"And there you go, that was the tale of Ikari and Casimir. Truly a satisfying tragedy, I must say." Amon snickered as Kai remained immobilised and helpless on the ground.
Amon continued boasting, "I guess I've to be grateful to you, boy, for only you were strong enough to push Ikari into desperation, thus allowing me to regain my freedom. Without you, perhaps I would still remain trapped within my own host, what a joke!"
Seeing that Kai made no response to his statement, Amon increased his mana pressure further before taking a closer look at his quarry whom he was seating on.
Amon was surprised to see tears flowing down Kai's cheeks, before he questioned sarcastically, "Are those tears of pain? Or fear of death? Hahaha, I can't fault you pitiful mortals, after all, you only live once hahaha!"
Amon was surprised once again when Kai struggled to turn his face towards his assailant, his eyes blazing with fury. Kai gritted his teeth before replying valiantly, "A monster like you would never understand. These are not tears of pain nor fear. Instead, these are tears of regret, for not being strong enough to stop you from creating more tragedies, as well as tears of sadness for all the victims who have suffered for the sake of your selfish return, including Ikari."
Amon appeared stunned for a while before laughing maniacally, "Hahaha! Very well, cry all you want and lament your miserable, pitiful existence! I think you've suffered under my [Vengeance Press] for long enough, time to be the kind Samaritan that I am and put you out of your misery!"
Kai's eyes widened in horror as Amon gathered a ridiculous amount of mana in his left fist before drawing his left arm back. Kai knew that it was pointless to use his Luminos Ability to erase the mana amassed, as Amon could simply gather them again.
Resigned to his fate, Kai simply closed his eyes and wished for the quick salvation of death as Amon screamed, "The grand finale! [Revenge Counter]!"
Just before Amon's fist could crash into Kai's head, a shiver shot down Amon's spine as he caught a gleam of steel at the corner of his eye. Instantly recognising that the incoming attack was dangerous even for him and his superior mana armament, Amon leaped back, forgoing his chance of ending Kai.
It was the right choice, since the blade that had headed for his neck was coated with intense demonic energy that was capable of eroding Amon's mana armament and taking his head off.
Amon cursed as he took a few cautious steps back, "Another half demon? From the looks of it, this half or even full demon is more capable of wielding demonic energy than the boy, what luck!"
Kai opened his eyes slowly only to discover that he was still alive, and in the presence of a familiar, comforting aura. It was Akame who was standing over him, her demonic energy fleshed out fully for all to see.
Akame turned around, but her eyes weren't on Kai as she said gently, "Glad you're on time, Adeline. Take Kai back to somewhere safe and treat his wounds. I'll buy us some time!" Immediately after she had completed her sentence, a white mask materialised over Akame's face as she activated her [Demonization], before she resumed her pursuit of Amon.
Kai slowly turned his head and immense relief swept over him. It was indeed his love, Adeline, who quickly helped Kai to his feet before retreating a safe distance away. After Adeline had laid him gently on the ground, Kai panted, "I'm so glad to see you again…I thought I would never live to witness that beautiful face of yours again…"
Adeline became slightly furious as she pouted, "Don't go around spouting such nonsense! You did well to hold a Chaos General all on your own for so long, now relax and let me treat your injuries. The fight not's over yet!"
To Kai's surprise, Adeline wasn't using conventional healing magic, but rather her Luminos which exhibited a more intricate pattern that Kai had never seen before. Its effects were immediately felt, as Kai slowly regained the sensation of his missing left arm.
Waving his newly restored left arm, Kai enquired, "What's going on? Normal healing magic can't restore lost limbs, is this your Eclipse Luminos ability?"
Adeline smiled brightly and answered, "That's right, this is my [Perfect Recovery], an upgrade of my [Perfect State] since I can now transfer the effects of [Perfect State] over to anybody, enhancing their regenerative and healing capabilities. Unfortunately, this ability taxes my mana reserves immensely, but I've found a way to circumvent this drawback."
Kai asked, "How? There's no way you can mitigate the cost of this ability so easily, given its great utility." Adeline replied smugly, "Well, just like how I can transfer the effects of [Perfect State] to another person with [Perfect Recovery], I can also transfer the costs over to my target instead of bearing the cost myself. In other words, I utilise the mana reserves of my target instead of my own in order to heal his injuries."
