The Call of the Forces

by Yuri Ajin

  “You fucking bastard!!” A cry came from the shadows, and the masked man appeared again. “It hurts... It hurts... I’ll kill, kill, kill! I’ll bury you alive!!!”

  Kai was again attacked by clones that, like their master, jumped at him from out of the shadows. At some moments, their number reached as much as ten, but Kai continued to stand his ground, fighting off opponent after opponent without so much as breaking a sweat.

  Very soon, the masked man grew annoyed. It was time to stop playing around and saving ki. To make sure that Kai would be taken care of, he increased the stats of his clones, making them even more dangerous. Once he was done, he activated his strongest technique, Dance of a Thousand Shadows, and joined the fight.

  In addition to the clones, Kai now had to dodge extremely fast attacks, which were unpredictable as his opponent kept teleporting from one shadow to another. Luckily, the Cold Void made this a little bit easier as it prevented the masked man from getting too close to him.

  I won’t be able to do this for much longer... His aura is putting too much pressure on me, I can feel my defenses cracking... Kai thought, looking at the wounds that began to appear on his hands and arms.

  After repelling a new series of attacks, he backed away and covered himself with the Cold Void to buy himself some time. Rising his right hand up, he made a sharp slash downward. The combined power of the Forces of Sword and Space burst out of the blade in the form of a glittering crescent.

  The roof caved in first, and a moment later, the entire building followed, collapsing under the power of the blow like a house of cards.

  Does he really think that this’ll be enough to defeat me? Hah! The naive bastard! It doesn’t matter what the surface is — as long as there’s a shadow, there’s no escape! He only made it worse! Now he has nothing to stand on!

  He was about to attack again when Kai turned abruptly, stared somewhere into the distance, and then swung. A scarlet cross hit one of the falling slabs. However, instead of destroying it, it seemed to enter the concrete. A scream filled with pain rang out. The roof exploded, and the blood-covered masked man flew out of the shower of debris.

  “Don’t underestimate my Force of Intent” Kai exclaimed with a grin.

  Impossible! I was told that no one could notice me while I’m inside the Shadow World! The masked man cursed and began to heal his wounds. How can this bastard find me and attack so precisely?!

  It took Kai a good couple of failed attempts to realize that there wasn’t anything wrong with his energy vision. The problem was that he wasn’t looking for his opponent in the right place. He needed to look not at the shadows, but in them. After that, all he needed to do was to use the Path of Sword’s Force of Intent, which allowed him to attack any target that he could detect with his mind’s eye.

  “Gotcha!” Kai exclaimed, approaching his opponent.

  “Shit!” the masked man spat as Kai’s blades flew in his direction.

  He raised his hands to block the blades with his daggers and was immediately thrown a couple of hundred feet away, and sent flying through the wall of the nearby building. Kai ran after him, but the only thing he found when the dust settled was a broken mask.

  He’s still here... I can feel him, he thought and backed out of the building. “So it’s been you who was hiding under that mask all this time,” he said, looking at his opponent’s once-handsome face that was now twisted in rage, making him look like a real demon. He was missing one eye, while the other, almost gray how pale blue it was, glared at him with hatred. “Eria Rosenthal... Greenrow’s loyal dog.”

  “You bastard, don’t sully his name with your filthy mouth!” the blond growled. Dark mist swirled around him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to avenge him! And I’ll start by killing you!”

  The blue darkened and blurred until it became obsidian, and Eria’s aura exploded with power. Darkness poured from his body in an even denser stream. Kai was almost certain that the dark eye on Eria’s tattoo had become even blacker and bigger.

  Force rushed out of Eria’s body in a violent stream, preventing Kai from approaching him. Covering himself with the Cold Void, Kai prepared to defend himself.

  “I can’t believe this! My lord, look at that!” exclaimed the very shocked Rune’Tan.

  “What do you mean?” Kai asked in surprise.

  “Do you remember what I told you about the Demonids? How their Shells have mutated? Eria’s is the same!”

