"Damn it, fine...since this is the last time, I'll play along," Sighed Rex, before he shot towards me.
I sent Ravage zipping out as he closed in, before he swiftly got low and rapidly slid forward, phasing past my legs.
I leapt up as he slipped behind me, right as he whipped one of his blades across at my heels, the blade whizzing past the soles of my boots as I jumped right in the nick of time.
He quickly rolled out of the way as I glanced back and sent Ravage swooping down towards him, narrowly evading it as the jaws snapped at him, before springing back onto his feet and lunging at me, unfurling a fierce thrust of his right blade.
As the tip of the blade began to close in on the middle of my chest, I raised the jaws of Ravage in front of myself, devouring the entire wooden blade except for the handle, his eyes widening slightly as the jaws shot straight towards his chest.
He arched back, letting himself fall back as he let go of the bladeless handle, planting his right hand on the floor before whipping his feet up towards me.
I quickly sprang back, the bottom of his shoe grazing my chin, before he backflipped and leapt back several paces, getting some distance as he let out a slow exhale.
He reached up to his ear and pulled off the loop of his mask, taking it off and tossing it away before wiping the blood off the lower half of his face that was pouring out of his broken nose, which was a bit crooked and swollen.
I see, so that's what he looks like, he's never taken the mask off before. He had a deep scar on the right side of his face, extending horizontally from the corner of his mouth, across his cheek and just short of his earlobe.
He then shot towards me again, flipping the grip on his remaining blade, in his left hand, before unleashing a rapid swipe across at my face.
I tilted my head back, the tip of the blade whizzing past the front of my face before I snapped the jaws of Ravage at his left shoulder.
He quickly tilted his body across, a few shreds of fabric and a bit of his skin getting torn off, before he flipped his grip on the handle of his blade again and swung it down towards the side of my neck.
I arched across to the other side, grimacing as the blade slammed onto the top of my shoulder with a jarring impact, before my hand shot up with immense speed as I chanted...
"
He stiffened as I grabbed his forearm before he could pull back, deactivating Ravage before driving my knee up and slamming it onto the middle of his stomach as he simultaneously jabbed at the bottom of my ribcage with his other hand, letting out a sharp gasp as my knee pushed into his stomach.
"That hurt...," I muttered, before whipping the back of my fist towards his face, his head jerking across to the right as my fist slammed onto his left cheek, before I drew back my fist as I took a swift step towards him.
As I drove my arm forward, he broke free of the effect of Command, my fist phasing through his face before I winced sharply as he struck my solar plexus with his blade, collapsing onto my knees as he knocked the wind out of me, before he backed away and got some distance as I manifested Ravage again and shakily got back onto my feet with a grimace.
I only have two minutes left, and I can't muster up much strength after that last strike. My MP is running low too, I can't maintain Ravage for much longer, even less so if I use one of my other Skills.
"It looks like there's no point in continuing any further," I remarked, as I deactivated Ravage.
"Huh? For real? Great, no objections here," Rex sighed in relief, setting his wooden short-sword down and stretching his arms up.
I took a seat on the floor, crossing my arms and closing my eyes. This really is a strange sensation in my body, it's so contradictory. It's both burning hot and ice cold at the same time, intense yet calm...Ai, what do you make of it?
Ah, so that's what this is.
The burning rage is being tempered by cold logic, with no other emotional sway or sentiment clouding my decisions. Interesting.
Is that so? I don't really see how that's relevant. My goal was to gain control over the state Enrage puts me in, and I've accomplished that.
Hm? It looks like my time is almost up, Enrage is about to wear off...
.
.
.
.
.
.
I felt a chill as I reverted to my normal state, the purple energy surrounding me dissipating.
I-I feel so...so disconcerted.
Technically speaking, I was in control, I was, but...now that I'm back to normal, it feels like I wasn't really myself while in that state.
Damn it, I feel so creeped out, like my skin's crawling.
Hm? Wait, that's strange...I don't feel all that much pain. I am a little sore, but it's nowhere near as painful as the backlash from using Enrage was before.
Is it just because I wasn't moving as aggressively? I also feel kinda dizzy, and warm...really warm.
Also, cold.