The clash didn't slow down. If anything, it escalated.
Harold adjusted his stance mid-air, his breathing controlled but heavier than before, his body already showing signs of strain. His strength and speed were no laughing matter; he was also knowledgeable on how to use his strengths best compared to his weaknesses
Battle Beast wasn't the type of opponent you overwhelmed, though. He adapted to Harold's strategies, making it so that he could repeat the same move twice, forcing Harold to adapt too. As the fight continued, he was learning more and more about his flaws in combat technique and what he should do better next time.
But this wasnt one sided, Battle Beast too was learning from his mistakes, and countering with better form, the only problem was Harold kept regenerating from his non-fatal wounds, which at first surprised Battle Beast because he's never seen this before on a Viltrumite, but nonetheless he didn't bother investigating why.
He accepted the challenge and decided to keep pouncing on Harold, but he would be lying if he said he wasnt enjoying this, in fact, each second that went by, he became even more excited and wild, slowly going all out like the Beast he truly is.
Nobody else could bring out this side of him, because at most they would die before he goes all out, but he thanked Harold for making him reveal his true self and power. This made him embrace the Beast in him as he clawed at Harold and used his fangs to bite down on him.
'I have to stay unpredictable, one mistake and hell chew on me with those teeth…but still, I'm excited for some reason, is it because I'll grow stronger or becuase I might die?.'
That was the only way out of this, death or strength beyond all means, there was no other option, that layed the foundation of his conviction going forward.
He came at the Beast again with a curved approach, changing angles mid-flight, accelerating and decelerating in bursts to throw off timing. His fist came from below, aimed at Battle Beast's jaw, but the response was immediate.
Battle Beast tilted his head just enough for the strike to graze instead of landing clean. At the same time, his mace swung upward in a brutal arc.
Harold twisted his body, barely avoiding a direct hit as the weapon scraped across his side, tearing through his uniform and skin. Had that attack hit him, his jaw would have shattered, which would have hurt so bad. But pain wasnt in his system anymore, it was present, but he simply ignored it as if its not there.
He countered with a knee to the ribs, which connected as a dull impact that echoed as Battle Beast's body shifted slightly backward; one could hear slight bone cracks as fragments of the bones by the ribs fell out and punctured Battle Beasts lungs.
This made Battle cough up blood but he licked the blood on his lips right after with a grin. Harold clicked his tongue internally as he pushed off, creating distance.
'This cat has thick skin, however, I didn't use all my strength in that attack, simply because I was aiming to cripple, not send him flying…'
Battle Beast rolled his shoulder once, as if loosening it, then stepped forward again with a growl of a lion. They collided again, exchanging blows; it was honeslty a battle of attrition as no one was above the other...actually, it was a battle of attrition for Harold because, while he was injured he healed seconds later, but Battle Beast remained with his wound.
He thanked his system for this because it give him the means to attain such an advantage over individuals. Shockwaves erupted with each exchange, the ground beneath them cracking further, splitting apart under the constant pressure.
Harold dipped low, avoiding a horizontal slash before driving forward with a barrage of punches, he threw jab combos coupled with swings; they were fast, precise, each aimed at a vital point. Before he disengaged, he would throw fury punchs were he punched Battle Beast in the abdomen 100 times in less then 0.20 seconds.
It almost looked like he was a speedster throwing rapid punches. Battle Beast tanked some while blocking the others by biting down and gnawing on his arm and hand. This was more efficient than just blocking only, as that would give Harold time to recover, and Battle Beast didn't want that. So instead of blocking certain attacks, he used his mouth to block by biting the limb
A clawed hand shot forward, catching Harold across the face, the claws digging deep inside his flesh as Battle Beast tore his face, he even made sure to slwoly drag his claws across his face, creating large scar wounds that were very deep, it honestly looked messed up, even though it was slowly healing.
CRACK
Harold's head snapped to the side, his vision blurring and red, blood was cascading against his swollen eye, that's why his left eye could only see red.
Using the momentum, he spun and delivered a backhand strike out of anger, directly to Battle Beast's temple.
The backhand was enforced by his full strenght so it was no surprise that Battle Beast was sent flying like a rocket into the distance. If they were on Earth, Battle Beast basically flew across the Pacific Ocean; that's how far he was sent flying.
Battle Beast fell on the ground and bounced a couple of times as an inflated ball across a vast distance, after that he skidded back a few meters, his claws digging into the ground to stabilize himself.
Harold held his face as it felt like it was on fire, but it was simply the pain of deep scars 6 inches long and 1 cm wide.
Blood dripped steadily from Harold's face, one eye already swelling shut. His breathing was controlled, but his body was taking damage—his side was torn from another previous claw attack, the tear revealed his bones and muscles beneath his skin as they were clear as day.
1200km away from him, Battle Beast stood with one eye ruined as Harold tried to gouge them out, blood trailing down his face. Harold also used his finisher move of clenching his fingers into a blade, which is why there was a deep slash cut across Battle Beast's chest, exposing flesh beneath.
Right now, they breathed heavily as they stood far from each other, but Harold roared like a maniac and shot it into the air with a sonic boom. He then flew to Battle Beasts' position. He didn't want the beast to catch its breath, but that meant he wouldn't either, not that it mattered because he wasnt tired.
He was flying so fast that the atmosphere ignited around him, creating a fireball that engulfed him. Battle Beast saw him, actually, he saw a fireball coming to him, but he knew it was the Viltrumite, still, he growled like a lion. "…Good," he muttered again, voice low but filled with satisfaction as he brandished his claws.
He had already ditched his weapons at this point, as this was a battle worthy of his true self.
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AN: Keep the support going, thank you very much