Chapter 39: The Last Crack

The laboratory was in ruins.

Sparks flew from the torn circuits.

The smell of burnt metal hung in the air.

Mayu gasped.

Her muscles were on fire, her breath ragged.

But her gaze remained fixed on her perfect double.

Mayu Zero.

She, on the other hand, seemed intact.

Still upright. Still expressionless.

But… something had changed.

Her right arm, locked from the previous attack, moved slightly slower.

A crack.

A tiny breach in her absolute perfection.

This is my chance.

Mayu leaped without hesitation.

She charged at her opponent with lightning speed.

She feigned a right punch, targeting Mayu Zero's face.

Mayu Zero instinctively raised her injured arm to block.

Mistake.

Mayu pivoted mid-air and struck with her elbow to the exposed flank of her opponent.

Impact.

A sharp, brutal sound echoed in the room.

Mayu Zero staggered slightly.

She felt the blow.

But she immediately retaliated.

In a fluid motion, she grabbed Mayu's arm and spun on herself.

Projection.

Mayu felt her body ripped off the ground.

She violently crashed into the metallic wall.

Her spine screamed under the impact.

A gasp of pain escaped her.

But she rolled immediately to the side.

Just in time.

A vertical heel kick smashed where she had been just a fraction of a second ago.

The ground exploded under the force of the blow.

Cracks spread like spider webs.

Mayu leaped back, trying to catch her breath.

She's even faster…

Mayu Zero slowly rose.

— You're predictable.

Mayu gritted her teeth.

Her legs trembled.

But she couldn't lose.

She changed her stance.

Lower. More fluid.

She stopped thinking.

She listened to her instincts.

Mayu Zero charged.

The next moment was a deluge of blows.

A circular kick from Mayu Zero, quick as a whip.

Mayu narrowly dodged and countered with a brutal hook.

But Mayu Zero leaned back and struck with an upward knee.

Mayu blocked with her forearms, but the shock vibrated through her entire body.

Then came a flurry of strikes.

Fists. Elbows. Knees.

A deadly ballet.

Each attack was barely deflected, each blow was a breath away from connecting.

Mayu started to anticipate the movements.

Mayu Zero fought according to a pattern.

Precise. Lethal.

But predictable.

And in that moment, Mayu saw an opening.

A tiny shift in her opponent's posture.

A minuscule imbalance.

Mayu exploded forward.

She feigned a right hook, then spun around.

Her spinning kick struck directly against Mayu Zero's temple.

A brutal shock.

A flash of surprise crossed her double's eyes.

Then she staggered.

Now's the time.

Mayu leaped and slammed her fist into her clone's chest.

She channeled everything she had left.

Everything she had lived through.

All her rage.

All her humanity.

BOOM.

The impact was deafening.

Mayu Zero recoiled.

Her gaze faltered.

Then… she collapsed.