Kai nodded in deep thought before an idea flashed across him. Kai queried, "I see, that's why you only helped me to regenerate my left arm with your mana input, even though I still have several debilitating injuries. My question now is, can I use demonic energy as fuel for your Eclipse Luminos ability? After all, I can gather and recover demonic energy much more quickly than mana."
Adeline contemplated for a moment before replying softly, "I'm not 100% sure, but it should be feasible given that mana and demonic energy share similar principles. We'll never know till we try, right?"
Kai smiled brightly before he made himself comfortable by sitting cross-legged, his body kept up straight with eyes closed. Adeline could see wisps of red demonic energy billowing from Kai's body, which gradually grew in amount to cover his entire body. Adeline swiftly sprung into action, activating her Eclipse Luminos as she sought to utilise Kai's demonic energy to treat the rest of his grievous wounds.
Fortunately, their plan worked, as Kai's wounds began patching up rapidly, his demonic energy cultivation keeping up with its expenditure. It wasn't long before Kai was back in peak condition. On the other hand, Adeline felt weak as she fell gently into Kai's hands, before she explained, "Huff, there's no running away from the fatigue of using this technique, though with a short rest I'll be ready for action."
Now, primed for combat, Adeline had thought that Kai would immediately launch himself into the fray to support Akame against Amon. However, Kai remained seated, as he chose to silently observe the duel between Akame and Amon.
Adeline whispered, "I'm surprised, I thought you would jump back in the moment you were healed." Kai replied calmly, "No, I can't afford to do that. If I jump in without a plan, we don't stand a chance against an opponent of Amon's calibre.
Besides, Akame can hold her own for a while. She's a member of the Triple Diablo, the 3 strongest half-demons under my father's charge. Furthermore, she does relish her 1v1 duels, so it'll be a terrible idea for me to intervene when she has yet to have her fill."
As foretold by Kai, Akame's grin was concealed under her white mask, which did nothing to hide her bloodlust as she chased after Amon, making dangerous swings with her katana which Amon barely dodged.
Amon wondered out loud, "How's she keeping up with me? I've already poured in quite a hefty amount of mana into my [Vengeance Gear] and she's not even breaking a sweat. Seems like I'll definitely lose a battle of speed. In that case…"
Amon suddenly stopped before he turned around swiftly, swinging his right arm towards Akame's neck with a backhand chop. Akame gladly met his attack with her katana, as sparks flew erratically between the collision of mana against demonic energy.
The clash didn't last long, as Amon followed up quickly with a few more slashes with his [Vengeance Cleaver], all of which were perfectly countered by Akame. To Amon's disbelief, Akame declared, "Hmph, I can't believe you thought you could hurt me with those amateurish strikes. I'll give you a taste of a true swordfight!"
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Akame raised her tempo instantly, maximising her innate gift of speed as she scored multiple slashes on Amon's torso before he could guard against them. Akame's attacks were not only rapid, they were effective, her demonic energy easily shredding through Amon's passive mana armament augmented by [Evolution Armour] and drawing blood as she performed an array of cuts, ending with a wide horizontal slash.
Amon only managed to block her last attack with both arms coated with intense black mana armament, as he slid a few metres away from Akame. Akame swiftly leapt in pursuit, entering a sword-drawing stance.
As Akame flew towards Amon, he faced his left and entered a horse stance, his right fist aligning with Akame's head and left fist hugging his waist. Amon then gathered an intense amount of mana in his left fist, looking set to strike Akame with a flying punch attack.
Akame thought, "Hmph, fool, all I need to do is to accelerate further and cut you down before you can launch your attack." before she disappeared in a blink. As Akame looked set to cut Amon down where he stood, Kai caught Amon grinning and recognised this situation immediately.
Kai warned, "Akame, watch out, it's his feint!" Before Akame could pull out of her attack, Amon quickly brought his left foot forward, twisting his body on it as a pivot before leaping high into the air. Thereafter, as Akame's momentum carried her forward, Amon aimed a drop kick with his right heel onto Akame's head, the enormous amount of mana amassed in his right foot signalling his intent to wrap things up clearly.
