KAK-KAK-KAK-!!
A Northern Goshawk flew through the air at the speed of lightning, cutting through the wind as it weaved between trees of impossible density, crossing through impossibly narrow gaps and changing directions at very odd angles with movements so sudden and unnatural that its lightning-fast flight seemed to defy the very laws of motion.
"ZORIAN!!!" Genryū shouted, standing in the middle of the forest.
At the very last stretch of trees where Genryū's voice could still reach, the Goshawk abruptly stopped moving at lightning speed. As its movement came to a halt, a badge around its neck was revealed, with its name printed in gold letters, which read as:
Kyris
FWUPP-FWUPP-!
Kyris lightly flapped its wings as it descended, gradually bringing itself down before landing on the shoulders of the boy. Despite being no older than twelve, the boy possessed a body that resembled that of a twenty-six-year-old.
"So, this forest is a 16-by-16 square, with every tree 430 feet tall and 46 feet thick, right, Kyris?" the boy asked, sitting on a massive boulder, with chained axes attached to the manacles on both wrists, resting behind his trousers.
GRRSHK-THK!
The shirtless boy rose to his feet atop the massive boulder, reaching behind his back and firmly gripping both axes attached to the manacles on his wrists.
"I sometimes wonder how much I change in every phase of the day, don't you?" the boy asked Kyris sitting on his shoulder.
"Anyway, it is time for evening training," the boy said, pulling out the twin axes.
BWRAK-THOOM!!
The boy lowered himself into a stance before launching himself into the air in an instant, twisting his body mid-flight as he rotated through the air.
"Only for you, Genius of the Dark:
GUREN: IRON TEMPEST," Zorian said just a moment before landing.
KTHAK-!!
Zorian landed on his feet, bending his left leg into a kneeling position while keeping his other foot firmly planted. He raised one hand and closed his eyes, holding his position as he sensed that something was coming.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Zorian's attack created a catastrophic event, as all the gigantic trees in the whole forest were cut from the bottom with every tree having a dedicated slash and fell to the ground, generating an earthquake that was headed towards the city.
"My calculations were wrong; this magnitude of earthquake will destroy that city. Kyris, we need to—" Zorian stopped as he sensed the land below him had stopped shaking.
[Zorian's thoughts]
This fast? My attack is stopped this fast? It means it's none other than…
"I understand you are angry that we came here without having any fun in Berlin, but this isn't the correct way to express your anger," Genryū said, pulling his toe out of the ground.
Genryū had pressed his toe against the ground, exerting an equal amount of force through that single point to bring the magnitude 6 earthquake to an immediate halt.
"No, no, it wasn't like that," Zorian said, laughing.
[Genryū's thought]
What exponential growth. And he's truly a monster; his hand must be completely shattered from delivering that attack, yet he's still smiling.
He and that Arashi boy are no longer human in the conventional sense. The Flux flowing through their bodies has given them the height, musculature, and physical leverage of 26-year-old adults, despite being only twelve.
SNAP! SNAP!
Zorian snapped his fingers in front of Genryū's eyes, as while thinking all that, Genryū lost track of time and was standing completely still.
"Do you want to tell me something? 'Cause it looks that way," Zorian said, sensing a presence.
"I wanted to tell you this way before, that the continental-level attack Arashi threw caused every bone in his body to break, every muscle to tear, every nerve to burst, and even lumen reversal didn't work for him—" Before getting interrupted by Zorian, Genryū said all this in one breath.
"He used it for the first time. I know you're saying that this doesn't make him continent-level, since he can't destroy entire continents at will, but he'll surely overcome this," Zorian said, placing his hand on Genryū's chest.
"You are feeling my heartbeat?" Genryū said softly.
"Just to check what the real reason is for telling me all this," Zorian said, pressing harder.
"So did you find anything?" Genryū asked.
"Just a pervy grandpa indirectly telling me that while making or using attacks, I shouldn't hurt myself," Zorian said, removing his hand.
"Never expected this amazing accuracy," Genryū said.
"Now let's go eat," Zorian said, walking. "You know I can't tolerate hunger."
"Yes," Genryū said, walking behind him.
[Genryū's thoughts]
No matter how much Vance and I limit them, physically and mentally, they can never truly be twelve. Their bodies and minds have long surpassed that age—even twenty. Heh! The Ghosts of Dotonbori.
But…
Where is the third one…?
[Inside Musō no Kari's Mind]
[Flashback]
"I believe he must be alive somewhere in someone's thoughts; he must be living the most beautiful moment of his life," Genryū said inside his mind.
KJZZZ-KRAKKA-THOOM!!
"I see no f*cking end to this storm!" No Kari shouted.
"'Cause there isn't one, trash Tatari," Zeverin said, laughing arrogantly.
GRRRK...-
The sound of No Kari gritting his teeth grew increasingly audible, the grinding of his teeth cutting through the surrounding silence until it reached Zeverin's ears.
"Huh! Did you just grit your teeth—" Zeverin stopped smiling.
TIK-!
