CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 37: PREY AND PREDATOR

In a fleeting moment Nullen vanished, grabbed Lin’s face with both hands, and without warning slammed him violently into the ground, then followed with a heel kick aimed at Lin’s head. But Lin rolled just in time to dodge it, then countered; he spun with his legs, making Nullen lose his balance and fall.

Without warning, Lin planted his hands on the ground and spun himself in a series of kicks that struck Nullen is face, making him spit blood and spreading bruises across his features. He finished the attack with a powerful kick that pushed Nullen two meters back, then sprang up nimbly from his handstand.

Nullen planted his feet and regained his balance, then lifted his index finger and wiped the blood from his mouth, a smile of enjoyment appearing on his face.

It seems I’ve underestimated you

Nullen disappeared, and in a second he gave Lin no chance, throwing a powerful punch at him, but Lin’s leg, with an instinctive speed barely noticeable, attacked his face and then dropped in the blink of an eye, sending his face into the dirt.

It seems my memory has recovered fragments of strange fighting styles: taekwondo, capoeira, and other martial arts. I saw them in those memories... when Jin and Joseph clashed on that football field. But... where did I learn this? I don’t remember ever mastering any martial art. And damn, my head is killing me... who sealed my memories?

You, it seems, you are ignoring me.

Nullen stood, his face distorted, and placed his hand on his face as grey flames appeared, treating his wounds.

He made Lin come out of his thoughts. You can use magic?

Do we not share the same body? How can you use it then?

You ask many questions... yes, but I do not want to use it on you!!!

Nullen lunged quickly, and with his leg struck Lin’s face, sending him flying through the air, then pulled his leg back at the same speed, Lin’s body colliding with the ground.

Aaaaaaa!!!

You copied my strike.

Nullen paid no attention, then with a swift shove made Lin’s body roll on the ground, and with uncanny speed disappeared behind him, kicking him with another blow that sent him rolling to the opposite side, Lin letting out a deafening scream.

Is that all you have? You disappointed me, I thought I would enjoy this a bit.

Unfortunately... I will kill you quickly.

But at that moment Lin’s tattoo activated and his eyes turned blue.

Suddenly his head moved in time to dodge the blow, then he rose quickly with a strong push. His face became serious, devoid of any emotion.

In a sudden burst, he knee kicked Nullen in the stomach, making him spit blood. That was followed by a barrage of consecutive punches, six punches in one burst three from each side. Nullen managed to block four, but two hit their marks, shattering his ribs from both sides.

Lin tried to deliver another kick, but Nullen stopped him. Here the real fight began.

Nullen copied almost everything Lin had done, delivering the same punches, but Lin’s shining eyes made him dodge all of them, then Lin in turn launched another kick at Nullen ’s stomach.

After that Lin extended his hand, filled with mana, and released three strikes made of black poisoned blades.

But Nullen waved his hand in a flowing motion, and grey flames ignited and burned the strikes.

He said mockingly:

I did not want to use mana, because that would have seemed unfair... but since you insist, fine.

Nullen raised his hand again, generating blades of dusty flame, and released twenty blades at high speed.

Lin sensed the danger, so he concentrated mana around his body and released five strikes, directing them cleverly to change the direction of the twenty incoming ones toward him.

It almost ended in a crushing defeat... if not for that moment.

Nullen clapped with a maniacal smile as he shouted:

You are a genius! Instead of trying to dodge all twenty, you realized that one of them would inevitably hit you. You considered the possibility that my strikes might be stronger... so instead of confronting them, you chose to change their course!

His eyes reddened with obsession, his voice breaking:

This talent... I want it. I want it all... your strikes, your memories, your abilities, your intelligence.

You do not deserve it! Your weak mind is unworthy of it! I am more deserving... I am more deserving!!

His voice rose like a mad scream:

The world is not fair... not fair!!!

I will make you use everything you have... then I will devour you completely!

Nullen lunged with one decisive step, closing all the distance between them in an instant. There was no longer any chance to retreat; every move Lin made was now within his grasp, trapped in the fate the enemy had drawn.

Nullen kicked Lin in the chest with extreme force, pushing him back slightly, but he did not let him get away. Nullen appeared behind him immediately, his fist aflame with glittering grey fire, and struck Lin’s arm with such force that his bones trembled from the impact, like successive notes of breaking.

Lin uttered a muffled scream, full of pain and anger, but he could not respond; every attempt to escape or pull away was met by Nullen directly, like a shadow clinging to its owner. He grabbed his throat with an iron grip and dragged him to the ground mercilessly, making his head crash against the hard rock on the ground, then blows rained down on him from hands and feet in an unrelenting storm.

"Are you finished?!" Nullen shouted, smiling a cruel twisted smile that reflected the diabolic pleasure in another’s torment.

Nullen continued raising his foot high to crush Lin’s face beneath his heel, but Lin, with the last of his strength, tried to retreat desperately. Nullen followed with another harsh blow that made him fall to the ground again, his body trembling from the shock.

Nullen attacked relentlessly, his strikes pouring down like rain, fast, precise, and destructive, giving Lin no chance to catch his breath or raise his hand. His rush was like a cyclone that swallowed everything in its path.

Lin tried to move, writhing like an injured snake, but Nullen was always faster; every attempt at resistance ended in annihilation under his grip, every blow that struck Lin lit a deeper core within him, an inner fire boiling without igniting.

Nullen finally stood over him, his face gleaming with madness and a ravenous lust for knowledge, and said in a harsh voice dripping with venom:

I will tear you apart! Everything you have will become mine. Your talent, your intelligence, your techniques... I will seize everything! You are merely a waste of perfection, your stumbling mentality reveals your failure! You abandoned your real name, Jin, and chose to live under the weight of a false name reality imposed on you because you are weak... you lost your origin, you lost your essence. That only shows your weakness and cowardice!

You are simply an insect trodden on by whoever wishes, your honor violated by that exhausted woman and you could not even avenge and kill her. And here you are, resembling a blow from another abyss. You are nothing but a coward.

And that woman lying on the ground with black hair... you taught her a lesson she will not forget.

Then, in a deeper voice dripping with suppressed hatred:

And know this... I did not accept being a subordinate consciousness to either of you. I was born from your pains, from Lin’s spirit, and I gave myself a new name... Nullen . Nullen Noctarine, and he is the one who will take everything from you.

A twisted smile appeared on his face as he whispered:

And you may call me by my title... the false genius.

He continued in a heavier tone:

You must realize... when consciousness divides, each side accuses the other of being fake, until one devours the other to proclaim itself the truth. You run after your revenge, even if it is an illusion you created for yourself, and I chase my existential understanding. What I experienced does not concern you, and what I experienced does not mean anything to you. We are two faces of the same coin: one of us is fake and the other real. And who will decide that... is perfection and the consciousness itself. Therefore, one of us must be the predator and the other the prey. Roles may switch, the prey may become the predator and the predator the prey... but the rule is fixed: only the predator will declare itself the truth.