Hao Xuan was on the verge of pulling his hair out, or whatever was still left of them on his scalp. As much as he wanted to curse Baracus again, there was no time. The Puer had almost finished charging up its attack and Hao Xuan was not sure he would be able to dodge it so easily this time.
He pushed against the ground, throwing his body into the air. The Puer followed his movements to a T, making Hao Xuan feel like it had locked onto him somehow. There really was no time to waste.
When he was three feet of the ground, Hao Xuan activated "Heavenly Blare" without even waiting to land on solid ground. Black sparks covered his feet, igniting the air beneath.
The sudden and massive boost provided by Heavenly Blare was caused by just these sparks that were a consequence of him utilizing lightning spirit stones. Normally his feet would be on the ground so nothing could be seen but right now the entire process was laid bare for all to see, although no one was there to catch it.
The sparks created a mid-air explosion underneath Hao Xuan's feet, igniting every molecule of oxygen within a two-meter radius. It didn't sound very big but the force from the explosion especially since it was happening at four times the speed as it normally would was enough to level a football field, which it did.
The burning of oxygen, the expulsion of the built-up energy and the sudden resulting vacuum created by it all in less than a second was enough to create a force that Hao Xuan himself was not ready for.
*BOOOOOM*
The air exploded. Hao Xuan shot forth with the force a ballistic missile that was too much even for his superhuman body to handle. The surroundings were a little more than a blur but thankfully, the Puer was not able to dodge this time.
Hao Xuan didn't or rather "couldn't" make any fancy moves. He extended both his elbows that were covered by an extra layer of hardened skin in front of his face and before he could even blink, he found himself just a foot away from the Puer.
It was at this time that it finally registered what was happening. Hao Xuan could see the four beastly pupils in its eye sockets shrinking to the size of a pinhole.
The fifth limb suddenly jerked back, as if completely independent from the main body.
"Warning! Temporal fluctuation detected! Internal countermeasure deployed at half power" a notification popped up and all of a sudden the nanotech within Hao Xuan's body released a pulse of an electromagnetic field that lasted for mere nanoseconds.
The Puer's body disappeared from the front and reappeared about seven inches to its right.
Hao Xuan's eyes widened from shock but from looking at it this up close, he could understand what had just happened.
That fifth appendage in the shape of a beastly hand was able to somehow communicate with its past self, or send information back in time to before Hao Xuan used Heavenly Blare for the second time.
Baracus had activated the countermeasure on time this time around so Hao Xuan was able to remember the events of both timelines, the one where the Puer did not dodge and the one where it did.
'Motherfucker, it's true!' Hao Xuan cursed inwardly.
His elbows landed on the Puer's left shoulder. Although it looked like it actually could warp time or 'see' the future in a sense, it still wasn't fast enough to truly make use of it.
And even his elbows were akin to a sword at this speed. They cut through four layers of flesh and skin before cracking its bone. Hao Xuan was once again taken aback by the sturdiness of its physical body. It was almost as strong as his own.
He landed behind it as it jumped up into the air, ready to fire another red beam.
"Countermeasure recharging, ETA: 100 seconds."
"Interference protocol initiated."
"Wavelength acquired, target acquisition in 45 seconds, one-time use only."
A series of notifications popped up, planting a wry smile on Hao Xuan's face.
Baracus had managed to create something that could interfere with the Puer's ability to 'see' the future, although it could only be used once.. All Hao Xuan had to do was survive until then, but that was easier said than done.
