Peakwest : Time Skip

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝟸𝟽𝟽

𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘛𝘚 | ɪɴᴛᴇʀ-ɢᴀᴛᴇ ᴇxᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - 13

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Aarush braced himself as Makaruna’s gigantic hand slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth.

He managed to sidestep just in time, barely escaping the crushing impact.

“You give off holy-moly vibrations with just one hit, huh?”

Aarush quipped, taking in the massive creature’s strength.

He raised his hand, manipulating blood into a sharp crimson blade, and launched it at Makaruna.

[ 𝙲𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑 ! ]

But to his surprise, it merely bounced off.

Aarush quickly assessed the situation, his mind racing.

"That was my first Crimson variation. It’s strong enough to take down three people at once."

"Do I really have to use up to ten variations to bring this monster down? I hope I don’t get pushed to twenty, or even worse, forced into my true form."

He leaped back, launching another attack.

This time, Makaruna mirrored the slashes, sending them hurtling back at Aarush with an uncanny precision.

Instinctively, Aarush manipulated the blood in the air, redirecting the slashes away from him.

His mind spun.

"What was that? Is its body some kind of repel armor?"

He narrowed his eyes, watching Makaruna closely.

“No, it’s more than that. It felt like it… used it. Is this some kind of copying ability?”

He paused, then realization dawned on him.

“No, not copying."

"Absorption."

Aarush smirked, his heart racing with excitement.

If Makaruna could absorb techniques, then Aarush knew he was in for a real battle.

Without hesitation, Aarush unleashed a barrage of crimson slashes, testing his theory.

Makaruna absorbed each attack, its body pulsing with crimson energy as it retaliated with even more powerful versions of the slashes.

Aarush had to stay on his toes, dodging and redirecting each attack.

Makaruna suddenly lunged, cracking the earth beneath its massive weight as it closed the distance between them.

Aarush leapt onto the side of a nearby building, using his momentum to sprint up the wall.

He reached the top, but before he could catch his breath, Makaruna unleashed a massive crimson slash, cleaving the building’s top floor.

Aarush hurled himself away from the crumbling structure, landing on another rooftop just as the first building began to collapse.

As he watched Makaruna follow, effortlessly keeping pace with him, Aarush’s mind raced.

“𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬? 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦; 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.”

His adrenaline surged.

“Interesting. I’m done holding back now. My mom told me to go easy on humans, but you… you’re just a monster!”

He launched himself at Makaruna, landing on its broad shoulder and gripping its neck with both hands.

Makaruna’s skin was tough and cold, like holding onto iron.

The creature merely shrugged, throwing Aarush aside as though he were a toy.

He twisted in mid-air, catching himself and immediately readying his next attack.

“[ 𝙲𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 ! ]"

he shouted, as a hailstorm of blade-like stars, forged from blood, shot towards Makaruna.

But as each star connected with its target, Makaruna’s body absorbed them.

It seemed to grow stronger, its body adapting to the new attack.

Aarush could only watch as the stars dissipated, leaving Makaruna unharmed. His brow furrowed.

“So it can absorb a technique and then becomes invulnerable to that exact variation? This is more complex than I thought.”

Aarush’s mind raced with options. Makaruna’s power was formidable, not only because it could absorb his techniques, but because it could enhance them.

He needed to find a way to get around this ability.

Each attack seemed to only make Makaruna more powerful, rendering it impervious to his blood techniques.

He grit his teeth.

His eyes narrowed, the blood swirling around him as he prepared to face Makaruna head-on.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟷% 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚎𝚕.

To Be Continued...