"Now… now…" Sky smirked, standing firm and unyielding. Kuin's relentless assault, which moments before had driven Sky back, now had absolutely no effect. A sudden, chilling terror gripped Kuin as the tables dramatically turned.
"How is that possible… why… why can't I harm you anymore?! Something is truly, deeply wrong!" Kuin screamed in a panic, a palpable dread consuming him that this confrontation would once again devolve into the same crushing defeat he had experienced that day. He vehemently refused to be vanquished, more precisely, he refused to surrender his very life to Sky's enigmatic power.
"I shall elucidate the 'how' and the 'why,' but first, prepare yourself…" Sky declared, his voice deepening slightly, resonating with an unnerving calm. He launched himself forward with an incredible surge of speed, so formidable that Kuin was momentarily paralyzed, barely able to process the impending strike.
"No… no…" Kuin's thoughts raced in a frantic blur as he saw Sky's fist closing the final inch, anticipating the devastating impact he had endured last time. Yet, to his stunned surprise…
"Hahaha… you are weak, hero!" Kuin cackled, a sliver of hope igniting within him as he perceived that Sky's fist lacked the requisite power to inflict substantial harm. Sky's fist did connect with Kuin's face, but it lacked the intensity to draw blood or cause Kuin to recoil in pain.
"You may possess speed, but you lack the raw might to make me suffer," Kuin scoffed, his ego inflating once more. His momentary fear dissipated; Sky's punch had failed to dislodge him even a fraction from his stance. Moreover, Sky's face clearly betrayed the surging pain in his knuckles, confirming Kuin's renewed belief in his own safety.
"So what if I cannot damage you with my fist, neither can you do so… we are truly equal. I suppose I can be magnanimous enough to bestow upon you the title of my riv—" Kuin was mid-sentence, his arrogant monologue abruptly cut short as another punch landed squarely on his face. While not powerful enough to send him flying, a dawning realization struck Kuin.
"No… you are still holding—aggghhhhh!" Kuin attempted to articulate his growing understanding, but before he could complete the thought, Sky unleashed a relentless barrage of non-stop punches. Kuin's eyes widened in comprehension, and he immediately staggered back several steps, his gaze fixed on Sky with a newfound seriousness. His cheeks and lips were already visibly swollen from the repetitive assault, throbbing with pain that he stubbornly refused to display.
"Your punches are progressively gaining strength. How?" Kuin demanded, confusion and pain lacing his voice. Sky finally allowed a slight smile to grace his lips.
"It appears you are now inclined to converse before resorting to conflict. However, it's a regrettable pity you didn't choose dialogue earlier, because now, I intend to make you profoundly regret your initial decision to attack me first," Sky declared, his smile sending cold waves of fear and terror through Kuin. His instincts screamed at him, urging him to flee this place once more.
"Attempting to escape? Not today, little brother," Sky stated, launching himself at Kuin with such explosive force that a small crater formed in the ground beneath his feet. Sky surged upwards, pursuing Kuin, who was flying at his absolute maximum speed, desperate to escape Sky's grasp. Yet, Kuin was simply not fast enough. Sky materialized directly above him, delivering a solid, concussive punch to Kuin's neck, causing him to lose both balance and consciousness.
"Oh fuck… no…" Kuin's last coherent thought before he plummeted into a thorny thicket. Sky landed squarely on his chest, expelling the air from Kuin's lungs, forcing a guttural scream of agony from him.
"Ahhh… my chest…" Kuin's scream was so piercing, so raw, that it reached Isha's ears, causing her to tremble anew in fear as she remained alone. Sky dismounted Kuin's chest, asking, "How are you feeling?" But Kuin was beyond reply, already teetering on the precipice of unconsciousness. The intense pain of the thorns embedding themselves in his back, combined with the blood that now stained his clothes from Sky's landing, rendered him speechless.
Receiving no response, Sky prepared to deliver a few more strikes, lifting his arm, but suddenly, Kuin, summoning every ounce of his remaining strength, cried out to save his life.
"Stop!" Kuin gasped, huffing for breath, his words infused with a desperate, pleading tone. His face was already a mask of blood.
"I am sorry, please don't kill me. You are a hero; you can't kill me like that," Kuin pleaded. Sky raised an eyebrow, a sardonic smile playing on his lips.
"I am no hero, and yes, I can extinguish your life at any given moment I desire. Punch…" Sky punctuated his statement with a brutal punch to Kuin's already bloodied face, fracturing his nose and embedding his skull into the ground, forming a crater beneath his head.
"Ahh… my face… no, don't kill me… aghhhh…" Kuin began to writhe like a fish out of water. The excruciating pain of his fractured nose felt like hell, and more blood gushed from him.
PUNCH… AGGHHHH… PUNCH… AGGG… PUNCH… Sky landed a few more devastating blows. With each impact, the crater beneath Kuin's head deepened, until he was nearly half-buried in the earth. Kuin's cries ceased; he became motionless, his face obscured by blood, unable to move or scream. He was barely breathing. Finally, Sky ceased his torture.
"My initial intention was to engage in discourse, but since you demonstrated no interest, this outcome is entirely your own making. Consider this a reminder: tomorrow, I shall return to this exact location. And should I fail to find you here, I will scour the entirety of this world to hunt you down and eliminate you. Understand that I possess the capability to kill you at any given moment, yet I am choosing to leave you alive because I desire a conversation with you. I am departing now, with the girl." Sky concluded, turning to leave without a backward glance.
"Fuck… I am dead… Thank God… he didn't kill me. But fuck… it hurts… aggghhhhh…" Kuin managed to gasp, bewildered by how the entire confrontation had escalated to this point. Yet, a morbid sense of relief washed over him; he wouldn't die so easily. Had it been any ordinary person, they would have perished a thousand times over under Sky's immense force. But thankfully, Kuin too possessed powers.