"You're no different from the monsters you make"-Ikari
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Ikari had a wide smirk with pitch black eyes as he pressed his thumb to his chest and said. "We're the hunters here."
And what caught Kai's attention was the "wrath" insignia on Ikari's chest which flickered a darker shade of red. Kai put one foot behind the other and raised his guard, as he plotted his next course of action against Ikari.
("C'mon! Attack me already, you're already weak, don't be a coward.")-Ikari
Kai lowered himself onto one knee. He clasped his hands together, and the black on his robes had poured out onto his shadow on the jagged ground.
Kai's shadow spread outward like black water, which crawled across the jagged ground in every direction until it completely covered the area.
***
An unpleasant noise came from Ikari's neck as he tilted his head and said with a grin, ("About damn time!").
Sweat had raced down Kai's trembling face and His pupils shook violently. ("This guy's more than likely a close range specialist… getting up close to him would be lethal and idiotic").
("I'm gonna try something risky, but it's worth a shot if it means learning more about how he fights")
From the widespread shadow which blanketed the ground, four sharp fangs grew around Ikari. Ikari looked to his feet as he heard rattling noises, and before he could react, a black serpent with dark white cracks around its skin devoured him and rose from Kai's shadow.
After it took a few moments to rise up into Hell's Sky. The serpent came to a stop, the air grew hotter, and in that moment Kai clutched his own stomach.
Blood came slowly spilling out of Kai's ears and mouth. He used his free hand to clutch his head as he winced from feeling a sharp pain in his head.
And in an instant, the head of the black serpent imploded. Black ink splattered everywhere on the ground, while Ikari emerged from the serpent's stomach.
His gaze went straight to Kai who at the same time of the serpent's head imploding, he violently coughed up blood.
Ikari kept his hands in his pocket while he floated in the sky. ('I already know he can manifest objects and certain animate things from his shadows. But from his reaction just now, I think his own body is linked to whatever he manifests').
Kai used the oversized sleeve of his black robe to wipe the blood from his mouth. Before he could prepare himself, Ikari had already came flying back down toward him with his palm opened and aimed at Kai.
"Damn!". Kai had stuck his hand inside the widespread liquid-like shadows on the ground, and manifested long black arms which all sprouted like flowers and extended toward Ikari.
Ikari snickered and opened his mouth, letting out a loud roar which blew right through the hundreds of hands.
And in an instant, Ikari was already behind Kai on the ground. "Quickly!" Kai told himself as from where he was standing, multiple black circles formed around him in the shape of a centipede.
"What the hell is this?!"
The shadow centipede rapidly spiraled around Kai's body, and swiped right into Ikari's ribs. Knocking him back into nearby jagged rocks. He got up, unfazed from the attack.
He looked over to Kai who had fell back down to his knees. The shadows he previously spread to the ground had retreated back onto his black Smoky robe.
He squinted his eyes, and saw everything before him go blurry. "Shit! Not now!"
Ikari groaned as he stood up, and slowly walked toward Kai while he analyzed his deteriorating physical state. "Those were some decent tricks you just pulled. But it's not nearly enough to put a scratch on me"
Kai looked up at Ikari, his hands trembled and his lips moved but no words came out. Ikari smirked and stood right in front of him.
"I know you feel it. No matter how strong someone is, as long as you fight you'll still feel it no matter what you do in moments where your life is on the line"
Kai grunted, and clutched his abdomen. "What the hell are you yapping about now?!"
Ikari continued, his eyes grew darker and his voice more deep and rusty. "What I'm talking about is something you of all people know all too well… a feeling you humans have known since the primordial days"
The wrath insignia on Ikari's chest turned bright red. He slowly brought his dark red eyes toward Kai's. "The feeling of primal fear"
Kai's shoulders shuddered, as if a looming shadow had crawled up his spine. Ikari crouched down in front of him, his face inches away from Kai's as he stared deeply into Kai's trembling eyes and frowned.
"That primal fear in your eyes… I love it. The thing that makes battle so exhilarating, is how the two fighters can psychically speak through their fists, a fight that's determined not with intelligence but with instinct"
"A fight where only the one who overpowers the other through sheer strength can emerge victorious. A gamble between life and death, the type that gets the blood rushing"
Ikari looked over his shoulder toward Jason's unconscious form. "Take that kid for example. The reason you're so jealous of him is simply because he has what you don't. And that's drive, killer instinct. The reason he's been able to survive this long is simply because he has something to fight for"
"But that's also what's holding him back"
Kai squinted his eyes in confusion on what it is that Ikari was trying to convey to him. "Stop talking nonsense and just say what you want to say already"
Ikari immediately gripped Kai's mouth, and glared at him in the eyes. "Primal fear is the purest truth your frail body knows. Every single cell in you is telling you to run, hide or submit. That's prey instinct in the face of a predator."
