The Call of the Forces

by Yuri Ajin

  “Now... Where were we? Ah, yes...” Greenrow said coldly, and then dashed at Kai.

  Kai braced himself for impact. His opponent appeared before him faster than he realized. Greenrow’s speed had increased again.

  Stopping abruptly, he leaped into the air and then plummeted toward Kai’s head. When there were only a couple of inches between the blade and its target, Kai was suddenly enveloped in darkness. The spear pierced the air, causing a powerful shockwave.

  Greenrow froze, and switched to defense.

  “A pocket dimension,” he concluded with great surprise.

  “Correct,” Kai said, suddenly appearing behind him.

  Greenrow blocked the blow with his sword. Kai disappeared again, teleporting out of sight. He continued to suddenly appear, attack, and then disappear again.

  Having bought time like this, he prepared a trap in the form of Night Space, into which he pulled Greenrow at the time of his attack. This gave Kai an advantage since the battle was now taking place on his territory. Everyone but the creator of the pocket dimension would have trouble using Forces of Space. Especially if their understanding of these Forces was lower. Fortunately for Kai, that was the case with Greenrow. Despite his knowledge, he couldn’t keep up with him when it came to Forces of Space.

  This is bad. I won’t be able to destroy this place with just one element of Space. If I use all of my strength... I’d still need at least ten seconds, Greenrow thought. But it’s unlikely that Kai will give me time to do that. What’s he up to? He’s teleporting while maintaining this pocket dimension... He’s wasting a lot of energy. I feel like I’m missing something...

  Kai was aware that he had two advantages — his ability to control both ki and prana, and his ki reserve. He knew that Greenrow also possessed a lot of ki but, unlike him, he couldn’t restore it so quickly.

  This’ll be a fight of endurance... Kai thought. I’ll surely win. I used a similar tactic back in the dungeon... But he won’t figure me out that easily this time. He thinks he’s better than me because he’s an Exorcist... He has no idea that I can do this...

  Kai’s constant barrage of attacks continued. Attacking from a different angle each time, he didn’t give Greenrow even a second of rest. And even though he didn’t receive any more serious injuries, the young Yoni gradually began to feel tired. On top of that, he started feeling an unusual feeling of coldness settling in his chest.

  It was the Cold Void, with which Kai had filled at least half of the Space. He had actually started when he left the plane and hadn’t stopped since. Initially, he did this for another reason related to his plan to get rid of Jiang Dao, but it proved to be rather useful against Greenrow. Having taken control of the particles that hadn’t yet disappeared, Kai surrounded his opponent with them.

  “Are you just gonna keep jumping around me?!” Greenrow shouted, dodging another attack.

  “I mean, you could’ve just left me alone!” Kai said with a sneer in his voice and teleported again.

  “It was your decision! I offered you another option! Whatever, I’m getting tired of this.”

  With a sudden dash to the side, Greenrow returned his spear into his Ring and summoned a tall, rectangular shield. As soon as Kai reappeared nearby, he activated its special ability, which caught his opponent by surprise and won him a couple of extra seconds. The shield blocked Kai’s attack with ease. Grinning, Greenrow swung with his sword. He would’ve pierced his opponent’s stomach had he not immediately teleported.

  A third weapon?! Kai covered the cut with his hand. Greenrow had managed to cut him pretty deeply. So that’s how he managed to immobilize me when he appeared... Not only does he know all the Forces of Sword, but he knows so many of the Shield as well... This is very, very bad.

  “There you are!” Greenrow exclaimed as he unexpectedly appeared next to him.

  Damn! I gave him too much time! I stopped attacking for a few seconds in order to heal and look at what happened! I’m an idiot!

  Pouring ki into the shield and activating its ability, Greenrow pushed it forward. An invisible and highly concentrated wave of ki surged toward Kai. Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, and he almost fainted. It was only thanks to Ultimate Focus that he managed to stay on his feet. However, he missed his chance.

  The blade rushed toward him, threatening to cut his head off. Not having the strength to move, all Kai could do was form a thick ice disk in front of himself, thus stopping Greenrow’s attack at the last moment. However, this didn’t save him from the shock wave; he was thrown back and slammed into the ground with great force. A small crater formed under him, but he remained conscious. Getting up, he focused on the next attack.

