by Yuri Ajin
With the energy and stamina he got from Rampage of Life, Kai managed to use Darkbody once more. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Lightus, raising his leg to kick him in the head.
Did he really predict my moves?! Lightus wondered, shocked. He couldn’t use Particle Reflection twice in a row as it’d damage his astral body.
Kai’s leg, reinforced by two Yang Flashes, collided with Lightus’ barrier. Several layers of defense were destroyed instantly. Even while covering himself with his wings, Lightus failed to fully defend himself.
The falling piece of the island crumbled into thousands of small stones. Lightus’ body broke through the sound barrier and was carried to the ground by a shock wave that couldn’t catch up with him.
A massive patch of forest stretching beneath the remnants of the floating island was blown clean.
Using Space, Kai accelerated his fall. He didn’t want to give Lightus time to recover.
But he didn’t realize that his opponent wouldn’t need any time at all. A powerful beam of light shot from the ground into the heavens, easily breaking through a dozen sheets of ice that appeared in front of Kai, and pierced his chest.
Kai’s heart and left lung were incinerated. The beam began to move upward toward his head. In an act of despair, he used Darkbody for the third and final time, using what little remained of spirit stamina. As a cloud of dark fog, he moved more than a hundred feet to the side, dodging the attack and what followed after it.
Instead of fading out, the beam exploded, incinerating or blowing up everything in its vicinity. But Kai didn’t pay attention to this, preparing for a retaliatory strike.
Streaks of white and black light covered his arms up to his shoulders.
Yang Concentration appeared in front of him, formed by consuming forty years of his life. Soul energy was poured into his right hand, merging with the white streaks of the Tattoo.
Using his expanded spirit awareness, Kai aimed, and...
Primal Flash!
The ability he unlocked for reaching the next level of his unique Yin-Yang Ghost technique was nothing to sneeze at.
A giant column of light, visible from anywhere in the Aive Hidden Valley, hit the ground.
***
A small object fell from the sky into the forest, making the ground tremble slightly. Having climbed out of the crater, Kai hid his aura and scoped his surroundings with spirit perception.
Locating Lightus, he headed east. After covering almost a mile, he reached the elf. His skin was covered with burns, some of his hair was scorched, and he could hardly stand, swaying like a leaf in the wind.
With a lightning-fast dash, Kai approached the elf and raised his blades over his head. Lightus turned around with great agility, aiming the tip of his sword at Kai. His appearance changed instantly. The burns disappeared and the wings returned.
Like a phoenix, he rose from his ashes.
But Kai had seen through Lightus’ illusion the moment he laid his eyes on him, so he was ready. He blocked the sword with his right blade and slashed with his left.
Lightus dodged, jumping back, and put some distance between them.
The two stood motionless, staring at one another.
Both of them now looked almost as good as new. Kai’s wounds had regenerated, and Lightus recovered with the use of the Path of Light’s healing powers. However, unlike his opponent, he had suffered less damage.
And although they looked ready to jump at each other again, they were exhausted. They had given it their all in this fight, spending almost all their strength, but neither managed to fatally wound the other. This meant that they were almost equally skilled and strong. But... there could be no draw.
The two suddenly found themselves in front of one another. Lightus was a little faster, so Kai had to block. He tried to push away Lightus’ blade with his own when both his opponent and his weapon flashed with energy. Kai’s left hand was badly burned, and his blade was thrown far away.
He used soul energy... Kai realized, as his second blade halted an inch away from Lightus’ throat, stopped by Particles Reflection.
Kai was thrown back. Lightus rushed after him, blade at the ready. He almost pierced Kai’s head but he managed to stop him.
“It’s useless to resist.”
Lightus chuckled and prepared to release his strongest technique, saturated with the second portion of the soul energy he had prepared. He had no doubts that this attack would finally bring this fight to an end.
The blade returned to Kai. Time seemed to have stopped. Lightus’ sword, shining with the light of the Dusk Blade Technique, stopped a hair’s width from Kai’s palm.
And at that very moment, Kai’s hands were again streaked with white and black and Yang Concertation formed in front of him.
Touch of Nothingness, he thought, activating the Tattoo’s second ability.
The power slid into his palm and then broke free, consuming another forty years of his life.
The light from Lightus’ blade vanished as if it had never been there. The sword disappeared too, along with a part of his hand. Even the energy and air in the small area in front of Kai’s palm was gone. Cracks began to appear in the space.
Lightus’ eyes widened in shock.
“Where...?”
His confused whisper was turned into a wheeze when Kai’s foot collided with his stomach and threw him back.
Damn... Kai thought.
Landing on his feet, he almost fell unconscious. His body was shaking and his vision was blurry. Using the Tattoo twice in a row was too taxing on his body. He needed time to recover.
Using Field of Superiority to support his body and mind, Kai saw Lightus stagger and slowly rise to his feet. His spirit stamina was also almost depleted. He was barely maintaining Full Merge.