  “But how’s that possible? Shouldn’t the person with a mutated Shell either die or transform into a Demonid?”

  “Technically, yes. But there’s an exception to every rule. This distortion, mutation, however you wish to call it, is allowed to a certain degree. Not crossing this line is almost impossible, but those who do manage to do it retain their humanity. However, they become Half-demonids... This degree varies from person to person, so we don’t know just where the line is. But here’s the kicker. If a person experiences powerful negative emotions, they can affect the Shell. But even then, there’s a risk of turning. My assumption is that Eria was so devoted to Greenrow that his anger almost devoured him. I can’t explain to you just how lucky he got! I never would’ve thought that I’d get to see something like this... How interesting!”

  “I honestly can’t tell if you’re excited or nervous,” Kai said gloomily. “He’s getting stronger... I get why this ‘master’ of his took him under their wing.”

  “I think it’s time to stop holding back,” Rune’Tan said. “His ki reserve got bigger, too. I might be wrong, but it seems to me that his true power was sealed off by someone. It looks like he has decided to remove the seal. Don’t let your guard down.”

  “Okay.” Kai nodded. “But why is he doing this? What’s in it for him?”

  “I don’t think he planned this,” Rune’Tan replied. “Still, there are advantages to this... If you could call them that. First of all, increased stats. Second, with a properly mutated Shell, over time, he could reach new heights of cultivation. Third, he could become immune to spirit attacks. The last one is just speculation, but it could be a problem if it turns out to be true. Either way, a mutated Shell is a false power with many shortcomings, the major one being the loss of humanity and one’s identity.”

  Nodding, Kai looked over at his opponent.

  Eria stood in the same spot. His wounds were gone and eye even blacker than before. He had become slightly taller and paler. His golden hair had a couple of black streaks in it.

  One quick jump and he was already next to Kai. The battle continued with renewed vigor. Kai had to absorb his last Energy Stone to strengthen the Body Gates, and then activate the Rampage of Life in order for his physical stats to match Eria’s. But all of this put enormous strain on his body, so he had to end this fight as soon as possible.

  Buildings crumbled and the ground cracked under the strain of their power. They exchanged blow after blow, but neither seemed like they’d give up any time soon.

  Sinking into the Shadow World, but this time without lingering in one place, Eria, together with his clones, attacked Kai from different directions. Try as he might, Kai simply couldn’t dodge fifteen attacks at the same time. The sky was still overcast, allowing Eria and his clones to move about the city however and wherever they pleased.

  It didn’t take too long for Kai to stumble. At that moment, black chains erupted from the shadows, rushing toward him. Several of them wrapped themselves around his arms, legs, and torso, immobilizing him.

  “Ashen Spear!” Eria exclaimed with a grin. This spear couldn’t be thrown as it was made from ash, but it was deadly at close distance.

  Moving through the shadows, Eria found himself in front of Kai. Raising his spear, he aimed its tip at his opponent’s chest and swung.

  Why...? Why is he smiling? he thought.

  And then he looked down and noticed that the spear was crumpled like an accordion.

  “Advanced Distortion Barrier,” Kai replied with a grin.

  Eri
a felt that he couldn’t move at all. The spear began to crumble, destroyed by Kai’s Forces.

  “Replacement Step.”

  Before he could even cry out for help, Eria found himself in chains instead of Kai. The technique let the latter replace his body with that of his enemy. Truth be told, Kai thought it and its practicing useless and a waste of time, but today it had saved his life.

  Without wasting another moment, he attacked. The right blade pierced Eria’s chest, passing a hair’s width away from his heart. Little did he know that Kai held his heart in the grip of his sword energy and Forces, and that he could destroy it at any moment.

  “You lost,” Kai said. “Before I kill you, you better tell me about that very interesting tattoo of yours...”

  A bright flash and a new, sudden wave of pain made Eria go numb. A strange sword had pierced him from behind, going through both his and Kai’s torsos.

  Behind Eria stood a dark-haired young man whose arrival Kai didn’t even notice. There was a grin of excitement on his handsome face, and a twinkle in his... heterochromic eyes.

