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My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
With a deep breath, I gathered my energy, focusing it onto my body. I needed to be faster, stronger.
I needed to take the fight to him.
'Martial Arts is my best choice in the current situation. It's direct, precise, and less complicated.'
In a fight that hinged on my raw power and close distance combat, I could always count on it.
'I have to get this right. Let's go…'
~WHOOOOOOSSSHHHHH!~
As I dashed towards the madman, the world around me seemed to slow.
I watched as his lips moved, heard the crackle of magic building in the air.
Spells.
He was bombarding me with them, trying to keep me at a distance, trying to escape.
But I was too fast.
~VWOOOOOMMMMM!~
The ground blurred beneath me, the wind whistling in my ears.
An incandescent bolt of energy sped towards me, a wave of heat rolling off it.
A direct hit would be devastating, but I wouldn't let that happen.
With a mental command, my energy responded.
An orb of protective energy enveloped me, my Nether acting as my shield.
~BOOOMMM!~
As I continued to close the distance, his spells exploded against my shield, the impact jolting my body but leaving me unscathed.
The madman's eyes widened, and I felt a jolt of satisfaction.
I was within reach now, close enough to see the sweat beading on his forehead, to hear his ragged breaths.
Fear flickered in his eyes.
Good.
"H-hold on a momen—!"
With a swift movement, I struck, my fist smashing into his ribs with a crack that echoed in the silence.
"Guarrrrkkk!" The madman cried out, the sound abruptly cut off as my other fist connected with his jaw.
"Blech!"
I didn't give him time to recover.
I unleashed a series of fast, precise strikes, targeting the joints in his arms and legs, aiming to completely immobilize him.
"G-Gaaahhhhh!"
Each hit was calculated, precise.
Each bone I shattered, every scream he uttered, was a testament to my silent rage.
'You deserve it… you monster!'
I wouldn't let him win. I couldn't. The lives of the Goblins and the Kraken were in my hands.
And I wouldn't let them down.
"[Imperial Martial Arts: The Last Straw]"
~BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!~
One strike of my palm on his chest sent my energy coursing through his body, destroying everything within him; from sinews and muscles to the internal organs within.
I watched his pained face, seeing that he couldn't even properly let out a shout of pain.
His bulging eyes were bleeding, and the same red liquid oozed from his nostrils and ears… and finally his mouth.
"I've destroyed your body. You'll be dead in no time." I told him.
Good riddance.
*********
The wounded lay in a crumpled heap on the ground, his breath ragged and painful.
Each inhalation felt like shards of glass scraping against his lungs, each exhalation a ragged gasp of pain.
The world around him seemed to blur and distort, his vision narrowing to a tunnel.
He was dying. He knew that.
He could feel his life slipping away, each heartbeat growing weaker, slower.
In his haze of pain, his mind began to wander, traveling back to a time before he had become this… this monster.
He had been a man once, a scientist.
He had been fascinated by the Krakens, those massive, mysterious creatures with an energy reserve so vast and unused throughout their lifetime.
His obsession had begun innocently enough.
A need to understand, to learn. He had marveled at their potential, wondered why they didn't utilize it.
And then, he had started to imagine how he could.
As his research deepened, his fascination turned into an obsession. The Krakens became not magnificent creatures but sources of potentially limitless energy, a means to an end.
If he calculated it right, it could benefit everyone.
From that point on, his actions grew increasingly extreme. He had lost himself in his research, his pursuit of knowledge morphing into a quest for power.
No longer did he see these beings as fascinating creatures, but as batteries… all for his utilization.
His deeds were heinous. He saw that now. The Krakens he had hunted, the lives he had destroyed.
His hands, once used to heal and help, had become tools of destruction.
He was a monster, a shell of the man he once was.
It was now, on the verge of death, that he remembered his name.
Jonas.
He had forgotten it for so long, lost in his obsession.
Now, as death approached, it echoed in his mind, a stark reminder of the man he had once been and the monster he had become.
Regret filled him. He had pushed everyone away, isolated himself in his pursuit of power. And for what?
For this?
To die alone and despised?
A tear trickled down his face, the salty taste bitter in his mouth.
He was sorry. Sorry for what he had done, for the lives he had ruined.
The Kraken. He had hunted it, tormented it.
Now, he saw the truth. It was not a monster. He was.
The man who had defeated him, who had brought him to this end, he was grateful to him. He had freed him, not just from his life but from his obsession.
He could finally rest.
"Jonas… you're the kindest man I know. Keep being that way, okay?" He remembered the voice of his lover.
But… that was so long ago. And now, it was too late.
With a final shuddering breath, Jonas closed his eyes.
He was sorry. Sorry for everything. His body went limp, his heart giving one last feeble throb before it stilled.
His journey was over. His regrets and his crimes died with him.
*
*
*
[A/N]
I only feel a little bad for him.
A little.
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