Steven's Pov
Pain.
Overwhelming and all-encompasing. Even with his reinforced physique, Steven still felt like his entire body was being torn apart from the inside out.
But even then, he wasn't unfamiliar with this pain, because it was the price of his power.
Steven possessed the ability to channel and convert dark energy directly through his body.
That energy could be absorbed into his physique for overwhelming physical strength, explosive speed, and abnormal durability. He could even project some of the energy outward after changing it's form, giving it more destructive strength e.g annillation beams from his eyes.
Unlike most mutants, his power had no defined upper limit. He could contain limitless energy, as long as his physique could keep up.
The more he drew in, the stronger he became.
However, every surge came at a cost.
The energy didn't simply flow through him, It burned him from inside out.
His veins darkened, muscles tore under the strain and internal organs slowly degraded the longer he maintained high output.
Yet, Steven never showed nor spoke about how his power worked. He always remained expressionless. With no sign of pain, hesitation nor fear.
Because what made him truly dangerous was not just his power, but his ability to control it perfectly.
He amplify his reactions speed and shut down emotions like a machine when it came to battle.
He ignored the limits that would instantly destroy others.
To an opponent like Nocthar,
He was a contradiction.
A being with immense power, no emotions meant nothing for him to feed on, which in turn was a terrible waste of time and energy.
Then,
Something changed.
A violent surge of dark energy erupted from his broken, mangled body.
It spread rapidly, coursing through the torn, blackened veins etched across his flesh, flowing along every muscle line like liquid shadow.
The effect was immediate.
His body began to repair itself.
Not slowly, but violently.
Flesh pulled together and bones realigned.
Muscles stitched themselves back into place like scattered fragments of a puzzle being forcefully reassembled.
The process was unnatural, brutal and efficient.
But it didn't stop there.
His frame expanded.
Muscles swelling, his already tall figure grew larger and larger, until he finally stabilized at nearly 2.7 meters in height.
He slowly rose to his feet.
A pulse of terrifying pressure spread outward from his body, distorting the air around him.
His eyes turned completely black.
Vein-like patterns extended from them, crawling across his face and down his body, seamlessly merging with the thick, pitch-black veins that now bulged beneath his skin.
What remained of his clothing tore apart effortlessly, unable to withstand the transformation.
Fragments fell away, leaving behind a figure with chiseled, god like physique, but gave off an energy that felt no longer human.
Steven stood still with expressionless and empty feeling like a machine given form.
It was as if every trace of emotion had been erased.
End of Pov.
Nocthar watched everything.
From the first spike of energy, to the complete transformation.
His yellow eyes narrowed slightly.
Intrigued.
The increase in energy levels and enormous physical change?
It was somehow expected. This is what he'd expect from someone who was able to make him curious, not dying like a pathetic worm.
What truly bothered him was his absence of emotions. Now that was different.
He couldn't sense anything. Fear, anger nor even intent.
Just nothing.
And that made him even more cautious.
Because having enduring his earlier assault, then rising again like nothing happened with a spike in energy levels was not something to take lightly.
But a slow twisted and excited grin spread across his face.
He began to clap.
The sound echoed through the room wet, and uneven. His bloodied hands striking together in clear amusement.
"Well…"
His voice was calm, yet laced with cruelty.
"Looks like you weren't just a worm after all."
Then his posture shifted instantly, with the laziness from earlier disappearing and replaced by a sharp focus.
Every muscle in his body coiled with intent as his presence grew colder and more dangerous.
He spoke again, his tone dropping into something darker and grin widening.
"Now we find out if you're still just prey, or whether you've finally upgraded into a dangerous predator."
The air twisted as Nocthar again vanished.
In the next instant, he reappeared beside Steven, his movement driven purely by speed. His body was already aligned into the same striking posture he had used before, only this time, there was more force and energy behind it.
More weight and intent.
His fist shot forward.
A terrifying punch aimed directly at Steven's left ribcage.
It connected.
"CLAANG"
The sound rang out unnaturally.
Not the dull impact of flesh against flesh, but something more dense and metallic.
It's like iron being struck with immense force.
Nocthar's expression shifted instantly and for the first time since the fight, he felt something close to bewilderment.
It felt like he had just punched solid steel. Steven hadn't even moved slightly after receiving the full brunt of the attack.
Nocthar didn't hesitate.
He pressed forward immediately, launching a relentless barrage of attacks.
Punch after punch,
Each strike heavier, brutal and more precise than the last.
A barrage was unforgiving lethal blows.
The room trembled under the force of his assault as his fists hammered into Steven's body without pause.
Seconds slowly tickling by
Nearly twenty seconds of continuous offense—
Yet, Nocthar received no feedbacks from his attacks.
It was like attacking something that simply refused to acknowledge his existence.
His movements finally slowed, then stopped.
Eyes narrowing
Something was wrong here. He thought
He considered creating distance.
Repositioning and reassessing the situation.
But before the thought could fully form,
Something else moved.
A shadow.
Fast.
Too fast.
It flashed to his side with dangerous intent, and in that same instant, a fist appeared.
Condensed power gathered into a single, devastating point.
Then impact.
A brutal blow drove straight toward his chest.
Nocthar's sixth sense warned him before the attack even arrived.
He casually sidestepped, forming a series of afterimages as a result of his terrifying speed, leaving the strike's trajectory empty as if he had never even been in that spot. The attack slammed into the ground instead, turning the impact site into a deep pit, spider-web cracks radiating outward with terrifying speed.
Steven rose from his punching stance, repositioned, and stomped his left foot on the ground. In a blur, he flashed towards Nocthar at near-light speed, following it up with a sonic boom of an attack, which was again casually dodged by his opponent.
Then the two became afterimages of themselves, one relentlessly attacking while the other weaved and gauged, anticipating every movement.
A storm of punches filled the battlefield, rhythmically colliding with invisible defenses, destroying everything around in the process until Nocthar, sensing he had mastered the timing, allowed himself a moment of relaxation.
That moment of carelessness proved fatal. One of Steven's punches slipped within striking distance. But this time, it was different.
Dark energy surged through Steven's arm, reshaping it into a grotesque, muscular weapon that pulsed with raw power. The attack amplified exponentially, horrifying in both size and force.
Nocthar's eyes widened. He could see it coming, but it was too close and too fast, there was no time for a countermeasure.