The Tycoon's Odyssey

As Evan slammed Walter to the floor, the ground cracked beneath his face from impact and a web of fractures spread outward. Walter snarled in pain but twisted his legs, sweeping Evan's feet out from under him.

Evan hit the ground hard but rolled away just as Walter brought his fist down like a hammer, creating a small crater where Evan had been moments ago.

They rose simultaneously, their chests heaving. Walter wiped the blood trickling from his nose and grinned wickedly. "You're tougher than you look, I'll give you that." Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire

"Funny," Evan replied, his voice cold. "I was about to say the same about you."

Walter lunged again, but this time Evan was ready. He sidestepped, grabbed Walter by the arm, and with a roar, hurled him through the nearest wall. The fellow's body smashed through the concrete, tumbling into the adjacent room. Evan didn't give him a chance to recover, he sprinted forward, grabbed Walter by the collar, and slammed him straight through the floor.

Walter crashed onto the level below with a deafening boom, the impact causing a part of the floor above to collapse. Evan jumped down after him, landing heavily amidst the debris while Walter groaned and tried pushing himself to his feet, his movements now slower.

"You done yet?" Evan asked in a mocking tone.

"Not even close," Walter growled, and that's when Evan noticed that Walter's skin was changing. Greenish scales were spreading across his body, hard and metallic-looking, catching the faint light in the room.

"What the hell is that?" Evan muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Walter grinned as the transformation spread. "You didn't think this was going to be easy, did you?"

Evan didn't hesitate. He charged forward and drove his fist into Walter's chest. While the scales absorbed most of the impact, the force still sent him stumbling backwards. Evan followed up with a brutal uppercut, then a spinning kick that sent Walter crashing into a steel beam.

Walter laughed, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth. "You're persistent, I'll give you that."

"And you're still ugly," Evan shot back, slamming his shoulder into Walter and driving him through another wall.

The fight raged on, their punches and kicks shaking the building to its core. Walter's scales made him tougher, but Evan's relentless assault was wearing him down. At one point, Walter managed to catch Evan's arm and hurled him across the room like a rag doll causing him to smash into a glass partition, shattering it into a million shards.

Groaning, Evan climbed to his feet, shaking off the pain. "You're stronger, I'll admit," he said, cracking his neck. "But you're not unbeatable."

Walter sneered. "Neither are you."

With a roar, they charged at each other yet again. Their fists collided mid-air, unleashing a shockwave that shattered the remaining windows of the building. The sound was deafening, and the ground beneath them buckled under the force.

Evan ducked under Walter's swing and drove a punishing blow to his stomach, following up with a knee to the face. Walter staggered but retaliated with a spinning backhand that sent Evan sprawling into a column.

Leaning against the column, catching his breath, Evan looked up at Walter, who was bleeding and battered, but still grinning.

"Had enough?" Walter taunted, his voice dripping with cruelty.

The fight had devolved into a brutal brawl. Both Evan and Walter were battered and bloodied, their movements were like forces of nature, each punch, kick, and throw leaving destruction in its wake.

Despite their injuries, both men were healing rapidly, their wounds sealing and their strength returning almost as quickly as it was drained.

Evan dodged a ferocious swing from Walter and countered with a powerful uppercut that snapped Walter's head back, causing him to stumble, but before he could recover, Evan lunged forward, tackling him like a linebacker. They crashed through a concrete wall, landing in a shattered storage room.

Walter snarled, struggling to break himself free, but Evan locked his arms around him like a vice. With a roar of exertion, Evan ripped Walter's arm clean off and hurled it across the room.

For a moment, there was a stunned silence, broken only by Walter's chilling laughter.

"Did you really think that would work?" Walter taunted, grinning despite the pain coursing through his body.

Evan's gaze flicked to the discarded arm and then at Walter's shoulder which was already regenerating, tendrils of muscle and sinew knitting together to form a new limb.

But then something strange happened.

A thick jet of blood spray splattered on him and he didn't move in time to avoid it.

And this was a mistake.

Blood sprayed from Walter's severed shoulder, splattering onto Evan's chest.

CREECH!

Evan cried out in pain as the blood burned through his armor and onto his skin. It sizzled and bubbled, melting away the flesh, and exposing ribs and organs beneath. The searing agony forced Evan to stumble backwards, clutching at his chest as smoke rose from the wound.

Walter stood tall, his arm now fully regenerated. He flexed it, smirking as he watched Evan writhe.

"This isn't enough to kill me," Walter said, his voice dripping with malice. "But for you? It might be the end."

Evan hissed in pain but forced himself to stay on his feet despite his trembling knees. "What… what the hell is your blood?"

Walter chuckled darkly. "Are you an idiot? Since you know we're not human, how did it never occur to you that our blood might be toxic?"

Evan glared at him, but his expression betrayed his confusion and surprise. Walter's laughter grew louder, echoing through the ruined room.

"Our blood is one of the most potent toxins in existence," Walter explained, his tone mocking.

"A single drop is enough to kill thousands of humans. No matter how strong you think you are, no matter how much resistance you've built up, it's useless against us."

As he spoke, Walter's skin began to shift again, the greenish scales spreading across his skin, and his eyes turned reptilian, glowing with a sinister light. His face warped into an unfamiliar, alien visage.