บท 63: Black Lightning
Over two years of vigorous training, Raijah and Teo learned to combine their pranas into one single, more powerful prana that fused the properties of Raijah's divine lightning and Teo's dark prana. It was through this process that they created—black lightning.
Moving in sync, Raijah and Teo dashed toward Tensai.
"Divine Lightning x Dark Prana: Kuroi Rakurai!"
Raijah and Teo launched a black bolt of lightning at Tensai.
The bolt rippled and forked through the air, its mere presence causing rumbling vibrations that quaked the globe.
Tensai lifted his hand to counter, but the attack was already upon him.
"It's too fast."
The lightning bolt struck Tensai.
For a second, Tensai felt an excruciating tingle, like pins and needles penetrating his entire body.
The next second, he was whirling through the air. His body burned and shocked.
Tensai rolled to his feet, visibly damaged. "Union attacks," he muttered. "What a troublesome technique."
Suddenly sensing a nearby presence, Tensai's head whipped around.
"Such ridiculous raw speed," Tensai remarked as Teo appeared.
Teo's blade gleamed as it moved up and swept down, swishing audibly through the air.
Unable to use his ririsu in time, Tensai instinctively stepped back to create separation and threw his prana-coated arms up to lessen the impact.
In response to his opponent's brace, Teo whipped his blade sideways.
"Dark Prana: Laido!"
Coating his sword in dark prana, Teo sent his blade darting forward, slashing Tensai across the stomach.
Off balance, Tensai stumbled back a step. Blood dripped from the injury, but his eyes were wide and staring—two black holes, studying Teo without a hint of wariness.
"Ah, that one hurt," Tensai muttered.
Suddenly, red lightning flashed in the distance as Raijah closed in on Tensai.
As a multi-time martial arts champion and master of various deadly arts, Raijah is an expert at exploiting the body's pressure points in hand-to-hand combat.
Lightning surged through Raijah's arm as he chopped at the side of Tensai's neck, just a few inches below his ear.
Tensai rolled away from the blow and hurled himself at Raijah.
"Aiming for my carotid artery," Tensai said as he mimicked Raijah's attack and struck him in the neck. "How classless."
With his blood flow interrupted, Raijah stumbled back, lost and disoriented. He briefly lost consciousness.
This brief moment gave Tensai all the time he needed.
Tensai walked in, measured Raijah, then crossed a right to his chin. He followed it up with two bone-crushing blows, sending Raijah reeling.
Mindful to keep Raijah and Teo split up to prevent them from utilizing black lightning, Tensai instantly turned his attention to Teo, who had been amassing prana.
Tensai pumped his legs, gaining speed with each push. He channeled momentum into his arm, swiftly swinging a dragon fist at Teo.
"Expand, Teiden," Teo ordered his blade.
Teiden took the shape of a warrior's shield. Prana met prana as Tensai's fist bounced off Teiden, which absorbed the impact.
Using his spatial distortion ability, Teo warped and appeared behind Tensai.
"I usually avoid using this technique," Teo murmured. "I have poor control over it, and using it always results in extensive collateral damage. However, in Raijah's realm, anything can be collateral damage."
He struck his arm down at Tensai.
"I call upon the eternal flames of hell . . . incinerate him."
"True Devil Prana: Hellfire!"
Instantly, black flames engulfed the planet, searing and burning it in a way that dispersed the world into vapor.
Teo and Teiden drifted away from the vaporized planet. They floated quietly through the vast abyss, surrounded by countless celestial bodies, including a luminous sea of stars that resembled scattered moondust.
"Shit," Teo muttered under his breath. "I missed, didn't I."
Shortly after, he heard Tensai's voice. "Indeed."
Teo felt a fist connect with his face, sending him flying uncontrollably through the star-studded void of outer space. He crashed into a far-off planet, leaving cracks on its surface that were visible from space.
Teo struggled to his feet, looking up at Tensai, who plummeted toward him. Despite Tensai's incredible speed, Teo could vaguely make out his physical condition.
It didn't seem like it, but Teo could tell that Tensai was hurt. It appeared his attack had paid off after all.
Teo lifted his blade. "Seems like I only partially missed. From the looks of it, as long as he doesn't use his ririsu, one direct hit should be enough to finish him."
Before Teo could think up his next move, Tensai was already upon him, swinging his fists in earnest.
Teo blocked what he could with his blade, but Tensai eventually overpowered him and knocked him off his feet. Tensai planted his foot on Teo's chest to immobilize him as he prepared a dragon fist for the finishing blow.
In a desperate attempt, Teo used the last of his accumulated prana to once again teleport behind Tensai, but Tensai instantly reacted.
