Amily vs Manti-Gore

(3rd Person View)

Manti-Gore lunged at Amily with ferocious speed, swiping with his massive arm as he got to her. Amily managed to jump away from the attack and landed several meters away.

Almost instantly, she lunged at him again with a jumping sidekick that struck him in the chest. This was a ridiculously fast attack that even surprised Manti-Gore. But despite the speed and power of the attack, he stood his ground and only grunted in pain.

Amily, surprised at this, quickly darted away before following up. She was not expecting him to withstand her attacks so easily, even if it was just two of them.

"Damn.." She muttered to herself, "They're regular kicks of mine but even so, they're not so weak for someone to just shrug them off. He is a monster."

Manti-Gore didn't hear this but only patted his chest. Despite not taking too much damage, he did feel the kick and was somewhat impressed.

He looked at Amily and smirked, "For someone of your frame, you are quite strong." He said, "I must assume you are one of those awakened ki humans, eh?"

Amily scowled and readied a stance. She didn't respond to this and only looked at him, thinking of her next move.

"I don't know much of Purgatory these days." He continued, "You say you are one of the Guardians? I only know of Apex, Taejoon, and Blood Drive. Do they let fragile girls such as you join them? They are losing their touch."

He then lunged at her again with a punch, only for Amily to sidestep and counter with a hook kick to his chin.

But despite the quickness of the Guardian, her kick was caught by Manti-Gore.

Surprised by this, she tried to pry her foot off his grip but it was in vain. Manti-Gore immediately hurled her towards the nearby wall. The sound of concrete cracking was heard loud and clear as Amily fell to the ground with a thud.

She clutched her side as she tried to get up and saw the beast rushing at her. She immediately dodged Manti-Gore's kick which hit the same part of the wall and pieces of concrete blasted out of it in all directions.

Amily quickly stood up and composed herself and rushed him with a series of kicks to his side. This time, she added a bit more power to them.

As if they were nothing to them, Manti-Gore merely turned around and tried to grasp her leg. She saw this and jumped away.

She scowled even more, "What kind of durability is this?" She said, "Are my kicks so weak to him?"

Manti-Gore chuckled, "Heh." He said, "I can feel them alright. But I have not only reinforced my skin with crocodile scales, but my muscles are those of a Grizzly Bear. And not just one layer, multiple layers of muscle. I am afraid that you'll have to do better than that."

Amily then disappeared, which surprised him.

Before he can react, she appeared in front of him and suddenly, a massive shockwave erupted from Manti-Gore's stomach as he flew backward and crashed through the wall behind him.

Amily then let out a breath as she relaxed her stance. She saw the dust cloud cover the wall in front of her. She had decided to pull out an attack from her hidden arsenal. She has not fully mastered the invisible attacks. They were strong but used too much of her ki and stamina. Especially if she focused on extremely powerful kicks, Powerful enough to end fights in one hit, but this was no ordinary occasion. It will take more than one hit to end this and she knew this.

She was about to walk toward the wall and continue the fight when she heard someone clapping behind her. Turning around, she felt an unsettling presence. Her eyes then widened to see who it was.

Leaning against a railing not too far away from her, Paperbag stood. His white suit reflected off the sunlight that shone through the glass ceiling of the building.

"Most...impressive, Amily..." he said as he looked at her

The Guardian then clenched her fists as she started to shake in anger.

"You..." Amily hissed, "You're Paperbag, aren't you!!"

Paperbag took a step forward and performed a bow, "The one and only...It is a pleasure to meet you...Demon Leg..."

Before he could react, Amily lunged at him with a kick. Almost immediately, she was blocked by Manti-Gore's shoulder which was reinforced with some sort of plating.

"What?!" she exclaimed as her kick bounced off

The mercenary smirked, "How do you like my Armadillo shell combined with a tortoise's?" He said arrogantly, "Little girl, your time is up!"

Then, Manti-Gore's serpent tail lunged at her and bit her in the arm, its fangs easily piercing Amily's skin.

"Argghh!" Amily shouted out in pain as she felt the burning sting

The serpent clutched onto her even harder and then hurled her towards the ground. She landed hard with a thud but immediately jumped up. Then she felt extremely dizzy and stumbled.

She clutched her wound which was bleeding a lot, looking at it, she noticed the wound was swollen.

"Venom?" She managed as she struggled to stand

"Indeed." Manti-Gore stated, "But no worries, it is merely a neurotoxin meant to paralyze you for a couple of hours. I am surprised it hasn't taken effect immediately since it's a venom I have worked on for years. "

Paperbag walked past Manti-Gore and pulled out a pistol, "Enough...talk...Mercenary..." He said as Amily glared at him, "You...did well...Amily...For someone relatively new to being...A Guardian, you managed...to give this beast a good fight...albeit it was short..."

Manti-Gore scowled, "Hey." He told Paperbag, "You said you weren't going to kill her."

Before saying another word, Paperbag aimed at Amily's leg and pulled the trigger. Amily then fell to the ground as the bullet hit her. She tried yelling out in pain but no sound came out. She deduced it was due to the venom she was injected with.

"I...won't..." Paperbag said as he walked over to her, "I...have plans for...this one..."

Manti-Gore crossed his arms, "Plans?" He said, "It better not be anything weird."

