Kaiser stood still, his breathing slow, controlled, his body thrumming with something unfamiliar yet exhilarating. The flames danced along his skin, flickering and curling, not just escaping him but welcoming him, as if they had always been there, waiting for the moment to emerge. And the strangest thing?

They didn't burn. Not his skin. Not his clothes. Not even a hint of heat against his body. In fact, he felt better then ever.

Compared to the beginning of the fight, when only small, fleeting sparks had flickered from his frame, now the fire was growing, embers trailing from his arms, licking up his shoulders, coiling around him like living vines.

And as more and more flames escaped. He felt his strength surge through the roof. He smirked, rolling his shoulders, letting the newfound power settle into his frame, feeding into that ever-present arrogance that came so naturally to him.

But then, a thought struck him. Ice. It wasn't just fire, as he had wielded ice before too, when he first awoke. Fire and ice… Neither of them something he controlled before. Since he came to this strange, big world, they both just… happened.

That thought alone sent a flicker of irritation through him, he hated not understanding his own body. Kaiser clicked his tongue, shaking the thought aside, his red eyes flicking back to the woman.

And there she was, getting up once again. His kick had sent her crashing into the wall, the impact alone enough to knock the wind out of any normal person, yet she was already pushing herself upright, brushing off debris, her movements shaky but relentless.

No regeneration, no healing factor, and yet, she kept getting back up. He couldn't deny that he was starting to admire her. She was a lunatic, clearly and completely deranged. And yet, she was throwing herself into his attacks on purpose, taking every hit with no hesitation, no fear, just… Delight.

Her long coat was stained now, filthy from the trash, dust, and blood, but she didn't seem to care. Her arms were bruised and her stomach was aching, tender, already hit too many times. And yet, she grinned. Like she was thriving, like every ounce of pain was pleasure.

"Please…" She looked at him, eyes dark, bottomless, glittering with raw, unfiltered need. "Last just a bit longer."

Kaiser blinked, for the first time in this fight he was genuinely confused, but he found himself wanting to understand, not just what she meant, but also who the woman truly was. He took a slow step forward, crimson eyes glinting with something rare, something genuine—happiness. It was so rare to meet someone who intrigued him, even rarer to find someone who made his blood sing like this. This woman, whoever she was, was completely unhinged, but gods, was she fun.

He hadn't even fully processed what she had said before—something about lasting a bit more, but he didn't care. All that mattered now was the fight, the thrill, the rush of his fists slamming into her again and again, and the way she welcomed every hit with an almost worshipful grin. He tensed his muscles, coiling them like a spring, his stance shifting as he prepared to sprint forward with the full force of his body.

And then, his world flipped on its head.

Not physically. The alley was still there, unchanged, untouched, standing in the same grimy, narrow stretch of filth and stone. But to him, it twisted unnaturally, the ground beneath him was tilting and spinning in ways that made no sense, as if the world had been thrown into a blender. His vision lurched violently, everything doubling and tripling, shapes warping into something erratic and unnatural. He tried to take a step forward, only for his body to jolt violently in the opposite direction, sending him stumbling.

When he tried to correct himself, shifting his weight to the left, his entire body lurched right instead, making his stomach churn from the unnatural movement. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stay focused, but the more he tried to move, the more his own body betrayed him. Every instinct told him to rush forward, to close the distance, to drive his fist into her again, but when he attempted to dash, instead of moving toward her, his entire weight rocketed sideways, sending him crashing headfirst into the alley wall.

The crack of his skull against stone echoed through the narrow space, pain flaring through his head as his vision blurred for a brief moment, not from the impact itself, but from the sickening wrongness of it all. His muscles still held all their strength, but every time he tried to move, his body refused to listen, as if the very concept of direction had been rewritten just for him.

And then, laughter.

A slow, breathless giggle, dripping with pure delight, rang through the alley, and when he turned, or rather, when he tried to turn, only for his balance to shift erratically once again. Then he saw her standing there, bruised and battered, yet beaming with something disturbingly pure. Her face was a mess, one eye swollen nearly shut, the skin around it bruised a deep, ugly violet, while the sclera was stained completely red with blood. The other eye, however, remained untouched, still that endless, empty shade of black.

Her lips, cracked and split, were smeared with red, the deep gashes on them making her grin appear even wider, almost as if she had been carved into smiling. "You..." she breathed, her voice trembling, but not from pain or weakness. It was trembling with something closer to awe. "You are powerful. Beyond powerful."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She raised a bruised hand, fingers curling slightly as if she were still feeling the lingering sting of his last blows, and for the first time, her smile faltered. "But I hate this part of me," she muttered, shaking her head slightly, her expression twisting with something that looked almost like frustration.

"I hate that my battles always end the second I land a hit. I hate how pathetic the human body is, how weak, how fragile. It doesn't matter how strong they are, how much power they have, because the moment my fingers touch them, it's over."

