> The land of the dead, the domain of the evil…
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Kai, Yurupt, Umbra, and Purogu glared at the rift as it changed forms, becoming a "hole" in space, a sort of portal that led to a place.
The place, from what they could see, had a seeming lack of dimensional composition and boundaries, yet being mountainous and volcanic, and coloured by fire and brimstone, and tar and lava, and across its lands walked shadowy silhouettes of horrific proportions and configurations.
One of them sharply turned its head to face the group, much to their horror.
It looked at them for a while, noting their positions, their emotions, and all else it could.
But it would pay them no serious heed, and quickly go on its way eventually.
Purogu fell onto her knees, facing the floor.
"Why…is this here?” She questioned with a shaking voice, giving Umbra some confusion, whilst the other two remained responseless, with unchanging stares. "What?"
She would only repeat her statement, but with more emotion and urgency. "I'm asking…why in the world is an opening to Khanshin here?!"
"Khan…shin?,” said Umbra, attempting to fully comprehend and confirm what he had heard. "Yes…,” Yurupt answered, being with a witless scowl and furrow of his brows, unusual traits to his natural demeanour.
"I don't follow. I've heard of it before…but…"
"It is verbatim…" Kai began to say sternly, his eyes totally fixed on the portal. "That there are four majors of the archetypes that push and pull all things, the great Supernal Nests of Ideals.”
“They are of the good and paradisiacal, the rotatory and renaissance, the dynamisms and powers, and the damnational and malevolent…”
“Placed within the highest spheric extent of the omnicosm as the driving forces alien to all they direct...”
“One of which is Khanshin, of the archetype mentioned last, and just as the rest are, is with a nonadherent relation to all those continual patterns, wantonly excessive to the logical totality and more.”
“It is renowned for two things: its place as the realm of punishment for the greatest magnitude of evildoers and direct opposers of the Grandmaster Deity…and….”
“...The realm created and lorded by a force so vile…naming it twists my gut…"
Umbra gasped in shock, still unable to accept the current situation. But he recalled knowledge of old that he possessed, and linked it to the current scenario and issue at hand. Khanshin…so, it is the one created by him, hm?
"Now what?,” asked Yurupt as he flung his hands forward. "I don't really know.” Kai responded with a dropped head and sighing.
Purogu then rose from her position, reinvigorating her mind and with a determined expression.
"Now is no time to wallow in knowledge.” She told her allies, who looked at her with downtrodden faces.
"Now…" She said, pulling out a device similar to a flip phone from her side.
"Is time to plan and prepare."
Amidst the discovery, David, Wok and Kuroko watched from their seats a casual commune between Dgiag and Probacon within the Field.
Probacon's prior opponent, the Kujijin called Cheftic, was being treated by the Jmlehvu, in an unconscious state.
“Did he truly just manage to best an All-Meridian?" David questioned with his eyes on Wok. "Hey, don't look at me. All I did was give pointers…and a tool to help him utilise his powers to counter his opponents." Wok shrugged with closed eyes.
"Wok…" "Whaaat? It's fine. I don't even remember the name, or how I created it. Plus, I'll likely collect it from him later…if I remember to."
Kuroko just looked disapprovingly, and spoke in a similar vibe too. "Sure, sure. Just don't forget to.”
"Why are you concerned? Afraid he'll beat you with it?" Wok remarked with a smug grin as he bent his neck towards Kuroko, finding success in irritating the latter.
"Not one bit. If anything, he should be more worried about the beatin’ I'm giving him.” Kuroko echoed in response as he tried to face Wok, but the Ghouling would hurriedly elude any eye contact. "The air you're carrying seems to disagree…."
"What was that?!" “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!"
As those two rambled on in their argument, David still observed the projection, as he looked over some things.
Forget the aid from Wok, the greater advantage he had was that sudden awakening. It really helped in producing those key opportunities to take his chance. He wrinkled his brows in mentation, still assessing the match.
Even still…
I've awakened abilities in more dire circumstances, and I'm sure many more have. Either this was a random awakening, or, one born of the contrasting guidance and essence of his.
Probacon, before being carried away from the main Field, looked at the projection once again, doing a victory sign with his left arm while smiling.
David smiled and nodded at this gesture. Whatever it is…it warps not what is done. So let us leave it as it is…
Wok and Kuroko kept arguing, as suddenly something rang.
