Since Michael threw the sword to cut the trap wire, he didn't have a weapon in his hand. But no weapon, no problem for Michael. The vampire dashed at Michael with speed beyond any mortal's limits. Michael sensed no arch energy around Puma's body. It seemed like only the talisman was using arch energy somehow to teleport. Other than the talisman, Puma had nothing that capitalized on the arch energy. Instead, Puma used pure skill honed by years of training to fight Michael. Puma closed the gap between them in a blink of an eye. He swung the dagger left and right with deadly precision. Although his movements weren't fancy or had much technique, they were deadly and moreover, fast. A single misstep and the dagger would cut Michael's neck.

Ding!

The dagger met the shield that suddenly appeared over Michael's wrist. Sparks flew around them. Michael used the shield to block and parry Puma's attack. For a few moments, Puma viciously struck the shield left and right. He naturally aimed for Michael's neck, eyes, and gut but Michael blocked all the attacks with the black shield. The sound of metal clashing echoed through the silent forest. While fighting Puma, Michael did not forget about the traps on the ground. He navigated through the traps without triggering any.

After blocking several attacks, Michael swung the shield, parrying Puma. The force of Michael's move made Puma stumble. Michael followed the successful parry with a vicious punch to Puma's gut. Caught off guard, Puma immediately tried to block Michael's punch. However, he was too late. Michael's punch sent Puma several steps backward. Using the opportunity, Michael leaped into the air, swinging his body to land a 540 kick on Puma's head. In the mid-air, Michael boosted his speed with arch energy. As a result, Puma couldn't see Michael's leg until he felt a sharp pain in his head. A tooth flew out of Puma's mouth. He wiped off the blood from the corner of his mouth. Despite the pain, Puma grinned from ear to ear.

Michael did not slow down. He pressed his advantage by barraging Puma with rapid punches. Vicious punches and kicks overwhelmed Puma. Michael swung his shield, knocking back Puma a few meters back. Without giving Puma time to retaliate, Michael finished his combo with a powerful tornado kick. The moment Michael feet his Puma's head, Puma felt like he was hit by a hammer. His legs trembled. He stumbled back.

"Serpent Maga," Michael halted his steps when he heard Puma. The vampire spat out blood with a grin.

"You remind me of the prey I hunted down a long time ago. She too fought just like you," Michael creased his brows. Although Michael knew Puma was buying time to heal himself, Michael didn't attack him anymore.

"But how did a human like you learn the forbidden fighting style of Nagas?" Puma tilted his head. During these few moments, Puma's regenerative ability healed his body.

"Tell me about that Naga you met," Michael's voice became colder. His eyes turned predatory.

"It's a very good fighting style. But just like any fighting style, it has a bane," Instead of answering Michael's question, Puma stretched his arm, raised his right foot from the ground, and placed it on the left thigh. As a result, Puma looked like a Shaolin monk.

Puma didn't wait for Michael to make a move. Rather, he dashed at Michael. Michael swung his fist, but Puma blocked his punch, countering Michael with a powerful sidekick to Michael's ribs. Michael's abdomen felt numb. Still, he didn't lose his balance. Michael retaliated with vicious rapid punches. To his shock, Puma blocked every single punch as though he had anticipated the punches. Puma counterattacked Michael with rapid kicks and punches. Thanks to the APD, Michael's organs got healed in no time. Otherwise, he would have puked blood. In a few blinks of an eye, Puma landed fifty or so punches and kicks on Michael.

The worst thing was Michael couldn't anticipate Puma's attacks. Just as Puma said, his Serpent Maga finally met its bane. Even though Michael practiced and made changes to the Serpent Maga to the point he reached 98% mastery, it was still a fighting style created by Naga in this world. Thus, it wasn't a unique undefeatable fighting style.

Puma leaped into the air suddenly. He swung his body mid-air and shot toward Michael like an arrow. Michael's instinct screamed at him as he raised the shield to block Puma's attack. Surprisingly, Puma leaped over Michael's shoulder, changing his trajectory. He swiftly landed behind Michael.

Puma was fast to the point even Michael didn't react in time. The vampire swung his dagger, cutting Michael in the back. Blood spurted out.

