Kai was an orphan and was raised by the King of the human race in the Lunar World, who was also Rose's father. After learning that his parents were victims of the great war almost a decade ago, he had determined to walk the path of revenge.
With his sword in hand, he would cut all his enemies down. However, even though Kai had great potential as a supreme talent, there was little to nothing he could do in the grand scheme of things. But that didn't stop him from practicing his sword. As a mage with an affinity to an abstruse weapon law, the sword laws, Kai had an advantage even against those with equal talents. From a little more than five, he had practiced unsheathing and sheathing his sword, causing several scars to line his left hand. A thousand times! Ten thousand times! A hundred thousand times! He lost count of the total number of times he had swung his sword.
However, after entering the last mind trial, Kai received an opportunity, just like Joe, Ella, and Arianne. With his stamina unaffected and without any interruption, Kai was able to practice his sword to his heart's content.
After repeating the process of unsheathing, swinging, and sheathing his sword hundreds of thousands of times, he finally had an epiphany.
'The sword is meant to kill.' The sword should not be used to fight, spar, or save. The sword should be used with an intent of cutting all in its path, an intent to kill.
With this epiphany, he transformed. Not only was he now able to use his body as a sword, but his innate talent was also strengthened manifold.
With his body, he could release sword energy, but his innate talent allowed him to unleash invisible sword energy.
Now, Kai understood the path he walked, 'When I draw my sword, I will only use my ultimate attack.'
'Tidal Wave.' This was the technique Kai comprehended at the end of the mind trial. From its name, the sword would release an invisible wave of sword energy filled with countless silver threads. All within its path would have no choice but to be cut.
Like this, Kai's battle prowess increased by several notches. Even though he could still only jump two levels to fight as a supreme-level genius, now that his first attack was intended to kill, it didn't matter what level of cultivation his enemy was at. As long as they were taken by surprise and were unprepared, they had no choice but to succumb to his sword.
Just like the mighty Male Asura did.
But even Kai who always had a stoic look on his face, couldn't help but marvel at the sight before him.
The sky several kilometers in the distance was covered by massive staffs, resembling pillars connecting the sky to the earth.
.....
EMPRESS SOMBRA DE LA NONA.
Arlo's new summon, a nine-tailed shadow fox, had a great identity in the realm of the gods, one that Arlo underestimated even after Old Bro revealed some information to him.
With the lava domain now gone, and a shadow Territory now established, darkness seemed to descend upon the world.
Without any hesitation, Arlo turned into a blur as he closed the distance to his opponent.
Even though Zara was taken by surprise, she was still prepared for any move Arlo might make.
Her bronze hammer appeared in her hands, and she tightened her grip on its handle.
Arlo's face shone with excitement, as he used the second ability he inherited from his yet-to-name fox. Even though he had yet to see her appearance, as he hadn't had the time, Arlo knew that his new summon currently didn't have nine tails like the seal on his right upper arm portrayed. Instead, she had two, but Arlo knew she had room for improvement, and the stronger they became, the more tails would appear.
The first ability he inherited was shadow Territory which was a domain-like ability. As for the second...
"Shadow clones!" Arlo whispered as he appeared before Zara who was shorter than him despite their age difference.
Two clones who shared his body frame but were entirely made of pure darkness appeared by his side, taking Zara by surprise. One shot towards Zara's right, the other towards her left while he attacked from the front.
'Now I can use Dirty martial arts to its full potential.' Arlo thought as he took an Orthodox fighting stance and threw a left jab, his two shadows mirroring his actions.
Zara hesitated on whose attack she should block, and Arlo didn't miss this opportunity. His left fist landed on her nose, causing her head to jerk backward. And as if it was timed, the fist of the left shadow landed on the side of her face, pushing her head to the other side. Without any time interval, the fist of the right shadow landed on Zara's other chin, forcing her head back to the left shadow.
Zara's head buzzed, as she felt as if stars surrounded her.
Not even giving her a moment to rest, the foot of the left shadow who had already turned in a round kick before the right shadow's fist had connected, landed unrestrainedly on the back of her head, sending her flying forward, back to Arlo. Arlo was already prepared for this, as he sent a right swing with all his might.
