From her seat high in the skies, Vanella watched the skirmish below with the regal bearing. Her polished white carapace reflected the twin suns, shining with ethereal beauty.
Below, her champion Marzette was executing her orders precisely. Each strike landed like thunder, enough power to fell an entire army.
The spectacle unfolded exactly as she expected. Her champion struck, and the creature bled. The invader was resilient, yes, but stubbornness alone could not overturn a gulf in strength this vast.
And yet…
The wretched invader below staggered and faltered and choked on its own blood... But it did not fall.
Vanella tilted her head, mandibles clicking softly as she studied the invader's movements. She had witnessed countless battles throughout her reign and was well-versed in combat, even if she wasn't a warrior herself.
Her decades of experience told her that something was… off.
The invader was being thrashed as expected, but it was almost as if it was trying to lose. What had started as a clumsy last ditch brawl had quickly turned into it being effortlessly knocked around.
Then she saw it.
The invader's stance.
She leaned forward in surprise as she watched its posture slowly shift. Subtly, its guard became tighter, its weight more balanced. She leaned forward in surprise as its posture slowly shifted. Subtly, its guard became tighter, its weight more balanced. The miniscule adjustments mirrored the combat style of her Royal Knights.
The same flow as Marzette herself.
Her mandibles hung open in disbelief. "…Impossible."
It was only moments after that her suspicions became reality.
The invader slipped inside her champion's guard, maneuvering around a strike it simply shouldn't have been able to see, and gracefully counterattacked.
An uncharacteristically clean uppercut.
Marzette's head snapped upward, her body forced into retreat for the first time. A minor movement, a mere half-step. But Velana felt her own antennas twitch in surprise all the same.
Quickly, the duel began to shift.
Her knight still pressed the offensive, her aura a storm of ivory malice. But with each exchange, the invader responded with sharper instinct. His dodges grew cleaner, his counters more exact.
Marzette was not just one of her Royal Knights, she was the very cream of the crop. The strongest warrior in the entirety of her planet. Sworn to be her shadow, the absolute final wall of defense against any would-be assassins.
Yet the flow of battle was quickly shifting. From a struggle to a contest, and unthinkably, to brief flashes of dominance in its favor.
It was growing at a visible pace, as though evolution itself had been compressed into mere moments.
"That shouldn't be possible, but…" she murmured aloud, though no one stood close enough to hear. "No, I cannot delude myself. I will not take any chances."
Her claws flexed against the edge of her floating throne. It was regrettable that she would have to waste their greatest weapon on this singular invader but needs must. If left unchecked, this one could become a disaster in and of itself.
She turned her head sharply.
"Ganasha," she called.
A soldier scrambled to her position, bowing in the air, showing her its red carapace. "My Queen."
"Prepare the Subjugation Lance."
Ganasha hesitated. "M-My Queen… the Lance does not have enough power to be used a second time anytime soon. If we use it against an organism of this caliber-"
Vanella mandibles clicked once in irritation, silencing the Worker instantly.
"This invader must not be allowed to adapt further. Marzette can wear him down, but if what I am witnessing is true, then time is no longer on our side. Ready the weapon."
The soldier bowed again, antennae trembling, and flew away.
Vanella leaned back against her throne, eyes narrowing as she studied this creature battle her champion through the dust and ruin below.
Though her posture remained composed, a quiet unease settled into her carapace.
This was no ordinary brute. Its movements showed it lacked training but was more than capable of learning. Every strike her champion landed carved another lesson into his body.
'My orders to refrain from killing him will be her downfall.' She realized.
Vanella nervously tapped her claws against her throne, a sound she hoped masked the creeping feeling gnawing at the back of her mind.
'Is this… the nature of those beyond the stars? Creatures thriving on suffering who savagely steal the strength of all who oppose them?'
Her other hand tightened against the arm of her throne.
For the first time in many cycles, Queen Vanella the Eternal found herself suppressing the smallest shiver of fear.
__________
Dust swirled between them, the ant's white aura churning like firelight over oil.
"...A simple lucky shot. Nothing more."
Knox licked blood from his teeth. "Luck, huh? That's your excuse?" He grinned, wild and cracked. "Then I'm 'bout to get real lucky in a minute."
The ant's mandibles clicked, sharp as glass.
"Let us see how far your 'luck' carries you."
Its aura flared, a violent white flooding the broken street in a wave that rattled every loose shard of stone. Then the alien blurred.
Knox barely raised his arms in time.
A fist hammered his guard, rattling his skeleton. His knees buckled, but he twisted, redirecting the force past him.
"Gh-!" His knees buckled, but he twisted with the blow, redirecting it past his guard.
Another strike came for his ribs. This time Knox tucked his elbow in, grunting as the impact slid across his guard instead of crushing his side. A third came for his temple; he braced, shoulder up, teeth gritted as the shockwave split the air.
The ant was a storm of fists, but Knox could see it now. And if he was able to see it, then he could defend.
Ding!
[Blocking F] skill acquired!
Through desperate adaptation, you've learned to defend against direct strikes with proper guarding techniques. Incoming damage reduced when successfully guarding.
+1 BODY multiplier for acquiring a physical skill.
Knox's lips peeled back in a blood‑slick grin. "Heh… finally getting the hang of this."
He swatted aside a strike aimed for his sternum, then lashed out. His counterpunch cracked against the ant's chitin. It barely staggered, but its compound eyes narrowed.
