Chapter 24:

  Maintaining a constant flow of energy across all four limbs was tough, but Shogai managed it. And it helped. He was the first one to run up to Sekara. And he was the first one to hit her.

  Sekara felt the hit. It wasn’t as strong as the one that had taken down the golems, but it was far above anything he’d hit her with before.. The Deviant stumbled backwards, and Kiara took advantage. She appeared behind Sekara, hitting her in the back. Sekara fell forward now, where Xero was waiting. He thrust both his daggers upwards, impaling her in the chin. Sekara roared, furious, and made all three of them back off. They'd hurt her, though. And that was more progress than they'd made without a heavy hitter before.

  Sekara pulled the daggers out of her jaw and tossed them away. The holes healed. She snarled at Xero and attacked him. Unfortunately for her, she'd thrown the daggers away, and Xero teleported to them. Shogai had a pretty good understanding of Xero's ability now. He could teleport to any object he touches. It sounded underwhelming, but in this fight, it was exactly what he needed.

  Jade was standing back, relatively far away, and breaking into Sekara's mind. Apparently, being close to HQ irritated Deviants somehow, and that, combined with Jade, was making Sekara's movements far slower. Far, far slower.

  Shogai ducked under one of her blades and struck at her knee, immediately forcing her to the ground. She stabbed at him again, but this time he was able to punch the side of the blade and shatter it. His next punch was going towards her face. Sekara raised her arm to block it, so Shogai dropped to his own knees, now underneath her arm with a direct line of sight to her head. She didn’t realise what he was doing until she was knocked backwards, her nose shattered. Shogai exhaled, her blood on his fist, and stepped back. He was winning. Everything was going in his favour, and he was able to match her. But right now, he needed to catch his breath. Someone would cover him during that time.

  "So annoying!" Sekara lashed out as she regenerated her broken sword, but Xero clashed blades with her. He guided her sword to the ground and jumped on her arm, kicking her in the head before teleporting to safety. Then a huge force pushed Sekara back. No… not just a force. That was Kiara.

  She was demonically fast and, this time, she knew what she was fighting.. Every time Sekara lost sight of her, Kiara would punish her for it, bringing her to the floor without even being hit.

  Xero was also a monster. He was constantly engaged in close combat, and yet he was also unharmed. Despite having human strength and agility, his skill was unmatched. He weaved and slashed, sometimes throwing daggers into the air so he could get the jump on Sekara, and sometimes feinting it so that she'd get distracted. He was a master of prediction. And he was Outer Rank 6. Nexeans were no joke.

  Unfortunately, neither was Sekara. As Kiara tried to attack her, she protruded blades from every side of her body, like a porcupine of danger. Xero teleported away as far as he could, but was still grazed. Kiara had overextended and couldn’t double back on her momentum, getting impaled through her arm. Sekara used the moment of fear to withdraw all the blades and focus them at that single point like a lance. Kiara was stabbed right through the torso and flew back.

  "Kiar-!"

  Shogai couldn’t even yell out her name before Kiara had regenerated and was right back in combat. She was stunningly fast and had no hesitation. She appeared behind Sekara, almost tumbling to the ground with her own speed, and used a roll to both regain her balance and follow into a double-footed kick to the Deviant’s back. Sekara literally flew through the air before crashing down on the ground. If a Kiara of this mindset were in the last battle, they may have won.

  "So, slashing won't work…" Sekara muttered, getting to her feet. Her arm was bent at a strange angle, but, after a moment, it snapped back into place. She lunged towards Kiara. Xero tried to intercept her but was immediately forced to retreat.

  Xero had lost some movement in his left arm. It was a minor graze, but even the slightest delay in speed could mean death. He had to be more defensive now.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  An angry yell came from Kiara. Sekara was an obstacle she despised. Someone who had hurt her friends and killed their friends. She didn’t retreat when Sekara reached her, instead catching the blade between her hands.

  Kiara tore the sword away and used it to stab her. Sekara roared, louder than before, and Kiara staggered, blocking her ears. Sekara used the opportunity. She shoved Kiara onto the ground and stepped onto her, much like Ryukyu had done to her. Sekara turned both her hands into blades and clashed them together.

