The world itself seemed to make way for what was coming.
Something that hadn't fully happened yet—
But had already begun.
The air bent inward.
The pressure shifted.
A pull… converging toward a single point.
A breath attack…
So that was its move.
I clicked my tongue internally.
This was worse.
Much worse.
Dodging something like that—especially now, cornered at the edge of the precipice—wouldn't be easy.
For a brief moment, the reality of the situation pressed down on me.
Then—
I exhaled.
Slowly.
Enough.
I was getting tired of being on the receiving end.
The few seconds it took for the snake to charge its attack—
That was all I needed.
My mind settled.
Decision made.
I stepped forward.
Then I charged.
All these new powers…
All these strange abilities…
They were nothing but toys.
Tools I had yet to fully understand.
But this—
This was something I didn't need to think about.
Who I really was.
What I had always been good at.
Throwing hands.
I was a fighter.
An aggressive one.
I should be the one controlling the flow of battle.
To trade hits.
Apply Relentless pressure.
Get into your opponent's head.
A Perfect aggression.
A style that forced both sides toward perfection—
By pushing the other into making mistakes first.
This wasn't the end.
If anything—
The fight was only just beginning.
I pulled my atma back in.
Just enough remained spread around me to maintain awareness of my immediate surroundings.
Everything else—
I poured into the vajra mantle.
But this time…
I didn't control it.
Not consciously.
I let it be.
It was part of me.
Like muscle.
Like instinct.
It would know what to do.
I just had to trust it.
My thoughts narrowed.
Then vanished.
Everything unnecessary faded away as I sank into something deeper—
Battle clarity.
Pure presence.
No past.
No future.
Only now.
The exact moment the snake finished charging—
I was already in front of it.
Close.
Too close.
My right arm—
Restored.
Whole again.
I drove it forward.
A crushing blow.
But this time—
I didn't condense the vajra mantle.
Didn't shape it.
Didn't force it into form.
I let it flow naturally over my fist, like a living extension of myself.
I didn't expect this strike to end anything.
Didn't even expect it to truly damage it.
This—
Was just the beginning.
This would be a long fight.
A brutal one.
A head-to-head clash where I would slowly kill this thing—
By beating it to death.
My fist connected.
At the same time—
The snake fired.
Its breath erupted outward in a violent torrent—acidic, venomous, corroding everything it touched. The air itself seemed to decay in its presence.
Some of it splashed against my vajra mantle.
And then—
Pain.
Not physical.
Not something my body could process.
It struck directly at my atma.
An indescribable agony, deep and absolute, tearing through the core of my existence.
For a split second—
Everything went white.
Then—
I pushed forward.
I didn't care.
Pain didn't matter.
Nothing did.
Only the next strike.
Then the next.
Then the next.
I clawed into its scales—blow after blow, relentless, unyielding. The vajra mantle wrapped around my fists like gauntlets, amplifying each impact.
This wasn't just physical anymore.
Every hit tore into its asura energy directly.
Shockwaves exploded outward with every collision, rippling across the battlefield like thunder given form.
The snake retaliated.
It lunged, jaws snapping down, trying to crush and devour me in one motion.
I moved—
Barely.
Slipping away at the last possible instant, letting its attacks graze past me instead of through me.
I didn't aim.
Didn't need to.
A body this massive—
Anywhere was a target.
Anywhere would hurt.
Because I wasn't just striking flesh.
I was breaking its life.
Its twisted, coiled asura core.
Something inside me—
Shifted.
I felt it.
A flicker of madness.
A part of me that didn't want this to end.
Didn't want the fight to stop.
I stayed close.
Too close.
Pressing into it, forcing it to react, denying it space, denying it control.
The snake began to pull back.
Coiling away.
For the first time—
It was retreating.
And I chased.
It brought its head down suddenly.
Different.
Something changed.
I felt it instantly.
This wasn't like before.
Something else was coming.
And then—
I sensed it.
Too late.
Its tail.
The energy entered my small field of awareness like a flash of lightning—an attack that had been set in motion long before I noticed.
With my eyes closed…
With my perception limited…
It was already too fast.
No time to dodge.
So I didn't.
I took it head-on.
The impact shattered the ground beneath my feet, cracks spiderwebbing outward as the force tore through my body. My entire frame screamed under the weight of it as I was launched backward, sent flying across the battlefield.
I hit—
Rolled—
And stopped.
For a fraction of a second, the world blurred.
Then—
I stood up.
Again.
No hesitation.
No pause.
I pushed off the ground and sprinted forward, closing the distance once more. Cracks spread across the vajra mantle—but just as quickly, they sealed themselves.
I didn't slow down.
And then—
For the first time—
I felt it.
The snake…
Hesitated.
Just for a moment.
But it was there.
Clear.
Undeniable.
And I smiled.
A sharp, feral grin spread across my face as something inside me clicked into place.
The first phase was complete.
I had gotten into its head.
I had always known this.
The easiest ones to break—
Were the ones who believed they were untouchable.
The ones who thought they were stronger than everything else.
Human or beast—
It didn't matter.
Let them do their best.
Let them unleash everything they have.
And if I was still standing after that—
Then the fight was already over.
The victory—
Was already mine.