He spun around and pierced through Teo's shoulder with his dragon fist, leaving Teo's feet dangling several inches above the ground.
"It's your lucky day," Tensai grinned as Teo's blood stained his face. "I just barely missed your heart."
Growing dizzy, Teo lifted his head up and noticed a circular split in the sky. Losing blood by the second and lacking the strength to manipulate prana, Teo was entirely at Tensai's mercy.
However, despite the circumstance, he couldn't help but smile.
"Smiling even at the brink of death," Tensai said, cocking his fist back to deal the final blow. "What an interesting outlook on death."
Just before he could hit, Teo made a fist and extended his middle finger toward Tensai. "Above you," he muttered. "Dumbass."
Suddenly, the atmosphere filled with a bright red glow. Dismayed, Tensai's head jolted upward toward the source of the light.
Hovering over him was Raijah. First, Tensai noticed Raijah's tattoo; it was bright, surging with power in the form of crimson. Then he felt it—he sensed the overwhelming prana building up above.
Tensai turned to Teo, but he was gone. Raijah had teleported him to an entirely different location, far out of the range of his impending attack.
Frantic, Tensai propelled himself into the sky, but Raijah struck his arm down before he could escape.
"Divine Lightning: Sky Hammer!"
A massive lightning bolt crashed down on Tensai, engulfing him and his surroundings in a torrent of lightning.
All that followed—was mass destruction.
***
Raijah and Teo regrouped on a far-off planet within Raijah's hyperspace.
"Thanks for buying me time to build up prana," Raijah said as he wiped the sweat off his brow.
"It was the only way we could've won," Teo shifted uncomfortably. Grimacing as he gripped his wounded shoulder, he said, "Although you could've come a bit quicker."
"Yeah, sorry about that."
"It'll heal," Teo replied.
"At least the job's done . . . well, almost." Raijah pointed at Tensai's body. "He's still alive. Barely—but alive nonetheless."
Teo turned to Tensai.
His body was charred and crumbling, his clothes were almost completely vaporized, and the hairs had been singed off his body. But despite all this, he was alive.
"What a nuisance," Teo said as he lowered his blade to finish the job.
Raijah studied Tensai closely. He noticed that Tensai's earrings were gone. "His earrings were likely destroyed by my attack," Raijah thought. "But Gado said they possessed some sort of power. Could they really be destroyed so easily—"
Raijah's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Tensai's dying voice.
"I wonder," they heard Tensai say in a harsh, dry tone. "How much do you really know about Valerie Shi?"
Without thinking, Teo swung his blade. But just before impact, they saw Tensai's charred face morph into a sly grin.
Teo's dark blade hit Tensai's neck and passed clean through his body as if he were made of water, decapitating him on the spot.
Tensai's head rolled over in a pool of its own blood.
Teo and Raijah locked eyes with one another, but it didn't feel like much of a win.
Tensai's grin made them question everything.
They questioned how well they knew Val.
They questioned Tensai's "new world."
And worst of all, they questioned if Tensai was really dead.
***
Val woke up from a deep sleep to the feeling of someone shaking her awake. Half-conscious, she forced her heavy eyelids open.
To her dismay, she saw a woman standing above her.
Val's instincts kicked in. She rolled to her feet and got a better look at the woman.
The woman didn't move. She simply stood there, studying Val.
At first glance, Val noticed two things about the woman.
One, she was strong. The woman wasn't very tall, being exactly Val's height, but she had a toned body. Purely lean muscle, perfect for martial arts—specifically doragonken.
Secondly, looking at the woman was like peering into a mirror. She was beautiful. From her long, silky, dark hair to her deep black eyes, she was the spitting image of Val.
Val did the only thing that came naturally: She threw a punch.
Val didn't even see the woman move. But the next thing she knew, she was face-first on the floor with the woman's hand pressed against her head.
The woman loosened her grip. "Relax," she whispered into Val's ear. "I'm not here to fight. All I need is your name."
"Let me go," Val said firmly.
The woman complied and instantly released her grip on Val.
Val thought about making a break for Ame-no-Ohabari, which lay sheathed beside Nezumi's unconscious body. But instead, she simply rolled onto her back and sighed deeply. "I just can't catch a break, can I?" she muttered under her breath.
"Sorry about that," The woman extended a helping hand. "I haven't moved in a thousand years. I'm a bit antsy."
"I'm Valerie Shi," Val clarified as the woman helped her to her feet. "But everyone calls me Val."
"Great," the woman said.
"You?" Val asked.
"The name's Saku," the woman smiled. "Tell me about yourself, Valerie Shi."
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