Realizing that the final exchange of blows was about to take place, Kai used the Eight Flashes of Yang Technique, creating nine charges inside his body at once. One of them he placed in his left hand, prompting the power of his bloodline to instantly restore the incinerated limb. In this fight alone, he had already used Yang Flashes four times, and now he created eight more.
Guess it’s time to rename and upgrade it, huh?
Healed, Kai took out one of the swords. He felt where the second was due to the owner’s mark, but he couldn’t summon it as it was too far away. Instead of creating additional weapons from ice, he took Phobos with both hands.
Lightus had managed to get up and heal some of the wounds with techniques. However, he was unable to restore his hand so he created an artificial limb from pure light.
“Let’s end this,” he said, assuming a fighting stance.
“I agree.” Kai nodded.
At the same time, Lightus’ wings flashed, covering his body and giving him more speed, and all of the remaining Eight Yang Flashes were distributed among Kai’s limbs, temporarily making his flesh much more powerful.
A moment later, their figures disappeared.
There were no flashes, explosions, or energy surges. The two were so weakened and concentrated on each other that they took great care not to waste a single drop of energy or Forces.
There was a whistle.
The figures froze.
Kai’s hand trembled but didn’t let go of Lightus’ sword. His palm and fingers were almost completely cut, but he didn’t cease to fill his hand with Space Forces despite the crushing soul pain that seemed to burn his nerves.
Lightus’ sword had entered Kai’s right eye socket, pierced the bone, and sank a few millimeters into the brain. That was why Kai kept gripping the blade with all his might, preventing it from penetrating deeper into his head.
As for Phobos, it pierced Lightus’ chest, reaching the heart. The shock wave turned his ribs into dust and tore up his insides. For a few seconds, Lightus resisted, using all the healing techniques he could muster the strength for. However, he couldn’t live without a heart and with porridge for organs.
“Damn... monst
er...” Lightus squeezed through his teeth before dying, after which his real body returned to the Abode along with his weapon.
“You’re... the one... to speak...”
The sword disappeared from Kai’s eye socket, and he fell to his knees.
Regeneration didn’t work anymore, so he passed out from exhaustion and injuries. But before this happened, he squeezed the last particles of spirit endurance from his soul, spending them to teleport himself into his pocket dimension, to An’na, Shacks, Malvur, and Ailenx.
Fortunately, the Living Storage Technique could exist even if its creator was unconscious or dead. It only required the owner to pour more energy into it in advance.
EPILOGUE
Kai’s wounded body appeared in the middle of a chunk of forest carved from the Aive Hidden Valley. His friends rushed to him.
“Kai!” Ailenx exclaimed, worried, and activated a healing technique.
“Well, well...” Shacks drawled. “Someone partied hard...”
Hearing a snapping sound, everyone turned their heads to the right. There, a crack appeared in space and began to grow slowly.
Shacks, An’na, and Malvur merged with their Spirits, raised their weapons, and prepared to activate techniques. They had expected to see Lightus, but not a woman who possessed more power than someone of her level should.
“Don’t bother, kids,” Acilla said, walking toward Kai.
Using the Sphere of Space, she easily moved from the first Storage, closed by the Games array, to the second, without being noticed by Airus. It was because of this array that Kai couldn’t immediately transfer himself to his mentor. However, if she had left the dimension in the Hidden Valley or teleported Kai herself, then even Airus, who wasn’t versed in the Forces of Space, would’ve noticed such a thing. And although she didn’t care about him, she didn’t want to give him a reason to disqualify Kai from the Games.
The bewildered trio stared at the unknown woman. Shaking off the shock, they pointed their weapons at Acilla, who, in turn, laughed.
“What stupid but commendable courage!” she said and disappeared. Her smiling face appeared behind them. “Fortunately for you, I’m not your enemy. I’m Kai’s mentor.”
A shiver ran down their spines, and a chill of terror crept into their souls. Ailenx froze with fear when Acilla appeared in front of him.
“Move. I’ll take care of him.”
Finding the courage, he nodded and slowly walked away.
The Sphere of Blood compressed into a little ball floating above her palm. She used all its power and a considerable amount of energy to form a technique of pseudo-Divine rank.
Scarlet threads began to wrap around Kai. Soon, he hung in the air, while a bloody cocoon gradually formed around him. The Renaissance Font Technique began to take effect.
Suddenly, Acilla grimaced in pain.
Damn it... It seems that my soul deformation interferes not only with energy control but also with the use of a large number of particles of Forces. For the time being, I’ll have to give up fighting with someone like Kyros. She winced. Agh, why did I even use such a powerful technique? Did I really want to show off in front of these kids? Grow up, Acilla...
***
Ten minutes later, Kai was as good as new. His bloodline was working again, and his spirit stamina was fully restored. He returned to the forest. Fortunately, during this time, no one found the mark that anchored his pocket dimension. Then again, hardly anyone could’ve noticed it, except for powerful cultivators like Acilla, Airus, and Nomen.
Looking at his feet, Kai saw a token with the number one on it. Having listened to his intuition, he headed northeast and walked a good mile before he reached his destination.
“You flew far,” he said, yanking his blade out of a thick tree trunk, and returned Deimos to the Storage.