Three teeth flew into the air, as Zara's body joined them in flying backward, but yet again, a leg sent her back to Arlo's front. Arlo swept his previously swung arm in the opposite direction, causing his right elbow to connect with Zara's chin, and as a new set of teeth were about to fly out, his left fist which had moved together with his swung elbow, connected with the same left chin not even a split second later.
*Ba-Bam!*
Two muffled sounds resounded in the area, as four new teeth drew a bloody arc in the air.
Zara who was sent flying from this brutal attack, was stopped by the shadows behind her. Sandwiched between three opponents, Zara's body flew around as she was beaten into a ragdoll.
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"Ah!" she released a small breath, as her eyes gazed at the blurry sky. She could tell her rate of regeneration wasn't able to keep up with the beating, and it was only a matter of time before she collapsed.
'What a monster...' Even though she felt a bit of fear at the somewhat inexplicable battle prowess of the little kid before her, she couldn't help but flash a bloody smile, 'Now I am sure. He is the one that can help me.'
Not only did she appreciate Arlo's fighting prowess, but she also appreciated his brutalness even against an opposite sex like her. Only then would he be able to help her, after all the Asuras were a matriarchal race.
*BAM!*
Zara was sent flying once again but this time, she turned in mid-air and swung the hammer which had been hanging limply by her side in a wide arc.
However, she was surprised to see the two shadows melt into the darkness below them. Now that there was nobody to receive the brunt of her attack, her body fell awkwardly before rolling several times.
But at least she was able to break free from the onslaught. Zara quickly rose on her feet a little clumsily as she coughed several mouthfuls of blood. Wiping the blood, she gazed at the trio before her, with heavy breaths.
'So he can summon two shadows. Not to mention the shadows even surpass him in cultivation.' She could judge from the aura around the two clones that they were nine-star warriors, but Arlo himself was only a six-star warrior. From that, she could infer that the shadows could surpass their master by a huge great realm in cultivation. However, to her, Arlo remained the greatest threat as even though he was only a six-star warrior, he could be a great threat to her, unlike the two shadows who only had average strengths in their level of cultivation.
'Also, it seems they can melt into the shadow below us and change position instantly. It is almost like teleportation.' She deduced as she looked at the domain around her. She couldn't help but marvel at the outstanding abilities in Arlo's arsenal. Just one of these abilities would make an average warrior a notch above his equals, yet all these abilities were wielded by one person.
After a full minute of catching her breath, which Arlo allowed her to, Zara's body had almost recovered from all the injuries.
Gripping her hammer, she spoke, "This will be the last clash between us."
She had never gone all out from the start, but now she had no choice but to. Not doing so would only be foolishness on her side.
'I have no choice but to summon my astral body.' As a genius, Zara was just a step behind completing her astral body, which was one of the major prerequisites to break into the Astral warrior stage.
Zara's hands suddenly underwent a huge transformation. Her arms soon became covered in yellowish fur, and so were her exposed legs. Her hands and foot turned into claws, and even though her body didn't undergo a full transformation, Arlo couldn't help but compare her to a common wild beast.
"A cheetah? Is that your true form?" Arlo knew that each warrior had their true forms, just like him too, though he was still far away from fully forming it. Every time warriors experienced a breakthrough, their true form which rested at their lower abdomen, just a little above where a mana core would usually be, would be further completed. And it seemed that Zara was close to forming hers.
Zara merely smiled, causing four sharp fangs to protrude out of her mouth. It seemed she had no intention of replying. Honestly, with her current transformation, she was simply too enchanting. It was just that Arlo was too young to care, and he wasn't lecherous like Joe.
Zara who was smiling suddenly shot a cold glare at Arlo. At the same time, the anger she had been repressing with all might fully burst out.
A red wind kicked up around her, sweeping her hair behind her. With an aura now covering almost two hundred meters radius around her, Zara truly looked like a frenzied beast.
She stomped on the ground, intending to use her laws, but nothing happened. The fire laws she used before were ones she received from her connection with her summon. And just like Arlo who had the unique Aether laws, she also had hers. However, it seemed as long as she was in Arlo's shadow territory, she wouldn't be able to manipulate the earth below her.