  The cracks that had appeared on the ice disk instantly disappeared. Using it as a conductor, Kai transferred all of the Cold Void particles in the Space toward Greenrow. Engulfed by a blizzard, hundreds of ice blades and spears flew in his direction.

  Using the moment of distraction when Greenrow lifted the shield to defend himself, Kai filled the Body Gate of Regeneration with ki and hastily healed himself. For a complete recovery of his body, he needed another half a minute, but Greenrow didn’t give him that much time.

  A spear burst out of the ice storm, and rushed in Kai’s direction.

  He hissed in pain and frustration. Eyes bloodshot and veins on his face swollen, Kai gathered all the Forces available to him at that moment, and activated the Gravitational Blade Break Technique just in time to change the spear’s trajectory. Instead of hitting him in the head, it pierced through his right side, and sunk into the ground behind him. The spear jerked, trying to escape, but Kai froze it in place with the Cold Void, and simultaneously covered himself with ice.

  A surge of ki swept away the ice storm, revealing the unharmed Greenrow. He dashed toward Kai. Ki enveloped his outstretched hand and the spear near Kai glowed and wiggled, breaking free from the frozen ground.

  Kai tried to get up, but nothing came of it. Every nerve in his body ached.

  Shit, he thought, watching Greenrow approach. I need some time to heal... I can’t continue like this...

  Greenrow was about to teleport when the Space suddenly began to collapse, throwing both of them out.

  The sun had already sunk behind the horizon, but there was something very disturbing about the darkness that had fallen. It felt somehow... denser. Like it was filled with some kind of evil energy.

  Looking around, Greenrow spotted Eria, who seemed to be the source of this miasmic darkness. He seemed to have grown more powerful while they were away. Hundreds of corpses lay scattered around him, all maimed and rotten. All of them, including Eria, had one thing in common — the inscription that appeared above their heads.

  [Race: Undead]

  How’s this possible? Greenrow thought. What did he do? His aura feels so much different... Eria, what have you done?

  “What? Why?! WHAT IS THIS?!” the maddened Eria asked, turning to his former master. There was nothing in his eyes save for the desire to kill and shed blood. The gift that his teacher had given him transformed him into a power-hungry monstrosity. “You... You won’t get out of here alive!! None of you will!! Death... Death... Darkness... It’ll consume us all!!”

  Eria, you fool... Trading your life for the perfect mastery of the Force of Form on your Path of Death... There’s no saving you now, is there? I don’t know what they’ve done to you, but you’re no longer human.

  Glancing slightly to the right, he caught a glimpse of his ice-covered spear in the asphalt. He didn’t see Kai, although he felt his aura.

  He’s seriously wounded, he couldn’t have gotten far... he thought, returning his gaze to the blond. “Well, Eria...” he said with a chuckle. “I’ll have to disappoint you. I have no intention of dying here today.”

  His aura began to grow, and the amount of ki in his body almost doubled. His limit was no longer sixty-five percent, but thirty-five, as if he weren’t an Exorcist, but an ordinary Soul Stage cultivato
r.

  Greenrow seemed to have tricked the System itself.

  As for Kai, he finally got the time he needed to heal and... merge with the Sword Spirit.

  Chapter 26

  THE BATTLE OF THREE, PART II

  “Why did you betray me?!” Eria asked angrily, not paying attention to Greenrow’s increased strength or taunts.

  “You were the perfect distraction,” Greenrow replied with a smile and a shrug. “Besides, wasn’t it you who betrayed me in the dungeon? Didn’t you flee instead of helping me? I’m just paying you back. Hurts, doesn’t it?” Seeing the look of pain on Eria’s face made his smile grow even wider.

  “But… That…” Eria lowered his gaze in confusion. The darkness continued to seep into his heart even more, slowly taking over his mind. “That’s not true! You lie! You all lie! You... You aren’t worthy!” he shouted, sharply raising his head. “The teacher was right! You aren’t a master; you’re just a waste of time! Just a pit-stop on my path!”

  Greenrow narrowed his eyes.

