Before him, Rufo and Debora tore into each other like colliding storms, two beasts moving at lightning speed, vanishing and reappearing in violent flashes.
Chunks of flesh were ripped away.
Bitten.
ABI: 2700%
Torn.
ABI: 1600%
Swallowed.
And just as quickly, regenerated.
Rufo had the advantage.
He was faster.
Sharper.
Relentless.
The Tiger Shark Man struck again and again, his movements cleaner, more precise.
ABI: 1400%
Every bite landed true, tearing through Debora's body before she could fully respond.
Debora hissed as another piece of her was ripped away.
ABI: 2650%
Those teeth... she thought, irritation bleeding into fascination.
Sharks didn't just bite once.
They never stopped biting.
She felt it now, the way his teeth tore, replaced themselves, tore again. Like he was built to keep eating no matter how much damage he took.
Figures, she mused darkly. They're made to lose teeth... so they never hesitate to bite.
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Rufo slammed into her again, jaws snapping shut.
"I must defeat you," he growled through blood and water-abi vapor,
"for my sweet daughter, Reefo!"
ABI:1000%
Debora laughed even as her body split apart and generated.
ABI: 2600%
"Oh?" she sneered.
"Then I'll be sure to eat her too."
Something in Rufo faltered.
Not fear, drain.
His movements slowed, just a fraction.
Abi consumption surged violently through his body, tearing at him from the inside. His strikes were still powerful, but heavier now. Slower.
He bit down hard on Debora's torso and hurled her into a nearby boulder, stone exploding on impact.
He turned sharply toward Kellix.
ABI: 100%
"Kellix," Rufo roared, voice strained,
"RUUUUUN! Get out of here, now! I'm running out of—"
It happened.
The water-abi vanished.
In an instant, the pressure collapsed. The aura shattered. The power was gone.
Rufo dropped back into his base form, bloodied and exhausted.
Debora stopped moving.
Then she changed.
Her body swelled grotesquely, flesh bulging and reshaping. Tentacles multiplied, thickened, hardened. Her form expanded into a massive parasitic monstrosity, pulsing and steaming against the battlefield.
ABI: 2300%
One tentacle lashed out—
Faster than lightning.
SNAP.
It wrapped around Rufo's torso.
"Wha—?! AAGHHHHH!" Rufo screamed as he was ripped off his feet, dragged violently toward the heaving mass of flesh.
"RUFO!" Kellix lunged forward, cleaver flashing, but more tentacles erupted from the ground, slamming into him from all sides. He crashed hard, the wind torn from his lungs.
"Let him go!" Kellix shouted, hacking desperately at the tendrils.
There were too many.
Rufo clawed at the slick, constricting limb pulling him closer.
"Kellix!" he yelled, voice breaking.
"Protect my wife... and my kid... I beg you!"
"RUFO!" Kellix screamed, pinned beneath crushing weight.
The tentacle tightened.
Then dragged.
Rufo was pulled into the churning mass, and swallowed whole.
Silence.
The battlefield seemed to stop breathing.
Kellix stared at the bubbling mound, his mind empty.
"...Rufo?"
Debora shouted with glee "Kellix, my sweet tender boy, your friend was just the apetizer."
The parasite pulsed.
Shifted.
Reshaped.
Standing before Kellix now was Debora reborn, taller, sharper, her body draped in living flesh and pulsating veins. Her eyes burned violet with mockery as she slowly licked her lips.
he purred.
"Who knew shark was so delicious."
Kellix's hands trembled.
"...You ate him, you evil demon, I swear I will slice you up into tiny pieces!"
Debora smiled wider.
"Don't worry," she whispered.
"I'll be eating you too."
Something inside Kellix snapped.
Abi exploded from him like a mountain collapsing.
"PARASITE!"
—
TO BE CONTINUED