Nikolai hadn’t fought a Djinn before, nor did he realise just how much advantage extra arms could bring in a lee brawl. He focused on Verda’s movents, ensuring he didn’t blink or miss the mont she rushed at him.
But couldn’t ignore the whispered voices of the Shadow Guard who vanished from around the table, making room for a fight the instant Verda shouted.
"Oh god, Captain is doing it again."
"Shh! You know she dotes on the Vice-Captain and Princess dearly."
"Well, he had this coming..."
He stood about five tres away from the tall military woman. She tossed the tal desk aside with her extra hands and created a square arena 5x5 tres in size.
Humans might consider this size too big for an area.
However, Nikolai and Verda were monsters.
Step!
Instantly, Verda pushed off the floor with explosive speed. She held her six arms fixed in defensive positions, protecting her lower body, abdon and face.
’Shit, that’s cheating!’
Nikolai lifted his arms, slightly above his nose, hands clenched slightly as he bounced on the spot, almost like dancing. With just two, he couldn’t match her in this way and focused on building montum.
One-Two.
One-Two
He watched her lunge at him, steps solid and precise.
’Co on!’
But.
The mont she entered his striking range and his muscles tensed, her eyes narrowed as she shifted her leg, and he used her extra arms to push herself away.
Verda’s body vanished.
A second passed at most before she wrapped around his side, grabbed his left arm and yanked him towards her.
Nikolai barely followed her movents.
Forced to react, he used his weight advantage to lean back and lower his hips, anchoring himself to the ground while pulling Verda towards him in retaliation.
"Haha!" Verda laughed as she darted towards him, not even trying to stop.
’?!’
She pushed off the ground and perford a jumping knee. To stop Nikolai from blocking, her three loose arms thrust at his armpit.
Thud!
The impact sent thunderous shocks through his body, with the dull ache enough to make him forcibly exhale. Her force lacked the explosive force of a werewolf, but when multiplied by three, she lifted his feet off the floor.
A huge werewolf, weighing over 110kg, took flight!
Squeak!
Nikolai took the blow and slid across the floor, breaking free from her grapple. He used the montum to avoid her sharp, lunging knee.
"Not bad for a young man."
"You’re not too shabby yourself, woman."
Though they spoke bluntly, both curled their lips in excitent with broad grins.
This battle wasn’t about supernatural powers or blood arts. Verda attacked him with pure skill, asured movent and her physical body alone.
’If she used her Soul Force, would I be able to avoid that knee?’
Soul Force relied not on power, but skill, technique and how it could mask little actions when used in battle. Inferior to the explosive power of a werewolf or the unique thods of vampires, the Djinn’s art carried a subtle yet dangerous characteristic.
Verda licked her lips.
"Let’s get serious, Werewolf."
Snap!
The atmosphere changed when Verda snapped her fingers.
Nikolai’s three hearts pounded faster with an irregular rhythm.
’I guess she thinks I’ve been taking things too lightly, the situation and helping Zara with big words like I am her husband.’
He was stupid.
"Do your best not to disappoint, Djinn."
Nikolai shook off the first blow, the dull ache beneath his left arm a little sore but nothing dangerous. He continued with his hands up, eyes focused on her body, the muscles, the slight movent of her eyes.
He watched and absorbed everything.
Tap!
Step!
Both attacked simultaneously.
Nikolai smashed her thigh with a brutal low kick, while the Djinn beauty lifted her leg to check and counter it. Then, she imdiately followed up with a series of three jabs using her left hand.
Pah - Pah - Pah!
His forearms soaked up the damage.
Despite the montary dull ache, his regeneration and muscle density allowed him to shrug it off.
Hiss!
Without waiting, his left hand curled across, aiming to hook her chin. The force caused a low howl of wind, as Verda’s eyes widened at the rapid blow.
Because she couldn’t fully avoid the blow, she held three arms over her head, intending to absorb the blow, while her right leg tightened, along with her right shoulder pulling back slightly, ready to counter the blow.
Bam!
Thud!
The instant Nikolai’s blow landed, her body shook. His blow almost flung her away with sheer force. However, she held on!
Her three right fists instantly shot towards his abdon and head. The three counter blows all landed, breaking through his guard. Two landed on his chin, causing his head to buzz, and the third struck the left armpit once again.
