Black Monster
Back at the Far East Region's western borders, where a bloody carnage was unleashed, but the blood and liquefied flesh and organs turned to thin dust as it fell while the bones were immediately turned into dust.
Whoosh...! Heian Ciemnosc was busy cleaning his dark claws out of the filth he stained his pale skin and darkness with when a sound of flying figures came towards him. They weren't far away, but they were coming fast, leaving one the feeling these figures had hurried over here. However, with how things ended, they were either too late or let others die. It didn't matter as only they knew why they arrived here late. They were silent as Heian Ciemnosc continued to finish cleaning his hands from others' blood and remains.
Clap, clap. “I was starting to think you’d rather flee. What took you so long? So indecisive,” Heian Ciemnosc said as he gave his palms a couple slaps before turning around and lifting his head. His eyes met with a cloaked figure and a dozen others wearing gray outfits. They looked at him toyingly as if a typical bullying sequence was about to start but remained quiet and looked at the cloaked figure after hearing Heian Ciemnosc’s words.
‘So much respect.’ While they looked at each other, Heian Ciemnosc looked at them. The cloaked figure’s head, slightly lowered, gradually raised to glance at Heian Ciemnosc. His hands slowly moved to the lower ends of his hood, showing fair, pretty hands that concealed incredible power. Finally, the cloaked figure revealed his face. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes were calm, and he even casually blinked after looking at this person’s countenance.
“Hello, my name is Kali Gura, and I’m the Patriarch Blue Starreye Clan, from which you killed its Ancestor and Honorable Ancestor. Kali Guru. She was like a mother to me. But you dared to not only lay your hands on her, you also killed her. Exploding her entire upper torso as if it were nothing. How come you’re so great at being cruel? Does the Wrath Nihility Academy know of this?” Kali Gura said after revealing his long, sharp hair strands of an achromatic blue color and a ravishingly pretty boy face. However, his cultivation base was read through by Heian Ciemnosc, and it was at the Spirit Magna realm.
“One,” Heian Ciemnosc shook his head a little as if dealing with a child and lifted his chin to speak at the young man floating above him. “The Academy is me here. Whatever word I say is the Wrath Nihility Academy’s will, nothing else. Secondly, if there is something about the Academy you don’t know, I think the rest of the world knows it. Third, who are these randoms? And why do they have an emblem not belonging to this Existence?”
“...” Kali Gura went silent as his blue eyes stared down at Heian Ciemnosc before lifting his gaze and looking into the distance. The other 12 behind Kali Gura exchanged glances with each other and looked at Heian Ciemnosc with some alarm. If they had felt easygoing and at ease before, treating Heian Ciemnosc like a kid, they were now facing him like a possible threat. One that wasn’t confirmed yet.
“Heian Ciemnosc,” Kali Gura looked down again and took out an Earth grade long sword. It was thin and slightly less than ideally wide. It had an obscure blue handle with an exaggerated upper section, thicker than the rest, nearly looking like a rapier. Its blade was over 2 meters long, already showcasing enough Neutral Energy to make Heian Ciemnosc feel deeply threatened. Ignored Kali Gura’s words and slowly narrowed his eyes while inspecting the sword.
“As a Hana-Saga realm cultivator at the 4th stage, I won’t kill you, at least not straight away. If you part from this place immediately, I will take care of the Blauw Empire for the Wrath Nihility Academy and y- !!” Kali Gura was in the middle of speaking when he found his Soul suddenly locked, as if his body was hugged with his arms down, and became locked. Incapable of moving! His Soul quivered and rapidly got rid of the feeling, but when he sobered, one of his pals stood before him and hacked down at an incoming kick from Heian Ciemnosc.
Shuaahuaaa~! Swish! Cuh! Pooomng~- crack! Pom!
Heian Ciemnosc’s left foot aimed at Kali Gura’s sternum while his target was bewitched by his All-Devastating, mind-focused Soul attack! However, one of this fella’s pals dashed in between, but Heian Ciemnosc didn’t stop. His left foot’s claws crooked a little before connecting to the enemy. The enemy had a cultivation base at the Spirit Magna realm 8th stage and was one of the 2 with such might in the group of 12. The others were in the 9th stage, with only Kali Gura in the 10th stage.
Although Heian Ciemnosc had been stuck in the Hana-Saga realm 4th stage for months, it was all because of his duties as the assigned supervisor, but even then, he was close to breaking into the next stage. And as his foot landed on one of the Spirit Magna realm 8th stage cultivator’s Mortal saber, its blade made contact with his strike and wobbled before immediately cracking.
