by CT Knight
My entire body jerked at the question. The warlord didn’t like the mockery being made of him. It was true, though, Professor Xin had defeated the warlord. Twice. Of course, that was after he was first summoned. Some spirits were weak when first called. It was only those that had stayed within their hosts for long durations that grew strong. And the warlord had been with me for years. I doubted Professor Xin would be able to handle him, now.
“Show me,” the Bringer said.
“Here?”
“Why do you think I have cleared the arena?”
I glanced around the roof. We were the only two left. At first I was OK with that. But the more the Chaos Bringer spoke, the more cautious I became. This could have been an aspect of the Bringer. Considering what destruction type it was, it could come up with any random scenario it wanted. For all I knew it was just another tool of chaos.
“Make no mistake,” it continued. “I will still leave you for last. But I will see that you are broken first.”
I choked back my fear and held out hope that while ice bullets hadn’t worked on Chaos Minions, they might work on the Chaos Bringer.
My gun rose as a reaction to the suddenness of the Chaos Bringer charging at me.
CHAPTER 23
Having a fifteen-foot Deity of Destruction charging at you on the roof of a skyscraper is a terrifying experience. One that was made worse when you didn’t know any spells that could stop it and couldn’t use them even if you did because then you would have two world-enders running around.
The size twenty-five clawed foot came down at me and slammed down on the roof, cracking it like a spider’s legs. I was quick to make sure I wasn’t standing there for it. The next attack was three clawed fingers swiping down at me. I ducked and rose back up with a punch to the gut. A punch that didn’t feel too great for my knuckles. And whatever sound he was making after that hit, it didn’t sound like one of anger or pain. It sounded almost like laughter.
“You have grown weak over the years, Kagawa.” He grabbed my arm and lifted me to to his head. When you come face to face with creatures like this, there is an expectation of razor sharp teeth. Maybe even two or three rows of them, depending on their size. But the Chaos Bringer’s teeth were just like its name. A mouth full of different forms of teeth: jagged, flat, and rounded off, and all of them pointing in different directions. Some were big, some were small. There was no logic behind the dental nightmare.
“I decided conquering wasn’t for me anymore,” I said. “Maybe you’d like to try that path as well? It’s extremely calming and enlightening.”
I guess he didn’t like that response, evidenced as he swung me one way then the other, finally throwing me toward the wall. My jacket took the brunt of the hit against the door to the stairwell. This time I made sure to keep my head from hitting the wall. I was getting tired of being thrown against things and blacking out.
“I will see this world burn by its own hand then I will move on to the next until everything returns to its natural state. There will be no order. Only chaos!” He roared out from atop the roof as if he had a grudge against the city itself.
“Not on my watch,” I muttered, rising back to my feet. It was a corny thing to say but at that point, bad movie puns felt right. I had a cheap tactic planned and I was eager to use it.
It was the fastest I’d ever fired my gun and the fastest I’d traded out magazines. In hindsight, I probably should have turned the gun into something with a little more kick. But I had a hunch nothing was going to work. I fired at the Chaos Bringer’s back, emptying the magazine as I ran toward it.
He spun around and I let my fists do the rest, going to work on his legs. I made sure to put good focus on the knees. If nothing else, it might slow the thing down as it trekked across the world. It was a little different than hitting a normal human. There were the spikes to worry about but the sides of the knees felt harder. Like there were multiple layers between the skin and bone. It felt like hitting the bottom half of a punching bag, where all the sand had accumulated, packing it in real dense. It didn’t hurt my fists too bad but it didn’t seem to do much to the Bringer either. It was one last hook to the inner thigh before he snapped his leg forward, sending me back to the stairwell door. I should have been grateful he didn’t use that knee spike.
I slid down the wall, to the rain covered roof with a splash. I was out of options. I couldn’t shoot the thing and I couldn’t box with it for much longer. And there was no way to tell when it would get tired of me and go off to wreck the world then come back and kill me.
“Do you feel it, yet, Kagawa? Do you feel your very essence draining as your body is beaten and broken?”
I definitely felt winded but I still wasn’t out. He had yet to actually break anything so at least there was some silver lining.
“I was just testing you,” I bluffed. “I needed to know if you still had the necessary strength.”
“And what is your verdict?”
“I find that you are…” I was already regretting my next choice of words. “Lacking.”
“You dare!” It ran at me, again.
The door burst open and a giant panther rushed onto the roof. The Soul Ripper in its hands sizzled with the drops of rain that hit it. Sasha was far faster than the Chaos Bringer. Reaching it, she slashed the knife into the monster’s leg. It howled then struck her full force with the back of its hand, sending her my way and the knife over the edge of the roof.
I moved between her and the door, taking the brunt of the hit. Lucky me, the Bringer’s attack on her had rendered her unconscious. She still slammed into me but in her human form and not what I’d guessed was a three-hundred-pound bipedal panther.
I laid her on the roof, hoping the rain drops would wake her up. They didn’t but maybe it was for the best. She didn’t need to see the lights that came next. Or the ones that should have come next.
