"Are you serious?"
Ying Yue asked quizzically.
If I were her, then I'd doubt my ears too. Only an idiot would suggest something to their disadvantage. A sane person would quickly surrender before the fight and straight up claim the victory.
I shrugged as I pulled out the wooden folding fan inside my sleeve. Then I opened it up and gently fanned my face. The side facing Ying Yue should have the words "Unmatched Under the Heavens" written in bold characters.
"I mean, I'd still win either way."
Ying Yue was flabbergasted before suddenly flaring in anger. Her aura raised, causing tremors in the air around her.
"If you really want to die that badly, then you won't need to wait for the end of the match. I'll kill you here and now!"
Out of the blue, she sent a dark ball of flame shooting straight at my face. It wasn't fast enough that I couldn't dodge it, but I stayed still. Before it reached me, the flame was caught by a hand and smothered instantly.
"Ying Yue, the fight has not started yet."
Vermeil said as she smiled wryly at her before flying up once again, moving to a far enough location to not interfere with the duel. Ying Yue was trembling in vexation as she tried to hold herself back from sending another attack.
"Then, since the fighters couldn't wait any longer, let the fight begin!"
As soon as the signal was given, Ying Yue rushed forward, followed by her three tamed monsters.
The unicorn waved the horn on its head as a wave of freezing wind flashed past me. I stood still and stared before waving the fan in my hand. The fan, imbued with raw Violent Energy, crushed the core of the skill, making the unicorn lose control of it.
As I was busy with the unicorn's skill, the snake tried to flood my senses with illusions. All around me, realistic copies of the four of them appeared. Anyone else would've lost sight of the true ones with just this, but unfortunately, such illusions don't work on me.
I quickly found the bodies with energy stored inside them, recognizing them as true ones. I took half a step back, avoiding the claw attack of the real fox as I let the other illusion's attacks hit.
As I evaded the fox, I used the butt of the fan to poke a pressure point on its body. The energy I inserted where the fan touched ended up breaking the circulation of energy inside the fox, which in turn made the energy violently rampage inside it. The fox vomited blood as it flew past me.
At this moment, Ying Yue was already before me, ready to engage in close-quarters combat. Unlike the time at the Virgil's home, she was going full power right at the beginning.
Her arms, up to her fingernails, were covered in blazing black flame. The flame seared the air, releasing a loud hissing sound as it approached. It's definitely hot enough to burn anyone to ashes if touched by it.
In addition, each step she took froze the ground, making it hard for me to secure a stable footing. Other than that, she must be using some sort of power-enhancing skill and a presence concealment skill. Using multiple skills at once, she was definitely a prodigy, no doubt.
If it were any normal tamer fighting her now, then they'd be dead a dozen times over already. It's too bad that her opponent was me.
As I watched her approach, I looked at the unicorn, which was about to release another control skill. I threw the fan covered in Violent Energy toward its forehead, forcing the unicorn to dodge and cancel its skill.
In that instant, I stepped forward and lowered my stance. My and Ying Yue's faces came close as I stepped in further, past the distance that she could swing her claws with.
When our bodies were only about an inch away from each other, I twisted my waist and sent a knee upward. It was an almost point-blank-range attack, but Ying Yue managed to cross her arms and guard.
She must be using a skill to enhance her kinetic vision and reflexes too. That's like six skills' simultaneous usage, as far as I could determine. Being called a prodigy might be an understatement; she might be a true genius instead.
As I was thinking about other things, Ying Yue nullified the impact of the knee and launched a knee attack of her own.
However, before she could even complete the motion, I had already taken a step to the right, going outside the range of the knee. I may not have as fast reflexes as her, but I have the advantage of reading her movements.
As a Bounty Hunter, the first thing you should do is study your target. Using that information, you should create plans to neutralize their advantages and gain the upper hand. As for Ying Yue, I have already completely read her attack patterns.
Her range of movements, her speed, her power, even the skills that she had—everything that I could learn from her was already compiled and processed.
From the corner of my eye, a barrage of small black flames was approaching. It was spread so wide that I couldn't get out of its range easily. Ying Yue smiled fiercely. This was probably a part of her battle plan, and I fell for it... On purpose.
The barrage of flames rapidly approached. The heat it gave off made the moisture on my skin evaporate. Before it hit, however, I tapped my foot and vanished from the spot, leaving only murky shadows in my place.
An instant later, I was already behind the fox who sent the attack. The two of us watched as Ying Yue got hit by the flames.
As expected, however, the flames had no effect on her. I guessed based on how her arms were covered in the same colored flame without even burning off. Still, it was worth trying, as I caught the fox unguarded.
I used my index and middle fingers joined together to poke at the back of the fox's neck. This action sent another wave of Violent Energy into its energy system, completely disturbing the flow.
This time, the fox straight-up bled from all orifices as it fell to the ground, unmoving.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