Chapter 386: The terror of Blue-Skinned Demon
Crack!
The sky over Port Royal was as clear as a mirror. It was especially because of this that people's hearts shuddered as they saw a bolt of lightning striking at the open sea, the thunder cracking and roaring like a beast.
Water gurgled off Golduck-Kai's slim and aerodynamic figure with one kick after another. His tail stirred his swimming direction, providing him another boost of power. On his right hand and torso, One Half of the Power Sword had already materialized as the Coridite Armor.
If Moraine were to see him now, she would have instantly associated him with Blood Demon. But, with so much chaos ensuing on the island right now, she couldn't even afford to go 100 meters away from Mullroy. Much less needed to be said about her presence among the struggles of other Contestants.
Protectors enjoyed the privilege of interacting with Characters if they wanted to, but it also shackled their freedom, preventing them from meddling in others' businesses, more often than not.
Golduck-Kai tore the water currents and approached the area around Jolly Mon.
It was then Afro's Tachi materialized in his hand.
Kai had decided to not use Murasame and kept his Blood Demon's identity separate from this transformation. It was just a product of his precautionary nature. And if he wanted to, he could take the One-Cut-Killer out anytime, striking a stupendous surprise attack. Such hideous and underhanded methods of fighting had already taken root in his bones.
The moment Kai reached the boat, it was also the moment that others arrived.
With a sword in his right hand, Golduck-Kai came to rest some dozen meters away from the Jolly Mon. The water level here was deep enough so that only the very tip of the boat's mast was protruding out of the sea surface.
From another direction, a woman came riding on a penguin-like Pokemon. Around her head, there was a bubble, providing her ample air to breathe.
Kai recognized both the woman and the Pokemon. She was the same female whose butt got slapped by the old man, and who had been cursing Kai, calling him a scoundrel, during the entire Night of Truce. And the over 2 ft tall Pokemon, Prinplup, was fast enough for her to enjoy much flexibility underwater by grabbing its neck. [Image 1]
At the same time, another Pokemon arrived, tearing through the seawater. Kai could tell even from afar that its linear speed was much greater than his own.
It was a Sharpedo! [GIF 1]
This Pokemon was over 6 ft large and was shooting a powerful jet of water from its rear end. With the speed it possessed, Sharpedo looked more like a dark blue water missile fired from a tank than a magical creature.
Over the Pokemon, there was a woman, too. She had golden hair and blue eyes. Unlike the master of Prinplup, she was just crouching at the top of Sharpedo's head, having no visible means of breathing.
From another corner, the water rippled, and a man with a bare chest floated out. There was a mask over his face, covering his mouth and nose, and on his waist, there was a utility belt with several pockets.
Just as this masked-man appeared, from a different direction, another Contestant came charging in. He was dark-skinned, and there were spiral tattoos on his hands, running from palms to shoulders, glowing arctic blue. Wielded in his hands were two gun-like weapons, from which two powerful water jets were bursting out, pushing him no less fast than Sharpedo. [GIF 2]
And then the last Contestant appeared, almost walking on water. His long black hair was swaying with the water currents, and in his hand was the handle of a sword, which looked as if the blade of the sword had been broken off it. [GIF 3]
Only a few seconds had passed for this standoff to come into the picture.
There was no more Chaos or Order in this game. They all were pirates, and they all wanted the same thing.
Kai wasn't a newbie anymore. Especially with Item-M's Worth rising to 5, he had much freedom to obtain information through the Primordial Tower Trade Market. If it had been before, he wouldn't have guessed the powers of others.
Now, however, he could, with almost certainty.
'The masked-man is a Ninja,' Kai observed, his thoughts racing faster and faster. 'I can sense a dense Breath roiling inside him, coursing through specific paths. It's a clear sign of Chakra. The dark-skinned boy has a set-Item, Water-Bearers. It's Aqualad's signature weapons from DC World, focused around Young Justice. And there is him…'
Kai looked at the long-haired man, and his eyes narrowed. It was he who had been giving Kai a touch of a threat since his coming. Better would be to say that it was the sword handle that was extraordinary.
Ensui! [Image 2]
Kai's taste in swords had already made him remember most of the powerful sword-based Items from Multiverse. Ensui was a magical tool, wielded by Tokiya Mikagami from the Flame of Recca Random World. It could control all three phases of water.
