The chira staggered from the headbutt, its tal skull dented and leaking streams of blue fla. Asher didn’t wait. He stepped in and hit it with a straight punch to the face, sending it sliding backward across the cracked floor.
The creature planted its claws, stopping itself. Its void cores spun harder. Its flas grew brighter. It was preparing another rush.
Asher wiped blood from his cheek.
"Co on, then."
The chira charged again, blinking forward in short bursts. Each teleport brought it closer, faster. Asher tracked it with sharp movents, waiting for the real attack. On the last blink, the chira stabbed straight at his throat again—its favorite kill spot.
Asher knocked the blade aside with his forearm and countered with a hard kick to its stomach. The impact dented its tal plates, but they reshaped instantly. The creature swung back with a flaming claw. Asher ducked and punched upward into its chin, lifting it off the ground.
It recovered mid-air, twisted its body, and fired a stream of blue fire downward. Asher jumped aside as the flas hit, lting the floor into a pool of glowing liquid.
He didn’t slow down. He moved around the edge of the pool, closing the distance. The chira landed, swung its tail—regrown already—and tried to whip him again. Asher caught it this ti and yanked the chira forward. He slamd his knee into its chest, then drove an elbow into the side of its head.
The tal cracked again.
The chira roared and blasted him point-blank with blue fire. Asher blocked with crossed arms, but the flas burned straight through his skin. He gritted his teeth and pushed forward through the fire. When he broke through the flas, he grabbed the chira by the throat and lifted it.
The creature thrashed, its claws slicing into his arms. Blue fire leaked from its mouth, heating the air between them. Its void cores pulsed wildly, trying to blink it away.
Asher tightened his grip.
"No more running."
The chira blinked anyway—halfway. Its body flickered in and out. Asher yanked it back into reality and smashed it into the floor again. The stone cracked under the impact. The chira clawed at his chest, leaving burning marks, but Asher slamd his fist into its face again and again, keeping it pinned.
The chira’s armor began to break apart. Its blue flas weakened. Its void blink failed to trigger. Its movents slowed.
Asher could feel it.
The creature was nearly done.
He raised his fist for the final hit—
—but the chira suddenly grabbed him with both hands. Its claws dug into his shoulders. Its blue flas flared one last ti. And its void cores spun so fast they screeched.
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
"Oh, don’t tell —"
The chira tried to self-destruct.
Asher reacted instantly. He ripped one of its arms off, punched into its chest, grabbed its main core, and tore it out. The chira’s entire body froze, its flas dying out. The unstable energy inside the core pulsed once—
Asher squeezed.
It shattered.
The blast collapsed in on itself, dissolving into harmless blue sparks.
The chira’s body fell limp, tal liquefying into a dull, lifeless heap on the floor.
Asher stood over it, breathing hard, smoke rising from his burned arms and shoulders.
"Finally," he muttered. "Stay dead."
He stepped back from the lting remains.
Then he turned toward the deeper hallway.
"...Alright. Who’s next?"
Asher took one step toward the next hall—
—and froze.
A low growl rolled through the darkness ahead.
Then another.
Two shapes stepped out of the shadows at the sa ti.
Not one.
Two.
Both were nearly as big as the first chira. Both had molten tal bodies, demonic limbs, and swirling void cores. Their eyes glowed with the sa hungry blue fire—and both were staring straight at Asher.
He stared back.
Smoke still curled off his burned arms.
His coat was torn, half lted.
He was bleeding from several places.
And the two new chiras stepped forward in sync, claws scraping against the stone, void energy pulsing around them like a storm ready to break.
Asher exhaled once.
"...Oh boy."
The two chiras charged at the sa ti.
One jumped high, void-blinking toward his throat.
The other slid low, molten tail whipping toward his legs.
Asher moved instantly, sliding backward as the top chira’s claws sliced through the air where his head had been. The lower chira’s tail swept past his feet, cutting a deep groove into the floor.
He didn’t get ti to stop.
The high chira teleported again—appearing right behind him—and slashed down. Asher leaned forward, feeling the heat of its claws scorch the back of his neck. The second chira rushed from the front, its tal arm reshaping into a blade.
Asher twisted sideways.
Both chiras crashed into each other, tal smashing against tal with a loud clang.
They didn’t slow down.
They blinked again—separating instantly—and ca at him from opposite sides.
Asher raised his fists.
"Alright. Two at once. Let’s try this."
One chira swung a flaming claw.
The other stabbed with a void-forged spike.
Asher ducked under the claw and blocked the spike with his forearm. Pain tore through his arm, but he held on and twisted, redirecting the stab into the first chira’s chest.
The two monsters didn’t care.
They tore away from each other and attacked again.
This ti they synced their movents perfectly—one going high, one low, both swinging with intent to kill.
Asher backflipped, both strikes missing him by inches. He landed on cracked stone, slid forward, and punched the low chira in the jaw. Its head snapped back, and blue flas burst from its mouth.
The high chira blinked behind him again.
Asher spun and kicked upward, catching it in the ribs. It flew into the wall, cracking stone, then reappeared in front of him mid-air with a teleport slash.
He blocked with both arms, sliding backward from the impact.
The second chira rushed in behind him.
Asher jumped and twisted, letting both attacks miss him by a hair.
He landed between them and muttered under his breath:
"You two are seriously a pain."
Both chiras lowered their stance.
Both cores glowed bright blue.
Both prepared to strike at the sa ti.
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
"Alright then," he said, cracking his knuckles, "round four."
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