by Aaron Oster
They’d managed to pull themselves up in the time he’d been distracted. Three of them stood arrayed against him. They were all bloodied messes, but that only made the hatred in their eyes burn brighter. It was obvious that they were as good as dead. They were barely on their feet, while he was in peak condition.
Still, that didn’t mean they were just going to give up, especially the Grandmaster.
“Kill him!” the man yelled, bloody spittle flecking his lips.
The metal-clad woman, whose body looked quite banged up, and the Wind Artist both rushed him while the Grandmaster extended his arms, Qi roiling around him as he tried to call on his Conqueror technique once more.
Roy wasn’t going to give them a chance. Injured as they were, he barely had to put any effort behind the attacks as he flashed between them. The twin hammers came down, pulverizing the two fighters in an instant. The twin cracks as their bodies broke the sound barrier sounded an instant after they became bloody smears on the far walls.
Despite Roy’s speed, the Grandmaster managed to summon his technique, at least partially. Tendrils of darkness snaked out as a half-formed monstrosity seemed to extend from his body. Roy quickly retreated as the thing grew, wisps of blackness slamming into the ground as he dodged around them and tried to close with the man.
Roy could just make out the Grandmaster’s form, standing at the center of the creature of Qi, teeth bared and blood dripping from the multitude of injuries.
“You won’t get away this time!” he yelled, extending both arms to the sides.
The creature formed fully, towering around seventeen feet tall as twin orbs of darkness collected in its hands. Roy left a series of afterimages, twisting and dodging around the lashing tendrils that extended from the monster’s torso.
They were fast, far faster than any Qi technique he’d ever faced. Additionally, the technique began to affect the atmosphere as well, the air turning dark and heavy with Darkness Essence. Roy deftly dodged around the striking tendrils, but found himself unable to move in at all, the technique’s range keeping him at a distance.
Then, the attack finished charging, and the Grandmaster’s voice echoed out from the center of the mass of darkness, his voice seemingly laced with power.
“Dark Spawn!”
The words echoed in the air for far longer than they should have, even as the spheres of darkness collecting in the hands of the monstrous construct fell to the ground, splashing as though made of an actual liquid before two creatures rose from their depths. They were serpentine in appearance, with long necks, scaled hides, and wickedly clawed fingers.
Their eyes glowed purple and their mouths, filled with serrated teeth, opened wide. No sounds came from their throats, but Roy could feel their malice from where he stood. The dark creature that had surrounded the grandmaster seemed to collapse in on itself, leaving him standing with his back bent and panting hard.
The technique seemed to have taken a lot out of him, but as he raised a shaky finger in Roy’s direction, he knew that this battle wasn’t yet over.
“Kill him!” the man commanded.
The constructs immediately moved to obey. Roy, who’d taken a few steps back when the creatures had formed, was now very glad he’d done so. They moved with astonishing speed, far faster than he would have anticipated.
They flanked him on either side and struck in staggered attacks. Roy retreated from the first, only to find himself facing the second from the opposite side. One of its clawed hands slashed at him, and Roy left an afterimage to take the blow as he stepped smartly to one side.
Its fingers tore through the illusion, then right through the stone wall behind it, turning the stone into a bubbling, hissing mess.
“You probably won’t want to get hit by that,” Geon said.
“Really? What gave you that idea?” Roy sarcastically asked as he dodged back from the second creature.
“The stone that just melted,” Geon replied, once again taking the sarcasm as an actual question. “Unless you want that squishy brain of yours to end up looking the same.”
Roy slipped through another one of the attacks, then brought the Demon’s Hammer down on its head. The creature, unable to take it, splattered all over the place — the walls, the floor, even on him.
“Wow, that was surprisingly easy,” Geon said, right before the dark stains on Roy’s body began to glow.
The explosion that ensued might have killed him if Roy hadn’t torn the robes from his body and tossed them in the direction of the second creature. As it was, the few flecks that remained on his skin tossed him clean off his feet, leaving painful welts in their wake. Roy sprang right back up, dodging quickly to his right, flashing halfway across the training grounds.
A bubbling pool of molten and shattered stone now lay where his robes had been. Purple smoke trailed into the air, giving off a noxious stench.
Worst of all, the second creature was nowhere to be seen.
“Never say that something is easy,” Roy all but yelled, his eyes flicking around as he searched for the creature, despite the fact that he was pretty sure it had been caught in the explosion.
“But it was,” Geon said. “You survived the explosion and even managed to take that second one out.”
“Are you sure?” Roy asked.
“Your senses still need a lot of work,” Geon scoffed. “Of course, I’m sure. Though you might want to watch out for…never mind.”
This came after the Grandmaster slammed into Roy from the side, twin blades cutting down at his neck in a last-ditch effort. Thankfully, Roy had sensed him coming, despite seeming distracted. The man cut harmlessly through an afterimage, stumbling and losing control over what little power he had remaining.
Roy, on the other hand, had plenty of power in reserve, and he was going to make the man pay for ambushing him here.
