Chapter 531: Predator x Predator

I face Zhian’Thar, thinking how to negotiate with her—if I just hand over this dismembered slave to Zhian’Thar, she’ll break any fair deal and try to kill me.

’I need a bargaining chip, a way to escape or keep her from killing me…’ I think about what to offer.

“Hey, Zhian’Thar, I’ve got an interesting deal. Would you be interested in hearing it? If all goes well, you can get this bitch back!” I say, squeezing Tsukiyo’s body gently; she groans in pain with every move I make.

“What do you want?” Zhian’Thar speaks, but it’s clear she’s thinking about killing me as soon as possible.

“It’s quite simple. I want a pure physical strength duel. We fight using only our bodies, and at most we’ll use Mana to strengthen our blows—but no spells, skills, or any other form of power.”

“I know you wouldn’t fight fair once Tsukiyo was safe, but she isn’t. I used magic to enslave her, and I’ll give one simple order.”

“We’ll fight, and if you break the rules, Tsukiyo must kill herself. The enslavement can’t be easily broken; you wouldn’t have time to try, so she’s guaranteed to die if you use any forbidden power or cheat.”

“If you win, I’ll give you Tsukiyo and flee, and for three days you can’t come after me, or Tsukiyo will die. But if you lose… you’ll become my slave!” I point at her confidently.

“The fight ends if one of us dies, becomes unable to fight, or surrenders.”

“…That isn’t fair!!” she says with a furious snarl.

“Clearly it’s not fair, you bitch! The alternative is me killing this little slut right now.” I start squeezing Tsukiyo, and she begins screaming in pain, her body being crushed.

“W-Wait!!” Zhian’Thar stops me, and I ease the pressure.

“…How will I know you won’t betray our agreement?” she questions, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m fair. If I lose, it means I can’t beat you, so I’ll abandon this bitch here and leave to get stronger before you come after me. If I cheat, I’ll only attract more of your hatred—cheating isn’t worth it.”

“Besides, I bet you’re dying to destroy my body. Isn’t this a perfect opportunity? You, level four billion, only need to physically kill a weaker opponent. Or are you saying you’re dependent on magic?”

“…” She seems to think it over. The deal is somewhat “enforceable” for both sides, and even though she has the biggest disadvantage if she loses, considering the power she holds, the deal is actually fair—because I’m the one in the most danger fighting her.

“If I win, you’ll flee and leave Tsukiyo with me?” she asks, wanting confirmation.

“Exactly. Tsukiyo will still have the enslavement spell with the suicide order, but only if you try to pursue me before three days. After three days, you can try to break the enslavement and free Tsukiyo,” I confirm.

“Fine. I’ll crush your body and make you regret this,” she cracks her knuckles, falling into a fighting stance.

“Great… Tsukiyo, you heard the whole conversation. Now everything I said becomes your rules. If Zhian’Thar breaks any of them, kill yourself in the fastest, most unavoidable way possible.”

“And if I win, and Zhian’Thar doesn’t let me try to enslave her… you must kill yourself violently.” I give the order to the slave, then toss her into a barrier; the barrier falls to the ground like a solid sphere, trapping her inside.

’If Zhian’Thar doesn’t hold up her end when I win… I’ll need a way to escape after Tsukiyo dies… I hope Zhian’Thar loves Tsukiyo enough to let herself be enslaved…’

“I think we can begin,” I enter my fighting stance, drops of black ooze dripping from the spiral above my neck to the ground like a timer.

’We both have four arms, and our heights are similar. The biggest disadvantage for me… is that bone armor of hers…’ My punch earlier ended with both my hands broken. I’ll have to do more than just throw punches.

“Pandora, if you win, I’ll be your slave. But you’d better keep your word, because I won’t let it slide if you break our agreement.” She takes a step forward—the fight has started.

“Don’t worry. I swear on my name as the Goddess of the Apocalypse that I’ll uphold the deal. If you win, I’ll flee and leave your friend with you. And if I win, I’ll have both of you as slaves, and I’ll probably keep you both alive because you’re useful slaves.” The mouth on my belly licks the air hungrily.

I’m still seriously thinking about what to do if I win. Maybe I’ll devour them both—I don’t need slaves. Or maybe I’ll use them to dominate Abyssal territories for me.