My first thought was this thing didn’t have a soul. And why should it? It wasn’t from our world. I didn’t know a lot about souls but I’d always gathered they were unique to our plain of existence. Of course it was possible the Soul Ripper was never going to work on the Chaos Bringer.
The leg wound burned then liquified as if the veins of the Bringer were full of lava. I took a shot in the dark and guessed that, like its teeth, there was no logic behind whatever it was that ran through the Bringer’s veins. Still, Sasha’s attack worked. Too bad there was no knife to pick up.
“Your ally lays victim to her own actions. Would you have attacked with the same deception?” the Bringer asked.
“If I had a knife, yeah,” I said plainly. I wasn’t playing the game anymore. Whatever Kagawa sounded like, I wasn’t imitating him. I’d wasted too much time. The force I needed wasn’t the kind I was using and there was no reasoning with chaos. There was only balance. All this time I was too afraid to lose myself by using magic. Even though it worked on the minion, that encounter had been brief. I knew it was going to take more effort to put the lord of chaos down. And probably more time. Those notions had me too scared the warlord would be set free. But now, there was only one way to end this. I just hoped I could put that genie back in the bottle if it came to that.
I sat down on the roof in the lotus position, letting the rain remind me that without wet, there could be no dry. Without dark, there could be no light.
“You concede, Kagawa?” the Bringer asked. “Very well. When this world is remade in my image, I will come back for you. That is when I will take your head.”
“The only way that can happen is if I allow it.”
“Then you are not only weak but a fool.”
My eyes were closed but I could hear the water sloshing with each step forward the Chaos Bringer took. This was going to be one of the biggest spells I’d ever cast. But it was balanced so it should have been able to hold the warlord back for a little while.
My eyes burst open and I saw through the black and white smoke that swirled around me.
“W
hat is this?” the Chaos Bringer asked as it stopped just feet from me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw the giant yin-yang symbol towering over me. The black and white were both merged and separated. It was a perfect balance. I wanted to relish the confusion in the Chaos Bringer’s eyes but I could already feel the familiar buzzing and hear the faint whisper of the warlord. I had to end this fast.
I launched to my feet, making the Bringer take one step back. “This is balance,” I said. “Harmony given form.” I took a solid stance and pulled the yin-yang into myself. My entire body glowed with the magic. Every limb felt both at peace and wild. It was the trump card I needed.
“Kagawa!”
I could hear the warlord respond but I ignored it and launched at the Bringer. This time it would fear my charging form.
CHAPTER 24
My first hits stunned the Chaos Bringer. The monster’s head rocked backward like the bullet from a sniper rifle had slammed into it. I knew its reaction had more to do with a balanced attack than my own strength. I was a decent boxer but this thing was from another world. Still, I wasn’t about to let up. Before I landed back on the roof, I slammed another fist into its chest, forcing the beast to topple forward.
It took a swing at me but I ducked and front snap kicked it in the knee. The balance magic was working, just like it did on the minions before. Only these hits were far stronger and seemed more devastating.
The Chaos Bringer was having trouble maintaining its focus and its legs seemed wobbly. I took two steps back, planning the next attack. I had my doubts that I could actually kill it.
The Bringer dropped to one knee, howling at the pain in its other knee. The protruding bone spike had cracked and the entire knee looked unnaturally bent. The sight gave me some hope.
“You are not…” it said. “You are not Nanasaki Shiro Kagawa!”
“That’s right.” Though I didn’t know for how much longer. The warlord was getting louder and my head was buzzing like millions of bees all flying around, trying to get out. I couldn’t understand the language the warlord was speaking but he seemed angry. Whatever bad blood burned between the two of them, it was enough to put the warlord in a rage I hadn’t experienced. The balance magic was still slowing him down but I could feel myself starting to lose it. Even if I could kill the Chaos Bringer, I didn’t know how long it would take. If the warlord came out, he might finish the job but that would just trade one problem for another. One that, at that point, I would be powerless to stop. I had to send the Chaos Bringer back through the portal. I just didn’t know how.
The monster reset its own leg. And judging by the sound it made, at great pains to itself. It rose back up and that’s when I went all out.
The jump was higher than I’d planned. A perfect scenario, really. From there I slammed my fist under its chin, knocking the monster off its feet. I came back down and hit the roof with a splash, proud of how hard the hit was. Unfortunately, the Chaos Bringer didn’t do the same. I watched as it flew right over the edge of the roof and disappeared from sight.
There wasn’t time to sigh. And no telling if the fall would actually hurt the Chaos Bringer. I sighed anyway then took off for the longest drop in town.
The sound of an earthquake slowed me down. It wasn’t easy on the wet roof but I managed to keep my feet under me. Even from the highest point in New York, I could hear the pavement cracking on the street below. The warlord shouted as if warning me of some impending danger. He got even louder as I continued toward the edge of the skyscraper.
It probably would have been better if I hadn’t looked. The Chaos Bringer was staring back up at me. Even from that high the fifteen-foot monster stood out amongst the humans running mad around it.
“You find my strength lacking, Kagawa!” it shouted up at me, it’s voice like thunder. “I will show you who is lacking!” A reddish aura grew from the Bringer, expanding outward and enveloping people. My first thought was that it was going to pull them toward it. Instead, the same portal tear from before grew from beneath the monster’s feet. That’s when I figured it out. All this time I was fighting the actual Chaos Bringer, just not its true form.
