'Hmm…'
Lunas sat on the steps of the staircase, looking thoroughly contemplative and bored out of his mind.
The reason was simple enough: he had barely slept for three hours before being dragged awake by Ron to work. If the task were as straightforward as pulling guard duty, it wouldn't be an issue—he could easily sneak a nap—but instead, he had to categorize the two siblings into personality types based on psychological evaluation charts.
Naturally, to make it plausible, Ron had thrown a foundational neurobiology textbook at him. But still…
WHAT THE FUCK DOES A NEUROBIOLOGY BOOK HAVE TO DO WITH PSYCHOLOGY?!
Yet, what choice did he have? Complain? That guy had already flown the coop with the siblings long ago…
And then, just as he was starting to doze off, an earthquake or some twisted phenomenon erupted in the distance. He couldn't quite tell what it was, but it looked like a massive worm lurking inside the leaden grey dust screen.
And then…
"Hah, did it seriously take you a whole five minutes just to crawl up here?"
Lunas stood on the landing, holding the neurobiology book Ron had given him.
He peered down the stairwell. Standing there was a woman with long hair draping over more than half of her face, ascending the stairs one deliberate step at a time.
Even shrouded in the shadows of the corridor, Lunas could distinctly feel a glaring, murderous intent radiating from the enigmatic intruder.
The woman mounted the steps one by one, slow and quiet, but Lunas had officially run out of patience.
He hurled the textbook straight at her to obstruct her vision, immediately following it up by leaping into the air and executing a direct kick aimed squarely at her face.
Yet, just as his strike was about to connect, Lunas blanked out for a split second.
Perplexingly, the woman's fist had somehow already closed the distance to his face—as if she had instantaneously teleported.
Fortunately, Lunas had preemptively placed his left hand near his face. He swiftly caught the incoming fist, using his other hand to violently seize her hair.
Riding the momentum of his midair kick, he crashed into her, and the two rolled down the floorboards along the stairs.
They tumbled several times before Lunas successfully transitioned into a chokehold on the woman.
He locked her down, his hands strangling her throat while his legs securely pinned away any escape vectors. The woman could only flail and struggle by clawing wildly at him.
Since magic required active cognitive awareness, Lunas intended to sever her cognition entirely by forcing her to lose consciousness. Furthermore, he had no desire to waste excess energy on a demonic woman.
Thump, thump
However, Lunas suddenly faltered for a beat. His grip loosened abnormally, and a wave of inexplicable hesitation surfaced across his face.
CRASH!!
Lunas was violently shunted backward by a powerful thrust, followed immediately by a earth shattering punch from the woman.
The ground fractured beneath the impact; even the floor of the entire hospital floor shuddered violently from that single strike.
"Tapping out?? Are you kidding me? The crowd we slaughtered earlier wasn't anywhere near this intelligent."
Despite Lunas merely using his knees to prop himself up, his eyes averted from the enemy, his elbow somehow managed to perfectly intercept that devastating follow-up punch.
"A Striker? My apologies, I used a Grappler style to fight you. Let me make it up to you."
Lunas sprang to his feet, throwing his hands back. He turned his back to the woman, only to instantly detect a dense, suffocating aura of killing intent directly behind him.
That killing intent was indescribable—the kind of raw malice that a lifetime of acting could never replicate. Thus, even without looking, he knew a definitive, fatal strike was closing in.
But then again…
"You know what? Legs are always longer than arms."
BOOM!
SWOOSH~
Lunas unleashed a heavy kick that sent his opponent flying outward, completely shattering the hospital doors and exposing a pale white sun setting in the distance.
Dropping into a low crouch, Lunas twisted his torso and propelled himself forward into a sprint.
Four midair rotations.
A 1440 degree kick.
CRASH!!!
The ground ruptured violently under the force of Lunas's kick, a strike that effectively claimed the enemy's life.
Well, not quite. Through reinforcement magic and systemic physical adaptations, the lunatic remarkably remained alive.
Surprised by that sheer resilience, Lunas prepared to lift his leg to deliver a clean decapitation strike, but a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.
Staring right at the sole of his boot, the woman split into a grotesque grin that ripped all the way back to her ears—a bizarre, mutated smirk as if she were poised to tear Lunas's leg to shreds.
/Return to Mother Earth/
A shiver ran down Lunas's spine. He took a sharp step back, his sheer bewilderment gradually laying bare within his lifeless eyes.
"H-huh?"
Lunas stared down at the ground where the woman lay. He raised his leg high; he would end this instantly.
'Is it a spell?'
Lunas didn't hesitate for another second. He unleashed a devastating strike that utterly obliterated the woman's face—her entire countenance and brain matter were completely destroyed by the blow.
"H-Ha"
Lunas clutched his head. He figured the lack of sleep was finally inducing hallucinations; he desperately needed a deep, restorative rest.
However, further sleep was out of the question. Relentless webs of micro capillaries began to aggressively constrict around Lunas's frame, and streaks of blood manifested across his face.
A nosebleed streamed down, and his vision steadily plunged into profound darkness.
He painfully clutched his throat, his mouth gasping frantically for individual pockets of air.
Lunas's eyes were gradually webbed by raw crimson veins, projecting a wild, feral madness beneath an eerie, incomprehensible stillness.
"…I haven't even found her yet…"
Lunas raised his hand to his face, flattening his fingers into a small makeshift spear point. Then, he deliberately drove it violently into his own throat, slowly tearing it open.
'Mother Earth… Mother Earth… motherfucker…'
Lunas braced his entire body, his mind finally snapping into absolute clarity. Instantly, Lunas slammed his hands flat onto the ground, chanting a specialized spell designed to envelop the entire hospital…
A/N: A Striker is a combatant type relying on stand-up fighting, maintaining distance, etc.
A Grappler is a combatant type relying on closing the distance, takedowns, and submissions.