Left with no choice, Zara controlled the ground outside the domain, causing several pillars of earth to rise from all directions. And as if they were rubbery, these pillars curved before lunging in their direction.
Arlo inadvertently looked at the earth pillars moving towards him, and at that moment, Zara flashed before him. Now that she was partially in her true form, her speed was strengthened by at least ten times. Her speed was no different from a mage or warrior with an affinity to light laws.
Caught off guard, Arlo couldn't raise any form of defense, but it seemed he didn't have to, as the two shadows swooped in to protect him.
Seeing this, Zara changed her target and swung her hammer in a wide arc.
*BANG!* *BANG!*
Both shadows were blasted into dark lights, but Arlo didn't care and instead took advantage of the opportunity to retreat a few meters.
Coming to a stop, the two shadows reappeared beside him.
A frustrated glint flashed within Zara's eyes when she saw the shadows reappear without any change. It was at this time that the flexible earth pillars arrived. She launched forward to join their onslaught against the trio.
Arlo watched this scene calmly, 'It seems I have no choice but to use my third summon's abilities.'
His lips curved upward as he watched the approaching Zara, causing the latter to feel that something was wrong.
"Illusion domain!" Arlo whispered, and an instant later, an invisible ripple spread out from him, before encompassing the whole shadow territory.
Under Zara's astonished eyes, tens of figures appeared before increasing to hundreds. Some were humans resembling Arlo and the others resembled the two shadows. As the darkness below Arlo and the two summons at his side churned, the trio disappeared from Zara's view before silently mixing with the illusions around her.
The lunging earth pillars came to a stop as they mirrored the confusion of their master.
Under Zara's shocked eyes, a horde of Arlo and shadows lunged at her from all directions. It seemed that any moment from now, she would be submerged in their onslaught.
Arlo was similarly running towards her and couldn't help but smile as he watched his opponent anxiously looking around her, unsure of what to do.
'This is the best ability.' Arlo loved the powers he inherited from his last summon, even more than Anita's own. He wasn't being biased or anything, it was just that this unique ability opened a lot of doors to him. A lot of ideas sprung up within his mind, and he couldn't wait to try them out.
"Heh!" He couldn't help but snicker, 'How about I try out the second ability? It is not every day I would encounter such a worthy opponent.'
With that thought in mind, Arlo raised his hands to the sky, the illusions around him mirroring his movements.
"KONG'S STAFF..." Arlo's voice rang out from all directions, causing Zara to spin around. However she soon had no choice but to shift her head to the sky directly above her, and what she saw dumbfounded her.
A huge staff five hundred meters wide and over a thousand meters long appeared above her, its shadow swallowed by the darkness below her. She could see the intricate patterns lining the sides of the staff, and she could feel the ancient aura it was releasing. She didn't doubt her death if such a staff was to fall.
'I need to stop it.' She ignored the hundreds of approaching figures around her and instead controlled her pillars to move upward. At the same time, flames burst from her feet as she joined her pillars to fly into the sky, her body enveloped by a red sun.
Arlo who watched his opponent fly out from his and his illusions onslaught, suddenly had an idea.
'What if I use the Illusion domain in tandem with KONG'S staff?' With that idea already rooted in his mind, Arlo didn't hesitate to try it out. With a look of excitement, Arlo voiced out:
"KONG'S STAFF X 50!"
Zara who had turned into a red streak that flew into the sky, came to a sudden stop, with her eyes bulging to the point of almost popping out of their sockets.
Fifty identical staff suddenly appeared above her, before the first one disappeared into their midst.
A region of almost thirty kilometers was overshadowed by the ancient staffs blotting the sky.
'What is this? Just what is going on?' She remained rooted in the sky as she watched with quivering lips, the sight above her.
Shifting her eyes down, the sight of hundreds of shadows and Arlo entered her vision.
Shaking her head and with a wry smile on her face, Zara's voice drifted into the ears of the real Arlo who was mixed within his illusion.
"I give up."
*****
AN: Longest chapter ever. I hope you enjoyed it.