  The sound was horrifyingly loud. Xero and Shogai immediately covered their ears, and even Jade, who was further away, stumbled. Their heads were vibrating. As for Kiara, who was right next to the source, she stopped moving. Blood poured out from her ears. Sekara stepped off her.

  "One down. Three to go."

  Sekara made eye contact with Jade, who went pale in fear, but stood her ground. She approached the human. Shogai’s vision went red.

  "Oh no, you don't." Shogai put himself between the two of them and caught the blade Sekara slashed at him. Her strength was still too much for him, and he flew into the air, landing roughly. Xero took his place, wielding one dagger and somehow stalling Sekara. It wasn't long before he was pushed away, however, and Sekara had a straight path to Jade. Shogai stumbled to his feet as fast as he could, ignoring the pain in his back from hitting the rocky ground. No… not again. “Stop-!”

  Sekara slashed at Jade, cutting the front of her torso, and blood spurted everywhere. Jade snapped out of her attack on Sekara and fell. Rage welled up inside Shogai. Towards Sekara, but also towards himself. Why was he so useless? He had to MOVE.

  Shogai jumped on Sekara's back before she could deliver a finishing blow, and Sekara reacted by impaling Shogai with her back spines. He completely ignored the pain, or maybe he couldn’t feel it. Even he couldn’t tell, because the only thing he could sense was the pure anger rushing through his veins. He raised his fist, and it swelled with masses of red energy. Sekara tried to shake him off, but her own blades stabbing him were preventing him from being thrown off. She retracted the blades too late, and Shogai slammed his fist into the back of Sekara’s head. The force threw him backwards as Sekara was slammed into the floor, her face buried by the rocks. Xero appeared next to Shogai and teleported him to safety. His legs were in pain, but he was more concerned for Jade, who Xero had already moved to safety. Shogai signalled to Zinnia from a distance, and she nodded. She snuck up to Jade and quietly put her hand over her.

  “You have to make it, Jade.” Shogai could barely get the words out. His whole body was hot. He was surprised steam wasn’t leaving his mouth every time he opened it.

  Only a moment later, however, a body hit the ceiling with a smash and fell to the floor. It was O3, Raven. Zinnia saw her and then locked eyes with Shogai. Jade was now stable, and Raven was a far more important fighter. However that other fight was going, Raven was a key to victory. Zinnia reassured Shogai that Jade was going to make it and left to help Raven. She gave him a message before leaving.

  "Shogai… we need to finish this now. Put everything you've got into this…"

  Shogai nodded, not wanting to speak. He'd gotten a lot stronger since Nomun. Sekara was hurt. One nuclear punch. Just one… He took a stance, his left fist in front of him defensively, as his right fist erupted in a red aura. It got bigger and bigger and bigger.

  Xero dropped a dagger next to Shogai and engaged Sekara with the other. She saw what Shogai was planning and was trying to get to him. Every now and then, however, Xero would teleport him away. All the while, Shogai was gathering all the energy he could into one hand. His legs were killing him, and his other arm felt about to fall off. But he didn’t care. He only needed one limb to kill her. This was what he owed Sekara for all she'd done.

  "NOW!"

  Shogai leapt forward, towards Sekara, and struck her in the face. Xero appeared beside him, grabbing his shirt, and they both appeared on the other side of the chamber just in time to watch Shogai's punch explode into a shockwave of brightness, blinding everyone. Even the other Nexeans and Deviant stopped their fight to cover their eyes. The brightness lasted several seconds, and there was silence when it faded. One of the Outer Ranks, Tina, O4, broke the silence by hitting Vera in the face, resuming their fight.

  There was an enormous crater where Sekara was, and part of the ceiling had caved in on her. Xero was panting, exhausted, and Shogai didn't feel much better. He was surprised to find Jade and Kiara next to him, unconscious. Xero must have gotten them out of danger faster than he could see.

  There was nothing from the crater for an awfully long time, but a burning, yet very much alive body crawled its way out.

  Come check out our Discord server!

  https://discord.gg/FQEam4725