I ran forward with my high speed and was in front of Tim before he could blink. He immediately created a force shield that made the air ripped to block me but it didn't save him from the punch to the gut and a slap to the head that made him spin.
My punch went straight through his shield.
Tim's eyes rolled, and he blindly shoved his hand forward, releasing kinetic force that blasted toward me. I wasn't expecting it, but my right hand bubbled, flowing like liquid, my flesh turned into something that could enlarge and mounded and Hermit transformed, turning into a flat shield of hardened flesh.
The attack crumbled before the shield with a cracking meaty sound, but that gave Tim enough time to get away and bring out more of his stones.
Several of them floated around him again, forming a circle within a circle. Tim rolled his jaw, the pain still making his eyes water. "You bastard, you are finally showing your fangs."
I raised my right hand, which was now seven feet of flat hardened flesh. "You said you're here to make impressions....well then..."
I tried to close the distance between us again, but I suddenly couldn't move! My legs seemed to have stiffened!
I looked down in panic and realized Tim's force was holding me down. I strained against it, and the stone I was standing on broke, but still, I couldn't move.
Tim's jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed in concentration. He was struggling to hold my legs, his stones, and still support his own body with telekinesis. His energy was running low, and I could see the disbelief on his face that he had to use so much power just to hold me down.
Tim started to shoot.
Four stones exploded outward at once, at blinding speed and with a booming shockwave. Another four followed, and another, and then another as the stone circle rotated.
All of this happened in seconds.
When the stones hit my flesh shield, I felt the pain even with Hermit limiting what I should feel. It stung hard and hit with enough force to shake my bones.
And....they just kept coming.
I struggled, straining my muscles to break away from the force holding my legs captive, but it held on tight. Shit! This bastard cornered me. I have to get out of his line of fire! Hermit won't be able to hold on much longer!
Then Hermit sent something through our link, a mix of images and emotions. I groaned as my eyes widened when I understood what it was saying!
Shit!
This is going to hurt! And then I dropped the shield, letting my hand flowed back.
Everyone, especially Tim, was surprised when the shield dropped. Four stones hit me at once. One hit my shoulder with a meaty crack, two slammed into my gut, and the last struck my shin so hard it seems to break my bones.
I didn't let the next set of four stone bullets hit me.
My right hand wiggled and then exploded outward into a mass of flesh and jagged teeth, resembling one part the wing of some monstrosity.
I swept it forward like a broom, and a whoosh of teeth accompanied the shockwave that followed.
Tim made a wall of stones and force power in front of himself, but I could tell he still felt the power behind that simple move. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and he blinked rapidly.
'Impossible. How can he still have such power?' Tim thought.
But it was too early for him to be surprised, because the next moment my eyes glowed green and I opened my mouth. "Unholy magic."
[You have used Unholy magic!] I could feel a soft mumble in my mind from the Grimoire.
Green fire ran up my fangs-filled flesh hand, costing it like second skin made of liquid fire, some of it dripped to the ground and hissed as it hit, eating away at the stone rapidly.
Tim took a step back. What is that? He knew instinctively that it was dangerous.
"I s.....surrender!" he called, even as he released everything else he was doing and poured all of his remaining power into a shield.
My right eye shone with intensity. I poured more energy into my right hand, building it up until the pressure was almost too much to hold.
I smiled.
"Surrender? After you come here like some hot shit and pick a fight?" My voice was deeper, low, and cold. "No, you fucking bastard, you don't get to do that."
I brought my hand down, the fangs shifting and clicking as if they were alive and hungry for flesh.
Bright green energy leaped forwad like a beast, an arc of green fire that split the air, an rammed into Tim's shield with a resounding crack, immediately shattering it like a mirror, it then hit him across the head and chest with a sharp crunch.
Tim was sent flying back. He smashed into the dumpster, crushing it and sending foul-smelling trash spilling everywhere
. He tried to pick himself up, failed, and stayed on his knees. He clutched his chest, still reeling from the shock that the attack managed to break his shield even after he used every last bit of his energy.
"H…o…w…"
Blood dripped from his mouth, and he flinched when he realized I was already crouching in front of him. Suddenly he also found it hard to breathe because a dangerous aura has locked on him.
"Hey. I gave you enough impressions, didn't I?" My voice stayed cold, my eyes burning with the intensity of a furnace.
My hand returned to normal, but I quickly changed it again so that a single long fang jutted out like a spike from my palm.
I thrust forward as if I meant to pierce his eyes, watching him scramble back with a smirk.
"I guess I won then."
But before anything could happen next yellow lightning filled the air in front of me. It condensed into an arrow that shot toward me almost too fast to react, but I managed to change my hand into a shield at the last second.
That created space between me and Tim.
I looked up, my hand trembling slightly. What the hell? That single arrow hit harder than Tim's entire attack since the fight.
Standing between us was a man I could only describe as golden.
His hair looked like spun metallic gold, and both his earrings and clothing were the same color. When he smiled, I half expected him to flash a golden tooth.
I knew immediately that I couldn't trust that smile.
"Who are you?" I demanded, taking a step forward and changing my hand into something filled with far too many fangs.
Litha and Temur had also stepped forward, and she answered,
"That is Thayer Argent."