Thomas VS John

John's fist, a lethal weapon laden with brute force, was stopped by a surprising strength. As the pool of blood around Elizabeth continued to grow, John lowered his gaze to meet his new opponent, a towering figure with hair and eyes as black as the darkness that surrounded them. The surprise on John's face gave way to a wicked smile.

"Interesting," John murmured, his voice infused with childlike excitement at the unexpected challenge. His eyes were fixed on the form that held his fist with disarming ease.

Thomas stood serene before the enraged titan, his unwavering focus on the fallen huntress. "This is what I've been waiting for..." echoed in John's mind as he contemplated the standoff unfolding, with Elizabeth's fate hanging in the balance of this critical moment.

With a fluid motion, John spun his body, a secondary strike moving with the speed of lightning towards Thomas. A show of strength that would have crushed stones, but there, in front of Thomas, it was as futile as a breeze against a cliff. With his other hand now also immobilized by Thomas, a shock wave sent vibrations through the ruins of the square, a low but powerful sound that caused shivers down the spine of anyone present.

"You freak!" John growled, a mix of hatred and delight twisting his words. "You stopped my two attacks with your bare hands?" His surprise was tainted with an almost sadistic pleasure at the power Thomas displayed.

But as John reveled, an abnormal energy built up in his chest, a boiling of power he could almost taste. Thomas, feeling the same energy, did not hesitate. With a display of dexterity and strength that defied nature, he launched a kick at John, sending him flying at a thunderous speed, crashing through buildings that crumbled in his wake.

Elizabeth, semi-conscious, looked up through blurred vision. The figure of Thomas was like that of an avenging angel, a guardian standing between her and certain death. But who was he, really? An ally? A foe of her foe? Or something more complex and unpredictable in the intricacies of this world?

The hunters in the shadows watched as the fight had shifted course as abruptly as lightning tears through the sky. What they had witnessed was not just a clash between two powerful combatants, but the harbinger of a new era of power, an era that Thomas had inaugurated with a single blow.

With her breathing heavy and eyes clouded with pain, Elizabeth was unable to comprehend how, against all logic, her dreadful end had been averted. John, the unshakeable titan, had been cast away by some miracle manifested in the form of Thomas, whose presence was like an enigma wrapped in power.

Now reduced to a spectator of his own downfall, John watched in astonishment as Thomas, with untroubled demeanor, approached Elizabeth. With almost holy movements, he extended his hand over her head, his fingers stained with the blood of others sliding through her golden hair with an almost paternal touch.

Thomas spoke, his low voice carrying a peculiar reverberation, "You dying now would be a waste." The words were tossed into the wind with the weight of truth, but also with a tinge of resignation.

Elizabeth, lying fragmented in her own torment, could barely focus her eyes on the man above her. A white light, pure and incandescent as the first snow of winter, began to pulse from his hand, wrapping her head in a dance of healing and renewal. The warmth of the aura invaded her wounds, knitting flesh anew, aligning bone and sinew, erasing the red viscousness of death that had insisted on claiming her.

"Well, that will be enough for now," Thomas declared after a moment, his mission only partially fulfilled, but sufficient to pull Elizabeth back from the abyss. He rose, a statue of intention and destiny, only to be met by the unmistakable figure of John.

Despite the brutal blow, John had risen again, as if fueled by the very strength of the devastation he had inflicted. His steps echoed with the promise of renewed violence, his bloodthirst even more insidious, a dark calligraphy written in every line of his dust and fury covered body.

"Not bad... It's been a while since I've felt a hit like that," John jeered as he approached, the shadow of a smile slicing across his scratched and dirty face. It was a smile that spoke not of defeat, but of a dark delight in the pain and power he shared with his adversary.

Thomas tilted his head, his black eyes piercing the shadows as John advanced, the primal energy of his presence making the air shimmer like a mirage. "Got stronger after taking that kick?" Thomas wondered, the possibility feeding his understanding of the formidable hunter that John was.

"Either way, it doesn't matter." With an almost imperceptible shrug, Thomas stepped away from Elizabeth and took up a combative stance, his body a serpent poised to strike.

In the blink of an eye, John was within reach, towering like an animated wall. His two and a half meters of pure brawn loomed over Thomas, unleashing a punch that promised to bury his adversary in the concrete. But the attempt was futile; with a serenity that belied the deadly nature of the assault, Thomas raised his arm and stopped John's blow, dispersing the force to a point where the ground beneath them caved, fracturing like glass under a hammer.

In that moment of monumental encounter, Thomas vanished, a shadow among shadows, to reappear above John. With lethal grace, he launched a kick with his left leg, aiming for John's face, and the echo of the impact was like a gunshot. John received the hit and a thread of blood escaped between his teeth, the redness contrasting with the penumbra enveloping them. The blood was a sign, a banner of war; with it, John's strength grew, inflating him with an almost palpable aura of power.

Reacting almost instinctively, John turned the tide with a counterattack, a punch projected to meet Thomas still in the air. Thomas, aware and already in motion, countered with his own strike, a perfect copy of the power thrown at him. The collision of these two forces was cataclysmic, a symphony of brute strength and resilience, sending both combatants to opposite sides of the square. The world seemed to tremble in homage to this titan's clash.

