Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

* The End Is Where We Begin - Thousand Foot Krutch *

AN: Alright it's official we're doing a Thousand Foot Krutch Marathon! (JK...)

(Am I though?)

***

He jumped towards her to grab her throat but she was already gone by the time he reached the place where she stood just a split second ago.

"You're playing angry?" Raven said in a low cold voice that made the monster subconsciously shiver, albeit for a quick second that he wasn't even aware of.

She was so angry that she could boil mountains and evaporate oceans, yet it only appeared in the glint in her eyes as she had her fear to keep her in check.

No she wasn't the strongest or the bravest person out there, and yes she was scared.

She was afraid that she might die and leave her family, Maria and Maya to the fate she saw in that cursed vision.

Even Joey, Rain, Camilla, Axane, and baby Rituxi... She couldn't die peacefully knowing that her death is theirs as well.

But the monster in front of her had never experienced fear before and as such had no choice but to let rage take over.

He'd been the apex predator for as long as he could remember, yet now a small human was challenging his position.

That was unacceptable in his mind, and Raven knew and saw right through him.

'I'll make you feel fear, just before I evaporate you...' Raven thought instead of talking because she knew he wouldn't understand.

Also, she didn't want to waste time talking when she could used it to strike at his weak points again.

Both Raven and the monster were faster than normal people could comprehend, so naturally only a few of the present rankers were able to observe the cause of the massive mana and destruction happening just in front of their open eyes.

Most were A- and beyond, yet they knew for a fact that getting caught in that fight was nothing short of a death wish.

That's why those who weren't standing still with gapped mouths rushed to warn the nearby S rankers.

The clash was so fast paced that some rankers died without knowing what hit them.

A missed sonic punch or a claw slash and a ranker would be turned to bloody dust. Even though A rankers were a force to be reckoned with as almost all of them were trained to unleash their full potential, they still didn't stand a chance against the frenzied monster.

And that's exactly why Raven only avoided any hits, rather than attempting to block them, as a B ranker, that was just asking to die.

Her speed and True Sight were key as she kept on reading the monster's moves, only to appear from a place where he wouldn't expect and strike swiftly before disappearing again.

Even though she wasn't causing any substantial damage, the accumulated damage over time should be enough to weaken him.

'Or so I'd like to believe but his monstrous regeneration powers are making things rather hard,' Raven bit her lip as she thought about a solution for her dilemma.

Her passive system skill Thought Acceleration II came into clutch as well by helping her see events around her in slow motion.

However, she was running out of juice. 'My mana reserves are almost depleted. I need to get an advantage, and fast.' she thought calmly, even though she knew she was grasping at straws.

Unfortunately for Raven, the last straw had just broke as the monster took advantage of her spacing out for a split second and crashed through her guard.

The frustrated monster had had it with little girl as she kept flickering all over the place and with each flicker, he'd be hit seemingly out of nowhere.

What he couldn't understand was how did she keep her speed and momentum even midair, it was a feat that even he didn't know how to accomplish, before that is.

After taking countless hits and observing behind his raised guard, he had realised that she "freezes" her mana, or solidifies it somehow.

Even though he still couldn't replicate it, he could at least predict her moves. After taking some more hits with the humiliation that burnt through his flesh, he'd finally succeeded in predicting her a few times before making his move.

Once he was sure of her next reappearing point, he readied and charged mana to reinforce his claws, and finally unleashed them in the neck of time.

Even though it wasn't a direct hit, he had managed to slash through her armour and part of her waist.

She had been leading the dance up until the last move. 'Finally, it's my turn now...' the monster thought as he followed with another slash.

Raven didn't even have time to feel the pain, nor redirect her trajectory as the power of the slash, combined with her own attempt to evade it had sent her flying.

Appearing behind her, the monster had a punch ready for her. Yet she evaded without him even realising.

"HOW??" the monster roared and unleashed several long ranged attacks where he lets mana out through his claws like an afterimage, except that unlike a mirage, it could cut through steel.

"I'LL BREAK YOU! MARK MY WORDS!" he roared like the mad beast he was. And by chance one of the slash attacks grazed Raven's armoured thigh which caused blood to rush like a living river escaping from its dam.

Naturally, the mana slash passed right through her armour as if it was butter on molten cheese.

Raven didn't have time to heal herself so she just solidified mana around her wounds to prevent a blood loss trauma.

Other than that, the adrenaline rush had her going and flickering nonstop, evading one attack after the other without much of a pant.

However, she could only do so much with whatever little amount of mana she has left, and the monster had realised that quickly enough as little by little, she started to slow down.

'Where are they?' Raven cursed in her mind as she was out of options and time, yet the S rankers are no where to be found.

'Who am I kidding? If he'd survived one of Camilla's blast spells, what can others do?' feeling her heart about to stop from exhaustion and consciousness fading away, she started to doubt herself.

'Heck, am I expecting Jaimie to help me?' she thought remembering the youth's blushing face.

'Should I just giv-NO! she quickly remembered her family and friends depending on her, she needed to survive and destroy that b*stard no matter what.

But alas, she was already too late.