Koya didn’t move, his mad grin plastered across his face up until the moment the sphere made contact. It exploded outward in a five-foot dome, the light blinding against the darkness of the night surrounding them and hiding Koya’s body from view.
Roy shielded his eyes, hearing the shriek of shredding stone, and hopefully, shredding person. The attack wasn’t a long-lasting one, and in only a few seconds, it petered off. From previous experience, Roy knew what the attack could do, so when he finally blinked the spots from his eyes, he expected to see an empty area where Koya had once stood. Perhaps a few bloody scraps of cloth.
What he hadn’t expected to see, was Koya, standing completely unharmed, his grin not diminished in the slightest. A bright blue light swirled around his body, coming off his skin and extending out a couple of inches, giving him the appearance of being inside a Koya-shaped bubble — an Armorer technique.
Roy cursed at himself for being so careless. He hadn’t thought Koya would even know an Armorer technique. All he’d ever seen him use were Physical and Projected techniques, and perhaps a Movement technique, but never had he seen him use the one currently swirling around his body.
Then again, when would have ever had the opportunity to see him use it? Koya was far stronger than him, and back in the Shah clan, he’d been weaker than most children. Using an Armorer technique while beating him up would have been completely pointless.
Two Water Blades shot from Koya’s still form, covering the distance between them in a heartbeat. Roy threw himself to the side, but too late, realized that Koya had thrown one to either side, anticipating his movements. The blade slammed right into his chest, tearing a hole right through him and out the back.
Roy landed hard on his side, feeling agony shoot through his body as blood began pumping from the open wound. The blade had gone through his right pectoral muscle, tearing through his ribs like they were made of paper before exiting out the back, only missing his spine by a fraction of an inch due to its angle.
But it was still a fatal wound and one that Roy knew he wouldn’t be surviving. He gasped, forcing himself onto his back and feeling pain wrack his body as blood spurted from the wound, spreading in a pool beneath him. He blinked hazily up into the rain as Koya’s face came into view.
A grin stretched his lips from ear to ear, a Water Blade poised in his right hand.
Roy tried to move but howled in pain as Koya’s boot connected with his broken ribs with a crack, sending him back to the ground and writhing in agony.
“Don’t think I’ll let you die that easily, freak! Not after all the pain you’ve caused me.” His grin vanished then, and his face began to turn an ugly shade of red.
Roy cried out as Koya’s boot landed hard on his chest, breaking two more ribs and sending a lance of pain through him. The boot rose, coming down yet again, and Roy tasted blood in his mouth. He gasped for air, then felt another hard impact on his side, this one so strong that it sent him rolling across the stony ground.
Koya approached him as he lay on his side, coughing and wheezing as he continued to lose blood.
This wasn’t good. At this rate, he would die before he had the chance to blow up. If he did that, then Koya would live, and he would have died for nothing. His eyes moved frantically around the area, looking for some way he could stall him. Koya’s booted foot slammed into the side of his head, and Roy heard a distinct crack as his vision flashed white and red.
Roy gritted his teeth. He’d endured worse and had come out on the other side. Right now, he had nothing to lose, and a man with nothing to lose was very dangerous indeed.
When the foot next connected with his ribs, Roy caught it, catching Koya by surprise. He then twisted violently to the side, sending his nemesis toppling to the ground. Body screaming in protest, Roy forced himself back onto his feet. He could feel bones grating in his chest, he was lightheaded from blood-loss, and his head felt like it was about to split open. Still, he forced himself to focus on conjuring a blob of Power Essence.
He might not be able to form a technique in time, but Power Essence was the most destructive of them all. It was power, and with it, he could overcome any obstacle.
Roy screamed, hurling the blob of Essence just as Koya was struggling to his feet. He grinned as the Essence struck, swaying drunkenly in place.
“Looks like you missed,” Koya said with a sneer.
“No,” Roy rasped, coughing up a wad of bloody phlegm. “I hit exactly what I was aiming for.”
Koya turned slowly on the spot, as a loud crack sounded through the night. Almost in slow motion, the tall spire standing behind him began to fall.
Koya’s eyes widened when he saw the fifty-foot mass of stone bearing down on him. He might be a Yellow-Belt, but there was no way he could survive that, Armorer technique or not!
He turned to run but was tackled from the side, Roy crashing into him and bearing him to the ground.
“Let go of me, freak!” Koya yelled, panic tinging his voice.
“As I said before,” Roy said, his eyes burning with determination. “I’ll see you in hell!”
Koya floundered, his elbow catching Roy with a few bone-cracking blows, but Roy didn’t loosen his grip.
Even as the spire fell, he began laughing, his mirth filling the night air. Yes, he was about to die, but he would do so having accomplished something. He would rid the world of Shah Koya.
The spire collapsed, blocking out a single, piercing scream. Then, all was quiet.
36
Aika ran like she never had before. Her legs were a blur with the new speed her body had gained after her advancement. The differences between Orange and Green were like nothing she could have imagined.
Her Core-Body thrummed with power, as she pumped more Essence through her channels than would have been possible before her advancement. She could also feel something else, a higher form of energy within the Essence. An insight that she had previously been lacking, seemed to have opened up to her, and she now instinctively knew that if she dug just a bit deeper, she would be able to start creating her own Qi.
Right now, however, her mind was focused on something else: catching up to Roy. She was already two hours behind him and had to hurry. She’d exited the valley but hadn’t known what direction to take. Roy had become oddly skilled at suppressing his core, and she had no trail to follow. She’d wandered around for over an hour, trying desperately to find some sign of him.
When she finally did find something, the trail led her to a camp set up nearby, where she’d met two strange boys.
They’d both been sitting there, staring off into the distance and looking confused. She had no idea as to what they could be doing here, or why none of them had been spotted by the sentries, something which worried her quite a bit. After they’d seen her Belt, they were more than eager to tell her everything.
They were from the Shah clan, the same as Roy, and had come in search for a missing Dungeon core. Koya, their leader, had gone after Roy when he’d come out of nowhere, leaving them here alone.
Once she’d heard that, it wasn’t difficult for her to pick out Koya’s trail, and she’d streaked off after him. She already feared the worst, as Koya was a Yellow-Belt, according to the other two, meaning that Roy would have almost no chance of victory.
She was annoyed that they’d gotten such a big lead on her, and hoped she’d be able to catch them before long, though with the speed she knew Ferry could move, she would have to run flat out to catch up before this Koya could catch up to him. Apparently, he’d been the one to leave Roy for dead. It was a detail he’d left out of the story he’d told her earlier.
Aika was forced to slow down at a certain point, just so she could replenish the Essence she’d lost from using her Movement technique, relying instead on her Core-Body to carry her on its own. Her speed was greatly reduced, but she could still run fast then she could have – even using her Movement technique – before her advancement.