Just when Amon thought victory was at hand, Akame suddenly halted, as she directed all her momentum into her katana, launching an upward swing towards Amon. "[Majin Sword]." Akame whispered as she unleashed her demonic energy together with her swing, as a huge stream of vile aura rushed over Amon, sending him flying into the sky.
Adeline smiled nervously before stammering, "I-I think I know why Akame's your master now, s-she's really incredible, huh!" Kai nodded before sighing, "I guess my worry that she would get caught by Amon's [Tyrant Kempo] was unfounded."
Akame's mask disintegrated as she gasped in exhaustion. After all, Akame had to use a considerable amount of demonic energy to overcome her opponent's monstrous mana armament, not to mention her final attack [Majin Sword] which consumed a large chunk of her reserves. At least, it was now over.
Or that was what Akame thought until she sensed danger approaching from the sky, as she barely dodged Amon's punch that was aimed at her head. However, the power of Amon's punch was so great that it produced an omnidirectional shockwave upon collision with the ground, sending Akame reeling uncontrollably away from her nemesis.
Akame bounced off the ground once before performing a back flip, thereafter thrusting the ground with her katana to halt her momentum, skidding to a stop. After the dust had finally settled, Amon's body was in full view, as Kai was stunned by what he had seen.
Amon's body was extremely bloodied, having taken the toll of Akame's erosive demonic energy. However, the fact that Amon had survived the attack could only spell bad news, considering his Sin, [Vengeance].
Kai quickly signalled for Akame to regroup, seeing that she no longer had any chance of defeating Amon alone, to which she obliged. Meanwhile, Amon exhaled slowly before he hissed, "I think I've underestimated you guys far too much, to push me so near to death's door.
There's no way I want to repeat that long, arduous process of finding a new host again, so I'm going to hammer some well-deserved fear into you all. Witness the true power of a Chaos General, [Revenge Counter - Mini]!"
Amon punched the air before him without hesitation, shattering it instantly as a huge shockwave followed, rushing towards the trio and ravaging through everything in its path. Kai ordered, "Disperse!" as all 3 of them jumped off in separate directions, avoiding Amon's shockwave.
Kai thought, "Darn, if an attack as powerful as Akame's [Majin Sword] or my [Narukami Blade] failed to clinch the deal, we'll need something much stronger…very soon! If only I could just perform a simple thrust to the heart with enough piercing power to finish things…wait, there's one thing I've yet to try…"
Turning to Adeline and Akame, Kai shouted, "You two, I need you to distract Amon for as long as possible, I'm going to try something out! It's do or die after all." Upon hearing Kai's request, Akame turned her head and asked cynically, "You're going to do it again? You know it's impossible right?"
Confused, Adeline asked, "What're you two talking about?" Akame replied calmly, "Hmph, the boy has a wacky theory that if fusion elements were created from the combination of 2 elements, it should be possible to create more fusion elements from 3 or more elements.
Kai intends to combine his Lightning and Light magic with his demonic energy, forming a triple fusion element. So far, he's only been successful in producing [White Lightning] and [Red Lightning] which are dual fusion elements.
It's impossible because Light magic is completely antagonistic to demonic energy, with the 2 completely rejecting each other, explaining their inability to mix with each other in the case of fusion elements. Kai, stop your nonsense and just focus your remaining energy into your [Demonization] and [Red Lightning]!"
To Akame's surprise, Adeline stood protectively in front of Kai before muttering, "Impeded by none, [Phasewalker]." In Adeline's hands, 2 gleaming short swords appeared, as Adeline's eyes glowed with the full brightness of her Luminos.
Adeline simply mumbled, "I trust you because I love you, Kai. I'll buy you the time you need." Akame shook her head in frustration before she grumbled, "Ah well, seems like I've no choice. Let's do this." as she gripped the hilt of her katana tightly.
Touched by his teammates' faith in him, Kai became resolved as he declared, "Extend and impale, [Cavalier]. I promise to get it right this time." Kai's spear materialised before him, as he quickly sat down, adopting a posture frequently used in meditation with both hands on his weapon, eyes closed.
