*Woosh*
*Swish*
"Tch!"
The battle between Akashic & Kaelith continued with both sides at a stalemate.
Kaelith's only moves consisted of quick burst attacks aimed at Akashic's vitals, attempting to completely dismantle him.
Alas, Akashic was able to dodge perfectly every time, not gaining another injury. Though he wasn't able to land a blow on Kaelith either, as he would recover and dash away quickly.
But the smile on his face never faded. Akashic's blood was pumping like never before. His first real fight—with someone stronger than him, no less.
The longer the battle continued, the closer the blows came to landing on Kaelith.
There was real worry in his eyes now, as he knew he wasn't equipped to handle drawn-out battles.
Unfortunately, he couldn't just retreat. Not only was Akashic steadily applying more pressure and getting used to his attacks, this hit was ordered by one of the Lords. If he were to run, he'd be killed.
'For the Goddess!' Kaelith chanted silently in his mind, resolving himself to continue.
In his next attack volley, he feinted before suddenly killing all of his momentum, standing completely still.
[Shadow Step]
'Only our Lords could block this attack. The amount of energy it drains from me is worth it.'
Before Akashic could react, Kaelith's presence vanished, as if he had disappeared.
*Fsh*
Using this chance, Kaelith shot toward Akashic, intending to finish the fight.
Victory seemed guaranteed as the dagger inched closer and closer to its target—until suddenly the world spun as Kaelith felt the wind get knocked out of him.
He hit the ground with a sickening thud, barely opening his eyes in time to see the underside of a boot coming toward his head.
*Thoom*
He just managed to dodge, looking at the spot where his head had been to see a dent in the concrete.
Horror was on his face as he looked at Akashic.
'How did he see me?!'
His technique was made for stealth. Almost all signs of his existence were wiped out.
But only almost. There was still a slight disturbance in movement. No matter how advanced his skill was, it wasn't getting past [Supreme Senses].
Kaelith's mind couldn't comprehend Supremacy when he saw it. And once he moved to a kneeling position in his haste to stand, he received a strong kick to the chin.
His jaw broke and a few teeth fell out as he fell back down.
Watching the blue haired boy slowly stroll toward him with a smile on his face, he knew that death itself was approaching.
Using [Void Shift], he teleported a few steps away—enough to stand up and prepare himself to defend.
Though he was losing, Kaelith was a professional. He wasn't as afraid of death as he was of failing.
He knew if he failed, he would be dealt with by the Goddess.
She was far scarier than the person he faced.
So either he kills the boy now, or he dies here today.
*Bzz Bzz*
He felt the buzz of his phone ringing in his pocket, and the hairs on his neck stood on end. This must be his boss checking in on him.
They never called during missions. That just went to show how important this was.
'I need to end this now!'
Kaelith adjusted his breathing and rushed back in, changing up his attacks somewhat.
Adding in more feints, some slashes—even ignoring the dagger and using his fists.
Every attack had pinpoint accuracy, yet every blow was easily blocked or avoided by the boy.
Akashic felt his opponent slipping, but he wasn't much better himself. Over the fight, he sustained no new injuries, but the only one he did get had been worsening slightly. Clearly, the dagger wasn't normal.
Kaelith hadn't let up enough for him to fully use his [Heal]. Mixed with the blood he'd lost and his broken rib, Akashic was in a fair amount of pain.
Still, it was bearable.
But it was time to end the fight.
On the next volley, once Kaelith went for a feint, Akashic followed through and punched him in the throat.
Once he was off guard, he followed by hitting his weak points—chin, solar plexus, kidney, and finally the knee.
Kaelith dropped like a bag of bricks, hardly able to breathe.
Making sure he had no chance to run, Akashic stepped on his legs with full force.
*CKRACK*
"Grr…."
Kaelith only let out a low grunt at the pain. He was prepared to be tortured for information.
"Oh wow, you're good. I figured you weren't going to say anything anyway. Good thing I won't need you to."
Akashic prepared to use his skill to take what he needed, but before he could…
*Bzz Bzz*
The buzzing sound became audible to him now that the noises of battle were gone.
He located the sound coming from Kaelith's pocket, so he searched and found a phone.
There was no caller ID, but he decided to answer it anyway.
The first thing he heard was a disguised voice shouting.
<"This is One speaking. Four, you must return immediately! Abort the mission. Night Lord does not realize the mistake she is making!">
<"Shadow Lord has reached out to me! Warlord himself has been sent to dispatch the Asyn family over a matter like this.">
<"The Akashic kid is off limits! I will speak to Night Lord and she will bury this matter the best she can. You will not be punished for retreating, as she cannot afford to bring that attention to herself.">
The air was silent as both parties took in the news.
Akashic was confused and intrigued, while Kaelith was horrified.
The Warlord was the strongest lord at this level of the organization. He only moved when ordered by the Goddess. For him to be sent out over this kid meant there was a lot more at play than he realized.
<"Speak, Four!">
Anxious, One kept shouting.
"Night Lord, huh? I don't know that name, but…"
Akashic's words trailed off as he continued to think.
'What's this stuff with the Asyns? I haven't had time to look at the news regarding them after I killed Nik.'
Many questions appeared in his mind, but now wasn't the time to go over them.
His injury no longer hurt as he used [Heal] on himself. Unfortunately, the amount of blood he lost couldn't be replaced that quickly.
He felt faint. He needed to lie down and eat something.
For now, he had to end this.
Standing up, he hung up the phone and placed a finger on Kaelith's head.
[Inform]
Lots of new information flooded his mind, and Akashic quickly sorted through it.
Being number four of the Thirteen Hands meant Kaelith had more knowledge than most about the organization's work.
Saving it for later, Akashic looked at the man on the ground and could only think of one way to completely get rid of him—leaving no evidence.
He used his aura to pin him down and placed a hand on the man's head before blasting it with the most amount of energy he could muster—10x more than he hit Z3 with.
The man lost all will to fight after the phone call and was unable to move, so it worked fantastically.
Kaelith couldn't even scream as the pain wracked his body and immediately shut down all of his brain functions.
Soon after, his body began boiling under the effects of the energy.
'Too bad I need to shatter the opponent's will to resist—or be much stronger than them—before I can use this. It's pretty useful.'
With the body taken care of, Akashic made his way back to the car.
He managed to drive home slowly, getting out of the car with a stumble as he tried to enter his home.
It was late, and he hoped the girls were at their house. He couldn't explain his bloody clothes.
Once he got to the door, everything hit him at once.
The blood loss.
The wind-down of [Supreme State].
The adrenaline from his fight fading.
He felt his consciousness slipping, but he refused to pass out at his front door.
Steadily, he forced his body to continue moving.
As he reached for the door, he felt himself falling again—but luckily the door swung open as he landed on something soft.
He was immediately enveloped in a warm embrace as someone stroked his back lovingly.
"I'm so glad you're okay… I felt everything."