“Don’t regret this choice,” she says as she leaps forward. I dodge the first strike and jump back, evading a kick. Using the momentum, I jump forward, grab her torso, and shove her, breaking her balance momentarily.

“Urgh!” She uses that motion to spin, landing a side kick that I block with two of my arms. The bones in my arms shatter instantly, while she quickly plants her foot, regains balance, and punches my chest.

The mouth on my belly spits black blood as I grab two of her hands and, with my other two left-side arms, punch her chest and jaw simultaneously, shoving her back.

’Damn it…’ I put some distance between us. The large eye floating behind me watches intently, seeing how my arms broke punching her. All I did was crack the bone armor on her chest and break one of her teeth.

“!!” She rips a tree from the ground and uses it like a club, smashing me and sending me flying. She hurls the tree—which isn’t against the rules because the tree is part of the environment.

“…” I use two hands to land safely and backflip away from the tree, but before I realize it, she’s already striking with two punches that I block with all four arms.

’At this rate, even with regeneration, it’ll be hard to last much longer…’ I analyze every pattern of her attacks, adapting and improving as we fight.

“…!” She kicks, but I kick back just like her. Our shins collide, but my strike is far more precise, pushing her back and breaking her posture. I grab her neck in a headlock, slam downward, and violently throw her against the ground, breaking her neck before jumping back to my feet.

’I get it now… her bone armor is so rigid and hard that it can’t cover the joints, or she wouldn’t be able to move…’ The mouth on my belly grins widely as Zhian’Thar gets up, spitting blood. Her neck regenerates, but her regeneration is far inferior to mine.

“I think we’re done with preliminaries. Let’s kill each other more violently.” I enter my stance again: one fist raised at chest height, the other at waist level pulled back. She does the same, and we both coat our fists with Elemental Mana.

I don’t know what element she’s using, but I use the Doom element, sacrificing oxygen and 3% of the inorganic matter in the environment, along with 25% of all the hydrogen around—which slightly affects my hydrogen-based breathing.

“…” We immediately charge, trading a barrage of punches. Our fists collide, generating violent shockwaves that spread through the environment, shattering the ground and sending trees flying.

Our rapid exchange ends in a stalemate, each of our arms meeting the other’s in punches without landing hits. But I have the advantage of not having a head—her punch goes straight through the black spiral where my head should be, and it can’t be destroyed or damaged since it’s a “liquid.”

Seizing her mistake, I deliver a double punch with all my strength into her chest, violently destroying the bone plate protecting her heart area. She’s thrown backward, spitting blood as her chest is crushed, compressing her heart—even though I took a punch that broke my arm, which quickly regenerates.

Without her bone armor, I finally see how massive her breasts are—as big as mine.

’Damn it… these fucking huge tits blocked it…’ I would’ve pierced straight through her chest if not for that crap acting as a cushion. Not that I can complain, since I also have soft breasts that can defend against dangerous impacts.

“Kikikiki HAHAHAHAHA!” She laughs while wiping blood from her mouth. Her bone armor reconstructs, but it’s even slower than her regeneration—so breaking her armor is effective.

“Something funny?” I return to my stance, questioning her laughter.

“Oh yes, very funny. A weakling like you managing to fight me physically? It’s truly… hilarious.” She appears instantly in front of me, her two right arms spread wide. She uses them to clamp around my body below my breasts and then slams me forcefully into the ground.

Followed by a spinning downward kick that crushes my stomach, making the mouth spit blood. Twisting my body in a way that would shatter a normal person’s bones, I slip out from under her foot and stand up.

My hips literally stayed behind while my torso lurched forward—almost as if my body were rubber to pull that off. Although doing that to escape broke one of my hip bones, even with my extreme flexibility.

“…” I return to a normal stance as my body regenerates, black blood still trickling from the corners of my lips. The mouth on my belly has closed completely because of the internal damage.

“Hehehe, good hit. The pain from that was so delicious,” I compliment her, loving this as much as she is. A fight using only our fists is more fun than I expected.

“I can’t wait to tear your body apart with my fists. I’ll rip your bones out beautifully,” I say, enchanted by our battle. Even though I’m losing and have taken more damage so far, this is a battle of endurance—and if it’s endurance, I’ll only grow stronger the longer she drags it out.

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