  Chapter 25

  THE BATTLE OF THREE

  “Kai.”

  “Greenrow?!”

  “My... My lord...” Eria mumbled in shock. “Is that really you? But... But—”

  “It is.” Greenrow interrupted him with a grin. “Thank you for not wiping the mark off your body. And now... It’s time to part ways, Eria.”

  Greenrow’s blade lit up with energy, and the runes etched on the silvery steel glowed with a bright light that illuminated the street. It released a wave of power that wiped out half of a five-story building and tore Eria’s body to pieces. Kai was also gone.

  Not bad. Greenrow smiled. Good thing that I joined the Seven Blades when I did... And that the Gates didn’t drain my energy that day... Simply put, with the amount of willpower he had, he could stop the ki from leaving his body, thus preventing the Gates from stealing it. Free from their influence, he was the second one to go through them after Jiang Dao and his group. He was quickly followed by Kai and his friends, and then by the twelve members of the Bright Moon.

  As for Eria, he came to Earth together with Jiang Dao, who needed him because he possessed valuable knowledge about the Gates. He was the stranger who had helped the Old Man to combine the fragments of the key three hundred years earlier than the Bright Moons expected.

  Hmm... Now, where’s that bastard? Greenrow wondered and then spotted something moving under the debris. “Ah, so you survived!”

  Kai looked, well, terrible. He had a fist-sized hole in his chest, and was missing half of his left arm. These wounds had already begun to recover but it’d take him some time before he could use both of his arms or breathe properly. Using his ki, he compensated for the missing blood that should be pumped into his heart, thanks to which he remained alive.

  “Incredible!” Greenrow exclaimed, slowly walking toward Kai. “When I saw you, I thought that you’d have nothing new to offer. I’m so glad that I was wrong. Look at you! Walking around without a heart!”

  “Did you come here looking for revenge?” Kai asked with a weak grin. His plan was to talk and stall long enough for his heart and arm to be restored.

  “Revenge?” Greenrow stopped, surprised. “Of course not! I don’t care about such nonsense. I’m looking for a soul... The soul that you’re hiding in your soul world. I was going to kill you and take it, but...”

  “What are you talking about?” Kai asked, biting the inside of his cheek to contain his surprise. How the hell does he know about Rune’Tan? “How did you even survive? That Shadow should’ve killed you. How did you even get here?”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Greenrow retorted, ignoring Kai’s questions. “The soul of the great master that dwells inside you — give it to me!”

  “And what do you need it for?” Kai asked with a frown.

  “It’s a very valuable resource,” Greenrow said and licked his lips. “With it, I can reach the peak of my current stage in just a year!”

  “Resource?” Kai raised his eyebrow. “If you intend to devour it, then I’m not gonna give it to you.”

  “That’s the plan.” Greenrow nodded. “But if you give it to me, you’ll get a lot in return. You’ll gain knowledge and my friendship. It’s not like you’d use this soul for yourself anyway. Think about it Kai, next to me, you could have a great future. I know the way to the top of this world and I’ll help all my friends get to it. I’m not even talking about cultivation! That’s just a parody of true strength. Even those who consider themselves Gods, those who have been fighting for power for ages, are small-fry. No. With my help, you’ll be able to reach the Heavenly Throne Stage. Perhaps you even surpass it! Ah, but you don’t know what that is...” Greenrow smiled.

  “Becoming stronger than Gods does sound tempting,” Kai said with a hint of hesitation in his voice. He needed only half a minute more. “But why should I trust you?”

  “Because we’ll be tied by an unbreakable bond, tied by the Sparks themselves!”

  For a moment, it seemed to Kai that Greenrow’s blue eye became even brighter. He felt as if something touched his soul, and then entered it before he even had the time to react. Information and a feeling of guidance filled his mind, and he felt a bond form between him and Greenrow. He felt their souls become connected. That he couldn’t lie to Greenrow or hurt him. And that Greenrow couldn’t do those things to him either.

