Frightening Mimicry
The imitator lunged forward with tremendous speed, surging forth with explosive power. The fight opened with Linfeng receiving a kick right against his arms raised in defence.
He was launched backwards and rolled upon the ground, but used the momentum to quickly get back up, narrowly avoiding the creature’s claws.
This swing carved deep crevices into the tree unlucky enough to be in the way… The male cultivator had been taken aback by the monster’s sudden rush, but he did not worry too much. He had taken the blow well enough to prevent any serious damage beyond bruises that would definitely hurt like hell the following day.
He had no idea whatsoever what he was currently fighting, but he could already tell that it would be a difficult confrontation. Although imperfect in its mimicry, it had still taken upon the form of Edrick Lucien Anoteros, and thus gained his height and other attributes. This was pretty bad, considering that the high noble owned a monstrously powerful natural physique.
‘System, this thing surely can’t mimic him perfectly, right?’
It does not seem to be the case. I believe that it took on this form merely because it latched onto the being you were most afraid of. It thus goes off by only what you know–I believe
‘That ‘I believe’ at the end is doing very little to confirm anything’
I do not possess knowledge of all creatures in existence, Linfeng... But if such mimic-able beings existed and hadn’t been discovered… It would be a huge boom. Such a discovery would lead to a race for people to create cultivation techniques based on such a creature…
I doubt these places are truly unexplored, so it is certainly not an immensely powerful imitator
‘Right…’
Linfeng stepped back as the creature stomped down on the spot he had been standing in a moment ago. Regardless of how competent a mimic this thing was, it nonetheless wielded impressive strength. He had only resisted the first blow because he had let himself be launched away instead of standing his ground... Had he tried to fully take the blow head-on, he wouldn’t be in a good state right now.
This was without mentioning that thing’s claws. Those could definitely cut through flesh like a guillotine could slash through warm butter.
“Are you… Not going to fight? Are you… Not going to save her?”
“Motherfucker…”
It would appear that it was indeed pulling information from Linfeng’s mind. Thankfully, it seemed like its mind powers stopped there and didn’t include any actual attack.
“...You’re just a filthy monster”
Whether this was directed at the actual monster or at the one it was mimicking, even Linfeng didn’t really know, as it just came out of his mouth without thinking… What he did do intentionally, though, was rush forward at the creature.
He ducked underneath a claw swipe and sidestepped a punch before intercepting a knee strike.
“You’ll serve as practice!”
With a grunt, Linfeng was able to actually pick the heavy monster off the ground and throw it against a tree. The whole thing shook violently, as branches snapped and fell from above as the creature quickly picked itself up, pouncing at Linfeng like a four-legged beast.
The suddenness of this action was only made worse by the fact that a branch fell right on top of Linfeng’s head at this precise time. It did not feel like a coincidence at all…
It blocked his vision long enough for the monster to manage to land three slashes with its claws across the cultivator’s chest, drawing a heap of blood before following with another kick. This one landed without Linfeng being able to act properly, resulting in him being launched against the ground, and to rise to the sight of his left wrist hanging limply.
The adrenaline coursing through his veins made it so he could barely even feel it right now, but he knew that soon enough, a wave of intense pain would hit him like a tidal wave.
‘I don’t think it’s broken… I just need to-’
He roughly snapped the bones back together, unknowingly agitating his inner Yang and pulling upon the enhanced healing granted by Yen’Mila’s Yin.
The monster seemed to notice the change as its adversary’s Yang began to move at a greater pace throughout his body, leading it to take a step back instead of trying to capitalise on the state of Linfeng.
Instead, it opened its mouth, revealing a several-meter-long tongue with a blade on the end of it. The mimic used it to attack, carving more cuts into trees as Linfeng ran and avoided the attacks.
Suddenly, the cultivator made a sharp turn, rushing the monster down again–And in response, the creature retrieved its tongue before charging ahead as well... But it failed to do so, as something held onto one of its ankles.
A tight mesh of roots, vines, and briar had appeared without it noticing, but the sudden loss of momentum was a critical shortcoming, as it caused the monster to lose balance and put one knee down on the ground, allowing Linfeng to land a direct kick against the side of its head.
The human’s shin crashed into the monster’s skull, knocking daze in its brain as Linfeng grabbed onto one of the antlers and pulled himself onto the creature’s upper back. He grabbed both antlers at the same time and began twisting the head and neck of his adversary.
The monster howled, but more vines came to restrict its arms, stopping it from getting rid of the human. It swung its body, but in the position it currently was, there wasn’t much room to wiggle.
With every passing second, Linfeng made progress, but the creature was not out of tricks. It brought its tongue out again and began half-blindly swinging at Linfeng, who did his best to evade, but ended up with cuts on his body nonetheless.
“I’m afraid blood loss will kill me slower than a broken neck will kill you!”
“Bas…Tard… I’ll Viot Fingmi to death… After she carries… My legacy! You’ll have… So much more family when you… See her again!”
The monster provoked, not with actual words of the scion, but with Linfeng’s own fears concerning the fate of Fingmi, which only made the creature’s words hurt more, as it was merely projecting Linfeng’s thoughts back at him while wearing the appearance of the man who had taken her.
“It’s time to shut the fuck up!”
Right as he gave one final strong twist and heard the sound of bones snapping, the tongue swung down right onto his shoulder, cutting through his clavicle and partway through his scapula.
The monster soon went limp, dissolving back into its true form, which was nought but a vaguely humanoid mass of darkness with antlers.
Linfeng breathed heavily.
“Shit…”