Chapter 199

If there was ever a situation Natalie would be justified in using [Empower], a one-on-one against a Carnal Boss would be it.

The problem was, Natalie didn’t know how long this fight would last. She thought she could win naturally, without leveraging the skill. And if she were to use it, she had plans for it during phase two. Not phase one, the everyday physical fight.

She couldn’t waste all her mana in normal combat when the sex portion was equally, if not more, important. Victory came from making the Hellhound submit to her. Perhaps that was also possible by knocking her around the arena with her warhammer the old-fashioned way, but Natalie suspected her other hammer would do the job much better.

Or, at a minimum, she wanted to give it her best shot.

Intently motivated by what victory meant, Natalie moved around the small stone arena like a whirlwind, taking forward tempo and keeping her opponent on the back-foot. She used her momentum to her advantage. Once Natalie got going, she was extremely difficult to stop—both a benefit and detriment to her style.

The Hellhound didn’t have the advantage of making the first move, this time. Natalie didn’t let her get up close and personal, which would make her own maneuvering difficult. Swinging her gigantic two-handed hammer around, she battered the flame-based martial artist from one end of the arena to the other.

Tactical uses of [Illusion] further kept the Hellhound from reading Natalie’s intentions and slipping into her guard. One particularly devastating misdirection resulted in the woman being flung from one side of the arena to the other, slamming into the shimmering forcefield that kept them caged in together.

She recovered fast, not seemingly remotely worse for wear, but only because damage didn’t come in the form of health. The shield symbol jumped nearly a full twenty-five percent from the blow.

By the annoyed growl that ripped from the woman’s throat—too animalistic to have ever come from a normal human—Natalie could tell she was making a good showing. Far better than the first round. She might have embarrassed herself in that bout, but this time, she would break her opponent’s guard, not the other way around.

That said, the fight was far from easy. Natalie pushed herself to her limit, utilizing every ounce of practice she’d gotten at Tenet—and every ounce of practice she’d gotten since she’d first started training, so many years ago.

Even while completely in the zone, feeling in tune with the movements of her body and her weapon in a way she rarely did, she was hard-pressed to find openings, to score critical blows. The two of them were well-matched. Both in skill and strength. The technique of a level two boss couldn’t be understated.

And Natalie was thrilled about that. There were few things she loved more than a competent opponent.

Finally, the end closed in. With one last devastating blow catching the Hellhound directly on her forearms—she had tried to block it in a last-ditch effort—the Hellhound staggered to the side, the shield symbol filling all the way up. She collapsed on her ass, the fight going out of her. Her expression wasn’t surprised, as Natalie’s had been, her first guard break. Instead, the wolfgirl glared up at Natalie, outraged by her defeat.

To the left of the shield symbol, a heart symbol shimmered, eighty-five percent filled with pink light. Even performing that well, Natalie had only been fifteen percent away from losing.

Which meant she had to take this opportunity seriously. To put her hard-earned guard break to good use.

But, she couldn’t go too fast, either. Foreplay was important.

Though, hilariously, Natalie was pretty sure the fighting itself counted as that, to this woman.

Maybe to Natalie too, if she was being honest.

Still, eager as her twitching cock was—which was still exposed and glistening with the Hellhound’s saliva from earlier—simply pinning the Hellhound down and claiming her pussy was too fast, too direct. Natalie needed a more strategic approach.

“You’re better with that thing than I expected,” the Hellhound said begrudgingly, glaring up at her. “But don’t get too confident, human. This is far from over.”

Natalie abruptly dropped her hammer—the weapon clattering loudly against the stone floor of the arena. Natalie stalked toward her prey. The Hellhound’s eyes widened, breathing growing heavier as Natalie approached.