Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The golden fox woman raised her knife to fight since she knew that the same trick from before wouldn't work against Rain and then swung down her knife at Rain's fist when he attacked her.

Much to her surprise, that didn't stop Rain from attacking, and her knife pierced his hand. Her arm was pushed to the side, and Rain followed the attack with a kick on her left side. She quickly raised her elbow and blocked the Attack and ended up hitting Rain's feet… kicking a bone like that was painful, but the one who suffered the most was the opponent.

The golden fox woman's face went pale as she jumped backward to avoid Rain's next attacks while she felt a throbbing pain in her elbow. Still, Rain had no intention of giving her time to recover. He charged again, and in the Middle of the charge, he covered his fists in the thin layer of silver that he used to get rid of the clones.

Rain's right fist collided with the woman and then pushed the knife away while it was spinning in the air. Rain followed the attack with a punch using his left hand, but the woman still had a trick up her sleeve.

She jumped toward him to grab his neck, and while Rain moved his other arm to block the attack, nothing hit him, and the clone just dissipated…  Rain lost the chance to attack, and the woman jumped away, and she summoned more clones.

Rain ignored them all and kept moving toward her since he knew who the real one was, even though all of them also had blood arms in their bodies.

In the next moment, after passing through several clones and not suffering any damage, Rain saw the opponent pointing her tail toward him.

The cunning golden fox unleashed a relentless attack, her shimmering golden hair transformed into long, needle-like strands. These glinting projectiles closed in on Rain, resembling a swarm of deadly metallic needles seeking their mark.

Instinctively, Rain raised his forearm guards to shield his face. However, this choice brought unintended consequences. The sharp needles struck his body, piercing through his defenses. The pain that surged through Rain's body was agonizing.

Each needle felt like a searing hot blade, piercing his flesh and tearing through muscle. It was a sensation of intense burning and tearing as if his body was under assault from a thousand fiery blades. The pain was overwhelming, forcing Rain to clench his teeth and let out a pained grunt.

"What the hell…" Rain thought. "How did she…"

Rain realized that the golden fox could use her strains of hair to create the clones, and that was what attacked him earlier.

Rain found himself in a desperate situation, using his forearm guards to deflect the relentless barrage of attacks. The impact of each of the golden fox's hair needles striking his guards echoed like the blasts of cannonballs. With each hit, Rain felt himself being forcefully pushed backward, struggling to maintain his footing.

The sheer strength and accuracy of the golden fox's strikes were overpowering, pushing Rain's defenses to their absolute limits.

The golden fox woman kept moving away while attacking Rain just like that. He wondered if she was fine going bald at that rate because his forearm guards definitely wouldn't break. Still, she kept going.

"It must be some kind of beast trait…" Rain thought. "Not that knowing that helps me that much."

Rain knew that he could use some magic to turn around the odds in that fight, but he had already used some when he used the arena against the woman, and he wanted to save even more against the beast king, and he knew that such a thing was absolutely necessary.

Rain, faced with the relentless onslaught of golden hair needles, had a moment of inspiration. With lightning-quick reflexes, he adjusted his forearm guards, causing the incoming needles to spin upward as they collided with the protective gear. The sudden change in trajectory caught the golden fox off guard.

Rain, now in control of the situation, used his forearm guards to expertly send the spinning projectiles back at the golden fox. The dozens of needles hurtled toward her, creating a symphony of metallic clashes and collisions in the middle of the arena.

It was a breathtaking display of skill and precision as Rain turned the tables on his opponent, forcing her to defend against her own deadly hair needles since his attacks were heavier…

With a single of her tail, she blocked the needles when they were about to reach her. Still, that gave Rain the chance to step in and attack her. Rain swung his fist toward her stomach, but she swung her tail upward to stop him. Unfortunately for her, Rain had expected that and pulled away his fist at the last moment, and then her tail only hit the air.

Before the golden fox woman could recover to defend herself, Rain body-slammed her with his left shoulder and made her spin toward the wall. When her body hit against it, she coughed a mouthful of blood before she fell on her knees and then forward.

After ten seconds, the beast king declared Rain the winner, and despite that, he felt a bit worried since while the woman was strong, she wasn't very durable. That was why he went for a shoulder attack… the impact of the attack crossed through her whole arm, but a punch could have pierced her body and killed her.

"I suppose that since I didn't get experience, she is alive, and beastmen are usually very tough. Even if compared to others, she is more on the frail side," Rain thought while moving to where his friends were. "In any case, this kind of fighting style sure is troublesome to adapt to... I wonder if there are others tribe leaders like her.

It will be dangerous if the others fight such quicky opponents, Jori and Reca are too straightforward for their own good."