Oshnirai rose from her seated position. [ Oshnirai ]: I have left that Djintoyda to Chyohana; let us see what she will do with her. Yoriki turned his face and then his body toward Chyohana and Djintoyda. Simultaneously, at the central cave, the sounds of explosions intensified further. Exactly inside the cave, these explosions caused more rocks to fall, followed by another blast that destroyed the cave's ceiling. A sudden, singular roar shook the earth, and rocks—large and small—flew as if from an active volcano. Several more massive explosions released dense gray smoke, making the central cave invisible. The smoke dispersed through the water's movement as the cave stones began to reappear. Minutes passed, and visibility cleared slightly through the water, which had become murky due to the gray smoke. It became evident that the central cave was completely destroyed, turned into a mere heap of black and silver stones. During this time, the quartet watched the scene moment by moment; Djintoyda had her hand on her head, monitoring the explosion that had occurred. [ Djintoyda ] to herself: Fine, my entire cave is finished. For now, this is not great, as my brothers and I are still here, and the bomb will begin detonating the current ground I am standing on with these two. I must forget about them and escape. She removed her red scarf from her neck, took out her phone and a remote control, arranged them, placed them on her head, and tied the ends of the scarf under her chin; the bleeding from her head stopped. Chyohana looked at her while playing with her umbrella on the ground. [ Chyohana ]: Now, you are surely thinking of abandoning me to escape the catastrophe you caused, aren't you? Djintoyda turned her face to the side, her eyes looking at her. At that very moment, an explosion erupted in the ground where the quartet stood, creating a large hole and sending sand flying, signaling the start of the destruction process for the entire area. Cracks also appeared on the ground under the gaze of the quartet, but looks of coldness did not leave their faces. [ Djintoyda ]: Of course I must leave, or I will be buried here with you. We did all of this so that you would be buried here. Forget about the strikes you dream of landing on me; time will not allow us to do anything more. [ Djintoyda ] to herself: Since I have the remote control for the intensity of the explosions, I can reduce their power and speed for a while, while my brothers finish dealing with the rooster and the hen. She brought out the remote control, her thumb pressing a button with a minus sign. [ Djintoyda ] to herself: This way, I have given them a little time. The trio watched her while she looked at the device. [ Chyohana ]: Have you finished messing with what is in your hand? Shall we go back to playing now? Djintoyda looked at her, having placed the remote control on top of her head between the scarf tied under her chin. [ Djintoyda ]: Do you know that two against one is not fair? In addition to your use of weapons. No matter, I have a technique that will rid me of your annoying weapons. Chyohana stopped playing with her umbrella, placed it on her shoulder, and raised her face with a condescending look. [ Chyohana ]: What? Do you think that your kidnapping of innocents, even if they were amphibians, is something fair? They did not ask you to kidnap them and lock them in cells. [ Djintoyda ]: Of course it is fair, because it is our job, while your job is not to unite to attack one person, but rather resistance and defense. Djintoyda's eyes narrowed, then she moved the fingers of her right hand. [ Djintoyda ]: The White Whip. A thin white wave emerged from her hand, its length increasing as the seconds passed until it resembled a whip swaying right and left. Djintoyda gripped it firmly and began waving it high, directing it toward Chyohana. She struck a rock near Chyohana's foot, splitting the rock in half. Chyohana looked down coldly, then looked back at Djintoyda, taking her umbrella and holding it with both hands. [ Chyohana ]: It seems my fun with you will increase. We have now moved to the harder level of the game. Djintoyda continued waving the white wave whip, making it move spirally, her face and eyes never changing their angle of vision from Chyohana. [ Djintoyda ]: You can prepare for a lashing. Not just you; the one behind me is in the same field, so she will be lashed as well. She turned her head toward Oshnirai. [ Djintoyda ]: Are you ready, old woman? Oshnirai was moving her spear on the ground, looking at Djintoyda, whose head had turned toward her. [ Oshnirai ]: Strange, I heard you say it wasn't fair to attack one person; do you have a personality split? [ Oshnirai ]: No problem, you shall have what you want; there is no harm in another stab from my spear. She stopped moving the spear on the ground and raised it to point at Djintoyda. The latter returned her gaze to Chyohana, while the other sent sharp looks that gleamed due to the movement of the water. This occurred in a majestic atmosphere gathering the trio, prepared to clash in the depths of the sea. The moon that had been illuminating it began to disappear from the sky to be replaced by the dawn after a long night. The lighting of the sea changed between darkness and the rays of the sun, which were