Whoosh- futomp! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Pshiiiiiiift…!
Heian Ciemnosc’s kick didn’t end there, and his sole continued thrusting forwards, meeting the enemy’s solar plexus head-on. The enemy felt his body about to begin cracking, forcing him to let go of his position, and his body flew backwards. His body immediately stopped with the aid of another one from his group, while the rest rushed to stand together in formation while their boss moved to their rear and looked at Heian Ciemnosc from afar.
“...” Heian Ciemnosc calmly looked at them before tilting his head to the left, gazing at Kali Gura’s slightly sweaty face. His first attack was neutralized, more or less, and now, he was to face off against 12 enemies at the same battle prowess as his? Heian Ciemnosc gave Kali Gura another look and said as if he was a child who knew not how to lose, “Are you not planning to come at me? Will you hide behind your gorillas?”
“Haha,” Kali Gura laughed, spread his arms to his shoulders, and faced the sky with his palms. “Why would I? When it seems like you’re gonna have a lot of fun on your own? Boys, start.”
Heian Ciemnosc could see the dozen cultivators’ aura increasing as their Neutral Energy became more powerful together. It wasn’t an array formation, or worse for him, a battle array formation. But their growing might did threaten Heian Ciemnosc, and he looked at Kali Gura one last time and said something before taking his Vocón Link from his right arm’s nook. “No wonder she tasted similar to an Azure Dragon’s Bloodline. Not only was she from a Dragon Beast descent, but she also has a thin correlation with the former. How so?”
“!...” Kali Gura’s face fell. And anyone could see how alarmed he must be from within. Seeing this, Heian Ciemnosc caressed his Vocón Link, his pale fingers sinking into its seemingly unbreakable, opaque dark tone, and added. “Don’t tell me you went somewhere else for an excursion and gave more than your faith away? Mn, no wonder missing cultivators smelled the same. Not only girls but boys as well. Tell me, do you have a trauma? Would you like to speak about it with me?”
“Kill him!” Kali Gura narrowed his eyes and viciously ordered. All his senses were becoming tingly, and the sight of Heian Ciemnosc made him increasingly irritated, like an itch he could barely feel and hence couldn’t find no matter where he scratched. Heian Ciemnosc grinned, and with his right arm extending downwards behind his back, his body was impulsed upwards in a diagonal direction.
Whoosh! Swish, swish! Pshiiift~! Whoooosh- fwo fwo- pom! Whoosh! Fwu fwo- pam! Fwa fwo- thud- crack! Whoosh!...
Heian Ciemnosc’s rapidly flying body took the cultivators by surprise, whose emblem of a gladius sword with an exaggeratedly broad middle and with translucent energy wings at both sides of it was radiantly attention-calling. However, they seemed well-trained! Their Mortal weapons immediately disappeared, and after seeing that 8th stage pal getting owned, the cultivator nearest to Heian Ciemnosc shouted while taking out a ruler.
“Take your Earth weapons out! His body tempering Supreme Art is too much!” - “Damn it, seriously?!” - “We must take it for ourselves! It cannot stay here!” - “It’s good enough…”
Their Earth grade weaponry came to light, but Heian Ciemnosc’s speed wasn’t deterred, and his body rapidly arrived before the first cultivator as his dark coat fluttered behind him, expanding and making it look so extensive. The first cultivator was slightly bewildered by the coat’s behind exposition, but when he gazed at Heian Ciemnosc, he became dazed for a micro-second. Those darkest eyes were enchanting, and not in a good way.
Heian Ciemnosc could tell the first cultivator, at the Spirit Magna 9th stage, was confident in dealing with him, but he still didn’t stop and sent his right fist towards his chin. The cultivator’s palm aimed at Heian Ciemnosc, but Heian Ciemnosc bent his back and arched his neck downwards at the last moment, and his dark Neutral Energy suddenly condensed from his right-handed fingers and knuckles.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Like a splash of smoke, it came out of between his fingers before smashing into the cultivator’s face. The cultivator had thought that, after receiving a hit, even if it was to his face, he would move his ruler to strike Heian Ciemnosc, and the latter would become trapped by the rest as they were already flying towards them. They would besiege Heian Ciemnosc and slowly tire him to death carefully… however.
