Roy was forced to shut the chattering Dungeon out as he closed with Koya, channeling Essence into his Explosive Fist. He skidded to a halt, his legs sliding along the slick ground as Koya threw a punch at him, his fist glowing with Water Essence.
Roy’s arm snapped up in a defensive parry, knocking the arm to the side and bringing his own strike right into Koya’s cheek. The explosion that rocked the battlefield was magnitudes higher than the weak attacks he’d managed up until now. Koya’s head snapped to the side with a loud crack, and his body hurled backward to slam into a nearby spire.
Roy stared down at his fist in amazement, shocked at the amount of power he’d just unleashed in a single blow. It appeared that in addition to generating stronger attacks, he would now be capable of channeling more Essence into them as well.
Koya landed back on the ground, his jaw crooked at an odd angle and his eyes blazing with fury. He let out a wordless howl of rage and fury, then charged right at him, building up his Essence in what would undoubtedly be a devastating attack. Roy stood stock still, waiting for Koya to come to him.
Just as he neared, swinging a fist towards him, Roy’s own arm snapped up, knocking the blow aside, executing the move he’d practiced so long ago: The False Start. His hand then whipped back, the palm strike slamming into Koya’s ear and throwing him off balance. The Half-Moon Palm. Then, Roy stepped forward, his hand coming up in a chopping motion as it struck his throat.
Koya’s eyes widened as he tried to gasp for air, but Roy wasn’t finished with the attack just yet. His fingers closed around Koya’s neck, digging into his larynx. Then, with one violent yank, Roy completed The Upward Claw, tearing the Shah clan member’s throat wide open.
He watched as Koya staggered back, a loud gurgling sound coming from his ruined throat.
“I was never a freak,” Roy said, holding his bloody palm before him and conjuring his Void Sphere.
The attack formed seamlessly in his palm, springing into being and locking into place in under five seconds.
“The real freaks are back in the Waterwood, scrambling desperately for some way to sustain themselves without their precious Dungeon.”
He noted with some satisfaction at how Koya’s eyes bulged at that, and though he knew he wasn’t the real thing, it still made him smile.
“Goodbye, Shah Koya!”
The Void Sphere expanded, its many transparent layers swirling around in different directions.
Koya had time for one last gurgling scream, before the technique swallowed him up, tearing his body to such a fine mist that it left nothing behind when it disappeared just a few seconds later.
Roy stared at the empty space for just a few seconds more, feeling an odd sense of discontentment for some reason. He’d finally killed his nemesis, but the Shah clan still lived. Martial Artists throughout Buryoku still oppressed those weaker than themselves. There were still a thousand other Koyas out there, which meant that his journey was only just beginning.
“Oh, wow. You really did get much stronger,” Geon said as Roy allowed his shoulders to relax. “If I’m guessing correctly, then you haven’t been in danger of me overloading your body for quite some time. When did you manage to cleanse all of your impurities? I thought that would only happen by Green-Belt.”
“Wait,” Roy said, feeling the very familiar anger that Geon managed to cause with offhand comments rearing its head once more. “Are you telling me that I haven’t been in danger of dying since I purified my body?”
“Well…Yes, so it seems. Congratulations, I guess, looks like our journey of revenge can continue!”
Roy struggled with himself for a few long moments. He couldn’t blame Geon, as the Dungeon core had been completely unresponsive for the last couple of weeks. But it seemed that his advancement helped the core regain what it had lost, or at least, he hoped it had. But still…
“Stop keeping such important details to yourself!”
Roy’s anger echoed off the surrounding spires as another Torii gate materialized to take him back to the real world.
Epilogue
Tonde Irusaru watched as Roy stepped from his trial gate to be greeted by his wayward granddaughter. A Yellow-Belt with three slashes of Orange was cinched around the waist of his bloodied and torn Martial Artist’s robes.
Even now, he could sense the power in his core growing. He was close to advancing again. Irusaru had been expecting as much. The water from the Power Basin had that effect on a person, especially if they had high compatibility with the Essence. And of all the Power cultivators he’d met, there was only one other who had compatibility on par with Roy’s.
His frown deepened as he remembered his failure. The reason his son had died and why he had reacted so poorly to Roy’s deception. It was his own fault that his son had died. Had he been more vigilant, perhaps kept a closer eye on…
Irusaru forced his thoughts to a screaming halt. It would do him no good to live in a world of what-ifs. He had failed, and his son had paid the price for it. Now his granddaughter was making the same mistake. He didn’t think that Herald Leroy would do anything to hurt her, but then again, he hadn’t expected Doragon to turn on his best friend either.
He watched as the two of them talked, reading the conversation with little effort, even from this distance. He’d been forced to stay pretty far back, as Aika’s perception would have increased along with her advancement. But it was easy for someone at his level of advancement to see and overhear conversations, even if they were over a mile away.
They were discussing what to do next. His granddaughter didn’t want to leave The Crater. Even though she’d told him that she would no longer listen to him, the clan was still her family. Abandoning them in a time of war was against her nature. To his credit, Roy agreed with her, though his reasons for staying were far more selfish than her own, he knew.
The only reason Herald Leroy would stay here was because The Crater was a wealth of Power Essence. It would make his advancement to Orange that much easier. There was also the fact that his old clan, the one that he wanted to wipe out, was still in the Waterwood. He most likely wanted to stay as close as possible to that area, so he could go back and destroy them once he was strong enough.
If Irusaru had his way, that day would never come. He’d made that mistake with Doragon. He wouldn’t do so again.
So, he kept a close eye on them, even as they both mounted up on the Beast Ferret and rode in the direction of a long-abandoned Tonde outpost on the very fringes of their territory.
A sudden, strong gust of wind shook the spire he was on, sending his robes billowing around him. The Purple-Belt he wore around his waist was still though, the wind not even swaying the hanging ends, one of which contained a single slash of red.
He had meant what he’d said. Herald Leroy would not live to advance to Orange!
***
Roy hopped off Ferry’s back as she stopped outside the seemingly random spire of stone. Had Aika not guided them there, he would never have even known that this was a Tonde outpost. When he’d voiced his concern about her grandfather, she’d told him not to worry. The outpost had long since been abandoned, and she was pretty sure that no one would come looking for them there.
“So, the girl knows where the Beast King is?” Geon asked for about the hundredth time, as Aika pressed a glowing palm to the side of the spire.
“No. She knows who he is, but he hasn’t been spotted in over ten years. She did say that Irusaru mentioned that he was on the move though. Apparently, they’ve joined with another clan and are launching an attack against the Tonde clan.”
“How fascinating. Let’s go kill him then.”