Under the influence of the new black-gold 'qi', Ruminas felt every cell in her body filled with vitality. Every movement was lighter, more flexible, and the strength in every muscle seemed to be released without limit. But she also realized that she needed time to fully control this change.
The Manducater charged forward, its massive claws tearing through the air at terrifying speeds. But this time, Ruminas did not retreat. She did not bother to dodge, instead, she raised one hand, letting the black-gold 'qi' cover her palm, and then bluntly blocked the monster's attack.
Boom!
There was a loud rumble, and the ground beneath Ruminas' feet split open, but she remained standing. Manducater was visibly shocked – it had never seen Ruminas take an attack head-on without a weapon. But as soon as that thought crossed its mind, Ruminas acted.
She clenched her fist, yanking Manducater's arm down, while simultaneously raising her knee high, slamming it straight into its elbow joint. A soft cracking sound rang out, causing Manducater to roar in pain.
But Ruminas did not stop there.
She spun around, springing up, and launched a roundhouse kick so fast it left a blur in the air. The kick aimed straight at the Manducater's head, knocking the monster off balance and sending it flying backwards.
Thump!
The Manducater slammed into the ground, its massive body sliding for a distance before digging its claws in to slow down. But when it raised its head, the first thing it saw was Ruminas' confident smile.
"I see… not only did my strength increase, but my speed, reflexes, and senses also became sharper."
She raised one hand, feeling the 'qi' flowing through her body. The combination of the power of the demonic heart and her fighting talent created a completely new state – the more she fought, the more her body adapted, and the stronger she would become.
The Manducater roared again, this time, its body began to change. The spikes on its back grew longer, its eyes became bloodshot, its skin became darker – it was evolving to keep up with its opponent.
Ruminas clenched her fists, her fingers flexing and flexing. She could feel the energy pulsing through every fiber of her muscles.
The real battle… has only just begun.
Without a warning, the two charged at each other, Ruminas raising her fist while the monster used its two tentacles to form two sharp blades on either side.
"I see it!"
With her aura, Ruminas saw that this attack from the monster was a trap, it pretended to stab two tentacles forward but there was actually a tentacle from behind waiting to attack by surprise, the reason she was able to know was because she saw a small movement on its body, just from this one action she was able to deduce it.
"Too powerful!"
Ruminas, who was about to punch, suddenly leaned to the side to avoid the unexpected tentacle, and at the same time, she used her hand to sweep forward and hit Manducater's side.
The powerful blow sent it flying back, a part of its body in that spot was crushed by Ruminas, revealing the bones and flesh inside.
Ruminas clenched her fists, not daring to believe this was her power.
The Manducater roared, a single strike like that was not enough to defeat it. The wound quickly healed and it charged forward at a furious speed, its two giant arms swinging out at the same time, forming a deadly siege. But Ruminas only leaned slightly, her golden eyes flashing with coldness.
"Fake blow"
She quickly noticed something was wrong—even though the Manducater was attacking with both hands, the trajectory of the blow was not aimed squarely at her. It was a trap. If she dodged to the side, it would use the opportunity to seal the gap and deliver the finishing blow.
But Ruminas did not dodge.
She lunged between the Manducater's arms, where the danger should have been, but because of that it couldn't close its trap in time.
Pop!
Ruminas' hand reached up, touqing the Manducater's neck before it could react.
"Explode!"
A jet of black and yellow 'qi' exploded at the point of contact, transmitting directly into the monster's nervous system. The Manducater shuddered, its muscles twitqing for a moment, losing control of its own movements.
Ruminas did not miss the opportunity.
She twisted her waist, turned her body, and put all her strength into a hook to Manducater's qin.
BOOM!
The punch was so powerful that it sent the monster's entire upper body flying backwards, its legs momentarily lifted off the ground. But Ruminas didn't stop—she shifted her weight, lowered her body, and launched a horizontal kick at full speed.
POP!
The kick swept into Manducater's side, sending it flying like a cannonball, slamming into a stone wall and shattering it.
From the rubble, the Manducater roared, its chest heaving, its bloodshot eyes glaring at Ruminas. It might be starting to adapt, but Ruminas was already a step ahead.
"This time, it's my turn to take the initiative."
She charged forward, and the battle continued at an increasingly fierce pace.
Under the increasing pressure from Ruminas, Manducater began to lose its advantage. At first, it could still counterattack, set traps, and keep Ruminas on guard for every move. But the longer it fought, the more it realized that its every move was read by its opponent.
