KINETIC

Leonard's body was being pulled towards the creature as though he were falling out of the sky. The gravity had been manipulated in some way, yet the creature moved as though it hadn't.

'Like it wasn't already strong enough, dealing with shit like this is just annoying!' Leonard thought. 'Complaining isn't going to get me anywhere so I'll just your own attack against you!'

Because Leonard wasn't in the air when the gravity was changed, he was still near the ground, sliding and bouncing along the floor as he 'fell'.

As Leonard neared the creature, it lifted its hand out towards him like it was planning to catch his body.

Instead of allowing the creature to have its way, once he judged the distance was right, Leonard dug his heels into the ground and jumped straight up.

Relative to his current situation it felt the same as it would if you were to jump between two walls.

He twisted his body as he moved, allowing him to land on the ceiling with his feet and instantly jump again.

He pushed off the ceiling with force, cracking the stone beneath his feet. He jumped back and forth between the ground and ceiling, looking something like a pinball as he bounced around in this way.

As this continued he was slowly getting closer to the creature. On his fifth time jumping from the ceiling he changed his angle and went straight for the creature.

It's hand was still raised and waiting but the confusion created by Leonard over the last twenty seconds caused its reaction to be slower.

It tried to adjust its arm to where Leonard was coming from but he knew it would do that and twisted his body to avoid its grasp.

The creatures hand narrowly grazed his chest as he practically slid along its arm. He raised his fist and punched the creature in the face with all his might.

There was no feeling of weakness or weight change, no, this time the punch had all the power it was meant to.

The creatures head flung back and its stumbled, falling to one knee and catching itself by placing an arm behind its back.

Leonard's momentum had continued and he found himself heading back towards the same holes he had created on his way into this building earlier.

He turned his body and landed just next to the hole with his feet. Unfortunately, the wall had lost a good portion of its integrity and it crumpled beneath his feet a moment later.

He reach out in desperation, trying to grab onto anything that could prevent him from going through several walls again.

He felt his hand wrap around something strong and sturdy as his body came to halt. The broken pieces of the wall falling into the next building below him.

'That was close.' Leonard thought as he turned looked up. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized the thing he had grabbed onto was the creature he had been fighting.

It's arm was extended and Leonard had grabbed onto its forearm in his panic grab. The creature twisted it's arm, grabbing onto Leonard's forearm as well.

When looking up at the creature, Leonard saw a trickle of blood pouring out of its nose which was currently dented and skew.

The creatures face finally showed some emotion. Unfortunately for Leonard, that emotion was anger.

'Well shit...'

The creature pulled Leonard by his arm and slammed him into the ground, the gravity around him changing to flow with the direction he was being thrown.

He was smashes into the ground this way several times, his metal skin breaking away with each impact.

Finally, the creature released Leonard as it slammed him into the ground one final time. The stone cracked and broke, creating a small crater around his body as he lay on his back.

Whether his metal had all been ripped away or not, it didn't matter. Leonards body was covered in cuts and bruises, creating streams of blood that covered his skin.

He didn't have the strength to maintain his ability in his condition, just breathing was proving difficult.

The creature stood above Leonard, it's huge form towering over him. It's anger seemingly fading as it raised its arm and curled its hand into a fist.

Leonard, through his blood covered eyes and blurry vision, could have sword he saw an expression of sadness on the creatures face.

The creature pulled its arm back so it could deliver the final blow when suddenly a voice called out across the city.

"Come to me!"

​ The creatures arm stopped mid punch, an instant reaction to the voice. It retracted its arm and turned around, running straight out of the building without a concern for Leonard.

'For someone who recently got the nickname Butcher to lose so completely, what a joke...' Leonard's vision went dark as his mind drifted into unconsciousness.

***

Duke Wesley made his way through the battle filed as fast as he could. There was an occasional cultist that tries to block his path but none could even slow him down as he cut through them with exceptional skill and speed.

He passed the fighting and continued forward for another twenty or so meters before he reached the female Imperium.

She was extremely short, standing somewhere just below 1.5 meters tall. She had blonde hair that was tied up in an intricate looking bun and cold blue eyes that glowed in the crystal light.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you're the one who's been running the city?" The Duke asked.

"That's right." The woman replied. Her face was expressionless, giving her an air of aloofness as she spoke.

"Based on your attire it would seem you're an Imperium. If you were to join the fight my soldiers wouldn't stand a chance."

The woman shook her head "You're right about your soldiers not standing a chance against me but you're wrong about me being an Imperium. I'm just a regular ability user."

"I see. Regardless, you're my enemy and I'll do what I can to stop you." The Duke said as he took a defensive stance.

"You're welcome to try." The woman said. Three shards of ice appeared beside the womans head as the Duke charged towards her. Each shard being roughly the same size as an adults forearm.

The shards launched towards the Duke one by one, creating a strange zigzag like pattern. The Duke dodged the first shard that was coming straight at him but ended up in the path of the another.

He raised his sword and, using the flat side of the blade, deflected the shard away. The deflected shard slammed into the wall of a nearby building, piercing halfway through the stone and creating cracks for over a meter. To anyone watching, that would be impressive for two reasons.

Among ice users, the attack she used would be considered their most basic one. It had the least power among all of their attacks and was the first thing they all learned to do.

Even so, it had so much power than even after being deflected it was capable of piercing a stone wall. The only thing that could arguably be more impressive was that the Duke deflected the attack with ease.

The Duke had reached the woman and swung his sword out in three quick attacks. His focus was speed rather than power, so he could deal some damage while stalling for time.

A wall of ice erupted from the ground, intercepting his attacks. He jumped away from the wall as soon as it appeared and not a moment too soon.

Half a meter long spikes of ice erupted from the wall, narrowly missing the Duke thanks to his quick reactions and Battle experience.

The wall of ice suddenly lifted a few centimeters off the ground and flew through the air towards the Duke.

He jumped into the air, avoiding the ice as it slammed into a wall behind him. While in the air, another trio of icicles were launched towards him.

This time, the Duke couldn't dodge the icicles and deflecting them would be more difficult without the ground for support.

He held his sword with both hands and swung down at the first icicle in the line of three. His blade cut the ice down the middle, causing it to split in two.

He twisted the blade and brought it back up, splitting the second icicle in the same way. Because of how he had to twist his body to hit the second icicle, he was in now position to attack the third.

He had no other choice but to deflect it. He used the flat side of the blade to creating an angled surface that the ice could bounce off of.

Unfortunately, without the ground beneath his feet, he had no way of keeping himself still. The ice was deflected away but the force it carried was still able to throw his body through the air.

He crashed through a window on the second floor of a nearby building, a shard of glass stabbing into his side as he did.

He quickly stood to his feet, pulling the glass from his side while wincing slightly. He looked out the window, intending to jump back into the street to continue the fight.

Instead, he retreated back into the building and ran to the other side of the room. He ran straight for the window on the other side and jumped through it.

Before he could hit the ground below, massive spikes of ice erupted from the building he was just in, making it resemble a porcupine.

'Where are the Infernai when you need them?' Duke Wesley thought as he landed on the ground and looked up at the porcupine building.

The image of his mangled body flashed through his mind, showing him what would have happened if he were any slower.

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