Once the sword was collected, his body turned into snow and crumbled into dust that was then carried up to the remnants of the floating island. Fortunately, traces of ice from his fight with Lightus remained there, so he was able to use it as a marker for teleportation.
“It turns out that you won after all,” Sophie said, appearing out of nowhere.
Kai glanced at her.
“What’s the main reward?”
“It’s right here,” she replied and turned her head to the right.
Turning his head as well, Kai saw a huge tree with a lush pink crown.
“Please, open up,” Sophie said, addressing the tree.
The pink canopy suddenly shuddered, and then a wide crack appeared in the trunk, revealing a bright scarlet Fruit that resembled an apple, and a rather plain straight sword, located exactly above the Fruit.
[Fruit of the Eternal Blade]
Rank: ???
Quality: Peak
[Key of the Fourth Wish]
Rank: ???
Quality: Peak
Features: hidden by the owner’s mark.
“More than a million years ago, during the creation of the Abodes, the owner of this blade planted this tree here. I was formed over time,” Sophie said. “He instructed Airus to find a worthy swordsman. This year there were finally enough potential candidates. Unfortunately, Nomen refused to participate, and Lightus lost. His Path of the Sword wasn’t solid enough. As for you, forgive me, but I can’t recognize you as a swordsman. Your soul isn’t as sharp as a blade, and it’s not for me to go against the words of my creator. Therefore, the Key will go to An’na. As for your reward,” she looked up at him, “you can take the Fruit.”
“And what will happen to the tree?”
“Thanks to the sword, a Senior Elemental eventually came to live in it. I made friends with him, but now it’s time for us to part ways. When I go to An’na, the Fruit will no longer be able to remain here. Without it, the tree’s lifespan will shorten, and in a few thousand years it’ll die.”
“Does that mean that it’ll become useless to Airus?”
“It’s hard for me to admit it,” the girl muttered. “But you’re right.”
“Then... Can I take the whole tree, and not just the Fruit? If I leave it inside, the tree can keep living and develop further...”
“What?” Sophie asked, surprised. “Do you want to give up your reward and give it a chance to grow?”
If I do that, I’ll reap more benefits than if I were to take the Fruit now. Acilla could help me with this... Kai thought but he kept these thoughts from the vampiress. He planned to talk to her later.
“Yes.”
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Acilla asked, feeling that information was being withheld from her.
“Didn’t you say that it’d be nice for me to plant a garden? Well, this is the start. Also, I’m considering experimenting with my bloodline and Yang,” Kai explained. “Aren’t you curious to see how that will work out...?”
“Fine, fine... But you didn’t hire me to be a gardener. I’ll help you a little, and you’ll continue on your own...”
“I don’t know if that’s allowed... You should ask it,” Sophie finally said and pointed at the tree. “Ask whether it wants to go with you.”
Looking at her again, Kai nodded.
He approached the tree and looked up at its crown. He then put his hand on it and, unbeknownst to Sophie (or, at least, Kai thought so), poured the power of his bloodline and Yang particles into it.
“Do you want to come with me?” he asked.
Then, one of the roots wrapped around his arm, accepting his offer.
After that, Kai needed to concentrate. Enveloping the entire island (that is, what remained of it) with his aura and Forces of Space, he transferred it to his second Storage, where Acilla and his friends were. Fortunately, neither Sophie nor the tree itself resisted the teleportation.
“That’s all.” Sophie sighed, appearing next to Kai. Embracing the tree, she added, “I won’t be able to visit you again, even if we’re close to each other. It’s time for me to fulfill my duty as the Keeper of the Key and help the little sw
ordsman become great. But I believe that someday our Sparks will intersect again in this endless universe. You were a good friend. Thank you for the memories... Take care...”
The roots wrapped around Sophie before slowly letting go of her.
“Goodbye,” she said, looking into Kai’s eyes, which made him freeze.
In that instant, he realized two truths at once. First, no matter how childlike Sophie seemed, she had lived hundreds of thousands of years. And second, she was...
A demigod.
A representative of a unique stage for animals and Spirits.
Before he could ask her anything, Sophie disappeared. As did the sword inside the tree. They both appeared inside An’na’s soul.
Attention!
You have won the Cloud Abode Games!
Time left until the end of the event: 34:08
Would you like to end the Games early?
Yes/No
When he said “yes,” Kai was enveloped in light. A second later, the rest of the remaining participants were moved to the first floor of the Abode.
Attention!
One of the Attackers has claimed the main reward. Congratulations to the Attackers! Each of you receives a million Cloud Coins.
…
Your rank on the List of Ten Thousand will be changed in accordance with the most valuable token in your collection.
Your new rank: 1
You have received the right to visit the Fifth Floor of the Cloud Abode.
You have been given access to the First Palace of the Fifth Floor of the Cloud Abode.
...
Attention!
Transfer the contents of the collected Rings to another location within three days. After this period, the Rings will be destroyed.
Following the instructions, Kai transferred all the treasures to the first Storage, and then looked around. He had found himself in a crowd of eight thousand cultivators.