Chapter 181: Chapter 181- Brutal
Lea sprinted back toward the giant turtle, her body glowing faintly as she pushed her skill to its third stage. Her muscles tightened, veins thrumming with raw energy, and every step left a small crater in the dirt.
"Alright, you overgrown soup ingredient, round two!" she shouted, leaping forward with a vicious right hook.
The turtle’s watery shield rippled, absorbing most of the blow, but the sheer force made the creature stumble back a step. Its eyes glowed blue, and with a guttural hiss, it swung one massive claw. Lea ducked low, sliding under it, then drove her fist straight into its side. The impact echoed, but again the shield cushioned it.
"Tch! Stupid barrier!" Lea spat, bouncing back just in time for a jet of high-pressure water to explode from the turtle’s mouth.
She twisted aside, the blast grazing her shoulder and shredding the fabric of her sleeve. "Damn it! That actually stings!"
The turtle didn’t relent. Streams of water swirled around its body, coiling into whips that lashed out like serpents. Lea gritted her teeth, dodging one, deflecting another, but one cracked against her ribs and sent her stumbling back.
Behind her, Emma’s voice rang out, "Hey! Don’t you dare die yet, we’re almost done here!"
Lea coughed, wiping blood from her lip. "Easy for you to say!"
The turtle lowered its head, energy gathering in its throat, preparing another concentrated water laser. Lea’s eyes widened, then she smirked.
"Fine. Let’s dance."
She charged straight in, zig-zagging with raw speed. The water laser blasted past her shoulder, burning the air with sheer force, but she was already on the turtle, hammering it with a flurry of strikes. Each punch left ripples across the watery armor, straining it more and more.
Her knuckles ached, her breath came ragged, but she refused to let up. "Break already, damn you!"
Another claw came down, she caught it with both hands, her feet sinking into the earth from the weight. Her arms trembled, but a wild grin spread across her face. "Not so tough... are you?"
Lea’s fists were already swollen and raw, her breath ragged as she staggered back from yet another failed attempt to break through the turtle’s watery barrier. The creature’s claws raked the ground, sending waves of pressure her way, and she barely managed to roll aside before the ground split open under the force.
"Ugh, this is ridiculous!" she yelled, clutching her aching side. "I’m punching a swimming pool with legs!"
The turtle hissed, its massive head lowering as it summoned another spiral of water around its shell. Jets sprayed in every direction, tearing up the battlefield and forcing her to leap, duck, and weave just to stay alive.
Her legs shook from the strain. Every bone screamed at her to stop. But Emma’s shout echoed behind her.
"Just a little longer, Lea! Hold it off!"
Lea grimaced. "Shut up!"
Another whip of water lashed out, striking her square in the back. She hit the dirt hard, coughing, her vision flashing white. For a moment, she thought she wouldn’t get back up.
But then something inside her snapped, no, shifted. Power surged through her veins, hotter and heavier than before. Her body felt like it was boiling over, steam curling from her skin.
Her eyes glowed faintly, her hair lifting as if caught in a current of raw force.
"Oh, damn it... not this again..." she muttered, dragging herself up. "Stage Four. Just what I needed. And of course, it has to make me look like a freaking berserker."
Her voice dropped into a growl, teeth gritted as she flexed her fingers, steam hissing from her knuckles.
The turtle roared, charging her again.
Lea cracked her neck, rolled her shoulders, and spat blood onto the ground. "Alright, fine, you oversized seafood platter. You want brutal? I’ll give you brutal."
She shot forward like a cannonball, fists blurring in a frenzy of savage strikes that made the watery shield ripple violently. The ground quaked beneath her as she hammered away, every punch louder than the last, her muttering audible between blows.
"Stupid... shield!" BAM
"Stupid... turtle!" CRACK
"Stupid... zombie!" BOOM
With each word, her hits grew more feral, her aura swelling, until the turtle actually staggered back for the first time.
The turtle slammed its massive claw down, water pressure exploding outward like a hammer of liquid steel. Lea didn’t dodge. She caught the blow on her forearm, the impact cracking the earth beneath her feet. Blood sprayed from her lips, but she still snarled back at it.
"Haah... damn it, do you ever get tired?! I’m supposed to be the punching, not the punching bag!"
Another jet of water carved across her shoulder, ripping fabric and skin alike. She winced but lunged forward anyway, fists glowing hot with the energy of her Stage Four.
"Stupid turtle! Stupid turtle! Stupid turtle!"
She pummeled the watery barrier with reckless abandon, each strike heavier than the last. The turtle roared and countered with a tidal burst from its mouth, blasting her off her feet. She crashed, rolled, and stood back up with a limp, glaring through blood in her eyes.
"Great. Fantastic. Love it. I just washed this outfit."
Then she charged again. No defense. No hesitation. She took the turtle’s counterstrikes head-on, her body bruising and bleeding with every clash. But her fists never slowed.
Emma shouted from behind, panic in her voice. "Lea, stop tanking it head-on! You’re gonna kill yourself!"
Lea screamed back mid-swing, "I DON’T CARE! THIS DAMN SHIELD IS GOING DOWN EVEN IF I DO TOO!"
Her fists hammered in a brutal rhythm, water spraying in every direction as cracks rippled through the turtle’s shield. The beast tried to reinforce it, summoning layers of liquid armor, but Lea’s power surged wilder, hotter, more violent with each strike.
"I—SAID—BREAK—ALREADY!"
On the final punch, her knuckles exploded with steam, and the watery dome shattered like glass under a sledgehammer.
The shockwave knocked both of them back, Lea skidding across the ground, chest heaving, and the turtle reeling with its barrier gone.
Lea spat blood into the dirt and raised a trembling fist. "Finally. Stupid... damn... shield. Took long enough."