Rai stared down the prince monkey.

He could’ve sworn that the prince was sneering at him. As if Rai was nothing but a small monkey in his eyes.

The king monkey hadn’t changed his attitude. He remained sat atop the throne, staring down at the pitiful beings below him. Rai hadn’t done enough to get his attention yet.

These guys don’t deserve to be devoured by a disgusting beast like that!

“Life is sacred...” Rai muttered to himself. “You should know better as their leader!” He screamed at the king.

*Kuh. Kak. KAKAKAKA!*

The king monkey broke down into hysterical laughter. Even the prince found it funny.

Did they understand me? They must’ve understood me... but they clearly don’t get it. They think that because they’re the strongest here, they can do whatever the fuck they want!

Anger welled up within Rai. He hated the attitude the two of these monkeys shared. They saw the world as their playground, for them to mess with other lives for their own satisfaction was only second nature to them.

Rai’s love for life wouldn’t let that stand.

Think Rai, think! He can’t regenerate if... Alright.

“Fine then... I’ll show you...”

20%.

Just how strong the strongest is.

*Boom!*

*Thud*

The prince had fallen to the ground, face-first.

*Crackle!*

*Pop!*

Lightning arced off of Rai’s body. Remnants of electricity sparked from the giant hole in the prince’s torso.

His intestines spilled out, with the remains of the previously devoured monkey pouring out of them. The prince’s spine was in two halves, bent backwards out of his body.

Rai held the prince’s heart in his hand. It was beating the last of its life.

He stared up at the king.

“Come. Show me your truth!” Rai crackled.

The king stared at Rai, wide-eyed.

Rai crushed the prince’s heart in his hand, letting its gloopy remains cover his hand in hot blood that poured to the ground.

All of the monkeys surrounding the bonfire were in an uproar. Most of them had no idea who this newcomer was, or why he’d killed the prince. But, they were clearly grateful.

*Aki! Aki!* Chak yelled from the trees surrounding them.

Aki! Aki!

A thunderous roar came from all of the monkeys. It shook the ground with their incredible energy.

Every single one of them was ready. They were prepared to die now, so that they could live.

Goosebumps lined Rai’s skin. He’d riled them all up, and now they were ready to fight for themselves. All he had to do was show them what was possible.

A rumble came from the king.

*Okar... Chak!*

The king was angry. Very very angry. He slowly rose up from the throne and walked down towards the bonfire itself. Each step produced a minor tremor in the ground.

His very presence alone silenced the defiant monkeys. Their inherent fear of their ruler would kick in right about now.

Chak stepped beside Rai.

They looked at each other, then back at the king.

It’s time to prove your desires now Chak. You wanted this!...

*AKI! AKI!*

Chak grunted as he brandished his claws, ready to follow Rai into battle.

Hah! That’s what you’ll need if you’re going to fight for your life!

“For your people! For life! Show him, prove your might!”

Rai raised Ghost and pointed its end up at the king.

It looked back at Rai with nothing but disdain. Clearly, Rai had ruffled its metaphorical feathers. The king’s peace was broken. His rule had been challenged. Now it was up to his subjects to prove their right...

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“Make this fun, will ya?”

*Zip*

*Clang!*

Ghost collided with the king’s claws. The amount of force Rai had generated caused the claw to chip.

Rai dashed through the air with wind magic as he aimed directly for the king’s vital spots.

Every strike was blocked, but each block caused another chip.

The king grunted. He took a deep breath.

Rai was about to dash towards a vital spot, but the king moved his arms outwards in a motion different to what he was doing earlier.

Wait... something’s different!

“GET BACK!” Rai shouted.

The monkeys took cover.

The king grinned. He brought his hands together at a speed that Rai was almost unable to react to.

*Clap!*

A massive shockwave formed from the king’s hands. It pushed everything back, causing the trees to bend backwards, vines and leaves to rip to shreds, and the already dwindling flames of the bonfire to completely extinguish.

The monkeys all held on to whatever they could, but some failed.

The ones who hadn’t grabbed onto something flew directly into the trees, splatting into a crunkled up furry bag of crushed bones, muscles, and organs.

Rai stood, defiant on the ground. He’d held on using the power afforded to him by Stormflow, and by stabbing Ghost into the floor.

The shockwave finally ended.

The king stumbled.

Even the king can’t stand against his own attack...

Everything was silent for a moment.

*Aki! Aki!*

The monkeys all attacked.

They used their speed and claws to strike while the king reeled from his massive clap.

Multiple cuts found their way into the king’s skin, matting his otherwise dark silver fur with his own blood.

Chak flew directly at the king’s head. He clutched onto the king’s fur and gouged out his left eye, then nimbly leapt back down.

The king roared so loud that Rai was completely discombobulated for a second.

Chak was too busy admiring the king’s eye that he didn’t see the giant foot descending onto him.

*Splat*

Rai couldn’t see properly, but he felt the ground tremble.

Huh... what... what just happened?

After a few seconds, Rai regained his senses.

