Grid's appearance had changed. Beyond the stripes spreading across his entire body, the elongation of his canines, and his feline eyes, he was now emitting a constant pressure that clouded my mind.
— I'm really screwed…
To my surprise, he dropped down on all fours, as if imitating a tiger. He closed the distance between us before I could even realize it. As I tried to block with my uninjured arm, the sheer power of his kick sent me flying into one of the police station's pillars.
— Cough, cough…
The effects of the boost were starting to take their toll, on top of all my injuries and the blood I had already lost.
— To think that stupid martial art actually had a move like Boost…
I laughed as I tried to move, but my body no longer obeyed me at all.
The feline appeared right in front of me and threw a punch, driving me into the pillar and destroying it in the process.
— What's wrong, Shin? Where did your usual arrogance go?
Taking advantage of the moment he spoke, I hurled a chunk of the pillar I had grabbed when he shattered it. To my surprise, he simply crushed it by catching it midair.
— Still trying little tricks, huh? Hahaha, how pathetic.
He closed the distance again—the very distance I was desperately trying to create—and landed an uppercut so powerful it slammed into my chest and knocked the breath out of me. My Perpetual Cycle had just been deactivated. He followed up with a spinning kick, sending me flying several meters away.
— Against absolute power, your little tricks are useless.
He said as he walked toward me to finish things.
— HAHAHAHAHA!
My laughter froze Grid for a moment, but he simply took it as the ramblings of a dying man—and he wasn't entirely wrong. I had nothing left in reserve: no techniques, no plans, nothing to deal with this. Maybe if I were in better condition, it would be a different story…
He grabbed me by the hair and lifted my head, looking at me with a satisfied expression as he took in my utterly pitiful state.
— Any last words?
He asked, a smile on his lips.
— Yeah. You've got a really ugly face.
Taking advantage of that instant of arrogance, I drove a punch straight into his eyes, blinding him for a brief moment. I used the opening to pull back and hide behind a pillar. As expected, there are parts of the body you don't instinctively reinforce in order to save ether—like the eyes.
— Still with the little tricks?!
Grid roared furiously as he shattered the ground with a single step.
— How the hell am I supposed to deal with this…
Fine, I have no choice. If I want to beat him, I'll have to bet everything on martial arts… I'll have to push forward the project I had planned with the Perpetual Cycle.
In this lowly world, the Perpetual Cycle is the most primitive art humanity ever created. It's what the first Awakened used to cultivate and reach Level 1. Even though, nowadays, every martial art surpasses it, they've forgotten one thing: besides being the most primitive, it's also versatile. Unlike the others, it specializes in nothing—making it the perfect foundation to create a new martial art.
— Found you!
Grid's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I ducked on reflex. His high kick obliterated the pillar I was hiding behind. I grabbed chunks of stone again, crushed them with my grip, and hurled them into his eyes, blinding him one last time.
The art of the Perpetual Cycle is based on repetition and steady breathing to control ether. The Blue Sage's art is based on knowledge and a runic language through which ether is channeled. The Mountain Tiger's art relies on a solid physical constitution to store ether, granting incredible explosiveness combined with combat movements.
The art I need to create has to be perfect for me. I'll base it on Boost, but I need something to replace breathing.
— Such a pain!
Jack roared as he unleashed the Mountain Tiger's roar, sending me flying through the air. Exploiting the opening he had just created, he grabbed me by the ankle and slammed me into the ground with a thunderous crash.
I stood back up and tried something with Boost. This time, I wasn't using my body, but my entire circulatory system, all driven by my will bending ether to my own.
I saw Grid charge toward me and pushed him back with a well-placed jab to his chin, stunning him for a moment. Even so, instinctively, he understood what I was doing.
— Damn it, it's not enough!
I complained. Every martial art tries, in its own way, to control ether through one method and channel it through another.
The Perpetual Cycle uses breathing to control ether and breathing to channel it. The Blue Sage's art uses runic language to channel ether and the brain to control it. Finally, the Mountain Tiger's art uses the entire body to store ether and probably the muscles to channel it.
— I need something to channel ether…
While dodging the feline's endless barrage of blows, I wondered what I was missing to create my martial art.
Instead of using only the circulatory system, I'll use the entire system, including the heart this time: the heart to channel ether, and the circulatory system to store it. That way, my heart becomes the engine and the blood system the reservoir. But I'm still missing something for it to truly be my art… Something unique to me.
— Daydreaming?
Interrupting my thoughts once again, he landed a perfectly placed punch, shattering my already injured forearm.
I'll kill him!
Suddenly, enlightenment struck me. Of course… I need to base my martial art on what defines me the most.
Frozen for an instant by this epiphany, I finally completed the art.
No matter what Shin was doing, I had to stop him. From the moment he stopped using the Perpetual Cycle and switched to something incomplete, he had managed to bring himself back to equal footing with me. I need to finish this while I still have enough ether—after all, the third move consumes an enormous amount.
He froze for a moment. This was it. But to my surprise, the ether emanating around him changed completely, shifting from blue to a terrifying crimson-black. It felt like standing before an entity straight out of hell.
Suddenly, the world inverted before my eyes.
He had just cut off my head.
I opened my eyes abruptly, trembling, as if what had just happened had been nothing more than an extremely realistic illusion.
— Hahahaha… the answer was right in front of my eyes from the very beginning! I'm a born killer!
He laughed as he brushed his hair aside—hair that had been blocking his vision—using his own blood.