Nuna helped him to his feet.
Together, they pushed up, standing. Nuna's breath steadied. Her gaze snapped forward, back to the assassin.
The assassin stood tall, malevolent power radiating from his form. Black and green veins snaked across his visible skin.
His skin had darken, gaining an unsettling grey hue to it.
His mask had cracked or fallen, and from his nose upward, his face was warped into an unsightly, grotesque form.
The most unsettling changes were in his eyes. It was hard to tell where he was looking. The pupils and irises were gone, replaced by impenetrable black emptiness.
Corrupt Qi shimmered around him in a hazy rising mist, heavy and oppressive.
Nuna's voice froze and cracked as she recognized the phenomenon before them: "A demonic cultivator!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I can feel it from the corrupt Qi he is emmiting."
Kyle nodded, his gaze focused on the assassin, who looked like he was awakening something evil.
The air around them prickled their skin, like a searing acid, because of the Qi turning aggressive.
The corrupted Qi in the air confirmed her fears; this assassin had activated a forbidden technique.
And from the oppressive feeling from his aura, he was many times stronger now, boosted by some dark demonic art.
Such techniques temporarily increased the user's strength; some were even capable of multiplying a person's strength tenfold.
But, they came at a price. The most commonly known, an attempt to gain a temporary boost in strength, in exchange for your life force.
One of the reasons why they were forbidden. Using it for lengthy periods of time would do more damage than merely stealing away life force; rather, it was one way to sign up for a quick death.
It was the same as signing your life away for power. A last-ditch attempt in a desperate situation.
That's what it was.
Kyle frowned.
'This is not good.'
Kyle's eyes met hers. He took a steadying breath and said, "We'll need to work together."
Nuna's jaw tightened. She wrapped both hands around her scythe's shaft, Qi glowing faintly as it coalesced along the blade. "Okay. Together."
Kyle turned to face their target, his sword flashing into his hand, not wasting a second, he got into stride.
Nuna was not too far behind. They moved in unison, Nuna left, Kyle right, intending to pinch him from both sides.
Nuna's scythe, humming with Qi, carved an arc that shimmered with lethal intent.
Kyle mirrored her actions opposite her; his sword flashed with Qi. They attacked in harmony.
The strikes landed in synchrony. The assassin, who had received a major physical buff, raised his hands on either side.
Roarrrrrr!!!
Unexpectedly, he managed to take on both strikes and remain standing.
"???"
"What!?"
Nuna and Kyle darted back.
He looked at his sword, 'I put in a lot of strength behind my strike, Nuna must have done the same.'
It was only after he looked at the assassin again that Kyle noticed that they had actually done a considerable amount of damage.
The assassin's arms had cuts in them, and were bleeding profusely, but, it was like he did not even feel the pain.
Like he was numb to it all, he barely flinched.
'This is annoying.'
Kyle immediately noticed that this might be a long fight. Fighting against a person would be simple; they were predictable, a beast, even more so, they were not as intelligent.
But fighting a person who had seemingly lost their sanity, and acted like they were immune to numb to pain, essentially, half human, half beast.
'This will be troublesome.'
He decided to convey his thoughts to Nuna, who was also frowning at the changes to the assassin.
"He has gotten much stronger than I thought. It feels like his raw strength is at the early core formation realm now. It won't be as easy to take him down."
Nuna nodded.
"Let's try to whittle him down with multiple strikes; meeting him head-on will only tire us out," He spoke.
"Alright." Nuna and Kyle prepared for another coordinated attack. Neither moved recklessly; instead, they flowed, adapting to each other's rhythm.
They circled around him, changing positions, before darting towards him once more. The assassin lunged, grunting.
The lunge missed by a hair's breadth, thanks to a timely duck by Kyle.
The assassin snarled, black mist coiling around his fists. With a roar, he surged forward with a follow-up strike.
Time fractured.
Kyle braced, absorbing the full force. Bones twinged. His knees buckled, but he didn't stagger.
Kyle shook off the ringing in his ears and the pain radiating through his ribs.
He tasted grit in his mouth. The assassin's rage-warped form loomed across the shattered clearing
Nuna made use of the opening to strike. She spun left, Qi screeching off the blade of her scythe; Kyle darted right, his sword flashing with a follow-up before Nuna's attack even landed.
Their attacks were separate but entwined.
The assassin blocked, but barely. His arm trembled. And that was exactly what Kyle was waiting for.
Kyle's blade cut forward with precise timing, slipping through the assassin's guard. The strike wasn't deep, but it was enough to draw a sharp hiss from the corrupted figure.
The demonic cultivator staggered half a step back, black mist hissing angrily as if it were alive and protesting the wound.
Nuna didn't miss her chance. Her scythe curved down in a savage arc, landing against the assassin's shoulder.
Sparks erupted, Qi grinding against corrupted flesh, and the cut bit through more deeply this time.
The assassin howled, a guttural sound that shook the air. Instead of retreating, he slammed both feet into the ground.
The corrupted Qi thickened, lashing outward like a poisonous tide. The shockwave forced Kyle and Nuna to leap back, grit and leaves blasting into their faces.
Kyle spat blood, narrowing his eyes. "He's burning through himself even faster than I thought."
Nuna's jaw clenched. She steadied her scythe, voice cold. "Which means he won't stop until he's completed his mission."
Kyle nodded.
The assassin bent low, veins bulging as though about to burst. His empty black eyes snapped to them with eerie clarity. Then, he was gone.
Kyle's instincts screamed. He whipped his sword up just in time to parry a slash that would've gutted him. The sheer force of the blow sent vibrations up his arms, rattling his bones.
Nuna reacted instantly. She thrust her scythe's end backward, catching the assassin in the ribs. The weapon screeched against his flesh before tearing away, spraying more blood.
But he still didn't falter.