"What is this? Were you only pretending to fight like a jester up until now?"
He didn't have time to answer as he blocked a jab coming from his front, only for it to swerve and land a crushing hook to his temple. Knox reeled, teeth clattering.
The ant dodged a wide haymaker of his own, countering with an uppercut. Knox brought his guard up in time, only for the ant to get him in a clinch and slam a knee into his gut. He doubled forward, wheezing.
Knox staggered back, his grin wavering as his vision swam.
'She's changing it up. Adapting to me adapting. Damn bug's smart.'
Every false move baited his new defense into the wrong angle, and every real strike punished him harder for it.
"Tch… tricky bastard…" he muttered, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears.
Then the ant did something strange.
It stepped back, aura guttering out. The street fell eerily still.
Knox blinked, chest heaving, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "...What, giving up already?"
The alien didn't answer right away. Its mandibles rubbed together, a faint grinding sound cutting through the settling dust.
"I tire of this," the monotone voice finally rumbled. "Enough of this farce. If you won't give up, then I will have to simply break you apart and drag the pieces back with me."
Then its body ignited.
Dust and rubble whipped into a screaming vortex, shards of stone spiraling up into the sky as if gravity itself bent to its will. The ant stood at the center of the storm, cloaked in a blazing aura that twisted and warped the air around it.
Knox raised an arm against the gale, his teeth gritted, sweat and grit streaming off his face. "...Okay? I can't exactly sense Ki so this doesn't seem that impressive-"
The ant vanished.
He scarcely tracked her movement before agony erupted along his jaw. His body spun, momentum caught by her knee driving into his ribs. An elbow landed between his shoulders, flinging him downwards in a vicious arc.
He snarled, pushing against the earth—until her foot pressed into his back, pinning him, then sending him airborne with a powerful kick.
"Aghhh!" Knox twisted in the air.
He watched in slowed down time as the ant cut across his vision, but his body was too slow to keep up. A hook to his kidney. A heel to his sternum.
Each strike hurled him higher, his aura sputtering under the onslaught.
'Is she only just now getting serious?!'
He raised his arms desperately, but the alien's precision chewed through every defense, carving bruises into bone.
Finally, another double‑fist hammered him down from above, smashing him back down in a thunderclap.
But as he was flying toward the ground, Knox's new favorite sound rang in his ear.
Ding!
[Impact Resistance F] skill acquired!
Through repeated punishment, your body has begun to brace against all forms of physical damage. Slashing, striking, piercing damage slightly reduced.
+1 BODY multiplier for acquiring a physical skill.
Knox's body jolted with a different kind of energy, his battered muscles flaring with stubborn life.
He stopped his wild spin mid-air, his body not touching the ground.
"Oh… yeah. That's what I needed."
He burst through the air in a black‑and‑red blaze, fists raised. The ant swept downward to meet him, compound eyes glinting.
Only this time, Knox didn't crumple at the first strike.
The bug's fist slammed into his face, but Knox absorbed the shock, twisting with the impact instead of folding. His own hook smashed into the alien's mandibles. Chitin cracked.
The ant staggered. That only seemed to egg it on further.
It pressed harder, fists snapping in a blur. Knox took hits to the chest, shoulder, ribs but he rolled with them, turning the damage into nothing.
The battle continued in a storm of blows.
Each impact that rattled through his body only sharpened him further, every counter cleaner than the last. His body was finally starting to move with intent, intercepting and slipping into the smallest of gaps.
The ant snarled, mandibles snapping. Its feints grew crueler, faster, more intricate. A jab disguised as a hook.
But Knox's mind was running hot, [Thought Acceleration] pushed to its edge. He saw the rhythm, the micro‑hesitations, the faint shifts in his opponent's Ki. He slipped past a crushing cross and buried his fist into the bug's abdomen, the impact ringing like iron on steel.
His uppercut folded her at the waist. She crumpled, blood spraying from her mouth.
Knox's breath was ragged, his face a mask of bruises and blood. But he was laughing. Full, manic laughter that rang across the ruined street.
With each new skill, his stamina increased. Unlike him, the ant was starting to get tired.
"Feel that?! Every punch, every kick, every crack I manage to make in that impenetrable armor of yours. That feeling…"
The ant stumbled, carapace split. Her antennae trembled.
Its aura sputtered, but it lunged, speed breaking the sound barrier. But this time Knox lunged too. Their fists collided.
BOOM!
A shockwave shattered the buildings around them. Both fighters were hurled back, but Knox steadied first, his aura whipping black and red like a living flame. He blurred forward, faster than before, his counterstrike cracking against the bug's jaw hard enough to spin its head.
A shockwave shattered the glass of the buildings around them. Both fighters were hurled back, but while the ant was sent meters away, Knox had only taken a single step backward.
"...That's me—"
He blurred forward, faster than before, intent on capitalizing his advantage.
The ant reeled back.
His fists and elbows poured down in relentless flurries, beating it down inch by inch. The bug tried to retaliate, but every motion Knox had already seen was already learned. Its feints fell flat and its aura dimmed to nothing under the onslaught.
Finally losing its strength, cracked in multiple places along its carapace, the ant fell to one knee. It panted in heavy, insectile rasps, blood dripping from various wounds.
"—Knox fuckin' Creed."