Annihilation Act 1: Destruction (8)

''Speak''

'Thought'

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"Oh, don't worry, I'm not running away this time," Ryu said with a smirk.

People around the sidewalk start to scream and run away from the monster in front of them, quickly leaving Ryu and Violator alone on the sidewalk.

Steel colour eyes stare back at the red eyes, and no one utters a single word. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of the night wind that blows throughout the city.

The one who broke the stand first was none other than the Violator, who ran forward while swinging both of its claws wildly like an animal, with Ryu dodging left and right, waiting for the opportunity for the right moment.

Dodging left and right, the Violator finally swung his right claw down with an insane speed, but Ryu was able to see it coming and, out of pure reflex, put up his right arm that had the bracelet on it to block the attack, knowing full well that it would certainly cut off his arm.

However, something stops the attack from hitting or cutting Ryu's arm before that can even happen. A radiant barrier came out of the bracelet, stopping the attack from cutting off Ryu's arm.

'Are you serious?! It is not even going to let me cut off my arm!' Ryu thought after seeing the barrier that stopped the Violator's attack, but it did not stop there.

The bracelet starts to shake violently before letting out a massive shockwave that knocks the Violator away a few feet. The bracelet begins to move along Ryu's arm quickly before it suddenly snaps itself before moving up and wrapping itself around Ryu's neck.

From a bracelet, now it is a collar.

'You gotta be kidding me! Now it wrapped itself around my neck!? Now it would be impossible for me to take it off without cutting off my head or dying. The only way to take this thing off my neck without me dying is probably another magic user.' Ryu thought while gripping what is now a collar.

The Violator jumped back up from the shockwave that sent it flying before rushing back at Ryu, its form changing, and now its size is more increase.

"That's it, punk!! No more playing around!"

The Violator opens its mouth, revealing its numerous sharp teeth before it starts to glow green that slowly turns into colour orange. Suddenly, out of the Violator's mouth is a torrent of flame flying toward Ryu with h only the purpose of burning away Ryu to a crisp.

At that very moment, Ryu's steel grey eyes only stared at the torrent of flame in front of him in surprise as time itself seemed to slow down for Ryu, and thoughts started to run inside Ryu's head at an insane speed.

'This is bad. I have no time to dodge this attack. No, I can't avoid this attack in the first place; considering the size of the attack, I would get burned either way.' Ryu thought, 'Am I going to die here, just like this? Did it from something as pathetic as this? In an unknown place of a strange universe, by some random ugly motherfucker?

Wait, didn't that bald bitch say that if I died, the bracelet or the collar would never work on me anymore, and I would be the free form.

I would undoubtedly be a spirit if I died, but how would I go from there? Maybe I would go to hell, no, it's not perhaps, it's sure and confirm that I would without a doubt go to hell if I died. But would it be worth it?

I guess this is it...' Ryu thought, and despite his long thought, this whole thought only happened in 0.001 seconds.

However, Ryu thought it didn't stop there.

'NO! Me, dying!? Ridiculous! If I'm going to die, I will at least take that motherfucker down with me!' Ryu thought before putting up his guard, and instead of standing there, he rushed forward into the inferno.

At that very moment, Ryu's mind seemed to enter a state of total concentration, a very similar state back when he was fighting the X-men the first time when his attention was at the most limit, and he only had one focus and that was the fight itself.

This is the moment when Ryu enters into total immersion in a fight. A state where his mind is at its peak, creating a phenomenon that happens a lot in sports, a condition where the sports players obtain the most optimal experience.

When a person focuses on something, they can get so absorbed in their situation that they would not notice the passage of time. Taking their desire in the process, their brain and body would enter the state of total concentration.

A state that most people would call the Zone or Flow.

A chess player can experience it during the match, and it is also possible for a man working the register as a part-time job to experience it.

Programming, mountain climbing, musical performance, writing, and other artistic expressions, regardless of the activity's scale, can occur to anyone. And fighting is no exception to this.

But how does a person enter this kind of state? The answer is pretty simple.

Challenge.

If someone challenges something at a low level than their skill, unable to find enjoyment in the challenge, they will become bored. On the other hand, if they challenge something above their current level, convinced of their failure, they will not be able to concentrate and become anxious.

To enter this state, one must truly understand their abilities, gain control over it and set up a clear, suitable goal for themselves, and that is how person enters this state.

At this current moment, Ryu's mind and body had set themselves to accept its challenge. The challenge of killing the Violator without the need of Rashomon. For as long as he could remember, Ryu had been using Rashomon in a fight, never genuinely going out of his way to use his physical strength.

This is fine because before, many people were able to put up a challenge with him with Rashomon.

But in the last nineteen years, nobody had indeed been to challenge him with Rashomon, but at this current moment, with no Rashomon, Ryu had found a new challenge, a new one that he knew he could overcome.

With it, Ryu burst out of the torrent of flames with both arms guarding himself against the flame, but it was only enough for it not to be lethal, leaving burn marks all over his body except his face, where he guards the most securely.

The Violator's roar is seeing Ryu burst out of the flame while Ryu's expression can only be described as natural, where there is no emotion on his face and no sign of feeling pain despite the burn that his body received from the flame.

With it, Ryu's mind only focuses on one thing and one thing only.

Killed or destroy the challenge in front of him.