That’s when he saw it.

Chak’s body was almost unrecognisable. The only thing Rai saw to identify Chak was half of his head, laying indented into the ground, with his eye still open.

Chak’s fangs were visible.

Rai simply stared. His mind was still registering what had just happened. More than anything, he was in complete disbelief.

*Kak! KAKAKAKAKA! KAKAKAKAAKAKAKAA!*

The king cackled maniacally. He’d finally killed Chak. After all this time, the only real thorn in his side was gone.

The air grew thick and heavy.

The king was unfamiliar with such a feeling... but he knew where said feeling was coming from.

He looked at Rai.

Who was completely still.

Rai stood, unmoving.

But in the king’s eyes, Rai was more dangerous than ever now.

He had to be eliminated immediately! Otherwise...

*BOOM!*

An instant.

The king’s world rolled around in his vision. As he rolled along the floor, the only thing he could see was a blurry mess.

In the king’s final moments, his eyes laid themselves upon Chak’s half of a head.

Rai had beheaded him. Instantly.

The king’s beheaded body flopped to the floor with a massive tremor.

For an instant, Rai’d released 40% of his mana and increased Stormflow’s potency by the same proportion. It was an incredible amount of power, but Rai knew that he wouldn’t be able to sustain it, so he’d only used that much for the single instant he needed to.

But he used it too late.

Rai walked over to Chak’s remains and kneeled down.

“You... you deserved better.”

Rai closed his open eye.

“I’m sorry, Chak.”

The monkeys surrounding them grieved for their fallen chief, and their fallen brethren. One of the monkeys went around collecting the fangs of their fallen, probably for some kind of symbolic remembrance, Rai thought.

In the aftermath of the battle, Rai buried all of the smaller monkeys, and Chak, together. He created graves for them all surrounding the bonfire.

The king and the prince, however, he didn’t know what to do with.

That problem wouldn’t last all too long.

The smaller monkeys began climbing both corpses.

They ate them.

All of the monkeys, together, were eating both the king and the prince.

Rai wouldn’t have considered such an option, but if that’s what the monkeys felt was the best option, then Rai wouldn’t stop them.

In the end, Rai re-lit the bonfire, and sat on the throne to rest. He maintained Stormflow for the next couple of hours while resting, just in case he had to defend himself against anything.

By now, the monkeys had all lowered their guards completely. They were dancing and enjoying themselves around the bonfire. Rai remained on guard though, just in case he needed to act fast for any reason. This was still a dangerous jungle filled with monsters, after all.

That’s when a familiar face showed itself.

----------------------------------------

“So you killed the king and the prince, stopping their tyrannical rule over all of the umbral monkeys?” Kallad asked Rai.

They sat together atop the throne, with a bunch of smaller monkeys using Kallad as a play gym.

“Yeah... Chak... He brought the monkeys together, and they fought with me against the king. I really wish he could’ve lived. I wish that... I acted faster. That I saved him!...”

“... It seems that you’re learning this lesson earlier than I’d expected...”

Rai didn’t quite know what Kallad meant.

“You can’t save everyone, Rai.”

A pang of guilt assaulted Rai’s heart. He was silent. He didn’t want to admit that it was true. For as long as he’d lived, he had power. But the power that Rai used to win, was the same as the power to save someone else. If Rai couldn’t save everyone...

His thoughts were interrupted by Kallad again.

“Don’t think on it too much. You’ll have more experiences like this where death comes easy. Death is the only thing that gives life value... I’m sure this kind of loss will teach you that faster than me telling you would.”

“...”

“Anyway, that would explain a lot.”

“... Huh? What... what do you mean?”

“Well, you remember that board that Naam and Lilly showed you lot earlier?”

“Yeah. It had a bunch of numbers and categories on it, right?” Rai was glad that the conversation had moved on.

Kallad nodded.

“You gained a lot of leadership points, which I was confused about. But seeing that you brought these monkeys together and fought alongside them for their livelihood, it makes sense that you gained those leadership points. And that you only gained 2 kills since the beginning, they must’ve been from killing the prince and the king.”

“Oooh. I see. Well, I didn’t do this for the numbers. I did this because life should be valued, like you said. The value of life shouldn’t be dictated by the strong...”

Kallad ruffled Rai’s hair with a warm smile.

“That’s exactly the kind of thing I want to hear from you. I’m glad you came to that conclusion all by yourself. Still... I’m amazed that you actually brought them all together like that. Very impressive!”

Rai grinned a touch. This was a sombre moment, but at least he’d managed to do some good.

“Alright! I should get back now. They’ll be waiting for me.” Kallad said as he pried the small monkeys off his arms.

“... Thank you Kallad. It was good to see you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You still have about 4 hours left, and if I know my daughters... those will be the toughest 4 hours yet. Go, head north. You’ll find the others past a big reservoir of water. Meet with them and complete the simulation together.”

Rai nodded. He had to move forward now.

“I will. Thank you again!”

And with that, Kallad morphed into a raven and left.