As Kai was observing others, they were also discerning the capabilities of each other. Most of them were taking second and third glances at Kai, frowning at his mutated figure and nonchalant state within the sea.
There was no need for any warning, either. Whoever could make others run off would earn the right to have this Artifact.
Boom!
This boom had originated from Kai, shooting like a massive bolt of blue lightning toward the boat.
Sharpedo's master commanded her Pokemon at the same time. A drill-shaped tube of water covered the Pokemon, and its speed boosted even further. [Image 3]
Aqua Jet!
Sharpedo couldn't propel itself at such a rate for long distances. But its power was still great enough for this Pokemon to be known as the Bully of the Sea.
The dark-skinned Contestant brandished his Water-Bearers, a sneer dancing across his lips. From one Water-Bearer, a whip-shaped water construct materialized. Using another, he propelled himself toward the boat, too.
Ensui glowed and exploded with an aquatic flash, then. From its broken handle, a blade of water propped up, so sharp that it seemed to cut the sea in front of its wielder. He, too, shot himself toward the boat.
Only the bare-chested ninja and the butt-slapped female didn't move, watching the ensuing chaos with mockery on their faces.
It was then something happened that shocked everyone.
Golduck-Kai, who was rushing at the boat at an unprecedented speed, suddenly changed direction. The shocking matter wasn't this change of direction, but that he hadn't seemed to have experienced even a bit of loss in speed.
This was the power of Golduck-Kai, having the blood essence of the fastest swimming Pokemon. So what if Golduck wasn't as fast as the other Pokemon in a single direction? It wasn't fast because of that in the first place. Golduck could maintain its shocking speed omnidirectional, letting it stand out from the masses.
There was an indifference on Kai's face, his eyes planted on the penguin-like Pokemon and its owner. As the Sharpedo, dark-skinned Contestant, and Ensui's wielder rushed at the boat, eying Kai with a strange expression, the Blue-Skinned Demon had already closed the gap between him and Prinplup.
Prinplup's master still had mockery lingering on her face, the same as she had last night. She let go of the Pokemon, and commanded, "Prinplup! Use Metal Claw!!" None could hear her words other than the Pokemon, though.
"Prin…" the Pokemon let out a shout, and then shot itself toward Kai, rotating like a drill. "… pulp!" Suddenly, the light blue tips of its wings started to glow with a silver light so sharp that it made them look like true steel, full of Mana. [GIF 4]
The corner of Kai's lips arched up, then.
If Kai's change of direction, while maintaining his speed, was a shocking thing, then what happened next was just plain dreadful.
Mana and Breath both rippled inside him, getting consumed instantly.
Prinplup was still coming at Kai with its razor-sharp wings aimed at his neck, hoping to behead him. It was then the tips of its wings lost the metallic luster, just when the Pokemon was a few feet away from Kai.
[
Skill Disable Activated
Time Limit: 30 Seconds
]
"No!" the butt-slapped Contestant screamed, taking out her Pokeball to call the Pokemon back.
Too late.
Prinplup's momentum was so great that in a fraction of a second, it brought the Pokemon into Kai's reach, who was already coming at him with even greater speed.
Afro's Tachi flashed, and Prinplup's wings got cut off, blood melting into the seawater like salt.
"NO!!!" the butt-slapped female's face became blue in convulsions, her hatred shooting through the skies.
Kai grinned. He thrust Afro's Tachi into Prinplup's heart, letting the sword bathe in its heart blood. It was the requirement for the sword's Skill, Ruthless Ritual, which increased its Base Damage by 1 point for 72 hours.
"Prin…!!!"
The Pokemon had just let out a mournful scream full of pain and reluctance, when Kai's hand blurred once again, even faster than before, and beheaded the magical creature.
4 strikes!
And Afro's Tachi began glowing with a bloody-red glow. It was the effect of the Skill — I will keep moving forward!
The 5th strike, with its 100 HP damage, was enough to shock the world, Kai knew. He would not waste that attack on morons.
With a flick of his hand, a box appeared, and Kai threw the dead Pokemon into his MRB. Unlike the case upon Contestant's death, where the Pokemon would return to Pokeball by itself and then vanish, dead Pokemon wouldn't return, becoming battle spoils instead.
