Loki’s Successor System

Chapter 227: The Battle of the Candidates (2)

Author’s Note: I’m finally beginning to take interest in this story again. I felt tired and unmotivated for so long after the Ashton time skip that cut my readers in half. I’m now back and refreshed. Ready to finish the story at around 400-500 Chapters! 

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West bolted toward Stevan.

Stevan focused on enhancing the natural power of his legs. His legs grew by four inches. As West came rushing toward him, he leaped into the air. He front flipped. He then landed on his feet. West halted, skating on the floor. He quickly spun around and glared at Stevan who turned around as well.

Stevan glimpsed down ag his injured forearm. The arm kept getting worse. It was swollen and numb. He couldn’t feel anything in that arm. Irrefutably, it was going dead.

“For fun,” West said, “I’ll tell you what gets rid of the poison. It’s not healing. It’s water. If you can get to a water source, you won’t have to lose that entire arm. Because if you don’t lose that entire arm, the poison would spread to your whole body.” He cackled maniacally with widened eyes.

Stevan scoffed. “Tsk.”

West bolted toward Stevan again. Stevan jumped into the air. Suddenly, West halted midway. He halted, looking up. He then quickly raised an hand. A spike shot from his palm. The spike impaled Stevan’s shoulder. Stevan was knocked back.

West smirked. “Bull’s eyes!”

Stevan crashed to the floor, at the back of his head first. Quickly, he performed a kick-up, springing to his feet again. He looked at his shoulder. Hesitatingly, he clutched his hand to the spike. Then, he yanked it out. Internally, he groaned.

He assumed that the spike was also poisonous. He clenched his teeth. Ussually, when the owner of the ability was killed—the ability died along with them. Stevan could only hope the same went for West. In others words, he had to steal West’s consciousness for confirmation. 

This time, he bolted toward West. 

West took a small step back. 

Stevan lunged in. 

West made a clutch at him.

Stevan spun, evading West.

West was left open.

Stevan quickly dashed forward. He raised an arm. That arm grew by at least three inches in muscle. Quickly he sunk his fist into West’s face.

Grunting, West was knocked back. He staggered backward but quickly steadied. 

Stevan pressed him again. He lunged forward and delivered another blow to West’s face. West staggered, but quickly attempted reaching for Stevan.

Stevan was left open. His arm was swung to the right after punching. West’s arm Swiftly inched closer to his face.

Stevan brought back the swinging arm in a backward motion. His elbow hit West’s hand and swept it away before it touched his face.

West’s fingernails dug into Stevan’s elbow.

Stevan groaned. He then quickly used his freehand and scored a blow to West’s stomach. 

West doubled over, and retracted his attacking hand.

Stevan leaped backward twice. He looked at his elbow. It was already tinging green, and a substance slipped into his bloodstream: it had been poisoned so soon. He furrowed his brows. 

“You can’t keep letting me touch you, Stevan,” West smirked, sauntering toward Stevan. “You’ll only speed up the poisoning which is already lethal as is.”

Stevan scoffed again. “Tsk.” Then, he looked around, taking his eyes off West for a second. He squinted due to his slight blindness though it was quite easy for the average person to see with this much light. The Inn was at most three hundred metres away. Was he driven away from his mentor, Jin, on purpose?

Quickly, he fixed his eyes on We—

West was right in front of him. Too close. 

“Peekaboo”

Stevan quickly jumped backward as West thrust a palm at him.

The palm barely touched him, but it did. 

He landed, and leaped backward again. His chest was touched with the poison.

West came scuttling toward him like a feral beast, cackling maniacally. 

Stevan quickly leaped backward. Then, again.

“If I touch you for a second—it’s enough to,” West tried touching Stevan—Stevan leaped backward, “poison you. If I touch you for three or four seconds, the effect would make you wound him dead in three minutes!” He tried touching Stevan again, swooshing a hand at him.

Stevan leaped backward and crashed into a wall behind him. 

West lunged forward. 

Leaning against the wall, Stevan tried looking over his shoulder. Without bothering to look at West again, he spun to the right—against the wall—evading a poison spike in the nick of time. 

Another spike shot into the wall before him. He quickly stopped rolling. He turned to roll in the opposite direction when another spike penetrated the wall. He was in the middle of two spikes. He looked ahead.