  “How arrogant,” he said coldly. “A dog that forgot its place. Who do you think you are?”

  A dark blue spear whizzed through the air, flying toward Eria. It almost reached its target when several black tentacles burst out from under the undead’s robe. They wrapped around the spear, stopping it. Shrinking, they covered the weapon with the Darkness. Wherever it touched, the wood began to rot and crumble, and the steel to rust.

  Seeing that he was about to lose his precious weapon, Greenrow immediately tried to get the spear out of the grip of the tentacles, but their hold on it was just too firm. Growing annoyed, he appeared behind Eria, who immediately attacked. Gritting his teeth, Greenrow blocked another wave of tentacles with his shield. He couldn’t help but be impressed by their strength. The couple of hits that he had received made him feel like his arm was about to break in half.

  Infusing his blade with sword energy and Forces, Greenrow attacked. The scarlet-covered blade aimed at Eria’s right shoulder bounced back. There wasn’t so much as a scratch on him.

  Turning sharply, Eria hit Greenrow’s shield with his elbow. The steel quivered, transmitting the incredible power of the blow into Greenrow’s body. He flew backward, crashing into the wall of one of the buildings and even punching a hole through it.

  With a wave of his hands, Eria resurrected several of the corpses and sent them after his opponent. However, as the difference in power between them and Greenrow was colossal, they were instantly turned to ash by white flames.

  Greenrow got up as the fire finally died down, wiping the blood from his nose with his palm. He looked beaten, but his wounds didn’t seem to be serious. By the grin on his face, he seemed to be excited rather than hurt.

  “Oh, this is so fun!” he shouted with delight. “Much more fun than the battle with Kai! You’ve become stronger, Eria! However...” He nodded to the side. “Your fighting skills could still use some work!”

  Eria’s eyes widened as he glanced over to the side and noticed that the spear had broken free from the ice and Darkness. Judging by the pile of ashes and dark goop lying next to the weapon, Greenrow had released it during the last attack.

  “I underestimated you,” the young Yoni admitted. “Though, it seems that you’ve done the same!”

  His shield split into a couple of hundred small squares that then covered his body, forming armor.

  “Shut up!!!” Eria shouted and attacked as the armor was taking shape. A dozen tentacles burst from underneath his robes and darted toward his opponent.

  The tentacles hit a yellow translucent barrier. And although it cracked and began to crumble almost immediately, it bought Greenrow enough time to form his armor and attack.

  Appearing behind his opponent’s back, he attacked with twice as much power. He swung his sword, but Eria, sensing danger, created new tentacles in time, stopping the blow. The ground beneath him caved in, and he felt his knees and arms tremble.

  Greenrow immediately attacked with the spear, but his opponent managed to turn around just in time to stop the weapon with his bare hand.

  For a moment, time stood still. Both of Grenrow’s weapons were blocked, but his opponent could no longer create tentacles either. But then Eria’s eye filled with darkness, and Greenrow sensed danger.

  Ducking with lightning speed, the young Yoni made a narrow escape. A beam of dark energy escaped Eria’s eye, turning a part of the building behind him to dust.

  Greenrow’s sword illuminated the darkness with a bright red light. A moment later, Eria’s head flew to the side, sprinkling the ground with thick black blood. But before Greenrow had time to celebrate his victory, Eria’s palm pierced his stomach. His eye never took its flaming gaze off him.

  Shit, I forgot that decapitation doesn’t kill an undead, he thought, grimacing.

  Suddenly, a powerful aura covered both of them. The next moment, a waterfall of scarlet energy fell on them. The combined energy of the Paths of Sword and Space merged into one, forming a huge sickle that reached the ground in an instant.

  There was a terrible explosion. When the dust settled, a deep furrow appeared on the ground, stretching across the whole street. The two found themselves on the opposite sides of the gap. Clutching his rotting wound, Greenrow observed as Eria picked up his severed head and looked at the place of impact.

  Having fully recovered and merged with the Spirit, Kai now looked more majestic; his aura radiated the razor sharpness of a blade, and his hair and tattered crimson cloak fluttered in the wind as he calmly observed his opponents. Violet eyes glimmered as he pointed his blades at the two cultivators.