  “Is this some kind of illusion?!” Kai asked Rune’Tan.

  “I’d be lying if I told you that this isn’t happening...” The old man smiled. “Your Sparks are connected. Theoretically, this should be impossible. However, I once read about an ancient artifact that could do something similar to the System oath.”

  “It’s a temporary bond,” Greenrow said. “However, if you agree to give me that soul, I’ll make it permanent. We won’t be able to harm each other.”

  “I believe you...” Kai nodded with a sigh. “However, I still have to refuse.”

  Greenrow cocked his head slightly to one side and then grinned.

  “I see.” He nodded. “You made a deal with it, didn’t you? That’s fine, I know how to undo it.”

  Kai’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “Is that so...” he said after a short pause. “Good. Then...” Kai looked at the sky and relaxed. “Fuck you!”

  In that moment, the building in front of them (that is, what was left of it) collapsed, and Kai disappeared in a cloud of dust and debris.

  “A pity…” Greenrow sighed, shaking his head, and disappeared.

  Before Kai even had time to react, Greenrow was already next to him. Raising his hand lazily, he swung, aiming his sword at Kai’s head.

  “He also has the Force of Space?!” Kai thought. He just barely managed to use the Retreat Step to avoid the attack. The blades whizzed through the air, releasing a wave of energy and Forces of Sword that destroyed a part of the road.

  Activating the Offset Step, Kai jumped into an apartment on the third floor of one of the nearby buildings.

  “You won’t escape.” He heard Greenrow’s voice from behind.

  Not having time to turn around, the only thing Kai could do was teleport again. But before he could do that, he had to dodge a crimson crescent created by Greenrow’s previous attack.

  “He predicted where I was going to jump?!” Kai felt his heart skip a beat. Alarmed, he activated the Blade Release Technique and managed to defend himself. However, Greenrow had appeared so close that he didn’t have time to teleport again.

  Greenrow appeared right behind him and hit him with an incredible force. His bones cracked, and blood gushed from numerous wounds. The Replacement Step was immediately activated, and the two swapped places. Kai was now behind his opponent, while Greenrow, carried by the momentum of the attack, started falling down. Turning in the air, he smiled lightly, and then, almost reaching the ground, suddenly disappeared, only to almost inst
antly reappear in front of Kai, blade in hand.

  Having expected something like this, Kai blocked his blade with his sword just in time. The weight that fell on him at the moment of the collision almost tore the blade out of his hands, and his arm out of its socket. He ended up being thrown back and sliding across the floor until he stopped, having hit a wall.

  The moment his back hit the stone, he contracted his aura and morphed it into that of an animal, hiding his presence. In addition, he activated a spatial technique that temporarily stopped those within a certain radius from moving.

  Just as I thought, he concluded. He teleports almost automatically if the target is a certain distance away from him. No wonder I couldn’t get away... He also needs to be in the radius of his opponent’s aura... And since I’ve changed mine, he can’t detect me... This’ll buy me some time... Not only does he have a lot of physical strength, but he’s on a high level... His cultivation is even more refined than Shacks’s... If I’m not mistaken, he’s mastered all the Forces of the Hearing Stage... Especially those of Sword and Space... And his weapon...

  A peak-quality, Gold-rank spear whizzed past his head, taking with it a lock of raven hair. The attack could’ve easily pierced a giant hole in his chest or cut his head off if he hadn’t reacted in time.

  Turning around, Kai activated Gravitational Break Blade and aimed it at the spear. The impact was so strong that the ground shook, and Kai fell to the ground. However, he did manage to stop the spear.

  “I see... Form of Spear and Fire...” Kai landed with a smile on his face. Seems they didn’t call him a genius for nothing...

  “You’re right,” Greenrow confirmed, appearing next to the spear stuck in the asphalt. He yanked it out and tightened his grip on the sword in his right hand.

  “He can also dual-wield... Wait... He’s using the spear as an anchor point! Did he leave a particle of his aura in it? Damn it, this is bad! I hoped that I’d have more time...