Chapter 65: Chapter 65 : A Reminder (Part 2)

Seconds before the gunshot…

[[…Ralf?]]

Ralf ignored his other self’s voice as he honed in on the change his sharp senses detected. While his Psi Scan had been retracted, the ability to observe all around him wasn’t lost.

The extent to which Ralf’s senses were enhanced couldn’t be understated. His vision was the obvious one, but his hearing was no less impressive. It allowed him to use Echo Scan, a passive sonar ability that effectively functioned as a lower quality but longer-ranged Psi Scan.

The plethora of sounds streamed into his ears and then through a process akin to synesthesia, transformed them into building blocks which would then construct a 360-degree image that his mind’s eye would perceive.

The image produced from this process was clear even normally, but Ralf went a step further. By disabling several irrelevant senses like smell, taste, and pain, he freed up brainpower which was then used to enhance the clarity of this image.

Echo Scan had been active since they entered the Monster Zone, and was currently being used to observe the changes overcoming Morris.

The other’s rising heartbeat, body tensing up and the other’s half-turn; all were captured perfectly. Upon registering them, Ralf’s heart and eyes grew cold; his mind began shifting into combat mode.

But before it could fully shift…it happened.

‘-Argh!’

At the worst possible time, the aftereffects of Overclock reared their ugly head. Ralf’s clear mind was instantly scrambled as the piecing headache struck him. Knowing the situation he was in, Ralf fought hard to regain clarity, but by the time he did, Morris’ gun was already out and aiming his way.

Perceiving this, Ralf moved with desperate speed. He dismissed the bike and had his figure veer rightward. The bullet passed by his left. Dodging it, he did a quick turn. Now facing his opponent, his inertia caused him to slide backwards across the dirt.

Morris stood gun out, his face showing exquisite surprise. Ralf’s last-second dodging feat was most unexpected. But a mere moment later, this bafflement was shaken off as his eyes beamed with battle intent.

Ralf saw this and responded in kind.

But again…

‘Argh, not again dammi-’

Ralf’s thoughts were cut short as Morris’ figure suddenly appeared before him. The other’s right fist rocketed forth.

Swoosh!

Flickering leftward, Ralf was spared from its devastating might, but the same couldn’t be said of the air occupying the space he was in; it howled with a pained tune as it was forcefully displaced.

Missing with his straight, Morris pulled back. As he did, he clenched his right hand and a large sword found itself in his iron grip. Then, in one smooth motion, he turned and slashed at Ralf’s legs.

Ralf wanted nothing to do with this attack. The dodge had been clean, but he was still in a state of unbalance. He needed a moment to catch his breath, just a moment.

And with this desire, he took his next action. Using his Flicker’s momentum, he did a backflip, just barely avoiding his opponent’s blade. His figure shot diagonally towards a thick tree branch his Psi Scan had identified moments earlier.

He planned to do ¾ of his backflip and use the branch as a footing to prepare his next sequence of movements.

But…

As he was in mid-air, Morris’ previously cocked back left fist fired forward. With the punching motion, a dense ball of Psi rushed towards Ralf’s airborne figure. It raced his way with the speed of a bullet and the power of a cannonball.

Still, Ralf’s mental acuity and Psi Sense were up to the task. He instantly twisted his body into a ‘C’ shape, causing the projectile to blow past his backside. Ralf then corrected his form mid-air and prepared to make contact.

Upon touching the bark, the balance he sought had been gained. Ralf was ready to combat his foe to the best of his ability, but a moment later, this balance would once again crumble, both metaphorically and literally.

*Snap*

‘Ah?’

The branch as thick as his waist suddenly gave way. Struck with the feeling of weightlessness, his actions and mental cogs paused. In this time, Morris dashed toward him along the ground. His Psi gathered in mass and a giant mallet materialised. Using his momentum, physical brawn, and Psi in perfect sync, Morris swung the monstrosity at his airborne opponent.

Ralf, having just recovered, captured the mallet’s one-metre-diameter face closing in quickly. With no room to dodge, Ralf resolved himself to tank the hit. All Psi rushed to form a shield at his front. At the same time, he scrunched up his body into a foetal position, making sure to guard his head.

Bang!

Swoosh!

Struck, Ralf’s body was sent flying backwards at speeds akin to a released arrow and motions resembling a crazed rag doll.

His shield shattered at the colossal impact, but not immediately; it had held up just long enough to keep the mallet’s tremendous force from destroying his body.

‘Ha, got you,’ Morris thought as a wild smirk surfaced.

Sending his opponent into a wild spin after four successive failures brought joy to Morris’s heart. But he wasn’t satisfied. He drew out his crimson coloured pistol again, and an identical but gold-coloured pistol. Dual-wielding them, he opened fire at Ralf.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*…

‘Again,’ he commented internally as his opponent displayed another shocking feat of skill.

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Ralf, as though clawing at space itself, used his hands as axis points and twisted himself right way up, all the while dodging the bullets, then as his feet were about to make contact with the ground, his Psi constructed a smooth floor akin to ice which he slid on. Thanks to the conservation of momentum, he easily shifted from side to side and avoided the incoming bullets.

