Xiang made his way towards the cave at the bottom of the city's waterfall. Beyond its fairly diminutive opening, sounds of roaring and slashing were quite audible. A moment later, A man wearing heavy armor with an almost mirror-like finish emerged from the cave. He had cracks on his right chest plate above which he was resting the blue leather grip of his large claymore on his right shoulder. The weapon had streaks of blood adding a bit of gradient to the diamond finish of its blade.

"Xiang? What are you doing here?" Kazan inquired.

Even though Xiang was fatigued from a major descent of stairs, he swiftly stated, "It's Hoshi! He was gone to fight the Fenikkusu himself!"

"What!? Why?" Kazan got alerted.

"To save a boy from getting eaten."

"Why didn't you stop him?"

"I tried! But now is not the time to discuss this! We have to hurry and go help him!" stressed Xiang.

"Follow me, I know the shortest path towards the Cave of Fenikkusu!" Kazan made haste towards the spiral stairs of the city with Xiang following him closely.

Despite his dire injuries and being fresh out of aura, Hoshi used his right arm and his legs to begin a desperate struggle to stand up once again.

"(This is no time to blame yourself you idiot! Forget about your life and past for once and until you save the one that is right in front of you!)"

"Hey! I am not done! See? I am still breathing!" Hoshi's loud voice made the Ao Fenikkusu halt before it entered the cave.

"(Why can't I activate any of my states? Was that my limit? My body is screaming whenever I try to channel some aura through as if it is stopping me from killing myself. But I can't let that child die either.)"

Black smoke kept on emerging from Hoshi's body while he couldn't make much progress getting up. The Phoenix once again began moving towards the cave's entrance while ignoring its opponent.

"Get up! If this is the best that you can do, how can you fulfill your father's wish and put an end to this world's suffering!?" A loud echoing voice penetrated Hoshi's ears that made him finally be able to infuse his body with a red aura that immediately got him back on his feet.

"(A part of me is neglecting all the risks and telling me to fight! That's it! That's what I need)." Hoshi transferred his aura in his legs and used his first state to swiftly reach his katana only to throw it like a spear at his foe's body after infusing some aura in his right arm. The blade of the weapon completely penetrated the phoenix and stunned it for a moment.

After roaring in agony, the Fenikkusu turned towards its attacker while the katana was still being impaled on its body. Its eyes shone more brightly than before and a faint grey aura appeared around its sizable body. Suddenly, the mountains all around began to landslide and huge boulders fell on the edges of the field.

"What the hell? How is it doing this!?" cautioned Hoshi.

His adversary was currently stationary and taking advantage of this, Hoshi rushed towards it. But before he reached, the boulders that just fell down hurled at him with rapid speeds. Without being presented with any other choice, he used his first state to carefully dodge each of these attacks while progressing towards his opponent.

"I have to force that katana out in order to make this bastard bleed!"

With killing intent, Hoshi made his way towards the Phoenix and finally managed to grab hold of the Tsuka of his weapon with his right hand but couldn't pull the blade out despite his best endeavours. The Fenikkusu rotated its long neck and used its sharp beak to bite into Hoshi's right shoulder. The bite latched on so tightly that the menacing bird managed to pick up its opponent and throw him back on the bark of a thick tree.

After taking a brutal impact on his back, Hoshi realized his right arm was also now completely paralyzed as the bite was deep and most probably severed his brachial plexus. A stream of dark blood began flowing from the fresh wound which stained the tree behind him.

"Not yet! I am still not done yet! You can immobilise as many parts of my body but I will never let you have your way!" Hoshi got up again, ignoring the immense pain he was experiencing as he rushed towards his foe without hesitation.

This time, the Fenikkusu used the smaller rocks from the landslide and launched them at such a tremendous speed that the normal eye couldn't even perceive towards its opponent. Using his aura to the fullest, Hoshi managed to dodge most of the rocks but still took a few here and there, leaving hefty bruises on many random parts of his body. Despite this, he kept on advancing towards the phoenix only to grab the Tsuka of his katana with his teeth. He used all his might to pull the sword out but still failed to move it at all. Enraged by his persistence, the foul creature swung its tail at Hoshi's face, knocking him back once again but this time he collided into a nearby boulder, demolishing it in the process.

Hoshi could not move at all this time. His back was now broken in addition to both his arms. The Phoenix didn't stop there, it charged at him with fury in order to confirm its kill.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Must…. get.. up. This… can't… end like this," Hoshi mumbled as he still tried to force his body up using his legs alone.

"You fool! There are times when you should not listen to your heart!" The Fenikkusu was intercepted by Kazan jumping in front of it and swinging his claymore horizontally, which cracked open its beak. Copious amounts of blood flew from the exposed membrane under the beak. The Phoenix fell towards the left which gave Kazan a moment to assess Hoshi's damage.

"Damn it kid, you ain't looking good. Hurry up Xiang! Take him to the wise woman back at the city of Hyõkõ! She is located a couple structures away to the right of the guildhouse!" Kazan was disturbed after seeing Hoshi, lying flat on his back with both of his arms not only dislocated but developing a severe case of erythema. In addition, his right shoulder was bleeding heavily while bruises and lacerations proliferated all over his body. His knees were flexed as he was still struggling to get on his feet.