"You're not giving your full focus to me, Ghost," Puma said after leaping away from Michael. He was right. Michael couldn't completely focus on the fight. His mind wondered who the Naga was. Was he talking about Gaya's mother? Michael couldn't help asking himself this question.

This time, Puma was surprised to see the wound closing up on Ghost's back.

"Huh?" Puma was confused. Ghost was not a vampire. Then how could his body heal without a healing potion? Puma was certain Ghost didn't drink a healing potion. Yet, his body healed itself.

"You are right," Michael finally turned around. He retracted the shield and cracked his fists.

"I was wondering whether to kill you or catch you alive. Thank you for making the decision easier," Puma heard a low pitched whistling noise. He saw Ghost's eyes glimmer for a moment. If they had daylight, Puma would have seen Michael's eyes turning pitch black. Darkness shrouded Ghost. Suddenly, two black laser beams shot out of Michael's eyes. Puma didn't even have time to react as the two black laser beams penetrated through his shoulder. Moreover, the beams contained a force that sent Puma flying onto the tree behind him. Splinters of wood flew. Any man could see the two holes in several trees. After the black laser beams disappeared, Michael's eyes radiated a puff of smoke.

Michael's face turned serious. He wasn't playing anymore. Immediately, Michael ordered the system to disable if there was any surveillance spell or recording stones around them. Next, Michael dashed at Puma who was trying to pick himself up from the ground. Since Michael lacked the badass points to empower the dark beams with Dark Flames, the two holes in Puma's shoulder slowly closed up. Seeing Ghost dashing toward him, Puma quickly prepared himself to block his attacks. The imminent threat stopped Puma from wondering what the heck just happened. But his body refused to move as though an invisible force was shaking his body.

When Michael reached Puma, he punched Puma in the face. A sickening crunch resonated from Puma's nose. It looked crooked. Before it could heal itself, Michael snatched the red dagger in his hand. The Dark flames engulfed the dagger. Immediately, Michael swung the dagger, cutting Puma's hand clean off of his shoulder. Blood spurted everywhere, including on Michael's face. But Michael did not stop. He cut Puma's second hand.

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!" Puma screamed as the red dagger turned into an ooze by the dark flames. As expected, the dagger couldn't withstand the heat of the Dark flames for longer. It must have been an Epic class weapon to last long enough for Michael to keep the dark flames for a couple of seconds. The two hands hit the ground with a thud.

Puma had never felt such intense pain ever since he was turned by Elder Lenora. The pain was too excruciating. Every fiber in his body screamed in agony. Since his hands were cut off by the dagger engulfed by the dark flames, Puma's body was unable to regenerate the two hands. Without playing with Puma, Michael flicked his wrist, taking out a long needle from the system storage. He stabbed the needle into Puma's neck without wasting any time. As soon as Michael injected the needle into Puma's neck, the vampire squirmed frantically. His body soon stopped moving altogether after a few moments. Silence fell over them once again. Except for the sound of dried leaves rustled by the wind, one could hear nothing.

Michel wanted to teleport Puma to the crypt. But he raised his hand and touched the tree behind Puma. Soon, a golden glow appeared in the tree for a moment and disappeared after a second. After placing a rune on the tree to teleport here later, Michael willed the system to teleport Puma and him to the pocket dimension attached to the dark forest. That was where Michael tortured and killed Connors. He used the pocket dimension to interrogate high priority targets. His instincts told him that Puma was nothing but a high-value target. There was a chance Puma was talking about Gaya's mother. He recalled Gaya telling him that the serpent Maga was taught to her by her mother and only their bloodline knew this fighting technique. If Puma really had met Gaya's mother, he might know something that could help them figure out where Gaya's mother is and, more importantly, what made her fake her own death and disappear.

In a blink of an eye, the scenery around Michael changed. Puma was still unconscious.

"My Lord," As soon as Michael appeared in the pocket dimension, he was welcomed by Azazel. The demon butler was surprised to see Michael with Puma. The demon butler was enjoying his time off in the serene view of the waterfall and the small lake at the feet of the waterfall. His break was cut short when Michael appeared.

"Tie him to the tree," Michael pushed Puma to Azazel and disappeared once again.