generating a shockwave in the sky. Lex was about to throw another punch when he heard a whisper.

"Lex…" Mahiru whispered. The glow of her eyes seemed to decrease at that moment, returning to normal. "I remember somethings now…"

The fox girl removed the water on her fist and took a deep breath. Flashes of the past entered her mind, reminding her of the time she spent with Lex in the past.

She also remembered bits and pieces of the conversation she had with Lex's dad when the latter went to drop her at Allen's location.

"For real?" Lex didn't drop his guard but dropped his hand to his side.

"This was a condition in the Styx Contract I signed with your father. If I remembered who you were, I wouldn't have been able to work for Allen and would have sided with you the first time I met you." Mahiru murmured.

Her body twitched from time to time yet her eyes remained normal.

"What contract did you sign with my father? It happened in front of me but I don't remember its detail." 

"I don't remember the details either. He did say that we would need to fulfill the contract if we want to survive…" Mahiru's breathing became heavier. "I can't hold on much longer."

"If you remember things, than why are we even fighting anymore?" Lex tried to talk some sense into Mahiru.

He now understood why the protagonists in different fictions often tried to talk someone out of a fight. Many sentiments and emotions were involved in a battle.

"I can't…" Mahiru's voice began to strain. "Allen has me under a Styx oath…"

"Huh, why?!" Lex asked in a baffled voice.

"If I don't obey his orders, everyone will die…" Mahiru ignored his question. Her eyes began to glow slightly.

"Who will die?"

"My parents and… urgh!" Mahiru groaned in pain. Her eyes almost returned to the same glow as earlier. Her body also began to shake badly.

She grabbed her abdomen with one hand signaled Lex to move away with her other hand. He understood her warning and began to move away.

"And what?" he asked while retreating.

Suddenly, Mahiru's body went still. Her eyes turned to normal and she stared directly into Lex's eyes. The purple color of his eyes reminded her of the young boy she met years ago.

"And my life depends on it." Mahiru smiled bittersweetly. "If I don't do this, both me and my family will die."