Kai couldn't deny the truth in Ikari's words, And that sparked something deep within the roots of his soul. For a moment, his eyes went black.
He blinked once and found himself in a black endless ocean, with a dark grey empty sky. There were also tall black dead trees which shot out of the ocean and pierced the skies.
Kai took a few hesitant steps forward, until he looked over his shoulder and saw a black phantom-like being which peeked out from behind one of the tall dead trees. It had smokey aura around it, and glowing purple eyes.
"Not this again!", Kai thought to himself as he shook and stared wide eyed at the phantom. As he saw this phantom it was then that he realized in the midst of battle, his consciousness went to his soul's inner plane.
Which sometimes happens during the moments a sorcerer's "spark" is dying out on the verge of death. The phantom's facial features reflected Kai's like a mirror. After what felt like stretched hours, the phantom spoke.
"Why do still deny me?"
"You know why!", Kai exclaimed as his foot moved forth while being slowed by the thick ocean. The phantom shook at Kai's loud exchange, its trembling form moved more behind the tree it clutched on to.
Upon further inspection of the phantom which resided inside of Kai's own soul, he suddenly remembered Ikari's words about primal fear.
Remembering those words, while he saw the shaken form of the phantom which shared his face, he came to a realization which made his eyes drop with a frown tugging on the corners of his lips. "I understand…"
"You are me"
In a raspy voice, the phantom replied. "I am you."
It came to no surprise to Kai that he was staring at the mirror reflection of himself. Its cowardly movements exhibited what Ikari saw inside him earlier.
"So… are you here to mock me?", Kai asked in a bitter tone. The phantom snarled, "you're a fool!"
"You cowardly fool… why are you always like this?!"
Kai put his head down, and held his hand out to lean against the dry dead tree. He grimaced at the sudden shouting of the phantom and clutched his side, he still felt the damage from the beating Ikari gave him.
"Ever since our mother, our father… our cousins, our brethren died you still choose to act so cowardly even in the face of death!"
The words of the phantom clawed at Kai's conscience. "Once everything was ripped away from you, you couldn't even draw blood from the blade you put at your neck… why can't you do anything right?!"
Kai felt a chill creeping up his spine, which gave him goosebumps as his memory traveled back to the short days after the slow massacre of his clan. He touched his neck and still vividly felt the sharp cold tip of the blade he held at it.
His eyes grew heavy and tear-filled. "I pity you… can't you even kill yourself without falling to fear? Or did you hope some saving grace would swoop in and give a damn about you enough to stop your hand before the blade pierced through you?"
Kai took a deep breath as he felt his entire body heat up in that one moment. Suddenly he found it hard to breathe correctly, which made the phantom's skin crawl.
"That's what it is… you're weak on your own, so this whole time you relied on Jason to show you how to be strong, and even when the entire universe turned against him, he still continues to bounce back from the depths of despair"
Kai dropped to one knee. The black ocean water pulled him down as it rose higher.
Kai's eyes shook and his pupils dilated. "Now that you don't have your friends or family with you, what are you on your own?"
Kai's chest rose and fell rapidly, he felt his vision blurring and clutched his chest as fear sunk into his being.
He tried not to listen to the phantom's words, but how can you block yourself out of your own head?
"You've been lost from the light for a while now… a lost soul adrift with no clear direction or purpose."
"A child, searching for the lost hands of his mother and father… in need of a guide"
"Pathetic!"
As the minutes stretched, the black ocean completely rose all the way up to the grey sky. And devoured Kai's entire being, his hair flowed with the black water and his surroundings were lit up by a faint blue light.
Enough that he could see the endless amounts of dead trees which were also beneath the ever expanding ocean.
He kicked his legs and flailed his arms. The sleeves of his black long robe made all movement slower beneath the sea of his soul.
The phantom cling onto his back, and brought its face up to Kai's ear. "Sink to the depths of despair and let fear devour you".
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Ikari's hand held its crushing grip on Kai's mouth as he lifted him up off Hell's jagged grounds.
…
"The hell?"
His eyes gazed right at Kai's form. He watched as kai's hair went up like they were being blown by wind. And right around his eyes, dark cracks sprouted like a mask.
The shadows inside of his long robe had spilled out and wrapped around his entire body, and transformed Kai's fingers into claws.
His eyes turned violet as he glared right into the eyes of the hunter right in front of him, and in an instant both his hands gripped Ikari's arm which held him up in the air and ripped it off.
Little blood drops splattered on the ground as Kai used his foot to launch himself backward, and got on all fours like a feral beast.
Ikari couldn't help but smirk at the sudden transformation.
"Bring it on kid!"
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Next chapter: chapter 94-Hive
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