Paperbag crouched down in front of Amily, who glared at him.

"What does...it...matter to you..." Paperbag told him, "...Just do...as you're told...that is what I paid...you for..."

The mercenary scowled, "You also told me that these heroes would be worth fighting." He said, "Only reason I decided to take the money. It's been a while since I have dealt with Purgatory and I must say, I am disappointed."

Amily could do nothing but glare at Paperbag, emotions filling her body, and not the good kind. This was the man who not only killed three of her fellow heroes, one of them was one of her juniors. And he did not just kill her, he mutilated the young girl. She did not know why he would do such a thing, but at this moment, it did not matter. She had no choice but to find a way to fight the venom and bring him down.

She clenched her fist and struggled to get up, only to fail as she collapsed down to the floor face-first. Blood was pouring out of her gunshot wound and things are not looking good for her.

"Ahh..." Paperbag said as he fixed her hair with the barrel of his gun, "It is...most unfortunate that...you faced this beast...He is simply a...definitive counter for your types...Martial Artists...I must give...respect where it is due...since you lot...worked hard to reach the point...where you are at...But in the...end...You are to be...overshadowed...by the ones at the top...Guys like him...the one at the top of your...group...They're the ones...who will always be ahead...."

Amily kept glaring at him.

"Ah...you must...be wondering..." He said, "Why...I did that...to your...friend...specifically..."

Her eyes widened, bloodshot with pure rage. Paperbag saw this and smiled, but nobody was able to see this.

"...It is because...of...you..." He said, "...You must...do well...and remember...why...Kim Minju..."

As he said this, he stood up and put his gun away. He looked down at the fallen and incapacitated hero.

Manti-Gore grumbled, "This it?" He said, "To think this little girl was one of the Ten Guardians, I expected more of a fight."

Paperbag looked at him, "Shouldn't have...poisoned her...idiot..." He said, "I am sure...she hadn't gone full...power...and your dumb serpent venom...is too effective....if you want a good fight....don't use it next time...."

Manti-Gore scoffed, "Don't blame this on the venom." He said, "I thought she was one of those awakened ki humans. They may not be like those damn Dragonbloods, but at least they are more durable than regular humans. If she was one of those, my venom wouldn't have worked."

Paperbag then started to walk away, "I...don't know...what kind of monsters...you are used to...but...do not underestimate these heroes...Amily here...will not die...I am sure she will...bounce back."

As he walked away, he noticed Deadwire laying on the ground unconscious.

"As...for that...one..." He said, "Kill...him..."

Manti-Gore frowned, "He's not worth it." He said simply, "And he's unconscious. If anything, he'll die from his injuries. Pay him no mind."

Paperbag then sighed and pulled his gun out, "If...I Have to do it...myself..."

He then aimed at the hero, but before he could squeeze the trigger, he saw a blurred flash pass by and all of the sudden, Deadwire was gone. Paperbag then looked over to Amily to see that she was also gone.

Manti-Gore scowled at this, "What is this?"

Paperbag also scowled underneath his paper bag, "The...Speedster..." He said, "Engine...is here..."

"Nah, he's gone." They heard a voice say behind them, "His job isn't to fight, well today at least."

They turned to see a man wearing a white shirt and black dress pants, a fur coat draped over him. His black hair is styled in an odd mullet reminiscing of V in his Fake Love music video. His eyes were covered by the round glasses he wore. What was notable about this newcomer was the sword in his hand. A Jikdo, with a white scabbard and hilt, and a silver guard.

Paperbag hadn't seen him in person but he knew exactly who he was. It wasn't the way he dressed or his rebellious aura that made him know who it was. No, it was the sword. Only a few people in the underworld know that sword and what it represented. It was the sword that Paperbag recognized, therefore knew who the man wielding it was.

"Taejoon..." Paperbag said, "Alas...we meet..."

Manti-Gore gave a slight growl, one that even Taejoon noticed.

"That's him, eh?' Manti-Gore said as he gave a serious glare, "The God Sword, one of the Top Heroes of Purgatory."

Taejoon stood there, only staring at these two. He didn't move or anything, he just stood there. But even without any movement, the mercenary knew one thing for sure. And every cell in the superhuman's body told him this very thing.

'He's strong' Manti-Gore thought to himself, 'This isn't an aura like the little girl, no...this man is different...'

Manti-Gore is a unique superhuman, with the ability to take in animal cells within him and transform his body into those of those animals. There is no other superhuman like him, with the ability to have absolute control of his body and chose what specific parts should change into. He can change his muscular system into that of a bear, tiger, lion, or any other powerful beast. His nose can be that of a wolf's, his eyes of a hawk's, and he can also harness the regenerative ability of a lizard which he can somehow accelerate. This ability came in helpful to virtually render Amily's attacks obsolete.

With years of experience with his ability, he inherited the wild animal instinct. The instinct that many in the animal kingdom use to survive the kill or be killed world.

Right now, this instinct told him to retreat.

Paperbag put his gun away and sighed, "Well..." he said, "I am...afraid...I must go...."

He looked at Manti-Gore who merely glared at Taejoon.

"Well, mercenary...." He said, "You...wanted....a good...fight..."

"Here is....your...fight..."