The same crazed eyes that stared down at me before, now looked up at me with even more rage as the giant Chaos Bringer rose from whatever dimension it lived in. It’s mouth, teeth worse than before, opened, consuming its smaller form. The fifteen-foot Bringer welcomed the merge. The two were one.
I backed away from the edge to get clear of the newly forming Chaos Bringer that was growing taller than the building.
Its shoulders spanned wider than One World Trade Center. And its head towered above it, high enough to look down at me. This was not the same beast from my arcane book. This one was far bigger. It was the true image of the Chaos Bringer.
My mind raced, wondering what the people below were seeing. Or were they even aware of it? I didn’t know if anything I did would be effective against the giant Chaos Bringer. And the warlord was louder than ever. The balance magic was still slowing him down but I was close to losing it.
“You are not Kagawa!” The Bringer’s voice boomed. “But his stench reeks within you.”
“What are you to this Kagawa?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“I am his death and soon I will be yours, as well.” I watched as his massive arm rose then fell toward me. There was no place to go. No defense to use.
Suddenly, the world went upside down as my body flipped backward, avoiding the giant hand that slammed on the roof. I was never all that acrobatic so I knew the warlord was already taking physical control. Even as I fought back against the warlord, I watched the giant hand slowly rise back up. The roof was cracked even more. I could already see parts of the observation deck below us through a few of the newly formed holes in the roof. One more hit like that and the Chaos Bringer might just bring the whole building down.
I had to get to its head while I still had my faculties.
I leaped onto its hand and ran the length of its arm. The balance magic worked in more ways than the offensive. Having it course within me meant I wasn’t going to fall off the moving arm. Good thing, too, because it was a long way down.
I didn’t waste any time striking the arm. I had my target and the sooner I got to it, the better.
“Kagawa!” the Bringer roared. It was like a twenty by twenty stack of amplifiers all blaring out the power chord of an electric guitar. The booming thunder of it had a greater impact on the warlord than it did me. Its sound pushed him further away from taking control. Whether the Bringer was aware of it or not, it had just helped me. Time I returned the favor.
I finally reached the shoulder and shoved off, right for the monster’s chin. My fist glowed as it struck the Deity of Destruction. The Bringer staggered backward, nearly toppling one of the smaller buildings. Lucky for the taxpayers, it stopped just short. I sure didn’t want that added bill. Rent was high enough.
“Impossible!” the Bringer said in disbelief that a normal human could pack such a punch. I was ready to put even more into the second one.
My knees bent as I landed on the monster’s other shoulder and I pushed back off. This time I was aiming for the Bringer’s eye socket.
The bright flash of balance magic colliding with pure chaos was blinding. Mostly to the Chaos Bringer. I leaped from the monster’s nose back to the roof of the trade building. My leg almost went through the roof as the cracks widened. I glanced at Sasha who was still laying by the door to the stairs. My first thought was to go to her and get us both out of there but the buzzing in my head only reminded me that even if we got through this, there was one more problem. And we still weren’t through it.
The Chaos Bringer roared, its hand clutched over its eye. I’d never used balance magic like this before. I never knew how powerful it really was.
“I will end you then this entire realm!” it yelled. “This place will run red with sheer pandemonium. I will…”
It went on but all I could h
ear was the warlord shouting back. I didn’t know Japanese. I sure didn’t know feudal Japanese. Whatever he was saying, it was in anger. Anger that was making him stronger. I had to either kill the Chaos Bringer or send it back. I doubted I could kill the thing. And without a way to re-open the portal it came through, I didn’t know how to send it back.
“I wonder if it’s ever been knocked out before.” I wasn’t even thinking as my legs, instinctively, carried me back to the edge of the roof. I leaped up at the Bringer’s head, ready to deliver a final strike that I hoped would knock it out long enough for me to plan the next move. I silently prayed that there was no one in the soon to be demolished buildings.
I barely got halfway to the Chaos Bringer before the back of its giant hand collided with me. It wasn’t like a wrecking ball. It was like the wall a wrecking ball knocks down. And it hit me, full force, sending me flying well above the city.
CHAPTER 25
There I was, sailing upward against the rain. From that high up, I admired New York. There wasn’t much else to do. It was an amazing town from the ground. It was even better from my new vantage. Chaos Bringer marching around and all.
The warlord in his freak-out moment sounded as if he were right next to me. I figured he wasn’t used to being that high up. At least that was one thing we had in common. The other thing was a fight with the rampaging monster. I didn’t know any meteor magic so getting down fast enough to get in one last hit without getting hit back wasn’t an option. Maybe luck would be on my side and the monster would miss. It certainly seemed like I was, mostly, winning the battle outside. But hearing the warlord’s voice so clearly, the battle within was quickly coming to a conclusion that was not in my favor. I couldn’t release the magic until the Chaos Bringer was gone. And I couldn’t keep it going or the warlord would take over. Prime was right. There was a conflict within me. And it was chaotic. But there had to be a way.