Opponent

When it had regained its sight, the Panther realized where it was. Zoran's Tyrannical Miasma Strike was staring down the Panther's face, just mere inches away from contact. Only now could it appreciate the beauty of Zoran's techniques and temporarily forget its dangers.

The tremendous power of the bright white light was breaking the very body that contained it, but the Miasma was intricately weaved upon the cracks, repairing it to sustain more energy. It was a technique to behold, with a power worthy of its name.

BUUUUSGHHHH

Zoran punched the Panther's face with all his might. The Beast formed from Miasma started to disintegrate into mere drops of pure Miasma, and even that could not stand a chance against the annihilation caused by the unity of Yi energy and Miasma.

The Panther's condensed defense formed from the depths of Miasma collapsed in an instant. Its jaws unhinged, its sharp fangs flew away at top speeds—its face deteriorated beyond recognition.

It was hit dead-on, with Zoran's full power of the new and improved Tyrannical Miasma Strike that improved its efficiency and firepower by almost double its magnitude. Even the several levels of difference between Zoran and the Panther was quickly evened by this attack.

The extra energy from the attack sent the Evolved Panther falling down the depths of Miasma. Its body was still shivering from the intense pain, but its body had long been numbed from feeling. Its state of shock and confusion saved it from falling asleep during combat and never waking up.

That strange force that compelled it to travel to the 4th dimension was no mere coincidence. It was Zoran's strange technique that transcended all logical sense. How could he control the movement of another being while being out of reach?

It did not feel its mind being controlled nor did it have some invisible string that connected to Zoran that let him control it. There was something else, something beyond the current reality.

It thought it had the advantage of traversing the 4th dimension, but it seemed like Zoran commanded something much more powerful and mysterious than that. It was a power that stood toe to toe with the beings that controlled the Universe.

How could a weak-looking creature such as Zoran do that? How could he figure out the secret to the 4th dimensional leap and not only replicate it, but improve it in such a short amount of time?

Those were the questions that the Panther had no luxury of time to find out. Zoran flew down towards the Panther in pursuit, with full intention of finishing the fight that could only end with one winner.

This was the chance he would not let slip. He had almost died when he was reciting the mantra to try and steal the 4th dimensional leap from the Panther.

This was how he was able to recreate the 4th dimensional leap.

He kept repeating the mantra while observing the Panther's movements in the 4th dimension. At first, he could not even sense the echoes of the 4th dimension that should occur in the 3rd dimension.

He was too focused on the fight to do the calculations. He needed full focus on his sixth sense that connected with the realm of Miasma. He needed to find the ripples of the reality-breaking traversal.

But doing so would leave him defenseless and handicapped in an already disadvantaged fight. The Evolved Panther's swiftness and sharp claws could not be simply avoided by instinct alone, he needed to anticipate and predict it to avoid a fatal mistake.

He was in a dilemma. He could continue fighting the Panther and forget trying to figure out the secret to the 4th dimensional leap. That would be the safest bet as he would have full focus on trying to stay alive.

Or, he could bet his life and try to win by robbing his opponent of their greatest strength? The answer was obvious.

Zoran continued reciting the mantra even as his body was being ripped apart by the Evolved Panther's Miasma. His whole body was covered in cuts and infected by decaying Miasma, yet his concentration was focused on the Panther's leaps.

While reciting the mantra, his mind started to wander. He was in a trance; his eyes were not fully focused but his attention was fully concentrated on the Panther. He could not break out of it even if he wanted to.

With each repetition, his understanding became clearer and clearer. It was as if he was walking through a road with bits of knowledge carefully spread through the lane as it led directly to the prized hidden treasure.

First, he found out that the Panther leaps to the 4th dimension with its body contracted to the utmost position possible. It also closes its eyes just before it disappears into the invisible window.

The Panther was bracing itself. It raised its defense as preparation for its travel to the 4th dimension.

Then, he noticed that the Panther coated itself with the thinnest membrane of solidified Miasma. This Miasma was so dense and destructive that it dissolved the liquid Miasma around it. But this potency of the Miasma was too much even for the Panther, so it could only create a thin layer and sustain it only for less than a second.

Then, this solid Miasma membrane whose toxicity consumed anything around it, collided with an invisible wall in front of the Panther. This wall was sturdy and could contest with the Miasma membrane, but it ultimately could not hold in the force from the Panther's leap.

The invisible wall broke, decayed by the very Miasma membrane it tried to resist.

That was it. That was the secret to the 4th dimensional leap. It used the Miasma to dissolve the barrier of the 3rd dimension to open up a small window to the 4th dimension.

With that realization, Zoran figured out how to replicate the 4th dimensional leap.

"Ah, I see. Is it like this?"

He quickly used the leap to prove his theory and surprised the Evolved Panther to land a decisive blow to its body. He had successfully replicated the 4th dimensional leap of the Panther.

With that, the playing field had shifted to Zoran's favor. The end result of which, would result in the Panther's demise.

Back to the present.

Zoran chased after the nearly-dying Panther down into the depths of Miasma. He needed to land a last blow to finally kill off the Evolved Panther.

His Tyrannical Miasma Strike powered up in his right hand, and his body kept leaping onto the 4th dimension to accelerate faster than the Evolved Panther was falling.

He grasped the Panther's neck and readied his tyrannical strike. This would blow the head off the Miasma Beast, killing it completely.

But there was a sense of danger tingling at the back of his mind. Zoran wanted to focus on the goal at hand and kill his opponent at this very second, but his instincts were ringing bells at his thoughts. This was not a good sign.

The sense of danger could come from the remaining Puma Soldiers above. They might have prepared to ambush him with the whole might of the army to try and rescue their leader before Zoran killed it.

But his danger instincts wouldn't react like this if it was only that sort of situation. After all, with the 4th dimensional leap, he could escape them easily.

Zoran looked up and saw the remaining Puma soldiers congregating in one line. But they weren't looking at Zoran and the Evolved Panther. They were looking at something far off into the distance.

Then, they lowered their bodies and bowed their heads into the darkness. Their bodies were shivering. It was not due to the freezing cold of the Miasma for their bodies were built to resist it. It was something much worse—their odd behavior was due to fear and reverence.

Zoran's hairs stood up as he heard this.

"Spare my child, human."