Roy screamed in rage as he threw a follow-up, planting his back leg and pivoting, throwing his hips and shoulders into the blow. Essence traveled up his arm, settling into his fist, right before it exploded once again against the Shah’s jaw, knocking him back another few steps. He wasn’t done, following closely to the unbalanced boy, raining down blow after, building momentum and speed.
Each progressive attack was stronger than the last, the explosions larger and damage output greater. The Explosive Fist was designed to grow in power as each progressive hit landed, and as long as Roy kept up the flurry of attacks, the power would keep growing.
He was no longer afraid of the Shah boy who had tormented him, who had taken pleasure in his misery and had followed him all the way out here. Not content with having attempted to kill him just once, he’d come out here to finish the job. Roy didn’t know if he could win or not, but that no longer mattered. If he was going to die, he would do everything in his power to make sure Koya went down with him. If anyone in the Shah clan deserved to die, it was this one right here!
Roy stepped forward to throw another punch. The last one had done some small amount of damage, which meant that he was finally getting somewhere. Just as his foot landed, though, he trod on a loose rock, throwing him off balance. He missed his opportunity to strike, and Koya took his chance.
Screaming in rage, the Shah boy threw a punch of his own, his fist glowing blue with the Physical technique. Roy tried to dodge back, but Koya was a Yellow-Belt, and his speed was more than he could hope to match without a Movement technique. He managed to twist his body and caught the punch on his right shoulder.
The pain was immense; Koya’s Water Essence exploding out from the punch, and a multitude of tiny blades ripping and tearing at his shoulder. Luckily for Roy, Koya’s follow up attack missed him, due to his changed trajectory, but Roy could feel that his left arm was going numb.
The attack must have cut through too many tendons for me to be able to use it, Roy thought as he attempted to move it.
Koya swaggered forward, wiping his lower lip where Roy’s attack had managed to draw blood.
“It looks like you’ve somehow managed to find a core, freak! Too bad for you that you’re still so weak!”
He lunged forward, both fists glowing this time. Roy had been watching out for the attack and used an evasive maneuver from the Unaru Kuma. It would, of course, have been far more effective with a Movement technique, but it still worked all the same.
Koya’s fists went wide, and Roy’s knee snapped up, the fabric over the area exploding away as his Essence was channeled through it. The knee caught Koya in the ribs, and the explosion sent him flying back, slamming into a nearby spire.
He landed on his feet, and though he clutched at his ribs, Roy knew that he hadn’t done much in the way of damage. He could honestly only think of two ways he might be able to beat him. One, force him to run out of Essence. Or two, manage to use his own Projected technique, the Void Sphere.
As it was raining, and Water Essence was thick in the air, he couldn’t see the first option working. And as Koya was a Yellow-Belt, he doubted the second would work either, but he had nothing to lose. Besides, if he managed to collapse a few stone spires, one of them might fall on Koya and crush him. Even if he couldn’t finish him himself, perhaps the explosion from his death would.
“Looks like that last one hurt, Koya,” Roy taunted as he poured Essence into his palm. “Pretty pathetic for you to be hurt by a freak.”
Koya’s face twisted in rage, his face going beet red and a pair of Water Blades materialized in the air above his palms. Though Roy had expected this, he still felt a small thrill of fear when he saw them. He’d seen the technique used enough times to know what it could do to a person, and although he knew that two was as many as Koya could handle, it was still two too many.
“I’ll cut you to pieces, then bring Shah Korgo your head!”
Koya unleashed his attack, sending both blades spinning through the air at him. Roy rolled to the side, coming up behind a spire and feeling the shudder run through it as the technique bit deep.
He heard Koya’s scream of frustration at having missed him and knew he was conjuring another pair of the blades. Thankfully, the Shah clan’s Water Blades could not be used over and over again. Though they could be controlled by the Martial Artist to some degree, it would dissolve soon after it struck a target, making them single-use attacks.
Roy ran out from behind the spire, feeling that the Essence he’d built up for his attack was about all he could handle. He ducked another pair of blades, beginning to set his technique into motion.
Oddly enough, he found that the Essence moved much more quickly now, the innermost layer of the attack reaching the proper speed in less than a second. Roy grinned, despite his dire situation, knowing that at least his hours of suffering in the small room behind the waterfall had been good for something.
Koya began screaming obscenities, hurling his attacks as Roy dodged and rolled out of the way, building his attack until it was nearly ready. He felt the blade slam into the spire at his back and ducked out from behind it, only to throw himself to the ground as another blade suddenly materialized before him.
He hissed in pain as the blade tore a furrow across his right cheek, leaving a burning line of pain in its wake. Cursing his carelessness, Roy rolled quickly to one side, gritting his teeth as his injured left arm was jostled. Another pair of blades slammed into the ground a second later, showing that it had been the right move.
“You can’t keep running forever, freak!” Koya taunted as he formed another pair of blades.
“I don’t plan on it!” Roy shot back, peering at Koya’s core as he sprang back to his feet.
He was running low on Essence as far as he could tell, a problem which he himself, did not have. All the Essence he’d used so far hadn’t left so much as a dent in the massive store he’d built up.
As though sensing what he was doing, Koya stopped the attack he’d been about to throw, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“I see what you’re trying to do. Don’t think you can fool me!”
“Oh, really? And what would that be?” Roy asked, panting for breath as he prepared to lock in his technique.
“You’re trying to make me run out of Essence, but I’ve got some bad news for you, freak. It won’t work!” He laughed, gesturing to the downpour around them. “In case you hadn’t realized, it’s raining, and do you know what that means?”
Roy did know what it meant. He was able to see the Water Essence lying thick in the air quite clearly through his Spirit Sense, but that didn’t matter to him in the slightest. His technique locked into place, the sphere expanding suddenly as the multiple layers grew transparent, whirling and spinning in multiple directions.
He’d managed to call this attack up in less than twenty seconds, a new record for him. And he’d done it while under attack.
Koya’s eyes landed on the glowing sphere, and his lips curled up into a sneer.
“What are you going to do with that, freak? Going to throw it at me?” He giggled, his high-pitched laughter betraying his madness. “Well then, give it your best shot!” He spread his arms out wide, teeth bared in a gruesome approximation of a smile.
Roy couldn’t believe that Koya was so cocky. Sure, he was only a White-Belt, but still, his attack might very well have the power to injure him seriously. He wasn’t about to complain. If the deranged Shah wanted to take the attack head-on, then so be it. All the better for him, if he didn’t attempt to dodge. Roy cocked his arm back, feeling the technique thrumming with power.
“See you in hell, Shah!” Roy yelled, then launched the attack right at him.