Chapter 39: The Dance of Endless Mutation
Gayak swung his whip-arms at lightning speeds.
Having witnessed Yuan killing Gatling Man by removing his bullet-core, he immediately aimed for his own with lethal precision. Yuan quickly shot them both before they could reach him.
Fire bullets are incendiary projectiles, Yuan recalled. Earth created shrapnel, Metal bullets are tougher than usual but nothing special…
The bullets he fired carried water and wood-aligned qi respectively. The first turned Gayak’s right whip-arm to ice after impact; the other burst into a seedling bud that quickly infected his enemy’s flesh with roots and petals.
Neither brought him much respite. The boiling blood dripping from Gayak’s arms suddenly burst into flames, melting the ice and burning away the flower bud in an instant. They moved to close on Yuan from both sides in an attempt to catch him.
He activated a Recoil Shockwave in response, though he didn’t retreat. Banking everything on offense since his body wouldn’t withstand a prolonged duel, and ignoring the pain in his exhaust ports, Yuan threw himself straight at Gayak’s body with his foot first. Gayak’s loss of eyes prevented him from reacting quickly enough to dodge.
Yuan kicked Gayak’s torso at supersonic speed, shattering bones on impact. His foot quickly encountered resistance. Muscles tightened and reassembled themselves near the area where he hit, forming a layer of meat that softened the blow and prevented Yuan from reaching Gayak’s core.
With his hands too sore to follow up with a punch and Gayak’s whip-tentacles closing in on him, Yuan decided to retreat. He quickly released a Black Haze to shroud his movements and then attempted to leap over Gayak and strike him from behind.
Burning tentacles grabbed him by the left ankle in midair, piercing through his steely skin and the iron muscles beneath. Another lunged for his bullet-core, but Yuan managed to catch it with his free hand first. He had to bite his tongue not to scream from the pain of his fingers’ flesh melting off his bones.