She exhaled, rolling her shoulders as if to shake off the thought before her grin returned, even wider than before. Stepping forward, she moved with an eerie ease, closing the distance between them one slow step at a time, her every movement filled with the same sickeningly pure joy that never left her face. Kaiser, still trying to regain control of his own limbs, found himself unable to step away, unable to react properly as his body continued to work against him.

"You would've been magnificent as a Grounded," she said, her voice carrying something almost affectionate, as if she were lamenting a lost potential. "But unfortunately…" She stopped just inches away from him, tilting her head as her eyes traced over his form with a gaze that felt far too intimate for a battlefield.

"You're just a human."

The last word left her lips like something foul, something lesser, something utterly beneath her.

Her grin stretched wider, the corners of her mouth cracking further as fresh streaks of red smeared her chin, but she didn't seem to care, didn't even notice. "And even the strongest lamb," she murmured, voice low and reverent, as if she were reciting something sacred, "is still just a lamb."

Without another word, her fingers tensed, the already-sharp nails stiffening until they gleamed like the edges of a blade, her entire arm snapping forward in a blur of movement as she lunged, aiming to drive them straight into his skull.

And Kaiser—still trapped in this twisted, spinning nightmare of movement—could do nothing to stop her.

"HA HA HA!"

The sound practically crackled through the air, carrying with it the sheer force of personality alone.

"Fear not, stranger, for Elsie is here to save the day!"

Before either of them could react, a blur of green shot through the alley, and in an instant, Selvira was dropkicked clean across the space, her body flipping once before she landed a few feet away in a crouch, one hand pressing into the ground to stop her momentum. Kaiser, still dizzy from whatever the hell she had done to him, blinked up in complete and utter bewilderment.

Standing before him was a woman unlike any he had ever seen. She was clad in a dark, skin-tight suit that clung to her athletic frame, the fabric shifting slightly as she moved, giving off the faintest sheen under the dim alley light. Her long green hair cascaded down her back in wild waves, only barely kept in check by a few loose braids. But what stood out the most, besides the absolutely obnoxious amount of energy radiating off her, were her eyes; bright, sharp, and vividly green, practically glowing with excitement, and her teeth, which looked exactly like those of a snake.

She grinned down at Kaiser, fangs glinting in the light as she placed her hands on her hips. "Worry not, civilian! Elsie shall not allow this thief to rob the innocent under her watch!"

Before Kaiser could even begin to process what was happening, Elsie grabbed his hand and, without hesitation, bit him. Kaiser stared, wide-eyed, as her sharp fangs sank into his flesh, not deep enough to actually hurt, but still very much a bite. "What—"

"What the hell are you doing?"

He barely managed to get the words out before Elsie pulled away, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "Elsie has ensured that you will recover within the hour! You may thank her later with gifts of gold and eternal gratitude!"

Before he could even attempt to form a response, another voice, far more composed and aggravated, spoke up from where Selvira had landed.

"You're interrupting my date again, Elsie."

Selvira stood back up, brushing dirt off her tattered coat with slow, practiced motions. Her expression, which had been filled with unrestrained delight mere moments ago, had now slipped back into something unreadable, neutral and blank, as if none of this truly mattered to her. But the sharp edge in her voice said otherwise.

Elsie, completely unfazed, puffed out her chest with a proud smirk. "Elsie will keep interrupting until Selvira returns what she stole from her!"

Selvira exhaled through her nose, her jaw tightening slightly. "That? You're still on about that? That was over five years ago. Let it go."

"Never!" Elsie declared, pointing dramatically. "A theft against Elsie is a theft against justice itself! And she will retrieve what is rightfully hers!"

Selvira's fingers twitched slightly before she inhaled deeply, smoothing her hands back through her now disheveled hair. Her features settled back into cold indifference as she spoke. "I don't have anything of yours."

Kaiser, who had finally regained enough sense to somewhat follow the conversation, narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied both of them. Now that he was looking closer, he couldn't ignore the fact that both women looked strikingly similar. Their eyes, their features, the inhuman sharpness of their teeth, it was as if they belonged to the same species entirely.

He sighed, rubbing his temples as he tried to shake off the lingering dizziness. "Alright," he muttered, mostly to himself. "What the hell is even going on anymore?"

But Elsie wasn't paying him any attention. Instead, she reached behind her back and pulled out two small, curved weapons. They were tiny scythes, barely large enough to be considered daggers. She spun them in her hands with practiced ease before pointing one directly at Selvira.

"Elsie doesn't buy it," she said, her voice unusually serious for once, though still carrying that ever-present energy. "So either return what was stolen, or Elsie will take it by force."

Selvira's eyes flicked to the weapons, and for the first time since the fight began, her expression shifted, not into fear, not into anger, but into something closer to exasperation. She clicked her tongue. "You really think you can fight me with medical instruments?"

Kaiser blinked, his brain stalling for the third time that night. 'What?'

Selvira crossed her arms, looking completely unimpressed. "Those aren't weapons. Those are surgical tools. Medical instruments."

Elsie twirled them again, flashing a sharp grin. "They are in Elsie's hands."

Selvira sighed. "You're not right in the head."

"Elsie embraces that fact."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.