"Oh, excuse me!,” apologised Kuroko, bringing out a device similar to Purogu's.
"Hello?"
"Yeah…Wait, what?!...That so?..." He said in the background, seemingly conversing with someone with the device, while David and Wok watched him with keen interest.
"Alright. Got it. Hold one sec."
"For you." He said, handing the device over to David. "Who is it?"
"Purogu. They found…something.” Kuroko replied with an ominous expression.
David's brows drew together, his mouth twitching in anticipation.
"Alright.” He took the device from Kuroko’s hand.
"Hello?"
"David. We found something. A portal…between The Dome Chasmic…”
“And…" Purogu said, pausing for a brief moment to gather herself. He who she conversed with, however, did not grant that luxury. "And? Time is of the essence here. Overly dramatic pauses are needless, Purogu.”
"...Khanshin."
David's eyes widened upon hearing this, becoming completely silent as his heart skipped a beat.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Wok tilted his head as he looked at him.
"David? Hello? David?" Purogu echoed from the other side, amid David finally putting his thoughts in proper filing.
"Yes I heard you.” He answered. "Now what? If this is the situation, then we need to–." Purogu began to say, with urgency in her voice.
"Notify who we can?" He asked sternly, Purogu's face twitching in surprise.
"You have every right to induce that. However…"
"There is a good chance that if alarm bells are rung now, the ones we seek could easily deviate from their current plans."
"But…they already know we are after them. Surely, telling Lord Dgiag won't cause much harm?" Purogu enquired, failing to grasp David's current train of thought. "Yes…but….”
“That would be precisely what they want.” "Sorry? I don't follow…"
"The truth is the scenario of them acting without reason if that were to occur is more likely than we think. And considering they have the advantage on us, and this new development…"
"...Oh…"
"So, for now at least, the best choice is to just confirm without question, what all this truly is."
Purogu gulped in a quick pause.
"Alright. We'll do that the–.” “We will, but I find this approach rather…scuffed,” spoke another voice with no prior indicate of its presence.
But it was a voice that could be instantly recognized, especially by David. “...So, you really were here…”
“Fighter.” “I am a person of much serenity.” Fighter relayed, sitting aside Wells, whoe version of the device he used.
“But the lapses in this motion are quite something, especially for you…”
“No counteraction, no ‘offensive’ approach, not even a way to reduce the rising number of shadow casualties…” “I can already read what you’re trying to get at, Fighter…”
“And I don’t take kindly to it.”
“Prove me wrong then.”
“Uhh, Davie..? WF?” Wok mumbled, not liking the edge that the commune now seemed to have. And sharing that feeling with him was Kuroko.
As well as Purogu, who held her breath from her side of the conversation.
David sighed, realising that as much as Fighter’s blunt evaluations were overly primitive, they were correct. So he looked to fit those holes.
“For the counteraction, we just have more group work than singular action, excluding the occasional one-man scout to not draw much attention…”
“You’re right about initiative, so I myself will check and aid the assigned tasks of each and every group…”
“And…I believe Lord Dgiag should be made aware of this, if anything. To warn the masses, at least.”
Fighter stayed silent for a moment, looking through those ideas scrutinously.
“...Those are fine. Decent foundations at worst. But we can get something out of them.” He declared with a casual nod.
“Hopefully, we should resolve the whole issue by the third round’s end.” “I’ll present to Lord Dgiag the issue at hand by my fight in that round.” David stated. “Got it. And, prince…”
“Don’t be so driven by heart..."
"Your actions are unscrupulous.” To these words, David would just glare grimly.
But he turned his focus elsewhere. "...I'm counting on you guys back there, Purogu. I'll most likely come to check in after the next bout.”. "Alright. Got it."
"Alright. Just keep up as we have till now. See you soon."
"Bye,” said Purogu. "Signing off then.” Fighter replied.
All parties then turned off their devices.
“Uh…so you’re cool with telling the Djikk but not the Grandmaster?” Kuroko asked with a raised brow as David handed his device back to him.
"I agr…ugghhh. No idea who a Grandmaster is…or who you guys are,” said Wok in a strange accent afterwards, leaving Kuroko dumbfounded.