returning bit by bit to the middle of the sky. At the corner of the three caves—specifically the cave located to the right of the middle cave—Gwankai and Hintoydi appeared jumping upward together and descending quickly, their descent almost invisible. They faced each other with punches so fast their hands appeared distorted due to the rapid movements and water displacement. Then each grabbed the other's clothes; Gwankai pulled Hintoydi's purple scarf covering his body, while the latter pulled Gwankai's red jacket. Afterward, they tilted their heads back until they lunged forward, colliding, which forced each to release the other's clothes. Both began descending to the ground, each with a hand pressed to his head. Gwankai's feet reached the floor, and his hand moved over his head until he pulled it away. [ Gwankai ] to himself: I must stop playing with him; time is running out. This ground will explode at any moment. Hintoydi's feet also touched the ground as his hand moved to his head; seconds later, he stopped scratching his head. [ Hintoydi ] to himself: This rooster; if he continues distracting me, I will be troubled by the explosion of this area along with him. Hintoydi looked sharply toward Gwankai. [ Hintoydi ]: Listen, you bird, this will be the final round with you... I do not want to be subjected, alongside you, to rocks flying at me when the ground at this point is destroyed after its explosion... Look behind you; smoke from my cave is coming out densely, signaling the explosions the bomb will carry out to finish my cave before starting the collapse of this floor, and I will finish you with it. Gwankai's head turned back to where the cave stood behind him. Indeed, thick gray smoke was appearing, making the area's water murky. He returned his head toward Hintoydi, who stood a meter away, with a sharp gaze. [ Gwankai ]: You and your two siblings are the cause of these explosions. Why doesn't your matter end here along with your rats? Especially since this is your area to begin with. Hintoydi pointed his finger toward the area below Gwankai. [ Hintoydi ]: But it is you who came here without an invitation from us; therefore, your punishment is burial in the wreckage of the earth. [ Gwankai ]: But you did indeed send an invitation, which is the ransom for stopping the human resistance to retrieve the President's children. [ Hintoydi ]: And you said it yourself; it is a ransom that does not include your names to come here. Gwankai pulled his axe from his back, then his feet retreated a quarter-step. At that moment, he sprinted toward Hintoydi, while the latter's finger remained extended below the approaching Gwankai. [ Gwankai ]: No one but you will end here. This place will become a grave for you, and you are the ones who will dig your graves with your own hands. Gwankai spoke while still running toward Hintoydi, who looked at him sharply from Gwankai's feet to his head. [ Hintoydi ]: Cosmic Reconstruction. In the sand where Gwankai was running, wide, shiny iron threads began to appear, swaying in all directions until they grabbed Gwankai's feet and arms. The latter stopped in place as the iron threads wrapped around him, binding him; only his head remained visible, while Hintoydi watched him. [ Hintoydi ]: Heh, I didn't hear what you were saying. Can you repeat your words? Or have those metal threads bound your tongue as well? Gwankai moved his hand, forming a clenching fist, while his axe remained in the other hand. No change in expression appeared on his face. [ Gwankai ]: I have never in my life heard of a king repeating his words; servants are always listening to him. Hintoydi's eyebrows moved, his finger still extended. [ Hintoydi ] to himself: Arrogance despite what I have done to him... Yes, this is the nature of every rooster; they see themselves in a rank higher than they are, even though they aren't even capable of flying. Some blood leaked from Hintoydi's mouth, and he placed his hand on his body. [ Hintoydi ] to himself: Damn him. He made me focus on him until my energy took the opportunity to injure one of my organs. [ Gwankai ]: I see my words caused some of your blood to appear, confirming that I am indeed in the rank of kings. Gwankai began moving his body, pumping his strength. The metal threads binding him expanded due to the physical pressure; some were cracking, and others twisted until Gwankai was able to push them away. The metals fell to the ground and faded upon it. Gwankai was breathing rapidly from the effort exerted to remove the threads. Hintoydi's finger, which had been below his feet, rose to point toward Gwankai's face. [ Hintoydi ]: Well done, you got rid of what came out of the ground for you. But what about this? [ Hintoydi ] in a whisper: Cosmic Reconstruction. The color of the water surrounding Gwankai's face changed to a light gray. Moments passed, and the latter began breathing using his mouth for inhalation and exhalation, as if he were on the verge of suffocation, while his hand gripped his axe under Hintoydi's gaze. [ Hintoydi ] to himself: The advantage of this technique is that it reconstructs the atoms of matter to turn it into something else, and this is what made the water around his face turn into a suffocating gas... We shall see now how the king saves himself from suffocation. For