Not because it's slow. Not because it's weaker.
But because Ruminas was faster, stronger, and more accurate.
She wasn't simply outsmarting the Manducater physically—she was analyzing it as she fought, every movement, every reaction, every little habit of the monster memorized and exploited.
At first, Manducater tried many different ways to counterattack.
When it pretended to attack with its right hand but actually put force into its leg to launch a surprise kick, Ruminas jumped up before the kick came, kicking it straight in the head with a flying kick.
When it deliberately exposed an opening to lure her into a counterattack, Ruminas saw through the ruse with just a glance, circling behind it just as it was about to grab her.
As it tried to increase its speed, launqing a series of attacks to apply pressure, Ruminas did not dodge but used her bare hands to block each attack one by one, neutralizing them with a much more sophisticated technique.
Manducater was used to being on top, with it's enemies struggling to catch up. But this time, he was the one being caught—and worse, he was being left behind.
With each passing second, the gap between its power and Ruminas' grew larger. She was no longer simply defeating it with strength—she was toying with it.
A punch swung out from Manducater, Ruminas didn't even bother to step back but tilted her head to avoid it by a hair's breadth, almost letting the fist graze her cheek.
She smiled faintly.
And then, boom!
She punched the Manducater straight in the elbow, bending its arm at an awkward angle, then immediately spun around and launched a sweeping kick straight into its side.
The Manducater lost it's balance.
Ruminas didn't give it a chance to stand, she rushed forward at lightning speed, thump! thump! thump!—three consecutive punches to the Manducater's chest, each punch stronger than the last.
The monster staggered back.
Before it could regain its balance, Ruminas circled around behind it, delivering a spinning kick that hit it right in the back of the head.
Manducater collapsed.
Not completely knocked out—it was still conscious, still able to fight. But for the first time in this battle, it was no longer able to react.
It looked up, its bloodshot eyes staring at Ruminas, for the first time in its life it felt something called despair.
Ruminas stood there, looking down at it with sharp eyes.
She was not panting, nor did she show any signs of exhaustion. On the contrary, her momentum was growing stronger.
Manducater understood. If this continued, it would be crushed, without a chance to fight back.
And so, it made a bold decision.
By force, it will copy Ruminas' power—the black-gold "qi" that is helping her become stronger and stronger in this battle.
But this is not an easy process.
The Manducater's copying abilities were already powerful, but to copy a completely new form of "qi", one it had never seen before, required a great trade-off.
Manducater's body began to tremble.
Every muscle in it's body tensed, veins bulged violently, eyes glowing red like two burning coals.
"Crack… crack…"
The sound of bones changing rang out, its body being forced to evolve.
Ruminas realized this immediately.
"Starting to want to copy already…"
She clenched her fists, but did not attack immediately.
She wants to see.
Want to see what this monster will become if it dares to copy her power. This is not something that can be easily copied but must be obtained through life and death and hard training.
A monster that only knows how to copy other creatures' skills like it doesn't deserve to have this kind of power.
Ruminas has great confidence in this statement of his.
Black qi began to flow from the Manducater's body, but it wasn't just pure black like before.
There is a yellow streak in it.
The yellow represents Ruminas' fighting nature, her ability to adapt and constantly evolve—and now, the Manducater is forcing itself to have it. In this regard, it is no different, but the difference is that Ruminas is a pure fighting talent, learned through battle, while the monster's is the ability to copy other creatures.
If it tried to develop this point it might have succeeded, but unfortunately it decided to imitate Ruminas.
She just sighed softly.
"You really have no future if you want to copy even this."
Even so, Ruminas' spirit was extremely tense, she was sure it would fail so she wanted to take a look, but if the monster showed signs of success, she would have to intervene immediately.
"This is a bet!"
The Manducater is forcing this process to happen faster, and the price is excruciating pain.
It roared.
A roar filled with pain, rage, and a desire for destruction.
It's body transformed.
Taller. Bigger. The aura emanating from it was filled with murderous intent.
Ruminas glared at her opponent.
"Success…?!"
Just as she was about to step forward to stop it, the 'qi' that was forming suddenly shattered, an explosion occurred within the monster's body causing it to suffer serious damage.
"Still a failure…?"
Manducater seemed to have been severely damaged after trying to copy Ruminas' 'qi' but then its body slowly recovered once more and also had a few more differences.
"This is…"