"This is getting too fast," Zeverin said as everything in his perception stopped completely.
Purple blood trickled from No Kari's healing wound as a raindrop fell, stopping just an inch from his eye. His lips began to part, pressing against the skin stretched over them. To Zeverin, everything slowed to an unnatural crawl, every movement becoming so gradual that the entire world seemed to freeze in place.
"Ready," Zeverin said, taking a stance.
"Mother," Zeverin said.
KJZKT-ZRAASH!!
As Zeverin's lips united again, he failed to maintain his stance as he lunged forward towards the frozen No Kari, as if his legs were becoming lightning itself.
"The moment I entered the dominion, I knew there were three special-grade Tatari here, and if I am not wrong," Zeverin thought midway.
"I have to kill all three special-grade Tatari present here, maybe two; that Arashi, he is different, but that Zorian, he can't even cut a TREE with his axe," Zeverin thought with a devilish smirk, reaching an inch away from No Kari's face.
[No Kari's thoughts]
What has changed in just a split second? It was just the other way around a moment ago—I was beating him, but now he is...
THK-
No Kari's heart skipped a beat, his body momentarily caught off guard by the sudden shock that surged through him.
How?... How the hell is he in front of my face so fast? Ah! Ah! He is swinging his sword. Dodge! Dodge! DODGE!!!
SHIIING!!
Zeverin swung Raiko no haha with the speed of a lightning bolt and the force of a lightning strike.
FWHSH-!! KSHHHRAAASH!!
No Kari was just able to lower his head as his defense, and by his newborn luck, and since Zeverin was aiming to slice off his brain, lowering his head caused the attack to slash the building behind him diagonally.
"Scared already? You have just witnessed the madman start," Zeverin said, kicking No Kari in the gut.
"Motherfuc*er Shigarō, you will pay if I survive from here," No Kari thought, spilling blood out of his filthy mouth.
ZSHHRAAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-!!
Zeverin swung Raiko no haha in every direction possible, severing almost every part of No Kari's body. The lightning-infused part of his blade wasn't letting No Kari die by giving shocks to his heart, nor letting No Kari fall unconscious.
Zeverin was cutting No Kari piece by piece while No Kari was unwillingly floating in the air, not given permission to fall to the ground.
[No Kari's thoughts]
Is this the exact feeling everyone here felt as I ate them? The feeling of helplessness, the feeling of getting butchered at the hands of a monster I couldn't defeat.
SHRAK! SHRAK! SHRAK!!
Zeverin wasn't finding a way to stop himself, as he was enjoying the dismantling of No Kari so much that he was drowning in the pleasure.
No Kari closed his eyes, accepting his fate of death for a very brief second, only to open his eyes the next moment.
CHK-
He lifted his falling head, biting his lips so forcefully that every wound Zeverin had created flushed with such an extreme amount of blood that Raiko no haha slipped.
"KYŌSHA NO KATA (Form of False Reflection)," No Kari shouted his heart out.
FSSHHRAK-!!
Zeverin, with a shocked face, read the movement of No Kari and slashed in that direction he must would have fallen, only to realize what he had cut was just air.
THUD! THUD! THUDD-!!
A few feet apart from Zeverin, No Kari took just two steps before falling to the ground under his own weight because of his injuries.
"I read his movement and predicted the slash," No Kari said in disbelief to himself.
"That's impossible," Zeverin said to No Kari.
"It isn't," No Kari said, not lifting his face.
"There is an even greater swordsman than you present here, and he is fighting my brother," No Kari said, trying to stand up.
"If that's the case, then he should be beating me now. Heh! Come try it," Zeverin said, pointing Raiko no haha at No Kari.
"I never bluff, scumbag," No Kari said, standing up.
FSSSSHHH...
No Kari's wounds started to heal as smoke started rising from all over his body, as he kept both of his arms and head completely loose.
FWOOOSH-!
No Kari vanished into the thick smoke emanating from his own body, his figure gradually disappearing behind the swirling haze until nothing of him remained visible.
THWAK!
Faster than before, faster than Zeverin could react, faster than Zeverin could act, a punch hit Zeverin's jaw from the side, launching him into the air to collide with the buildings.
KJZZZRAAAK-THOOM!!
Zeverin wasn't colliding with the buildings; rather, he was floating in the air like lightning.
"Swordsman stronger than me? Present in here?" Zeverin said, remembering something.
"Ushimoto!" Zeverin said, losing his focus and colliding into a building.
FWOOOSH!
No Kari appeared right in front of Zeverin, who was yet to be ready.
"I win," No Kari said, almost punching Zeverin.
Tik..... Tik... Fsssss-!!
Time itself seemed to pause as No Kari clenched his fist, the air around it twisting and wrapping over his knuckles, as though he were grasping the very air itself.
"Greater? Stronger? Will win the fight? Bullsh*t! ...
...The only one who could defeat the
Son of Akira Raiden is none other
than her Son himself."
[TO BE CONTINUED]
SHRAK-SHRAK-SHRAK-SHRAK-KRRRAAAASH!!!