Heian Ciemnosc’s right fist landed on the cultivator’s chin. Afterwards, he flew at the latter’s waist level to meet the following enemy head-on. The first cultivator swung his ruler downwards, but his face was in pain and bleeding, and his senses deteriorated out of nowhere. Finding no target in his first strike, he didn’t give up and struck sideways from the left to the right, and vice versa. From an outsider’s point of view, he was waving it in the air to scare flies.
“!” Heian Ciemnosc continued flying, and from the previous speed burst, the other 11 cultivators were employed to trap Heian Ciemnosc. He rapidly arrived before the next. They suddenly felt like something had gone wrong and were in danger, but they still couldn’t be completely sure. They watched as Heian Ciemnosc relaxed his fist and turned it into a knife, thrusting it towards their pal, who immediately positioned his large battle axe sideways to stop it.
However, at the last moment, before striking the cultivator, Heian Ciemnosc changed his hand strange to a palm and landed its palm skin on the silvery, metal blade’s side. It was met without obstruction, and Heian Ciemnosc struck the cultivator with his strength and the battle axe’s blade in between, adding to the notion, and sent the enemy flying. It was precisely then that the other 10 recognized Heian Ciemnosc’s threat, especially melee. But it was too late to stop now.
The third cultivator Heian Ciemnosc reached was even less opportunistic and simply slapped a shield device at Heian Ciemnosc before making a stabbing motion with his left hand, targeting Heian Ciemnosc’s neck or sternum. Heian Ciemnosc ignored it, and with his pale skin gaining a long, superficial cut, his right knuckles landed on the cultivator’s forehead. His body penetrated through the shield, but he didn’t care. His right arm’s motion pushed the cultivator down, forcing his body onto the ground, whose inertia definitely hurt the cultivator.
Dark blood started spilling from Heian Ciemnosc’s pale skin when he immediately spun forwards, turned his body backwards so his right faced where his left was, and immediately kicked another cultivator’s neck that was immediately nearby. The previous 3 cultivators were at the 9th stage, but this 4th enemy was one of the 2 cultivators in the 8th stage. And in every step and attack, Heian Ciemnosc used all his bodily strength and dark Neutral Energy.
To these people who were more than a realm above his cultivation base, he couldn’t afford to lessen his might against them. Heian Ciemnosc’s left instep and part of his lower shin struck that cultivator’s neck on the throat. It didn’t seem like much, and the initial hit was very similar to the others. However, as the other nearby cultivators watched this happen, their eyes widened with disbelief. Their Spirit Sense wasn’t half-neutralized like the 8th stage cultivator was.
“!” The cultivator noticed it and felt his neck invaded by a cooling, fresh something, like a mist prickling one’s skin, but inside was a horror. His flesh and skin were eating from underneath, threatening to latch onto the bones, tendons, and blood. But before that thought formed in the cultivator’s head, he felt his throat broke!
Heian Ciemnosc didn’t bother with that cultivator, and his left leg simply bashed him away, but half his life was already gone, and his dark Neutral Energy was feeding him the cultivator’s body contents. Heian Ciemnosc’s pale, pervertedly handsome face was lifted, and his darkest eyes appeared intensely scary, with his sclera becoming heavily contrasted.
“!!” The following cultivator wanted to stop, but their initial speed burst left them incapable of it. And, unbeknownst to them, Heian Ciemnosc’s rear emanated a dark tail that grew to a meter long. His speed suddenly increased, and as his body flashed past and between the remaining enemies, his punches, side punches, kicks, and body slams left them helpless, but they weren’t too affected like the first 4.
Pom! Pam! Bam! Thud! Bam bam…!
“Ugh!” - “AH!” - “Wh- cough- spit! Ptui! I swear I sliced him, but I don’t see any blood!” - “Aggh!” - “Gasp!” - “Look out!” - “Why the hell is a Second Step organization’s cultivator this experienced?!” - “What is he…?”
The enemies were battered by Heian Ciemnosc’s rapid movements. They weren’t paralyzed, and he wasn’t that fast, but his sudden burst in speed was more than a simple flying speed. His body moved left and right, rotated, and avoided getting in their best angles to attack him. His Vocón Link, extending from his right arm, kept expanding over tens of meters as he passed by and in between them. It snaked through the path he took, and whenever they attacked it, they felt their weapons recoil as their bodies received the backlash of their attacks.
Heian Ciemnosc had just gone past them and flew outside their entrapping attack when he turned his body to face them with his right palm as his arm extended downwards. Heian Ciemnosc immediately ejected his left arm to the sky, and shockingly enough, his Vocón Link came out from his left wrist as he opened his hand wide to it!