Gwankai, his breath continued to be disturbed, but his eye suddenly turned to look at Hintoydi as his feet moved toward him. [ Gwankai ] to himself: I do not know the reason for the sudden difficulty in breathing, but there is no time. I have no time for this; I must end his matter during this narrow window, or I will find myself stuck between the sand and rocks. His feet increased in speed to the point of running; he raised his axe high, advancing toward Hintoydi, whose finger was extended in front of him. [ Hintoydi ]: Stubborn rooster, insistent on ending me with him. Gwankai reached him, directing the axe toward the side of Hintoydi's body. The latter looked down and jumped upward to avoid the axe that was about to cut him in half. Before his feet could touch the ground again from above, Gwankai grabbed his foot, rotated him in a spiral motion, and threw him, striking the ground surface. Hintoydi did not waste seconds; he stood up, dusted off his scarf, and ran with rocket-like speed toward Gwankai. The latter returned his axe to his back and moved his feet, running toward Hintoydi until the two collided. Their hands interlocked, each pushing the other; sometimes Gwankai pushed back, and sometimes Hintoydi. Then their hands broke from the finger-lock to form fists, sending rapid punches to each other while their bodies moved with them; every passing second, they were in a different place. [ Hintoydi ]: The goal of luring you was to blow you up here, thus getting rid of some Kaijin rats. But you are too stubborn for our plans to succeed with you. [ Gwankai ]: But why in your caves? You consider them your institutions, so why do you want to destroy them? Especially with the presence of your gang members and the people you worked hard to kidnap. [ Hintoydi ]: Regarding our caves, we decided to change our institutions to another place better than this. As for our workers, before we began blowing up those caves, they all fled the catastrophe we dropped you into. [ Gwankai ]: So, everything was planned even before you kidnapped the three children. After finishing their words, Hintoydi struck Gwankai's face, landing a punch on his cheek, then landed another under his chin. He raised his leg and sent it to kick Gwankai's stomach; the latter moved away, falling to the ground. Gwankai did not waste time either, rising with a speed that did not show how he stood, and launched in the same seconds to return to the collision with Hintoydi. He took his axe from his back, directing it toward Hintoydi's neck. The latter grabbed it with his left hand, so Gwankai tightened his fist to strike his stomach with power that made his mouth open, then raised his leg to launch it into his stomach again. Hintoydi moved away from him for distances that brought him near his cave, from which the smoke of explosions was emerging. Afterward, he began to stand up from the ground slowly, placing his hand on his stomach, where some cracks appeared due to Gwankai's two strikes upon it. No change in expression appeared on his face. [ Hintoydi ] to himself: Damn him. His strikes caused fractures in my front body armor. Gwankai stared at Hintoydi with looks emitting sparks of impending danger, while his feet decided to advance with slow steps that shook the sand beneath them. His hand gripped his axe, which he dragged behind him, the axe leaving a path carved by its friction with the ground. At the left cave, where Hintoydi stood near it, the front wall of the cave itself shook in a way that made its ground shake with it, as if both the wall and the ground were dancing. This led to the falling of some rocks from the wall, which scattered on the floor. Seconds later, the amount of falling rocks increased, then a roar of an explosion sounded, and the entire cave shook with its floor. Gray smoke pushed out in dense waves along with the eruption of rock projectiles of large, small, and medium sizes, hiding Hintoydi, who was in front of it. Moments later, the density of the smoke pulled by the water decreased, and Hintoydi appeared, having been previously covered. The latter had turned his head, looking behind him, as it appeared the front wall of his cave had collapsed due to the last explosion. Hintoydi continued looking behind him. [ Hintoydi ] to himself: The fall of the wall... merely an announcement that my cave will not hold out much longer. Its total collapse will make the bomb begin the process of demolishing the ground I stand on. So, I must now end this rooster's matter. For Gwankai, his feet began to increase their walking speed with large steps; every passing second, the speed increased until reaching the point of running. Gwankai raised the axe he had been dragging, holding it with both hands. As for Hintoydi, he tilted his body and extended his hand forward, forming an attack stance. His feet shook, and he ran from his place toward Gwankai, who was also launched toward him. Only a half-meter distance remained between them until Gwankai jumped, raising the axe high, while Hintoydi stood placing his arm in the face of the incoming axe, in an atmosphere where the water was murkier due to the mixture of smoke and the formation of wandering bubbles.
Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: Dawn of Ruin
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