Chapter 42 (Unlimited power)
Ikiffar
gaped at Kkaj as the color drained from his beautiful eyes. She swallowed. What did he just do?
Kkaj
took a step forward, his foot touching a flask of vodka. Had he drunk a fifth type of liquor? Was that even possible? The
vodka flask shot across the room and embedded itself in the far wall.
She
pulled out her last bottle of Lucidity and drained it. A fire burned in her
chest, and her skin stretched. The spirit of Gluttony fed on the last of her
youth, pushing her body into its middle years. “I don’t know what you just did,
but you don’t have to die protecting that bastard.” He shouldn’t be able to match my strength and speed with this much
Lucidity coursing through my body, but — She warped the white energy around
her body and magnified her armor ten-fold.
“Did
you not hear me?” Kkaj’s now melodious voice carried five echoes, yet he didn’t
seem possessed. “I am already dead. But I cannot allow the wars your revenge
would cause.”
Ikiffar
shook her head. “Then I’ll have to destroy —”
Kkaj
appeared in front of her. So fast. “I am sorry.” His fist shot forward and
slammed into her gut.
Air
raced from her lungs, and she doubled
over. What. Power. How? Her mind
reeled. She dropped to a knee. Her muscles twitched. Her chest heaved, and she
sucked in a breath.
Kkaj
cocked his foot back.
She
pushed the last of her white energy into her armor.
His
foot shot forward.
Her
armor intensified.
His
foot slammed into her chest.
Her
armor expanded. She pushed off of his strike and flipped back into the air,
landing on her feet. She slid backwards to regain her balance and bumped into a
stand of some sort. The enhanced strength and speed provided by the armor made
the stand’s fall to the ground seem like a slow crawl.
Kkaj
bolted forward.
She
could follow his movements. A grin split her face as she moved into Mountain
form and sidestepped his formless strike.
He
blinked. “Oh?”
She
twisted her shoulders and grabbed onto his left forearm.
His
rough, steel-like skin bristled against her fingers. Was that because she was
wearing the white armor? Or his technique? He snapped her grip and shoved her
away from him.
Shouldn’t have hesitated. She gritted
her teeth and reset her form.
Kkaj
transitioned into Plains form.
“How
do you know there will be war?”
“I
have talked with the other nobility.” He edged forward. “All want a piece of
the throne.” His left fist shot forward.
She
batted his strike away.
He
jabbed again, catching her in the forearm.
The
pressure ripped through the armor and cracked her aging bone. She bit off a
scream and gritted her teeth. “Just because they want it, doesn’t mean they
will fight a war for it!” She kicked low.
He
turned his knee towards her strike. “Did you not notice the little uprising
going on as we speak?”
Her
foot popped against his hardened bone, and pain shot up her leg. How is his body so hard? She stumbled
backwards and reset herself in River form to evade his next attack. “Uprising?”
A
sigh deflated Kkaj’s shoulders, and he slapped himself in the forehead. “Were
you not even paying attention when you came in here?”
“O-o-of
course.”
“And
the guards attacking you?”
“They’re
just guards.”
He
shook his head.
“I
figured you had gotten to them and set off the alarm.” She circled around him,
inching towards the back exit of the throne room.
“Did
you hear an alarm?”
“No.”
“That’s
because those guards are trying to kill off the monarchs. There are fourteen
different groups in the country alone plotting against the throne, each keeping
the other in check.” Kkaj held up a finger. “This group here, Seed or
something, is not backed by the nobility.
Thus,
I didn’t plan for this.”
Ikiffar
froze in place. “So, because every part of the nobility fights for the throne
in secret, if the throne was open, they would take their struggle to the
streets?”
“Wow.
You understand quite easily.”
“But
with this Seed group out to kill the monarch, even if I fail, war will still
happen.”
“Not
if we help the monarchs escape.”
“I-I-I
have to do this. For my family. For the future of the nation. We can deal with
the war later.” She spun and bolted for the door.