This?!
All Contestants paused momentarily as they saw Prinplup getting killed and thrown into Inventory. They couldn't figure out why the Pokemon didn't attack and let this mutated Contestant kill it as if it wanted to die.
"I will kill you!" the Pokemon trainer screamed, several whip-like tubes of seawater manifesting around her.
The old man had told Kai about this female Contestant, even though he didn't know about her being a Pokemon Trainer as well. She possessed water-based Skills, based on Wannai Kinuho Character from A Certain Magical Index Random World. [Image 4]
Alas! Her opponent was Kai.
She had Skills to manipulate water, but Kai had Telekinesis, an Advance Ability. And he was already within the 10 meters limit.
The sharp and threatening whip-like water tubes hurled themselves at Kai, tearing seawater. Suddenly, they paused midway.
The mind gem on Kai's forehead flashed with a bloody glow ethereally. He didn't have full mastery over controlling liquid substances using Telekinesis, but it was still enough to restrict such a low-grade Skill for a moment.
If Kai had used Disable again, in such a short time, then others would have instantly recognized what had happened with Prinplup upon seeing the water-tubes vanishing.
Kai knew he was genius, but he never believed others were brainless idiots.
A terrified look appeared on the female Contestant's face. She was just about to cancel her Skill, taking out another Item, when Kai's speed increased even further.
One moment, he was several feet away from her. In the next, the palm of his left hand was already resting on her forehead.
The moment Kai's palm pierced the bubble and landed on her forehead, he closed his eyes. Within the butt-slapped female Contestant's consciousness, a tsunami of yellow fog came out of nowhere and flooded her thoughts, memories, and emotions.
No matter how much her Mana resisted the onslaught of this yellow fog, without being a practitioner of Occlumency, she had no chance to prevent what was about to happen to her.
When the yellow fog in her consciousness drowned everything, a white room materialized, hovering three inches above the mist.
Over the roof of this white room, Kai's projection appeared, with his hands behind his back, his eyes closed in calm and composure.
With a bang, those eyes snapped open, churning the yellow mist underneath the white room.
The moment Kai opened his eyes, rune after rune escaped from his body in an unending stream, and engulfed the entire space around him.
100…
1000…
10,000…
100,000…
200,000…
500,000…
By the time the number of runes reached the 500,000 mark, the colorless sky of the female's consciousness had already turned black. These runes weren't normal, to begin with. Mixed within them were variations, some meaningful, some useless.
The number of these runes represented Kai's one instance of calculations he had allotted himself during every Identity Period; only 1 hour of his meditation over the runes, trying to figure out the Ancient Magical Script.
If it had ended here, then this wouldn't have been too shocking.
"Haa!" Kai slammed his palms together and let out a powerful shout. It was as if a dam broke.
So many runes burst out of Kai that the endless blackness of the sky overhead became even darker, to an infinite degree. And the number of runes reached…
1,000,000!
Kai's Mana projection laughed like a maniac in the butt-slapped female Contestant, and said, "Have a taste of my calculations…"
In the real world, not even a breath had passed for these things to happen.
To others, it seemed as if Kai had just used some mysterious method to approach the Pokemon Trainer and put his hand over her forehead.
In the very next second, the entire figure of the female Contestant shuddered.
Blood seeped out from her nose, ears, mouth, and eyes. And then, with a bang, her head exploded, her skull cracking apart and sending brain matter everywhere. [GIF 5]
One breath — One kill!
Kai turned around and eyed the other Contestants who were already looking at him as if he was a maniac. His face was covered in blood, and the seawater was licking at his face, trying to clean up the mess.
Behind this blood-mist was a hideous grin.
Afro's Tachi kept pulsating with a bloody glow, and Kai shot himself toward the boat once again, his movements unpredictable and murderous.
Only 10 seconds had passed since the activation of Disable.
This was just the beginning of this massacre; this ageless ritual of sacrifice…
And Kai was more than happy to carry it out.
***************
AN: To access over 10,000 to 55,000 words ahead of WN, consider becoming a Patron, and support the work and author. Enjoy!!!
Read Ahead
You can access extra chapters as Patrons
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone