Amatori Biba strained with all his might, desperately trying to grab the white plasma that floated so tantalizingly close.
Just as his fingertips were about to brush the vial, he gasped in horror:
"What?!"
The white plasma zood away, landing neatly in Rei Ao's hand.
"Since you said you wanted to challenge ," Rei Ao remarked coolly, "I'll give you the 'strongest' form you could possibly take. Let's see what that does for you."
Holding the vial of white plasma, he smirked as he summoned fla to incinerate it.
"You—!"
Biba's expression twisted with rage. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, dark, viral matter began gushing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The virus had gone hyperactive, and his body was mutating.
"Brother!"
Mui stared at Rei Ao in bewildernt. "Rei Ao-sama, why are you—why?"
"There's no 'why.'" Rei Ao's tone was cold. "He tried to pick a fight with . Nobody gets to do that without consequences—even if he's your so-called brother."
He genuinely did not care if soone was a brother, father, mother—if they provoked him, he would deal with them without hesitation. A powerful being didn't need a reason to kill soone who annoyed him; annoyance itself was reason enough. Letting Biba ascend to the world's apex as a Black Smoke was already more rcy than he deserved.
Of course, Rei Ao didn't plan to drag the innocent people of Iwato Station into this. So with a brief transfer spell, he took the now-mutating Biba and Mui to a remote wilderness.
"Uuhhh…!"
Black matter engulfed Biba's entire body, while the Kabaneri heart in his chest glowed fiercely with golden light.
Boom!
The ground shook; hordes of Kabane converged on their location, drawn by the virus's overpowering energy.
Mui suddenly realized her brother was now in the sa condition as Horobi had been. She wanted to plead for him—but before she could open her mouth, Rei Ao spoke quietly:
"Mui, don't say sothing that will annoy , even if I am interested in you. Cross , and there's no saving you."
"..."
Mui's body froze. She could sense from Rei Ao's tone that he wouldn't budge. She also rembered the trade had already been completed; she had no standing to ask for further favors. If she dared to plead for Biba, she suspected Rei Ao would cast her aside permanently. The internal struggle was reflected in her eyes. In the end, she rembered how Horobi was treated— how Biba had sacrificed her. A faint sense of relief surfaced in her heart.
"..."
Mui chose silence. In the conflict between Rei Ao and her brother, she sided with Rei Ao. It wasn't so romantic feeling—just a change in her perspective. Spending ti with Aya and the others, following the group chat's various broadcasts, had widened her worldview. Even though Biba had saved her life once, after witnessing his callous treatnt of Horobi—soone who revered him—she could no longer see him through rose-tinted glasses. His habit of creating Black Smokes at the cost of other people's lives, all to test Aya, had shattered her devotion to him.
Previously, she might have blindly obeyed his orders in a feverish adoration. Now, she had matured enough to recognize his cruelty. She still felt a pang of guilt, but she had done what she could. So she chose to stand by Rei Ao's side, watching everything unfold in silence.
"Huh…?"
Rei Ao had expected Mui to have so dramatic ltdown over her "big brother." Seeing her do nothing, he was a bit surprised—and impressed.
"ROOAAARR!!!"
By then, the massive swarm of Kabane had fused with Biba's mutating body. Thanks to the triple injection of black plasma, the virus's hyperactivity was off the charts, attracting a colossal number of Kabane. As more and more fused, a towering giant rose, hundreds of ters tall—vaguely horse-shaped, yet with enormous, sky-darkening wings.
"Amatori Biba, huh. Suitably dramatic that you turned into a flying horse Black Smoke."
Rei Ao couldn't help a wry remark. Then he yawned.
"No more Kabane are coming. I guess this is the best you can do."
Indeed, it was likely the largest singular Black Smoke this world could produce. Still, to Rei Ao, it was just a big target, easily crushed if he felt like it.
"Oh? Striking first?"
With a heavy hum, the colossal, horse-like Black Smoke raised an enormous black hoof, stomping down on them both. From a normal viewpoint, it was a scene of pure despair: the sky blotted out, everything going dark as a gigantic pillar of flesh slamd toward them. There was no place to run— the stomp radius alone was huge. Even if Mui was Kabaneri, she was little more than a strong human. One hit, and she'd be flattened.
Reflexively, Mui threw up her arms to shield herself. It was futile. If she'd been alone, she would have died instantly.
But Rei Ao was with her. He rely flicked a finger through the air:
"Shing!"
A massive, razor-sharp sword slash pierced the sky.
"Splurt!!!"
The giant hoof—once blocking out the sun—was sliced apart with one blow. In the blink of an eye, the slash cut straight through the towering horse, through its core, and through Amatori Biba's protected heart within. But the sword aura didn't stop there. It carried on like a silver bolt of lightning, streaking up into the sky. Where it vanished, the blue sky split with a massive gash, as though the heavens themselves were torn open. The aftershocks alone were enough to shatter the nearby mountain ranges.
Rei Ao eyed the devastation he'd wrought, his face impassive.
Sword Qi was probably one of the weakest of his abilities, yet using it to finish off Biba felt like killing a chicken with a cannon— a total waste.
"…"
Sensing the sunlight falling back over them, Mui lowered her arms. She saw the shattered mountains, the halved Black Smoke, the rent sky. Everything was laid bare before her.
"!!!"
She'd witnessed wonders more than once, but this level of destruction surpassed all she'd seen. She gazed dazedly at Rei Ao's profile. Each ti he appeared, he did so like a true god.
Rei Ao snapped his fingers, and any attempt by the colossal Black Smoke's remains to break apart was burned away, leaving nothing. Then he patted the stunned Mui on the shoulder:
"Let's go back."
~~~
100 Powerstone Bonus Chapter!
For Every 100 Powerstone = 1 Bonus Chapter! Vote for more chapters!
Check my Patreon for more chapters!
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 50 Chapters Ahead of Others!
User Comments
0 comments from readers