The Broken Halo

Chapter 1049 - 1048: Mutual Destruction

Pebbles rushed past Akaza’s face.

They broke apart as they approached the Vardran’s fist. Larger fragments followed, and they were crushed into dust that vanished beneath the gathering force.

His body was being dragged toward the same place.

He knew that all the Vardran needed was just one punch.

If that fist reached his chest, there wouldn’t be another exchange.

He would most likely die.

Akaza forced more power downward. His legs dipped, but the rest of him continued hurtling forward.

Changing direction wasn’t enough. Trying to overpower the pull would exhaust him before he escaped.

Then something stirred within his newly awakened bloodline.

The reinforced bones of a Kharad could absorb part of an impact and release it through a strike. The understanding came with a sharp response from the ridges over his knuckles.

But his body could only hold so much.

Akaza looked at the approaching fist.

’Then I’ll hold what I can.’

He twisted and thrust his left forearm across its path.

The Vardran punched.

BOOM!

CRACK!

Pain swallowed everything.

Akaza’s forearm bent against his chest. The hardened ridges cracked as he forced the impact through his bones, carrying a portion of it into his shoulder and ribs.

The rest tore through his arm.

His hand disappeared into the blast. The destruction ripped past his elbow and continued toward his shoulder.

”AAAAARGH!”

He turned with the blow, sacrificing the arm to keep the fist from striking his heart.

Even then, the force cracked his ribs.

The Vardran’s eyes widened.

Akaza had come through.

Blood sprayed between them as his remaining hand caught the Daemon’s throat.

The gravitational pull faltered.

Akaza wrapped his legs around the Vardran’s waist and drove his forehead into his face.

CRACK!

The Daemon’s nose broke.

A fist struck Akaza’s side.

He coughed blood but tightened his legs.

’Don’t let go.’

The absorbed force was still inside him. His bones creaked beneath it, threatening to break before he could use it.

The Vardran grabbed his right wrist.

”Let go!”

BAM!

Akaza slammed his forehead into him again.

The grip on his wrist tightened.

He could feel his bones beginning to crush.

Another punch struck his ribs, and his breath stopped halfway into his lungs.

For an instant, he wanted to pull away.

Then he imagined returning to the gate like this.

Sonya had reached a Royal bloodline.

Blackmoon possessed two.

He couldn’t even reach the next opponent.

’No.’

Akaza released the Daemon’s throat.

The Vardran immediately pulled his captured wrist aside, exposing his chest.

Akaza let him.

He drove a knee into the Daemon’s stomach. As the grip loosened, he dragged his hand inward and hooked it beneath the Vardran’s jaw.

The Daemon’s expression changed.

He felt the force gathering.

Akaza was driving everything he had absorbed into that arm, along with the demonic energy he had left.

Cracks spread beneath its skin.

”Your arm will burst!”

Akaza’s bloodied mouth widened.

”Then let go.”

The Vardran struck his elbow.

BANG!

The joint broke.

Akaza screamed, but his palm remained beneath the Daemon’s chin.

He forced that impact into his arm too.

The bones were already breaking. He no longer tried to protect them. All that mattered was keeping the energy moving for another instant.

The Vardran tried to throw him off.

Akaza tightened his legs and pushed his broken arm farther.

”You madman!”

Mutual destruction.

Akaza knew exactly what he was doing.

He couldn’t beat this bastard without paying for it. So he would pay.

The force surged through his palm.

BOOOOOM!

His right arm burst apart.

The Vardran’s head snapped backward. The blast drove through his jaw and skull, tearing a bloody opening beneath his chin.

Akaza lost his hold.

They fell together.

He hit the ground on his side, rolled, and somehow dragged his knees beneath him.

Blood poured from both shoulders.

A few paces away, the Vardran tried to rise.

Akaza stared at him.

He had nothing left to strike with. His legs shook too badly to carry him, and his vision was narrowing.

’Fall.’

The Daemon lifted his ruined face.

’Just fucking fall.’

Cracks of light spread across the Vardran’s chest, and his body broke apart.

Akaza bowed his head, panting so hard that each breath scraped through his throat.

It was over.

His eyelids began to lower but he immediately forced them open.

Not here.

He hadn’t returned through the gate. If he lost consciousness while bleeding like this, he might never wake.

Even if he survived, this could be as far as he went.

A Noble bloodline.

It was more than he had ever possessed, but he could already picture standing beside his friends and feeling that gap again.

He planted one foot beneath himself.

His body swayed.

Then the Vardran’s power reached him.

”Argh!”

His wounds burned.

Bone pushed from his torn shoulders, growing downward while muscle twisted around it. He tried to straighten, only for his knee to buckle as his ribs began shifting.

He managed to plant his other foot before he fell.

The pain spread through his back and into his heart.

His forearms formed last.