… … … … The Vocón Link’s uniquely silent noise resounded in everyone’s mind, including the watching Kali Gura, who encircled the fight when he noticed Heian Ciemnosc flying towards him before. Suddenly, the same Kali Gura who was fleeing from Heian Ciemnosc’s reach felt his neck prickle and immediately after felt the left side of his head hurt as if a needle had penetrated through it, suddenly developed a hook, and someone had pulled it, bringing with the notion flesh and brain tissue.
“Ah!” Kali Gura's face twisted in pain, and he jolted his head away from the sensation, effectively getting rid of it. He flashed his left hand up to rub the spot that hurt but was astounded when he saw that all his 12 pals were suddenly writhing in pain. Even those sent flying away and were barely returning to the fight stopped and convulsed. Kali Gura felt his skin grow cold as the morning was still young and the evening too far away. However, he felt like everything was turning dark, and the night had come.
“What the hell is this?! AH! AAAAHH!!” - “I can’t see well… What’s happening?!” - “Ah, ah… my Soul… AAAH!” - “It… burns! AAAAAAAAAH!”
The notion wasn’t known only to Kali Gura, however. But what he didn’t feel was that his 12 pals were going through. They suddenly heard a ‘fwuh-pa!’ before they detected a foreign sensation in the safest zones of their inner beings. Something like this was the same as a civilian seeing a paradise moving under their skin, and they became alarmed to the peak the next moment.
Before they could investigate, they watched as their Souls were suddenly on fire. Only a marginal section of it was caught in ordinary yellow, orange flames with what seemed to be black ashes flying around. When they realized about this, their bodies, and everything, immediately started hurting, and their Spirit Sense became disordered. Some held their heads, and others couldn’t even move, especially the Spirit Magna realm 8th stage cultivators.
“Ahh, huff…” Kali Gura’s eyes slowly drifted to Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes, where he saw something that invited him to keep looking, but the pain from before returned, and he quickly parted his eyes and swung his head to the left, heavily sweating. Meanwhile, Heian Ciemnosc held onto both ends of his Vocón Link and gasped for air as he felt the heaviness of successfully affecting 12 different cultivators of his battle prowess simultaneously.
It was like a civilian trying to hold the rope on one side with a dozen fatties holding to dear life onto it and himself from the other. Heian Ciemnosc was instructing his Darkning Igniting to spread until suffocating their Souls before unfurling throughout bodies, eat them, and grant him strength and some energy back. When suddenly, he felt an incoming Soul attack coming at him! He immediately recognized the intent of this Soul attack. It was mind-focused and trying to stop his Darkning Igniting!
“!!” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t know if it could even be halted by others, but he didn’t want to try it now. His darkest eyes widened as he looked straight into Kali Gura’s eyes and fearlessly employed another Soul Art technique, not to attack back but to defend himself. And in his mind, his words viciously echoed throughout the Soul Art technique so Kali Gura could sense it when his attack failed and ricocheted backwards. ‘Now you want to attack me?! Attack me then!! I’m coming for you!!!’
Judging Tyranny!
Piuuuw~! Kali Gura suddenly felt something was strange, and his eyes blinked without him wanting to or by instinct. This singular action chilled his blood, and he attempted to retract his mental Soul attack, but it felt like it had become drawn and charmed to Heian Ciemnosc! Before he could take physical action as his 12 pals couldn’t help him and were still writhing in pain, he felt a set of words travel towards him, just as he felt what others did whenever he effectuated Soul Art technique… but more!
“!!” Pain overwhelmed him, and he wanted to scream, but another voice did so inside his mind, thundering everything inside his head. “I’m coming for you!!!’
“Aaah! Degenerate! Black monster is it?! Hahahah! Fine! Fine! FINE!!” Kali Gura’s eyes reddened, his veins about to burst. His shouting voice was a little mad, riddled with rage. He looked in Heian Ciemnosc’s direction, trying to find that pale skin again and meet those damnable eyes! But all he could see was a dark globe suddenly effectuating everywhere slowly as a strange sound emanated from it, causing him nausea and primitive fear.
Bowwbooumb!
“...” Kali Gura silently looked, in alarm, at the even more silent and indifferent pervertedly handsome pale face, slightly tilted down, gradually consumed by the dark globe as the dark whip extending up and down suddenly grabbed onto his 12 pals. Heian Ciemnosc’s face disappeared, with his last feature being his pale nose’s tip. But in Kali Gura’s eyes, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes were the last thing he saw before everything about the black monster disappeared.
…