"Tsk!"
’She’s skilled, this woman isn’t just a holy aunt!’
Nikolai breathed faster, taking short, sharp breaths, glancing at the arms he struck. The colour of her skin appeared light blue, already bruising.
’Her endurance is weaker...’
With this, he suddenly opted for a dangerous but more violent approach.
He shifted forward, squeaking on the floor as he attacked Verda with a flurry of punches, jabs, hooks, and brutal uppercuts all sent wildly like a train. If she dodged, he pushed off the floor and chased. When she blocked, he smashed her arms with all he had.
Verda’s counterattacks ca swiftly.
She hit his thigh with a knee while attempting to knock him out with a spinning elbow. The mont he punched, she would calculate and punch his armpit or body, likely as if wanting to build up damage.
The surrounding crowd watched with bright eyes.
With each punch that landed, the deeper blue Verda’s arms beca.
Nikolai, on the other hand, suffered a slight black eye, his lip bled a little, and his left chest felt like soone kept poking him with a searing iron rod.
"Tsk, what a violent and reckless little dog." Verda spat a small amount of blood mixed with her saliva on the ground, wiping the freshly opened wound on her face.
"It worked tough, right?" Nikolai taunted her as the cut on his lip visibly healed.
’I see, there is still much to learn.’
He admired Verda, knowing that she lost physically, but thanks to her extra arms and technique, she forced herself to match him. Should he unleash his werewolf form, she might not last a few blows.
But he couldn’t deny that her soul force might also even the playing field.
Verda’s breath beca short and sharp; she clearly couldn’t keep up this high level of action for long. He’d thrown at least two hundred punches in the past five minutes, while she must have spent four or five tis the stamina throwing triple the punches.
’I shouldn’t ruin her prestige here; she is Zara’s family.’
Nikolai planned to end the fight and glanced at Zara, hoping she wasn’t angry with him, only to find her fists clenched while cheering his na. "Kill her! Beat Her! YEAH!" He almost couldn’t believe these were the words of a princess.
With a bitter smile, he watched his opponent once more. He noticed her right leg, which he specifically targeted when kicking or responding to her attacks with a knee, looked horrible, with dark blue skin swollen around her kneecap.
"Did I manage to pass your test, Aunt-in-law?" So he gave her an out.
The once neat and perfect stance now shook each ti she put pressure on that rear leg. Alexei taught him this trick; he loved to watch combat sports and MMA. No matter how strong a tree is, with no secure roots, it can only fall.
’Oh, her lips...’
Verda’s eyes and lips trembled as she clenched her jaw.
"Well." Her voice remained curt and stiff, but the wheezing from her nose made it quite comical as she continued. "I guess you reached the passing line." With that, she lowered her arms, and the atmosphere instantly cooled down.
He watched as she clenched her fists and turned around with a slight limp.
’Damn, she’s really hurt.’
But since she acted so hastily and attacked him, Nikolai just accepted it and didn’t bla himself too much.
.
.
.
A few minutes later, Verda sat with a more relaxed posture and watched Nikolai with a certain fervour as she even offered him a drink.
"Forgive , I shouldn’t have been so rude to you. Patriarch of the Volkov clan."
’It’s like night and day!’
He sat down, cracking his sore shoulders and took the drink. There wasn’t any reason to cause strife, because he enjoyed the fight. It also showed him places where he remained naïve and needed to work on still.
’Becoming an Ancestor doesn’t an I beco a god.’
’I need to keep practising daily.’
Once he sat comfortably, Verda took out several books and pieces of paper and placed them on the table.
"The reason we need help is that this feud is no longer just between our two clans and bloodlines, but... another has gotten involved."
"Oh?"
He raised an eyebrow.
To Nikolai’s response, she smiled, then pushed a docunt over, and the mont he read it, everything started to make sense. On the docunt, the clan and race of the target who’d been seen often with the sons of Shamash, who wished to change the regi, was one he couldn’t forget or ignore after all.
[Race: Vampire]
[Clan: Nosferatu]
"It seems these rats linger wherever I go." He mused.
With this information, Nikolai glanced at Verda and wondered to himself.
’Did this woman plan everything, from start to finish... just to get deeply involved?’
User Comments
0 comments from readers