The Grandmaster’s eyes went wide as Roy appeared before him, as a massive, red-gold fist — still dripping with the blood of the man’s allies — wrapped around his body and hauled him into the air.
The man tried to struggle, but Roy squeezed hard. It would have been more efficient to punch him, but this man had come here to capture him and use him against his father. This Grandmaster had tried to make Roy feel helpless and weak once more, like the cripple he had once been.
“What…What the hell are you?” the Grandmaster screamed as blood began streaming from his open mouth, his face turning a dark red.
Roy met the man’s eyes with his own, feeling a chilling cold suffuse his eyes. Doragon had already told him that the fists weren’t the only change to his body when he used them. The tips of red-gold horns also appeared, floating a foot above his head, giving him a hint as to what sort of form he might take when this technique was fully manifested.
However, the horns weren’t the only cosmetic change. His eyes changed as well. He’d seen them reflected back at him when he’d looked into the water surrounding Doragon’s home. They were solid red and lit up beneath his skin around the corners and spread outward. A pair of slitted, black pupils appeared at their center, truly giving him the appearance for which his new Path was named.
“I am death,” Roy said, his voice oddly calm.
The man’s screaming was drowned out by the horrible crunching and grinding as Roy’s fist closed, squeezing the life from the final assassin. As Roy opened his hand, dropping the man’s crumpled form to the ground, he marveled at his own monstrous strength.
The Path of the Titanic Demon truly lived up to its name.
48
Roy dismissed his technique, letting out a long breath as the crumpled body of his enemy fell to the ground with a wet thud. He swayed on his feet for a moment, the world tilting around him as his cycling rhythm returned to normal. While the Path of the Titanic Demon was extremely potent, it also demanded a serious toll on his body and mind.
Doragon said he would grow used to the strain in time, but for right now, it did a serious number on him. He was ju
st glad he’d held out through the entire fight.
“That wasn’t completely horrible,” Doragon said as Roy dropped to the ground, too tired to remain on his feet.
“If you’d let me use my full power earlier, it would have been much faster,” Roy said, glaring at the man.
“By my calculations, you should have been able to finish that fight in two-thirds the time, even with the small handicap I gave you at the start,” Doragon said, ignoring the glare.
“How?” Roy asked, incredulous. “In case you missed it, there were five of them, and all were higher ranked than I am!”
“They were humans,” Doragon said with a shrug. “Beasts are tougher than that.”
“You know, you keep saying that,” Roy said sourly, “but I’ve seen humans destroy Beasts on their level many times. Physical strength doesn’t mean I would automatically win every battle.”
“That’s a good lesson to keep in mind,” Doragon said, nodding in agreement. “What it does mean, though, is that you should have had an edge.”
“I was outnumbered five-to-one,” Roy exclaimed. “How was I supposed to have an edge?”
“The element of surprise,” Doragon said. “They weren’t expecting you to be as strong as you were.”
Roy couldn’t see any way that implied that the fight had been fair. Yes, he had won in the end, and yes, he’d also done so without sustaining any serious injuries. But Roy thought that was more due to carelessness and overconfidence on the part of his enemies, rather than purely based on his own skills.
Had they come in and tried to kill him from the start instead of going for the capture, this might have been a very different battle. Additionally, they’d been taking their time, not using their full strength until he backed them into a corner, and by then, it was too late.
Roy opened his mouth to snap back, but Doragon held a hand up to stop him.
“As much as I would love to continue along this vein, I’m afraid that I’m out of time.”
Roy’s brows furrowed in confusion at that, until Doragon tapped the center of his chest.
“My sister’s Soulcore stabilizer is all but gone. I may have exerted myself too much with that last construct I threw at you. Regardless, even had I not, I would have had a week more at the most.”
“So, what happens now?” Roy asked, pushing himself back to his feet.
“We both leave,” Doragon said with a shrug. “You need to find that friend of yours and head to the exit of the Darklands. You’ll meet up with some friends there, and your Scion friend will bring you to the site of the competition.”
“Where will you go?” Roy asked.
“As far away from here as I can before I lose myself,” Doragon said.
“Is there any way to reverse what happened to you?”
Doragon gave him a wry smile — a very rare show of emotion — and shook his head.
“Kid, it would take more power than you could accumulate in a lifetime to bring my mind to the forefront.”
“How much?” Roy asked.
Doragon paused for a moment, looking at him appraisingly.
“You would need to reach the 14th Stage of advancement. The one after Core Black-Belt,” he finally said. “It’s a stage of advancement that a very rare few in my own home have reached.”
Doragon reached into his robes, producing a small gold-colored box roughly a foot in all directions. A small button lay on one of its six sides and was currently glowing.
“This is the key to this Training Dungeon,” he said, tossing it to Roy, who caught it deftly. “As you can see, the red button is glowing, which means the Dungeon is active. Don’t press it when anyone is inside, or things will get messy. Constructs can be summoned by anyone, though I would recommend you have someone stronger than you do so if you wish to battle challenging opponents, as the limit of a construct’s power is tied to your own advancement level…”
Doragon trailed off, the corner of his mouth twitching for a moment and his eyes drawing down in discomfort.
