I raised my neck, staring straight at those eyes of It.
Its mouth widened as It spoke:
—"That grin on your face upsets me."—
Its thick, synchronized voice echoed, accompanied by that same ear-grilling growl.
All four eyeballs were focused on me. And swimming in those eyeballs were unusually thickened blue veins that multiplied by the seconds.
Its passive Te constantly weighed down on me, forcing me to bulge all muscles in my body just to properly stand under the pressure.
Without a single doubt, that passive Te pressure was a manifestation of Its boiling rage.
And although the palpable anger the spiff felt while looking down on me was noticeable from the constant attaching and unattaching of Its limb nets, It didn't move an inch from where It stood. Avoiding the rash and irrationally blind actions that a being overwhelmed by anger might exhibit.
Highly impressive.
Now, how do I fight and kill a rank 7 spiff?
The being towered above me. Its head was faced downward as all Its eyes stared down at me.
A pulsing ache pounded against my neck. A result of its constantly suspended state — faced upward in a desperate effort to lock my gaze with Its.
This would mark the first time I had ever fought a spiff.
Well, at least not one of this size.
It was about four feet taller than me, and I was six feet five.
Forget the height. The size was the problem.
The vast difference in size was overwhelming. It felt like I was standing face-to-face with a massive mountain. One that I had to destroy with my bare hands.
Just one of Its limbs was the size of my entire body. And the length of said limb was like that of my leg. Maybe my right leg and half my left leg combined. The bladed edges of the limbs also had more noticeable gleams to them.
Should've asked Mangé for a pistol. This thing's size is too imposing.
But of course, I didn't let the subtly encroaching anxiety surface in my facial or bodily expressions. In fact, my lips widened more as I heard Its words.
"It is only natural to get irritated by the utterly belated smile of the one who's about to kill you, is it not?" My reply was fast. Almost too fast as I delivered it with a loud voice, etched with a cockily doused tone.
The spiff's scoff resounded softly.
—"Humans are all the same. Foolish and arrogant when in a safe position, yet they squeal and beg for mercy when put in a position where they look their own death face-to-face."—
Huh?
My brows furrowed.
—"Oh, but I commend you, though, Human. You can look your death face-to-face with a cocky smile. It's both impressive and extremely annoying at the same time. But seeing you withstand my Te makes me wonder…" Its voice dropped low as it lowered Its posture, bringing Its head closer to mine. —"Will you squ–
Enough of this nonsense.
The moment its head came close enough, I lowered my stance.
My thighs and calves bulged as raw strength surged from my heart, racing toward them.
Then, I placed my left leg forward, drawing my right leg an inch backward, pivoting my waist.
Leap.
Pow–!
My toes quivered from the sheer impact of the connection.
It felt like I kicked metal.
The spiff stood in the same position. Head still lowered like nothing had happened.
Almost immediately, I retreated, creating a sizeable gap between us as I skidded backward.
The area of Its head that my kick had connected with looked quite… dented. Barely, because there were no injuries.
Seeing this, a wide smirk painted my lips.
Slowly, the spiff moved Its head, four eyes tracing the direction I had retreated to.
—"That same smile."—
As it spoke, a low and deep rumbling sound escaped Its mouth. It was a sound akin to a chuckle.
Then, It raised Its head, adjusting Its posture.
How would It attack?
Would it use that blade of Its?
But I–
A low buzzing sound bellowed. And immediately, my eyes widened.
The spiff calmly raised and waved both Its upper limbs. And on the nets of Its limbs shone warm, silvery hues.
Fuck–
Immediately, it pointed one of those light-coated nets toward my direction.
Whoosh–!
With a speed that felt like it tore through the air, a warm, sharp, silvery streak of light blazed.
It was aimed at my forehead.
That's the spiff's Til. The ability… to control Ta.
My eyes widened momentarily, but narrowed almost immediately as they traced the streak of light.
I slightly tilted my neck left, eyes never leaving the streak as it passed over, resultantly piercing the ground behind me as it landed.
My heartbeat trailed off rhythm immediately, pounding against my rising and falling chest as I took deep breaths, studying the perfectly sized hole that the light had made on the ground.
Haha.
So a rank 7 spiff shouldn't be underestimated after all.
—"Look Here."—
The moment the spiff spoke, my neck snapped, gaze moving away from the mark the light had made, toward the spiff.
Again, my eyes widened.
Shouldn't have been distracted.
Rookie mistake.
Various silver-colored, bullet-like projectiles floated in the air in front of It, suspended by the command of Its dull, unmoving glowing nets that remained hanging in the air.
The ethereal projectiles were all made from the same silver energy. Ta.
The supposedly ambient energy that was threatening to this era's humans.
It moved Its glowing nets. And immediately, the projectiles were hurled toward me.
It seems those nets control the projectiles.
Only one thing to do then.
Render It incapable of using those nets.
What better way to do that than to tear them off?
Let me take the fight to It.
I moved, ignoring my surroundings. The distant sounds of the ongoing executives' battle below muffled in my ears, even the buzzing sound that the projectiles made faded in my ears as I ran toward the hurling projectiles.
My mind and gaze were focused on one single objective:
Those nets.
I was in the Immersed State.