  “I didn’t come here for you,” he said with a hint of anger in his voice, “but since you’re here... I might as well deal with you!”

  Greenrow was the first to react. Having used his flames to burn away the remnants of Eria’s Force of Death in his wound, he focused on Kai’s aura. Tying it to himself once again, he felt the disturbance within its flow, and moved just in time to avoid the attack.

  Unfortunately for Greenrow, Kai was ready for this so he immediately blocked the counterattack, forcing the young Yoni to defend himself from several tentacles that were sent flying in his direction. Having reattached his head to his neck and defended himself from Kai’s attack, Eria attacked his original opponent.

  The three fought with the intent to kill, but all for a different reason. Kai attacked Eria because he wanted to avenge Ash. He wanted Greenrow dead because he could prove to be a potential obstacle on his road to victory. Eria longed to destroy his former master in order to pay him back for all the misdeeds, which was why he concentrated more on Greenrow than on Kai. Though, truth be told, he wanted the latter dead as well, because the darkness raging in his mind didn’t really care about whose blood he was spilling.

  As for Greenrow, his main goal was to get the soul that dwelled within Kai. He planned to deal with Eria a little later.

  ***

  While the battle was raging in the western district, the rest of the city was relatively calm. That is, if we ignored the fact that there were crowds of undead all over the place, attacking everyone in their path.

  But Elize didn’t care about that.

  Sitting on the roof of the tallest building, hidden by a Royal-rank artifact that previously belonged to Alexander, she watched the unfolding events with interest. She had already dealt with the Exorcist from the Cult and started searching for Kai. However, the moment she sensed a battle going on nearby, she decided to halt her search and watch.

  “Greenrow Yoni...” she said and nodded. I remember him... He’s one of the apprentices of the last generation of the Fallen Star Sect. One of the strongest if I remember correctly... He even visited the imperial palace a couple of times even though someone from a pitiful family like his shouldn’t have even been able to set foot there... He’s too smart and cunning, so I don’t see the point in messing with him... Oh, and who are those two?

  She peered into the dis
tance and noticed a figure in a dark robe.

  “Eria Rosenthal, also a descendant of a small family, for some reason called aristocratic.” She recalled. I would’ve never known who he was if it weren’t for Greenrow. He saved him from bullies, and Eria became his servant in order to repay for his kindness. But now they’re enemies... How did he get so strong? How did someone like him manage to wound Lily during the exam? I wonder what happened to him after the expedition... He’s clearly gone insane. Poor bastard, Gods only know what you’ve been through...

  Her gaze rested on the young man in the scarlet cloak.

  “Ah, and there’s Kai... He has his finger in every pie, doesn’t he?” She sighed. I still don’t know what his deal is or why he used to be with Greenrow... Or why he betrayed him. It’s unlikely that he just wants revenge... So why are they fighting now? What’s the deal here? He might be the strongest of the three, but he’s still far from being a true cultivator. It’s impossible to say for sure when, or even if, he’ll ever become a true master. I’m sure that he lied about the traveler and visiting other worlds, but he has definitely been to Earth before. He’s not as cunning and ruthless as Greenrow, but he’s definitely very smart... This is all very entertaining...

  Elize continued to watch the battle, reporting on the radio that everything was fine in the city.

  ***

  The battle had been going on for over five minutes, which was quite a long time for cultivators of their level. By this point, all of them had been hit several times and suffered some damage.

  Eria had cuts all over him, but he kept reassembling his body, spending a lot of ki on it. The worst “injuries” were his burnt hair and a missing part of his right cheek, which really made him look like a zombie from a low-budget film.

  Greenrow’s armor was pierced in several places, and blood mixed with Darkness flowed from the holes in the metal, forcing him to cover his wounds with ki and cleanse them with fire.

  Kai looked better than both of them although he received more wounds than the two combined. His Cold Void coped worse than Greenrow’s Fire against Eria’s Death, and forced Kai to spend a lot of ki. He even had to tap into the Spirit’s resources, which he didn’t like at all. He hadn’t put so much time and effort into its development for it to go to waste in a matter of a couple of minutes.