“I need to leave,” he said, backing away to the Dungeon’s exit but pausing for a moment before leaving. “You also might want to go find your friend. While they like to pretend to be noble, Beasts will take an advantage where they see it, and those idiotic Red-Belts inadvertently led one of the enemies in here.”
“Wait, what?” Roy exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
Was Aika in danger?
“They didn’t come here, seeing as they were smart enough to sense me,” Doragon continued, as though he hadn’t been interrupted. “But your friend is all on her own. She’s strong, sure, but the enemy is a good deal stronger. Additionally, they’re not alone.”
Roy began rushing toward Doragon, his body flooding with Chakra as he extended his senses, trying to reach into the outside world. He couldn’t, at least not until he made it out of the training Dungeon. Doragon, it seemed, was perfectly capable of doing just that.
“How much time do I have to reach her?” he asked.
“As much as you feel like taking,” Doragon said with a shrug. “The enemies from Furea’s forces are already there though, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Roy yelled, starting to grow angry. “Or at least warn her?”
“Because I was busy training you,” Doragon said. “My concern isn’t for her. She may be strong, but she declined to train with us. Additionally, she is only human. If anyone will make a difference in this competition, it certainly will not be her.”
Roy felt his blood begin to boil at the insult. He could handle it just fine when they were hurled at him — for the most part, anyway — but Doragon was insulting Aika. However, despite wanting to throw a punch that would ultimately do nothing, Roy knew he had no time. He dashed past Doragon and back out into the world.
The difference was immediately noticeable. While the sky in their immediate area was gray and overcast, he could see the red-brown glow in the distance. Additionally, he could feel the power. Aika’s Core blazed like a white sun, clearly near his own level, or perhaps even a bit stronger. There were two others, though, and both were tinted a dark brown and radiating the same bestial aura he could now feel around himself.
One was very obviously stronger than the other, and by a degree that told Roy this would not be a fair fight. Aika was holding her own for the time being against the weaker one, but as soon as the stronger one joined in, she wouldn’t last very long.
“You should run,” Doragon said, emerging behind him.
“And abandon my friend? Not a chance!” Roy snapped.
Without a backward glance, he dashed away, depressing the red switch in the center of the box and tucking it into his robes. Power coiled around him as he activated his Ripple Step, Chakra from the Path of the Titanic Demon spreading across his arms and legs. He’d just come out of a tough fight and it would place even more strain on his body, but he needed to reach Aika as fast as he could, and the Ripple Step was the fastest technique he had.
He could feel Doragon behind him, the man’s eyes glued on his retreating back, even long after he should have been out of sight. But Roy didn’t turn and didn’t look back, nor did Doragon come after him. Their time to part ways had come, and this was as good a way as any for their training to end.
***
Doragon watched Roy go with an odd mix of emotions. He could feel himself slipping, the sharp clarity that he had experienced over the last few months quickly retreating as another mind fought to take control.
He had taught Roy a lot in their time together, though he dearly wished they’d had more. He wished he could have spoken with his sister’s son at length, but they hadn’t had the time for that. In their training together, everything had been a test, from his attitude to the way he pushed him to the way he spoke of Roy’s friends or colleagues.
Everything he’d done had been designed to push and prod him. Even now, when Doragon had told Roy to abandon his friend and run, he’d known
he wouldn’t. It wasn’t in his nephew’s nature, nor should it have been. In the upcoming competition, friends would be needed. Especially those who would push him to fight all the harder.
While Roy didn’t stand a chance against the stronger of the fighters attacking the girl, he wasn’t too worried that they would be killed.
Roy might have been too focused on the power to the southwest to feel it, but there were two more spots of power quickly closing in. The fight would strain and push both Roy and Aika, but that was good. It would give them both an idea as to the types of fighters they’d be going up against in the competition.
He grimaced as he felt himself slip again, his mind fluctuating and the world going dark for several moments. Whoever or whatever was trying to take over was strong. They weren’t as strong as he was, but closer than any had been until now.
Knowing he could no longer stay, Doragon kicked off the ground, soaring high into the sky. In an instant, he was out of the Darklands, streaking away over the roiling sea below. Storm clouds thundered overhead, even as he broke past the sound barrier, his body turning into a streak of silver light.
He faltered several times as he flew, his control finally slipping above a jagged peak jutting from the center of the ocean. Doragon plummeted from the sky, slamming into the sharp edge and falling to the ground. He didn’t feel the impact — something as simple as a fall wasn’t going to hurt him — but the unfeeling nature of his fall told him he was done. He no longer felt anything at all.
As the last of Hoshi’s Soulcore burned away, darkness closed in around him. He had no idea if he would ever emerge again, but even as the world faded, he could feel himself smiling. If he’d had any good in his long life, it was getting to spend time with his sister’s son.
He reminded him so much of her. Maybe, just maybe, Roy would find the strength to push past the limits that held most back from achieving true greatness.
If anyone could do it, it would be the son of the woman who’d nearly conquered the entirety of Garasu.