The confrontation between Thomas and John had reached unimaginable heights, the exchange of force so powerful it threatened the very structure of the city.

Thomas examined his fist, the only part of his body that had made contact with the unbreakable expanse that was John. "Your strength has increased again..." The words were almost an acknowledgment of the unbelievable reality he faced. Adrenaline coursed through him, fueling his thoughts. "I have to end the fight with a single blow, otherwise I'll only make him stronger and more complicated to defeat."

Thomas's assumption was logical, but his inexperience in direct combat made him hesitate; it was clear that brute power alone was not enough to win this battle. Pure power needed precise guidance to hit a target that grew in equal measure to its determination for victory.

John re-emerged, an animated statue carved with the marks of battle, his eyes ignited by what he had experienced. "I love it! Throw another blow like that at me! Let's see what the outcome will be!" The madness in his voice was like a macabre music, his imminent advance the crescendo of the orchestra.

It was then that time and reality seemed to bend to Thomas's will, the outside world converting to nothing more than a blurred smudge. In his mind, the puzzle pieces fell into place. "This thing they seem to call mana is coursing through my entire body, but what if I focused it all on one point? In a single blow?" The possibility bubbled up to the surface of his consciousness. "Well, I don't know... But it doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

Time opened its eyes again, normality flowed back into its course, and John descended upon Thomas, an avalanche of flesh and murderous intent. John's guard was down, overconfidence etched in his features as he imagined there was no possibility of losing in a single blow.

Thomas, however, his face a mask of fierce concentration, gathered all the mana in his right fist. The very air around his hand began to thrum, a sphere of energy condensing the potency of a sun. Other regions of his body became vulnerable, but at that moment, nothing else mattered but to focus the storm brewing in his palm.

The light emanated, a beacon announcing the impending storm, transforming into a cannonball of pure energy ready to be fired. John, too late to react, saw Thomas's movement and for the first time, fear tinged his thoughts. "Is this death?"

The blow delivered was the embodiment of absolute power, the destructive potential of Thomas hitting the heart of John with the force of a cataclysm. The impact created a shockwave that expanded outward, a detonation that resounded through the city with a roar similar to a distant earthquake. The released energy lifted cars and shattered glass, leaving behind a trail of destruction that stretched for kilometers.

John was sent flying, his immense body piercing through buildings, tracing a line of ruins in its wake. The satisfaction of the fight had vanished, replaced by the undeniable force of the destiny Thomas had sealed.

The fortune in the hunters' favor was clear: no innocent soul was nearby to witness or suffer at the hands of this clash of titans. The city, now emptied of life beyond theirs, was the stage for a spectacle that would be marked in the history of the hunters.

Thomas, recovering from his Herculean effort, looked into the distance, attentive to signs of movement. However, nothing came; the heavy silence was the answer he had awaited. John, the hunter who defied death itself, had finally met his master. And Thomas, with heavy breathing, stood alone at the epicenter of the unleashed power, a new understanding of his strength dawning in the depths of his being.

Amidst the chaos and dust hanging in the air after the tremendous battle, Thomas turned to the only priority that still made his heart beat faster in concern—Elizabeth. Ignoring the battlefield and the uncertainty of John's fate, he used his ability to teleport, an ability hitherto unexplored, and instantly was by the side of Elizabeth, who lay unconscious but seemingly unharmed.

With care, he gathered Elizabeth in his arms, his gesture a mix of tenderness and urgency. His gaze swept the short distance that separated them, ensuring there was no imminent threat, before disappearing in a fluctuation in the fabric of reality, leaving behind the remnants of the encounter.

Arthur, the overseer of the English Association of Hunters, had witnessed the climax of the fight with a mix of shock and admiration. As he looked out over the vast area of destruction, his emotions bubbled in a conflicting storm. "He defeated John? With a single blow?" The thought was an echo in his mind, resonating with the implications of what this meant. Arthur knew well the abyss that separated an S-Rank hunter from a B-Rank hunter like himself, a difference that spanned beyond strength—it was a divide between those who could change the world and those who must content themselves with a more modest role.

As he reflected, the sharp noises of a presence made Arthur spin in response. He was confronted with the unexpected sight of Elizabeth, unconscious but alive, resting on the comfort of his leather couch. Surprise gave way to concern, and the remnants of his shock dissolved into action.

Rushing to her side, Arthur inspected Elizabeth viscerally for any signs of grave injuries. His hands trembled slightly as he checked her vital signs, relief flooding him as he found them stable, her chest rising and falling in a steady and calm rhythm.

Questions piled up in his mind as he took out his phone to call the Association's medical team. How had Thomas managed to defeat a monster like John? Was Elizabeth truly alright? And above all, what did all this mean for the world of hunters?

He gazed at Elizabeth's figure, the dim light of the lamp illuminating her pale face, reflecting that perhaps, more than ever, the world was changing. And in the background, as he awaited the arrival of help, the prelude to a new chapter was being written, with Thomas at its center — a powerful hunter whose true breadth of power was only just beginning to reveal itself to the world.