“This should keep me safe for now.”
After confirming that Hu Yao’er’s black raindrops hadn’t penetrated the paper armor protecting him, Maka felt temporarily safe and thought this to himself.
However, he was also very aware that time was not on his side, but rather on Hu Yao’er’s. If he couldn’t escape from here quickly and members from the Free Life Association and the Bureau of Anomalies arrived, he wouldn’t stand a chance, even if he had wings.
After some quick mental calculations, Maka soon formulated an escape plan.
“Hmm, no effect? Did he use something to block my poison?”
Realizing that Maka, who was hiding behind the table, hadn’t collapsed as she’d anticipated, Hu Yao’er understood that he must have used something to block her poison. She couldn’t help but think this to herself.
Having said that, Hu Yao’er stopped controlling the black raindrops to attack. Instead, she dashed forward in one swift move, intending to use her immense strength as a peak Two-Star Transcendent to smash whatever Maka was using for protection.
Arriving at Maka’s hiding spot, Hu Yao’er didn’t hesitate. She kicked the table to pieces with one foot and swung her fist at the target now fully revealed before her, a person entirely covered in white plate armor.
Hearing the sound of the table behind him being shattered by a kick, Maka knew Hu Yao’er was attacking. He certainly wasn’t going to just stand there and wait to be captured.
He quickly turned around and raised his own fist to meet Hu Yao’er’s incoming punch.
A loud bang echoed through the area. Hu Yao’er, hit by a massive recoil, staggered back three steps before stopping.
Maka, on the other hand, was sent reeling back over a dozen steps before he managed to dissipate the force.
“You’re pretty tough, you know? Actually managed to make me take three steps back.”
After stopping, Hu Yao’er, who hadn’t been injured in the exchange, looked at Maka and spoke with a hint of praise in her voice.
Hearing this, Maka glanced at his own right hand, which was trembling uncontrollably. He wondered how such a small, seemingly fragile child could possess such terrifying, monstrous strength.
Noticing Maka’s shaking right hand, Hu Yao’er knew he’d come off worse in that clash. Naturally, she wasn’t about to give him any chance to recover or catch his breath. She immediately launched another attack.
Seeing Hu Yao’er coming at him again, Maka knew his physical strength was no match for hers. He decisively chose to evade.
Watching Maka contort his body into all sorts of strange and bizarre positions trying to dodge her attacks, Hu Yao’er wasn’t about to let him succeed so easily. She immediately increased her speed, both in movement and the speed of her punches.
Feeling Hu Yao’er’s attacks becoming even fiercer, Maka, already on the defensive, felt immense pressure mount on him.
To relieve this pressure and buy himself a moment’s respite, Maka didn’t hesitate. He peeled a single piece of white paper from his body and, controlling it, sent it flying towards Hu Yao’er.
Seeing the white paper flying towards her, Hu Yao’er immediately sensed what was coming.
The next second, she stopped pressing her attack and quickly put some distance between herself and the piece of paper.
A powerful surge of Transcendent energy erupted from the paper Maka had thrown. A sizable explosion rapidly engulfed the entire bar, nearly reducing it to rubble.
“A piece of paper that can explode? Is that another one of your Transcendent abilities?”
At the moment of the explosion, Hu Yao’er had taken cover behind a pillar, escaping most of the blast’s force. Looking at Maka, who similarly seemed unharmed by the explosion not far away, she deliberately asked him this question.
“No comment.”
Not intending to say anything more to Hu Yao’er, and fully aware of the gap between them, Maka simply uttered these four words before once again controlling another piece of paper from his body, sending it flying towards her hiding spot.
Seeing this, Hu Yao’er wasn’t about to just stand there and get blown up. She quickly darted out from behind the pillar that had shielded her, kicked up an unbroken glass from the bar floor, and sent it flying through the air to collide with the paper Maka was controlling.
Another sizable explosion followed. Taking advantage of the fact that the dust and smoke from the blast hadn’t yet settled, Hu Yao’er used them as cover to dash at top speed right up to Maka.
She swung her fist, aiming directly for the white paper armor covering his face.
Seeing this, Maka considered using his previous trick to repel Hu Yao’er again. But realizing it would be pointless, he decided not to use any more of his dwindling supply of paper. Instead, he engaged Hu Yao’er in close-quarters combat.
“How strange. Why isn’t he using that exploding trick again to create some distance and catch his breath?”
Watching Maka constantly dodge before her, on the verge of being knocked down by her fists, Hu Yao’er couldn’t help but feel puzzled as to why he wasn’t using the same tactic as before.
Driven by this curiosity, Hu Yao’er began to observe Maka more closely during their fight.
It didn’t take her long to notice that the white paper armor protecting Maka had noticeably shrunk.
“I see. Those two pieces of paper he used for the explosions were taken from his own paper armor. No wonder he’s not using them to create distance like before. If he keeps this up, that white paper armor won’t be able to protect him from my poison anymore.”
Finally understanding why Maka wasn’t using his earlier trick, Hu Yao’er stopped pondering it further and instead focused all her energy on launching relentless attacks against him.
After maintaining this intense offensive for nearly three minutes, Maka, whose physical constitution was inferior to Hu Yao’er’s, could no longer dodge her attacks as nimbly as before.
Hu Yao’er’s two small fists slammed into his chest, one after the other. Letting out a pained grunt, Maka was sent flying backward, embedded into the bar’s wall.
“I told you to just give up, but you wouldn’t listen. Look at you now, probably got a few ribs broken.”
Looking at Maka embedded in the wall, Hu Yao’er couldn’t help but speak with a hint of smug satisfaction.