Mira didn't let him finish, her boot brutally struck the side of his head, shifting his body that was leaned on the tree completely to the side.
"This bitch!" Damon muttered under the agonizing pain assaulting his ear.
Before he could regain his bearings, another flurry of unrelenting and unforgiving kicks followed. Some to his head, some to his chest, then the last one that struck his gut sending him skidding on the floor.
"Keuk!" Damon vomited out blood, along with what little was in his stomach.
'Shit! This crazy bitch is really out to kill me.' Damon thought grimly. 'I need to find a way to get out of this situation somehow, that too, fast.'
The most worrying thing was that he barely had more than two percent of his aether, so he couldn't even make a reflection.
"Step! step!" Mira began walking towarss his Damon step by step.
"Do you know of the agony that has been piercing my heart for the past few days? she asked coldly.
"That the one responsible for my Enzo's death was right in front of me, and I couldn't even avenge him." she continued.
"It was then that I promised myself," Mira's eyes grew colder, if it could even get colder than it already was. "After I cut of your tongue, gouge out your eyes, and crush all your bones, I will make you beg me for death."
"Mira, for the last time stop this lunacy!" Ms present urged. "You know the punishment for defying my orders do you not?"
Ms present was extremely livid. And no it wasn't because she didn't want Mira to kill Damon. But more specifically because Mira had dared to poison her. 'The nerve of her.' she thought.
If Mira had merely decided to kill Damon, while Ms present wouldn't help her, she wouldn't have interfered either. It was their problem, so the two should solve it, how was it her problem?
Mira's calm steps faltered, before she turned to the dark haired woman.
"I'm afraid I cannot my lady. The effects of the paralytic will end in a little more than half an hour. After that whatever punishment you wish to impose on me, I'll gladly accept." Mira said before turning back to Damon.
Damon grimaced. Mira's soft calm steps as she walked towards him felt like the clock for his time of death clicking.
'Ah shit, am I really going to die here?' Damon cursed. It seemed like him dying here was inevitable. 'My luck must be really trashy, or is it that the timeline of the world wanted to correct itself even if a little by putting me out of the equation?' Damon thought grimly.
It didn't seem unlikely, Damon had seen, or rather read in many novels how the world's will or sentences tries to erase anomalies to 'protect' the known timeline.
In hindsight, ever since Damon found himself in this world, one thing or another seemed to go wrong. First, after he had upgraded his unique physique from kappa rank to omega, and wanted to leave black sands island.
His boat had mysteriously been destroyed. Then second, when he finally had hope to leave the island through the assistance of Ms present's party, they all got mysteriously dumped into the Ashen Deadlands.
Then thirdly, even after prevailing for weeks and finally managed to escape the godforsaken place. A new variable came in the form of Mira. Apparently, just because her lover or something had died to a beast clan Damon had aggravated.
'Aiiiiish this world is truly out to get me.' Damon smiled wistfully as Mira's ice sword pierced clean through his shoulder.
He bit back an agonized scream from the mind numbing pain that assaulted his being.
'Then again..' his eyes suddenly sharpened. Whether it was the former or the latter, he wouldn't let some concepts decide his life. He had been brought to this world without his permission, and hell be damned if he'll let himself be extinguished without his permission.
"Is that the best you can do?" Damon taunted. 'All I have to do is stall and buy enough time for...' he thought, but Mira's next actions brought him back to reality.
"Not even close!" Mira viciously twisted the ice glaive still embedded in his shoulder.
"Ahhh, fuck!" Damon stiffled a scream.
Fortunately or unfortunately, did to the paralytic, Mira's actions weren't as excruciating as they were supposed to be. But they were still painful nonetheless.
"Thought you could do better." Damon still continued his taunt with a pained smirk.
"Time will tell whether I can or not." Mira viciously withdrew the ice glaive from his shoulder, shredding the muscles in the way.
"Keuk!" he let out a pained gasp.
Meanwhile Ms present watched as Mira continued her mission of torturing Damon. But her gaze wasn't on Mira herself, but instead on Damon.
"He's planning something." she concluded. She didn't know why, but she just knew he was planning something. 'But what is it? Certainly he's not waiting for the poison's effect to roll off is he?' Ms present thought incredulously. 'Because if he is, then he's more stupid than I thought.'
Ms present was certain that Mira was also keeping track of the time it'll take the paralytic to wear off. The reason? Ms present herself.
'Whatever he's planning though, if he does not act fast, he'll be left too injured for it to matter.' Ms present thought as Mira pierced another path of Damon's body for the nth time.
"I bet that Enzo guy didn't even like you in the first place. Maybe that's why he chose death to dodge the bullet."
"You bastard!" Mira's furious boot stomped on Damon chest.
"How dare you?!" she stomped once again.
"Ukhh!" Damon's chest caved in, and his body sunk a few millimeters into the ground.
'Ah you bastard, hurry up or we'll really die to this bitch!' Damon mentally said.
"Fret not, I'm already here."
"Sprut!" The sound of something being pierced made the surroundings silent for a bit.
Mira's hands trembled, they left the sword in their grasp and made there way to her stomach. There, a bone covered in blood, was protruding from her guts.
She instinctively turned behind her, and there, a perfect replica of Damon stood with a smug smile.
"H...h..how?" her words faltered as blood slip down the sides of her mouth.
"Bitch!" was the only thing Damon's reflection spat as his fist brutally connected with the side of Mira's face knocking her to the ground.
Meanwhile Ms present stared frozen. 'A clone?' Then something clicked, 'That must be the secret of his so called scouting abilities.' she concluded.
"What are you waiting for you idiot?" Damon wheezed. "Give me a damn healing potion."
"My bad." his reflection chuckled. He knelt down beside Damon, then with a slight touch of his hand on Damon's spatial ring, a tube filled with a yellow liquid appeared out of thin air.
Damon's reflection uncorked the tube, and fed the contents to him.
A soothing coolness spread through Damon's entire body. While a single healing potion won't enough to heal most of the severe injuries on his person, it'll be enough to at least numb the pain.
And most importantly, "Ugggh, I'm not sure it's a good idea to be able to feel my body this soon." It'll rid him of the effects of the paralytic.
Damon's reflection meanwhile turned back to Mira. Without hesitation, he pulled out the bone spike he had used to pierce her stomach.
"Ahhh." he hummed. "How I would have loved to take my time with you, but alas, I don't like to take chances." Damon's reflection raised the hand holding the bone spike high.
"Stop!" A voice ordered just as the reflection's hand was about to descend.
He turned to the origin.
"Why should I?" he spoke almost confused.
"Don't kill her." Ms present said after a moment of pause.
Damon frowned.
"Are you retarded?" he pushed himself up despite his injuries. He slowly walked to Ms present with a limp. Then crouched before her.
"No I'm quite sound in the mind." she replied after he crouched before her.
Damon grimaced.
"Then pray tell, why are you asking me to spare someone that was about to kill me?"
Ms present replied without missing a beat.
"Because she's my subordinate, and I alone have the right to punish her."
The surroundings went silent for a bit, Damon and his reflection stared at each other, before,
"Hahahahaha..." Both burst into hysterical laughter.
Ms present frowned.
"What's so funny about what I said?"
It took a while for damon to compose himself.
After which he said, "You're joking right?"
"What part of what I said seemed like a joke to you?" she retorted.
"Listen lady, I'm going to kill this woman here today and nothing is going to stop me."
The air around Ms present turned frigid.
"Then you'll be making an enemy of me."
"Hmmm, you're kinda right." Damon hummed. "So why don't I just do myself a favour and rid this world of you?" his eyes turned icy.