Zigzagging for a few seconds, Ralf slid himself behind a thick tree. Temporary safe from gunfire, he immediately clutched his throbbing head. ‘Dammit, not now!’ Frustration and anger rose in him as the world continued to shake uncontrollably.

While he had no visible injuries, Ralf hadn’t come out unscathed from Morris’ attack.

The mallet attack was multi-staged. After delivering the initial impact, the secondary mechanism was triggered and caused the mallet to rapidly expand and release a violent expulsion of force. While Ralf’s shield had managed to fully tank the former, it hadn’t managed to do the same for the latter.

The amount of force that slipped through wasn’t big, but it was enough to leave Ralf dizzy, disorientated, and even worse, it triggered another wave of headaches.

His deactivated sense of pain did nothing to alleviate these sensations striking him.

*Bang* *Bang*…

Gunshots continued to sound while Ralf fought hard to regain his bearings. In this precarious situation, his Mental Space experiences served him well. It prevented panicking, allowing for a speedy recovery.

Three more seconds were needed. However, Morris wasn’t the accommodating type.

Tossing his guns, Morris darted forward. He materialised a giant double-edged sword at his right side. Then, from the other side of the tree, he performed an anticlockwise horizontal slash. The blade’s impeccable sharpness and speed allowed it to move unimpeded. Slicing through the thick tree, it raced towards its target.

The blade slashed nothing but air as Ralf Flickered backwards in the nick of time. Still, Morris wasn’t done. Dismissing the sword, he closed the distance between him and Ralf in the blink of an eye and unleashed a flurry of punches.

Ralf was put on the back foot. With his mind still frazzled, he focused entirely on evasion; he weaved and slipped past Morris’ flying fists while zigzagging about.

He wanted to buy himself enough time to recover. But that was easier said than done.

Morris’ powerful attacks were far from random, each one was delivered with remarkable skill and precision. Ralf was quickly overwhelmed by them, and his dodging margin quickly shrunk until a clean dodge was impossible.

Morris’ left cross rushed towards his opponent’s ribs. A curved circular shield materialised around Ralf’s right arm as it moved to guard. At the same time, Ralf jumped slightly. The punch landed and blasted Ralf sideways.

The block had put a crack in his shield but he was fine. Now already in motion, Ralf planned to accelerate further but a moment later, he changed his mind.

The tree which had been cut initially, that had been in the process of falling was given a helping hand by Morris’ telekinesis, who had it rapidly descend towards his prey.

Boom!

Ralf killed his momentum in time causing the tree to crash into the ground beside him. Dirt shot up from the resulting force, forming an instantaneous smoke screen.

Swoosh!

The dirt cloud parted as Morris came barreling through at high speed. Closing the distance, he fired off a wicked right straight. Ralf narrowly dodged it with a leftward weave, but Morris wasn’t done, he did a sharp clockwise turn and threw an upward swinging punch with his left fist. The second punch raced towards his target’s gut.

The lightning-quick transition left Ralf unable to dodge. He conjured his shield, ready to receive Morris’ punch and be sent flying again. But this punch never came, at least not in the way he expected.

At the last possible moment, Morris killed most of his punch’s momentum. The change-up threw off Ralf’s rushed calculations. The punch connected, and Ralf was blown back.

Morris’ eyes flashed with opportunity as he caught his opponent’s now broken posture. Knowing the window was brief, he acted with his quickest speed. His right hand drew the knife at his waist. Holding it in a reverse grip, he slashed out.

*Slice*

The impromptu Psi armour Ralf conjured couldn’t stop the knife’s advance. The blade tore through the Psi and cut all it made contact with; the combat harness, shirt, and Ralf’s flesh fell victim to the knife’s razor sharpness. A long line was made across Ralf’s waist.

‘Gotcha.’

Finally managing to damage his troublesome opponent, Morris’ heart surged with satisfaction. Still, this emotion hadn’t slowed down his actions.

Upon seeing Ralf’s Psi rally to activate his movement technique, and intuitively understanding that a punch wouldn’t connect, Morris fired off a frontal kick with his left leg.

The Flicker activated first, but Morris’ boot managed to clip Ralf, breaking past the defensive Psi and devastating the already bloody stomach area.

Bam!

A grotesque sound resounded from the aftermath and Ralf was sent hurling backwards at high speeds. He became a living paintbrush, as his outpouring blood drew a squiggly red line in his wake. After decorating the air with his blood, the ground was next. Gravity sent him crashing down and like a stone skipping across a lake’s surface, Ralf’s body skidded roughly through the forest. Dirt, blood, and Psi splashed up at every collision.

*Thud*

Ralf’s journey came to an end as he crashed back-first into a wide tree, where he then slid down.

‘Done already?’

Asking the question, some disappointment slithered into Morris’ heart. It had been a long time since he had to work this hard to land a hit on an opponent. Memories and emotions that were previously buried rushed to the surface; his fighter’s spirit was reignited. He wanted to fight more…but with his opponent as he was now, he knew that further fighting wouldn’t be worthwhile.

‘He did well lasting this long, asking for more is unreasonable. Instead,’ Morris’ gaze moved upwards, connecting the red dots until it settled on Ralf’s figure some fifteen metres away, ‘let’s enjoy the real show.’ Following the thought, he began striding forward.

The disappointment from a moment ago was washed away as his twisted proclivities flooded his being.

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