Unwilling to spare Kai the luxury of time, Amon jumped in, ready to strike. However, before Amon could reach his target, Adeline and Akame appeared before him, their weapons crossing each other as they stopped Amon's punch together.
Adeline then jumped up slightly, performing a spinning slash with her blades coated in her fusion element, [Radiant Snow] as she aimed to decapitate Amon. Following his instincts, Amon ducked under Adeline's slash, but was soon met by a barrage of fierce slashes from Akame, as he was forced to match her every move.
The 2 ladies combined seamlessly to put Amon under pressure, as he wasn't given any inch of space to use his devastating shockwaves. Amon could only hiss in infuriation at his inability to break through his enemies' ploy as the pair effectively kept him at bay, far away from Kai.
Now, Kai could concentrate fully on his task of achieving the fusion of his [White Lightning] and [Red Lightning]. Focusing intensely, Kai first generated [White Lightning] in his left hand before generating [Red Lightning] in his right.
Next, Kai allowed the 2 different electrical currents to flow towards each other, into the centre of [Cavalier]. Just like how he'd first used [White Lightning], Kai intended for [Cavalier] to be a conducting medium to facilitate the combination process.
Unfortunately, things did not proceed smoothly, as the 2 different currents immediately started tearing at each other, forming erratic sparks that hurt Kai slightly. Kai expected this much, but this time, there was too much at stake for him to give up.
Refusing to yield, Kai rationalised that perhaps perseverance was key as he poured in more electricity of both types, increasing the frequency and sharpness of the erratic sparks which only scored more cuts on Kai's face and hands.
As the electricity got more intense, Kai kept reminding himself to keep pushing, as his hands were increasingly charred. Finally, the last thing that Kai saw was a blinding flash of vermillion, which enveloped his entire body…
Upon witnessing the bright flash of lightning, both Amon and his opponents halted their battle temporarily, as they waited for the smoke surrounding Kai to clear up. Upon seeing what lay within the smoke, Amon laughed uncontrollably, "To think that he would end up electrocuting himself, what a joke! Perhaps he thought committing suicide was a less painful way to go against me, hahaha!"
Both Akame and Adeline stared at Kai's lifeless body with utter disbelief. Before Adeline could break down, Akame placed a firm hand on her shoulder and advised, "There's nothing we can do now but pray that Kai would return to us by some miracle. However, if we don't hold our ground right here, no miracle's going to save the 3 of us!"
Adeline nodded as she blinked away her tears, before staring at Amon with a hateful gaze. Amon could only shrug his shoulders and taunt, "If you're all that worried about him, I can send you to meet him soon enough, hahaha!" Tension was rife in the air as all 3 combatants readied themselves for the resumption of battle at any second.
When Kai awoke, he found himself in a vast, empty space. There was literally nothing to be found except the ground he lay on. Furthermore, what irked him was that the space he was in was completely coloured in pink, which brightness hurt his eyes to no end.
Kai struggled to his feet as he realised that he was wrong about something. There was something, or more specifically, someone else apart from the ground in this mysterious space. From a distance, the figure appeared to be a little girl, who had her back facing Kai so he couldn't determine her appearance.
Kai gingerly inched closer to the girl but before he could get within an arm's reach, the girl squealed excitedly, her back still facing Kai, "It's been such a long time since I had any visitors, after all, there's only one person in the mortal plane that can enter this space. Please, make yourself comfortable!"
Kai asked uncomfortably, "Erm, sorry for the rude question, but am I in Heaven? Didn't expect the otherworld to be so brightly coloured though."
The girl, whose back was still facing Kai, pouted, "Oh come on, I thought I already said that there's only one person other than you who's been able to enter here for as long as this place existed? So, how can this place be Heaven? Heaven is way more populous, with many more souls waiting to be reincarnated."
Kai was confounded before he enquired further, "If this is not Heaven, and you're not God, then who are you?"
Now, the girl swiftly spun around, her appearance in full view. The girl had long, ravishing black hair, with a childlike face free of blemishes, befitting her presumed age. The girl shook her index finger as she explained, "Uh-uh, nobody said that I wasn't a God, just that this place isn't Heaven.
The name's Amaterasu, the Goddess of Order and Creation. Who are you, my little lost lamb?"