Kkaj
zipped across the room.
She
juked to the left.
His
fist slammed into the wall beside the door, crushing the stone.
After
springing backwards, she turned into Forest form and struck for Kkaj’s throat.
His
elbow shot upwards, and he barreled through the air like a wheel.
She
caught his elbow and punched him in the ribs. He jabbed him in the ribs again
then twisted her hips, pulling his left arm over her shoulder. Using his arm
like a lever, she whipped him over her body and slammed him into the ground.
He
grunted as the floor tiles cracked under his weight. Like a bullet, his foot
shot forward.
She
jerked backwards.
He
gripped her arm tight. His foot smacked her in the jaw and sent her flying
across the room.
The
back of her head hit the floor, and she skidded backwards. She placed her hands
behind her and pushed herself up.
Kkaj
appeared above her and stomped her into the floor.
Blackness
closed in around her. No! Power seeped from her armor, filling the air around
her.
He
stomped on her chest again.
The
power around her dissipated. “Please.” Tears filled her eyes, and her grasp on
the white energy loosened.
“Sorry.”
Kkaj brought his fist down into her gut.
Screams
burst from her lungs. Were they hers? Exhaustion overran her old muscles. The
last of her white energy evaporated. Warmth washed over her body, and she
closed her eyes. It was over. I’m sorry …
mom. Dad. Jekor. She bit into her lower-lip, the coppery taste of defeat
filling her mouth. I failed to avenge my
family, and I isolated the man I love. Her hands trembled. Time to face
death.
Something
reached under her neck and her lower back.
She
rose into the air.
Something
pulled at her chest. A moment later, icy heat filled her body.
A
gasp leaped from her mouth and rang in her ears. The pain vanished. Her eyes
shot open.
Kkaj
cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth. “I am sorry I am not
better with healing.” He wobbled to the left, but regained his feet before
falling over.
“Why?”
Her voice cracked. “Why are you letting me live?”
“That’s
what I want to know.” King Koi-Jankorest’s voice echoed through the throne
room.
“I
told you to get out of the palace!” Kkaj gritted his teeth and growled. “Your
worthless life is in danger the longer you remain here.”
“I’ll
leave soon.” King Koi-Jankorest pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Ikiffar. “Once
I kill the little crocobear who defiled the royal liquor.”
“Get!
Out!” Kkaj’s muscles tensed. “Of! Here! Now!”
King Koi-Jankorest
cocked his gold-plated pistol. “As I have proven to you before with your little
slut of a servant, I’m the one who gives orders here.”
Kkaj
lowered his head. “Please use your power to hold JemKej together.” His voice rasped in a near-silent whisper.
“Protect the crown prince.”
“What?”
Tears welled up in Ikiffar’s eyes. “Isn’t that what your job is?”
“I
will be the one to kill that bastard.”
Bang!
King Koi-Jankorest fired.
Kkaj
dropped her and snatched the bullet from the air. In one swift motion, he
flicked his wrist and threw the bullet back across the room.
King Koi-Jankorest’s
jaw dropped.
The
bullet ripped through his head and splattered his brains across the broken
floor tiles by the back exit.
King Koi-Jankorest
fell backwards into his own puddle of blood. His arms twitched once. Twice.
Three times. He went still.
Kkaj
swooned.
Ikiffar
leaped to her feet and caught him before he hit the ground. Her tears pelted
his face. “What are you doing?” She shook his shoulders. “Get up.”
He
reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I told you before. I was dead as
soon as I drank the fifth liquor. I just wish I had the chance to say goodbye
to Roffor. I —”
“Kkaj!”
Roffor’s voice echoed through the throne room.
Ikiffar
looked up.
Jekor
and Roffor scrambled over the king’s corpse and into the throne room.
“Jekor
… .” Ikiffar released Kkaj and rose to her feet, staring at the ground.
Next: Chapter 42
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