Arc of the Souls Chapter 105: Arc 3, Chapter 28 - Pain to Power

Read chapter 105 of Arc of the Souls by Noyr on NovelPedia.

“Come on! Fight me!” Heios came off the ground like a thrown trident, hand already balling into a fist. Nanasu had time for exactly one thought before he reached her. .:. Don’t stop moving. .:. Nanasu ducked under his wild swing, the force of the blow set the air into a frenzy, whipping her hair across her face. She let his momentum drag her sideways into the treeline at the plaza’s edge, kicking him in the side as she went. “RGH-“ He twisted with the impact. He drove her backward into the forest and she gave ground because that was the only thing keeping her alive for now. Everytime her boots found surface he was already there, faster than a man that size had any right to be. And his next punch broke her guard, flinging her through a stand of pines. She rolled, came up running. He came through the broken trees behind her without slowing, splinters in his cloak. “You call that a kick!? That's a fucking tap!” “Tri-Laser Fist!” She threw it over her shoulder mid-stride. Three punches, three bolts of cyan. He weaved two and ate the third on the forearm, sizzling a black line into his skin. It didn’t even break his stride. “Agh!” .:. He's faster than I've given him credit for! There's gotta be a way to outpace him. I don't want another Aria moment! .:. She felt the old panic drag her down and claw back up her throat. Nanasu rolled to her feet as Heios closed the distance, his motions were blurry against her eyesight. She watched her right side, vanish-stepping to break his line. He’d already read it, having appeared exactly where she rematerialized, burying a fist in her stomach. “G-” She retched, saliva drooling from her mouth. Blood didn’t want to come out to clog up her windpipe, not yet. He’d have to hit her harder than that. However, the force of his punch was so strong that she folded around it, slamming into a trunk as she slid down. “Tch. All speed, no substance.” He hauled back and kicked her, his immense strength flinging her through the vast forest, every tree on her trajectory hammering her spine and her gut. One, two, three, until the third tore loose from its roots entirely. .:. G- I can’t... My body is... on fire! .:. There was just one thing that she started to notice. Even though the white static of the pain clouded all of her perceptiveness, the forest was coming apart around them. His misses didn’t dissipate as it went into trunks, roots, the earth and every tree. A heaving raft of fallen timber and torn soil, the whole clearing tilted and grinded as more came down. He tore the whole place down around her, herding her deeper into it. Nanasu’s futile attempts at redirecting the course of her impact only brought a terrifying crack that resonated from one ear to the other. .:. He’s... pushing me somewhere! He wants me running this direction! .:. She caught a glimpse of something between two bushes. A low mechanical shape with a muzzle that wasn’t yet lit. .:. Turrets. .:. But she couldn’t stop. If she did, she’d meet his fist. She could only choose how she ran into it. .:. Turn... around, Nanasu! .:. She twisted in the air off the next impact, performed a backflip that screamed agony out of her ribs, caught his kick and shoved it aside, driving a punch into his gut on the way past. “Hit!” Her boots came down, skidded off a buried turret housing. He was already above her, tree to tree, matching her speed. The forest fell around them while the earth shifted. Somewhere in the chaos, her ankle caught a root, twisting. The tree she’d meant to kick off of moved instead and clipped her across the body, putting her on the dirt. “Agh!” Nanasu’s hands found the moving ground, a path forming underneath her hands as she glided with intense struggle. .:. Physical won't do it... Time to run again! .:. She vanish-stepped a few hundred meters out and went full-throttle, super speeding through the trunks. Heios didn’t waste a breath. His hand transformed mid-leap, the arm reforming into something jagged and beam-bright. “Stop jumpi