West came lunging toward him with an outstretched arm.

Stevan furrowed his brows. He lunged toward West.

He then spun left, evading West’s touch. He ran up West’s stomach, chest then kicked off his face. He went propelling into the air. 

West’s neck cracked. He was sent collapsing forward, head-first to the ground.

Stevan landed to his feet. He looked down at his chest. The poison had burnt through his clothes. He looked at his shoulder. He was bleeding severely. He then looked at his left arm which was also poisoned. He felt immense agony in this hand, especially after using it to punch.

Suddenly, Stevan started to hear footsteps. He had no time to turn around. He quickly used his muscle ability on his legs and quickly leaped forward. 

West’s hand swept by, nearly touching Stevan’s back.

Stevan jumped and spun around mid-air. Then, he landed to his feet. He dashed forward from the time his feet touched the ground.

West stepped back.

Stevan stretched his dominant hand back as he sprinted toward West.

West leaped backward. Landed on his feet. Then, he quickly raised a hand. A long spike quickly grew and extended out in a portrusive way as opposed to formerly shooting out like bullets.

There was a subtle difference in Stevan’s face as he lunged forward. He shook his head. And quickly, he thrust his arm at West. 

West slashed when suddenly Stevan retracted his arm before even finishing the punch.

West’s eyes gaped. He was left opened. 

Stevan had already charged his left arm in secret. He quickly launched his left fist into West’s stomach with all his mustered might.

Stevan groaned. He had punched with his damaged arm. 

Groaning, West doubled over. He retreated backward on his feet. 

Stevan charged his right arm. West was left open. He had to attack now. He clenched his teeth. He was low on chemical energy so he couldn’t maintain his enchanced muscles for long. He was about to use fifty percent of all his energy. With this punch. Right here.

He stepped in closer to West. His entire arm bulked. Veins appeared. There was a strange aura to it. He shuddered as he charged it. Then, he quickly—

“AHHH!” Stevan wailed in agony as a spike stuck out from his left arm. He punch was thrown-off. 

He dropped to his knees in agony as the poison spike grew out from his body. He quickly clenched his teeth.

West steadied on his feet. He raised a hand and aimed at Stevan’s head. A spike shot out from his palm. Stevan blocked with his left arm. 

West smirked.

Poision surged into Stevan’s left arm. This was its second hit. His right hand, on the other hand, was not harmed at all. Though, its enchanced muscle had deflated after failing to execute the punch successfully. 

He clutched at the spike and yanked it out from his left hand. He groaned. Then, that left arm fell and became motionless. Numb. He didn’t feel the pain anymore. Adversely though, he couldn’t move this arm either. It wobbled. 

“You’ve already lost.” West scuttled toward Stevan and kicked him to his head in an upward motion. 

Stevan was knocked to his back. He laid sprawled out on the floor.

West shook off his leg. “Your chin bone’s hard as hell.”

Stevan groaned.

West smirked. “Slowly, you won’t be able to move any of your affected body parts. This what I called the paralysis stage. You lose all control over the poisoned body parts after four minutes. Paralyzed, you become.”

Sprawled out on the floor, Stevan fixed his pupils such that he was looking at the Inn in the distance. Upside down it appeared to him. 

Upon recognization, West burst into rounds of maniacal laughter. “Who? Your mentor? He’s not going to be able to save you. That’s because he’s already dead. My mentor has killed him minutes ago—I’m sure of it.”

Stevan tittered, trying his best not to laugh. “You guys have no idea what you’re messing with.” 

West grimaced.

Stevan suddenly started to laugh loudly. Then, he erupted into laughter. That was until all laughing came to end when he choked on his own blood. Blood jetted out from his mouth. Then, from his nose and ears.

“Stage four,” West said, sauntering toward Stevan with his hands behind his back, “internal bleeding. The poision literally eats your cells, tissues and organs.” He stopped before Stevan, crouched down to him, and grinned.

He quickly placed his whole hand upon Stevan’s face and sunk his fingertips into his skin. “It’s you who has know idea what you’re messing with. I could easily take out an S-rank Hunter like your mentor—but he’s already dea—”

“Are you sure about that?” 

West’s eyes widened. His heart throbbed. He slowly turned his head to the source of the voice that interrupted him.

“Might I intervene?”