Layla's body was already suffering from the effects of using the black sword. The time she had used it was far shorter than the last time, but that just went to show how little of a resistance she had to the power of the sword now. However, seeing a chance in the fight, an opportunity to end it all, she used everything she had. Moving as fast as she could, she had gone from one place to the other and delivered a large blow, but not the decisive blow she needed. Her body was on the verge of collapsing, her mind close to shutting down and being taken over, but it wasn't her that had stopped drawing the energy from the weapon, it was the weapon itself. The darkness from her eyes was starting to disappear, but the effects on her body remained as Pine stood there smiling. 'I am sorry, I promised that I would protect you, I do not wish to be the reason for your death.' The sword said. Layla tried to move her body away, but it was a strange feeling that had overcome her. It almost felt numb, not her own. It wasn't in any drastic type of pain but she was unable to move. 'Do you think this is any better!' Layla said in her mind. 'Now, we won't be able to do anything, and he will kill me on the spot. At least, if you took control of my body, used my life in some way, we could have done something to it.' The sword didn't reply, because it didn't feel the same way. Who knew what could happen. A new rise in energy was surging through Pine as his spike from the top of his head had been cut off. Rather than anger, he was taking in this energy. When was the last time he had been injured this much? It would be a long time before he would get to this point and ever experience this strength again. Looking at the situation, he could feel the strange energy inside Layla fade away. Russ was too far away to do anything, and he wouldn't let this opportunity slip through his fingers. Moving his hand, he went to grab Layla by the throat. He had picked her up and immediately squeezed his fingers as tight as he could, crushing all the bones in her neck and killing her on the spot. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 "What is this?" Pine said, looking annoyed at what was in his hand. It was a lifeless body, but it wasn't Layla's. His hands had felt like he was grabbing someone, but at the last moment, it wasn't Layla. Two Penswi came in, one diving in front of Pine's hand, the other grabbing Layla and attempting to get her out of there. Everything happened so fast, including Pine's action. That the Penswi that had been taken instead of Layla was already dead. "May you rest in peace, sister. Your sacrifice is for the sake of everyone's future," the Penswi that had grabbed Layla said. "Get her out of here, she's just a distraction!" Russ said. He went forward standing in front of them. He had the legs of the Penswi, the arms of the Dalki, and at the same time the shadow power hovering above him. Using all three like so would take up a lot of MC cells, but not as much as summoning people to help. The problem with the summoning as well, was the fact it would be pointless against Pine, who could just kill them in one hit. It was demonstrated right in front of Russ' eyes. When walking forward two Amra came out to try to attack Pine. He had simply moved his hand like a slap, hitting both of their heads, knocking them clean off and onto the ground, splattering. They never stood a chance against someone of this level, and Russ had to admit the scene made him somewhat nervous. 'He's bleeding quite a bit, and the wounds from the sword aren't healing, it can't take too much more to defeat him, can it?' Russ thought, trying to give himself confidence. Meanwhile, behind him, the Penswi was attempting to run somewhere safe, but moving a few steps and a bolt of lightning struck near his foot. Flames came toward him as well, but water came out blocking it. Soon, there was a mini fight brewing between the rescue team of Layla and other attackers. They were close to the edge of the market square. The Alliance was fighting against the Dalki and humans. One side doing everything they could to get rid of Layla, while the other trying to save her. Russ, seeing the injured Pine, started to run around him at a great speed. He didn't attack straight away, and instead was running circles around him. Although Pine was quicker, when the Penswi had managed to save Layla, he realised that he was still faster, like so. "I see what you're planning on doing, but I'm telling you now, it won't work." Pine said. There was a glow around Pine's hands, the same as when he would expand energy outside of it, firing out his blasts. This time, the glow around his hands started to fade and began to trickle up his forearm. A mystic variation of colours could be seen, climbing up and all over Pine's skin, and it soon had spread to the entire body. Now, all of Pine's skin was lit up, sparkling like glitter but on the inside of his skin in and out. "I can't hesitate. I just have to go in!" Russ shouted, rushing in and keeping the shadow close to him for defense if need be. An opening could be seen, but it wasn't at Pine's head; it was at his chest. With the speed of the Penswi and strength of the Dalki, Russ threw out his fist and hit the left pectoral. A shockwave was sent out through Pine's body. It hit a few of the buildings behind and broke the foundation as they started to tumble to the ground. However, Pine's body hadn't moved from his position, and from the look on his face, the punch hadn't hurt him at all. Russ went to escape and move his shadow, but before he could, Pine grabbed his arms. "I noticed something. You have some type of copy ability, but it seems like you can only copy what you have seen before or understand. So all I need to do is kill you before you can understand what's happening to me right now!" The shadow had moved to cover Russ' head and heart, but it was slower to move into other areas. Pine threw out a punch hitting him right in the centre of the stomach, and his body was sent flying back. Russ' insides felt like they wanted to shoot out from his mouth, but instead blood just came out. While flying through the air, he was in so much pain, not quite understanding what was going on, that his body was changing, transforming into anything, and anyone's memories he could enter. His body shifted several times, and he had crashed into Layla of all people. The two of them continued going through the air, through the fighting that was going on, until they crashed into another building. Russ was now laying on a bed of rubble, in extreme pain. He was back in his normal body, not having transformed into anything at all. 'That's strange, I still have MC cell's to use… not that I could win this fight anyway. But why did my body change back?' Still lying there, Russ titled his head to look at his chest. He could see Layla on the floor, laid flat, what was more shocking though, was the sword on his chest. It was the black sword that Layla would always use. 'It's this thing, is it blocking out my powers? It has to be, if that's the case, then it would be useless in my hands.' All thought of using the sword went out of Russ's head, he picked it up and was about to throw it to the side. 'Wait!' the sword shouted. 'I think… I have a chance, we can win this fight. I think with mine and your power we can win this fight.' ***** ***** For updates for MVS and future works please remember to follow me on my social media below. Instagram: Jksmanga P.a.t.r.e.o.n jksmanga Discord: discord.gg/jksmanga When news of MVS, MWS or any other series comes out, you will be able to see it there first, and you can reach out to me. If I'm not too busy, I reply back.