"Oh great heavens, Hoshi. I can't believe the condition you are in right now. I told you to not go by yourself. I want to scold you so bad but Let's get you out of here first." Xiang hurried towards his injured ally and kneeled down.

"Forget.. about me. That child… is going … to bleed to death. Save him…. first," panted Hoshi.

"Don't be ridiculous! You tried your best. He is probably already dead. Worry about yourself for once you idiot," rejected Xiang.

"Please! Don't let my efforts be in vain! I promised his …. mother. I don't want… her life to.. be destroyed because of my weakness. Go! Let me see that I can at least save the one who is right in front of me!" stressed Hoshi.

"Fine but I'll carry you both out of here if I have to!" Xiang got up and moved towards the cave's entrance.

"Thank you," mouthed Hoshi.

The Fenikkusu was back up on its feet and was more enraged than before. The grey aura around it magnified significantly as it roared loudly, showing its extreme wrath. It now used huge chunks of the mountains as heavy projectiles towards both Xiang and Kazan. The latter used his swift slashing skill to counter this attack while the former used his quick agility to dodge them.

During a brief interval, Kazan ran towards the phoenix and connected another horizontal slash, this time severing one of its sharp horns.

"Each part of your body breaking is payback for my friend!" Kazan screamed.

Xiang managed to enter the cave during this distraction.

Kazan rotated his weapon and landed another horizontal slash at his opponent's other horn, severing it as well.

"These horns that you impaled him with are now gone! Don't worry, you will be reduced to a hundred pieces before I am done!" fumed Kazan as he raised his claymore for another slash but was interjected by the Phoenix opening its large wings and taking flight in an instant.

"(Shit! I was aiming to kill it before this sight. I still remember that day clearly)." Kazan began reminiscing.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"(He was still young and had yet to see so much of life ahead of him.)"

"Don't worry we got this, just wait for its next move."

"(If only I wasn't so cocky back then. He would still be alive.)"

"What is it doing? It is coming for me! Kazan!"

The Fenikkusu swirled its body and swooped down for a devastating attack, the speed of which was significantly enhanced by the immense aura around it. The target used his blade's Fuller to stop the attack but struggled to keep his posture maintained.

"(I dragged him into this, thought this was the easy way to get us in the big leagues. In reality, it was nothing but my ignorance. But why did he have to pay the price for my mistake?)"

Kazan diverted the creature's attack to deliver a swift kick right in its neck, startling it for just a moment.

"Your death will not absolve that sin of mine, but it might fill the hole that you left in both our hearts!" Kazan leaped in order to gain momentum for a vertical slash straight at the Phoenix's neck in order to sever its head off.

"Kazan… I.."

"(He was hardly in his twenties, yet to find love, yet to harness his full potential and more importantly, yet to earn respect from a stern family that banished him for being nugatory to them. All of that was yet to happen! For the longest time I blamed you for splattering his blood on his modest face and short brown hair. I blamed you for putting a large hole on his chest, penetrating through his steel armor. I blamed you for taking away the glint of life from his cyan eyes. But all this time, it was me who snatched your life from you! That's why, I am ready to lay down my life if that what it takes to defeat you!)"

"Haruto! Oh no…. You bastard! Come back here! Don't leave me alive! Why him and not me!?"

Before Kazan connected his attack, his armor began to condense and crush his body. His arms were now so stiff that his weapon straight up slipped off his hands and fell on the ground. His chest felt so much pressure that he immediately dropped to his knees and clenched his fists towards it.

"Don't tell me, Adamantine is among the materials it can manipulate," heaved Kazan.

The Fenikkusu got up and glared at the man who was just about to decapitate it. He was now in extreme pain and couldn't move a single muscle. The next thing that shrunk was his armors abdominal plates, that pressed his abs to such a degree that made him vomit out blood.

Hoshi, who was observing the fight, again struggled to get up on his feet as he couldn't watch his ally suffer such pain.

"(Damnit, I can't move. If this continues, I will be mincemeat in no time. But why do I think this is alright? Why does a part of me say that you were living overtime anyways? I should've died back then with Haruto. So maybe this is fine)." Kazan completely fell to the ground and reduced his efforts to get free of this restraint.

A few seconds later, Xiang emerged from the cave, carrying the injured boy from earlier. His hood was down, and his expression didn't give away much assurance. The boy was completely lifeless, with his extremities hanging like some inanimate chains of metal while blood no longer seeped through his massive wounds.

Hoshi's eyes suddenly halted towards the child he tried so hard to protect. He noticed the lack of breathing and drying of blood of the poor victim.

"This can't be.. I failed. I couldn't protect a single child in front of me. Then why did my father entrusted the future upon me? Was he wrong? Or was I right that I was born without a purpose?" Hoshi's mind was on the brink of collapse as not even tears escaped his trembling eyes.

End of Chapter thirty-five.