"Kuroko…" David uttered, gaining his attention yet again.
"Warn a learned chieftain, and a coup may just be dissolved. Warn the king…and it will likely happen hastily.”
This unfamiliar adage left the other two high in their concern, as the look David had also wasn’t a particularly normal one.
"YOO!" Someone shouted from behind them, as they all turned to see.
It was Probacon and Noot, recovered, refreshed, now in the same seating space resulting from their triumphs.
"Been a while, huh?" Wok asked with a joking grin.
"If you count about forty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds as ‘a while', then that is true,” jokingly retorted Noot, gaining a grumble from the Ghouling but cackles from the Djin and the Shinigami.
"Probacon." David said, drawing Probacon's notice.
"You did well."
Probacon smiled brightly, and raised his fist to his peer. "Thanks. You too.”
The two shared a fist bump.
Dgiag had signalled to Tōmii to spin as per standard, and so that was done, the wheels spinning for time as per usual.
And slowing and stopping as per usual.
"Hmmm…,” bellowed Fighter, as he was teleported onto the platform.
He arrived in the Field, instantly looking from across his opponent, with Dgiag right between them both.
"In this side, once again, the obstacle-defying Sarhun whose noteworthiness is unbound by natural worldly limits. The Shadow Hunter! The Legendary Lone Sarhun, Wynn Fighter!!" Dgiag announced, drawing grande reactions from the crowd.
"Well, let's get to it…" He said in an uninterested tone, looking blankly at his opposition.
"And in the other, as before, the gold-hearted demon, defender of all that is good and just of his multiverse. Rank 20, Limes!"
The announcement was also met with reception, as a Yama, average in height, with a square head, short curly hair like autumn leaves, round red-irised eyes with the kanji characters for “love” in his left one, with a little musculature as well as strange rectangular patterns of cream and brown on his skin, and wearing a green vest jacket, purpur shorts and beads around his wrists and ankles.
《Limes. Heroic Yama. Age 113.》
He grinned, but it was of pure instinctive tendency.
"Now…as per usual." Dgiag said, and both followed to enact signs of respect, though Fighter’s was more clear.
They would swiftly take battle stances, much to Dgiag's astonishment.
He himself would transpose from the Field, now beside Tōmii as per standard.
"BEGIN!!!"
Limes began running at Fighter with unbridled haste.
Well…let’s get this over with. Fortunately, there's a lot I know about him, so this won't just be a act-react kind of fight, thought Fighter in analytic preparation as his opponent neared him.
He attempted to hit Fighter with a high back kick.
But Fighter weaved away from it, somersaulting away and creating a greater distance between them.
Limes attempted to close the gap, sending continuous strikes aimed at Fighter, all to no avail all while the evading Sarhun in assessment of who stood right in front of him. Limes of the Piraw Universe. Born a human over 30 years ago, became a Yama about 83 years ago. Demonic nature was due to gaining blood of other demons, which grants exceptional regenerative ability, but all at the cost of a solar weakness. Needs human flesh, but he tends to feed on the post-mortem, or evildoers. Commendable. Possesses two abilities: A powerful strike from his left leg, and the ability to project himself and others onto the astral plane. Strengths: His physical might is second to none on his world, and high in the biological ranks for his universe, boasting an unhindered ardour, plus that very regenerative ability. Weaknesses: He is quite literally brainless, not particularly hard to keep up with, nonexistent combat skill despite years of experience, low control of his abilities, and sunlight.
Fighter then countered one of his opponent's strikes with a swift side takedown.
As Limes lay on the floor, he delivered a clean punch to his face.
He then lifted him airborne with a single arm, and by a single arm.
And finally finish with a kick to the gut, sending him through into a nearby thin but towering earthen high-rise amongst the many that surrounded them. Then the stage is set!
Fighter swiftly blitzed his opponent, much to the Yama’s greatened bewilderment. Then Fighter barreled him with a rapid series of well-aimed and hardened strikes of his clenched fists.
And with the final and most powerful one of those, Limes was pushed away and through the elevation, with a skid across the ground on its other side.
He looked at Fighter in disbelief, while the latter looked back with indifference.
But Fighter did speak, holding out one of his clenched fists in a diagonal manner across his torso. "Honestly, matchups like these are why I think this tournament is a bit bogus.”…
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