The grey ridges flattened beneath smooth black skin stretching from his elbows to his fingertips. His existing black markings spread across his shoulders, while deeper inside, his energy pathways widened.

His heart contracted.

For a moment, everything around him grew heavier.

Then the pull eased.

Akaza stood hunched, staring at his restored hands.

He opened them. Closed them.

The strength was there.

So was the memory of losing both arms.

He drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

He would need to understand the Vardran’s abilities. Simply raising and lowering the gravity around him was no longer enough.

The Vardran had shown that.

But he couldn’t remain here experimenting.

Akaza looked ahead and continued walking.

——

The next figure stood with his back to the path.

Blood-red hair fell between broad shoulders. Six arms rested at his sides.

Akaza came to a stop.

The Daemon turned.

Black markings crossed his chest and upper arms. Golden pauldrons covered his upper shoulders, and matching bracers enclosed each forearm, leaving all six hands bare. A fitted breastplate protected the area over his heart.

He wasn’t a giant. He stood only a little taller than Akaza.

Yet Akaza’s next step nearly drove him to his knees.

His blood recoiled.

There was no gravitational field pressing on his body.

It was merely the Daemon’s aura.

And he immediately knew the Daemon that was standing before him.

An Asura... A Royal bloodline.

Akaza forced his leg forward and stopped.

The Asura examined him from his bloodied clothes to his newly formed hands.

”When I first sensed you enter the path, I didn’t expect you to reach me.”

Akaza remained silent.

”The Kharad should have stopped you. The Vardran certainly should have.”

Two of the Asura’s arms folded across his chest.

”But you kept going. That last exchange...”

He glanced at Akaza’s arms.

”Giving up both arms rather than surrendering. You surprised me.”

Akaza flexed his fingers.

He couldn’t tell whether the Daemon approved or thought him to be foolish.

”Unfortunately, I doubt you can defeat me.”

Akaza frowned.

He wanted to disagree but nothing came out.

The gulf between them was too obvious. Even after becoming a Noble Daemon, merely standing here required considerable effort.

Five chances in a hundred for him to win would have been generous.

One seemed more likely.

”Why is the difference so great?” he asked.

The Asura laughed.

”Between me and the Vardran?”

Akaza nodded.

”You thought becoming a Royal would be another step like the one you just took?”

”I expected you to be stronger. Not by this much.”

”Then you haven’t been taught what a Royal bloodline means.”

The Asura lowered his folded arms.

”Royal Daemons are the closest to the Primogenitor in bloodline. The difference between us and the Nobles is not something most can overcome, however talented they may be.”

Akaza’s jaw tightened.

The Noble bloodline had felt powerful moments ago.

Now he understood why Sonya’s transformation had made him so restless.

The Asura watched his expression.

”There it is.”

Akaza looked up.

”That envy.”

His fingers stiffened.

”Someone has left you far behind,” the Asura continued. ”You think about them whenever you consider stopping.”

Akaza said nothing.

The Daemon studied him more closely.

”No. Two.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

”You’re envious of two people.”

Akaza held his gaze.

There seemed little point denying what the Daemon could apparently see.

”That feeling is beginning to lead you down a particular path,” the Asura said. ”Very few manage to follow it. But some of my kind have.”

Akaza glanced at the ground, then back at him.

”What path?”

”Not the one beneath your feet.”

”Then what are you talking about?”

The Asura shook his head.

”You’re too weak to concern yourself with it yet.”

”You brought it up.”

”And telling you more won’t help you survive what comes next. When the time comes, you’ll understand.”

Akaza’s frown deepened.

He was beginning to understand why Blackmoon asked so many questions.

People kept answering without explaining anything.

The Asura gave a quiet chuckle.

”Defeat me first. Become an Asura, and you may find out that those two can no longer contend with you.”

Akaza remained silent for a moment.

Then he shook his head.

”They’re my friends. And yes, I’m envious of them. But I’m not sure if they would no longer be able to contend with me after obtaining your bloodline.”

The Asura listened with a light smile.

He decided not to point out Akaza’s confidence and arrogance when he said he would obtain his bloodline and become an Asura.

He was surely an interesting one despite not been so talented.

”One has the greatest Earth affinity I’ve ever seen. She just awakened a Royal bloodline.”

”Which one?”

”A Firstborn Titan.”

The smile on the Asura’s face faded slightly.

”And the other?”

Akaza thought of Blackmoon sitting before him, preparing the blood imprint.

The warmth of Blackmoon’s demonic energy still lingered against his chest.

”He’s the most talented person I’ve ever met. Even now, I don’t know how much he’s hiding.”

”What is his bloodline?”

”He’s a hybrid.”

The Asura waited.

”An Uruqath and a Nine-Tailed Byakko. Both Royal bloodlines.”

The Daemon froze.

For a moment, none of his six hands moved.

Then he stared at Akaza.

”What kind of monsters do you have for friends?”