I know you guys have been waiting for this one! =D

Episode 74 An Absence of Light

Ivy shifts her eyes nervously left and right. The pair of guards from earlier trot slowly behind her, brandishing their guns behind her back. Occasionally, they prod and poke her painfully in the back in order to steer her in the direction they want.

‘Oh…I can’t believe I got caught by the guards!’ she wonders anxiously to herself, sneaking a quick look at the guards behind her. ‘I wonder what they’re gonna do to me…’

One of the guards jabs her from behind, causing Ivy to jump from pain and surprise. “Right turn, woman. And don’t look so tense! We’re only taking you to a holding cell until Lord Gilford decides what to do with you…”

Ivy breathes a quick sigh of relief, which prompts the two guards to chuckle amongst themselves at her apparent naïve thought. ‘If they’re only taking me to a cell, that means I still have a chance! There’s only two of them…I can probably take them out if I really wanted to. But they may raise the alarm against Rill, and possibly Kunai too…and I can’t afford to let them get caught too!’

Ivy sighs again, more miserably this time. ‘I guess I have no choice but to wait it out, and let one of them come rescue me. I hope Kunai realizes where I am…’

“Ku…nai…!” Rill sputters, taking a pace back. His eyes widen, as they take in the elaborate, hooded robe Kunai has taken on.

The robe is nearly entirely black, with subtle, intricate patterns outlined in gray. At the collar of the robe is a seal: a yellow eye enclosed around a red pupil. Meanwhile, Kunai’s entire face remains submerged in a splash of darkness, his eyes two halos of grayish black peering out from underneath the hood.

Rill finally stops in his tracks, pausing in shock. He watches Kunai silently stare back for a moment, before muttering, “So you really did come here after all.”

Kunai does not reply; instead, he raises his right arm, and, as a consequence of the action, the sleeve of his robe is pulled back, just enough to unveil the black claw hidden underneath. Even as Rill’s eyes slowly widen in realization of the situation, a crystal black Avenger forms out of the three Steelys in Kunai’s grasp.

“You can’t be ser—” Rill mutters, before spinning around and noticing Kunai sneak up behind him. He leaps into the air, even as Kunai throws the entire force of his Avenger straight into the ground.

The metallic tiles on the ground give way, as the Avenger sinks a smoking crater into the ground. Rill lands on his feet several yards back, sliding and stumbling slightly. ‘Damn, if I’d been only a half-second slower…’

Rill suddenly momentarily opens his mouth in surprise, having lost track of Kunai. The next second, his gaze turns upwards, as Kunai attacks from the air, bringing a second Avenger crashing straight towards him.

Rill reacts more quickly this time, producing his clawed arm and blocking the blow cleanly with his Sapphire Slain. Kunai bounces back slightly from the head-on impact. He curses slightly under his breath, but makes no other statement.

As Kunai regains his stance, Rill stares coldly straight into Kunai’s darkened face. He pants slightly. “So that’s how it is, huh, Kunai? I have to admit, when I first met you, I had some doubts about you, but all in all, I thought you were a really good guy when it came down to it…

“But even with the battle against Gilford…I kinda felt it in you, this impending pulse and thirst for blood and murder…is this the real you?!”

Kunai lowers his face slightly, removing his hood. His face remains shrouded in darkness, as he gazes thoughtfully at the ground for a moment. “I have nothing against you. And even now, the only reason why I shall kill you is because you are trespassing on Lord Gilford’s property. If you had been good and stayed behind with the others, you would’ve never ended up in this predicament now.

“Tell me, what did you hope to achieve by bringing Ivy here?!” Kunai’s dark eyes blaze angrily, cold and unsusceptible to compassion.

“What do you think?!” Rill shouts back furiously, a few tears in his eyes. “Ivy wanted you back with us! It’s all she’s talked about for the last few days! It’s been Kunai this, Kunai that! And what have you been doing?! Joining up with Lord Gilford?! Ivy loves you so much, and this is what you’ve done to repay her?! Betrayed her, me, everyone else?!”

“I’m tired of listening to the idiotic ideas of Ryuu. They will not work, yet he will not listen to me. If he is going to be stubborn and stick to his ineffective ways, then let him! I will go and do what I believe is right,” Kunai replies.

“By joining the enemy?!” Rill splutters, seemingly gasping for air. “How is that even remotely going to help us?!”

Kunai suddenly presses a finger to his lips, a mad, insane grin appearing on his lips. “Shh! That’s my secret, for me to know, and for you not to know! I am now…on the winning team as they say it! Now prepare to—”

“DIE, YOU DAMN TRAITOR!” Rill roars into Kunai’s ear from behind, pressing two Tobis to his neck.

However, Kunai remains strangely still, unfazed by the two Tobis to his neck. “Summon!” he mutters under his breath, sneaking out a shiny summoning rock from within his cloak.

Rill’s eyes widen automatically, as a great plume of smoke erupts on the playing field. Rill is forced to step back, pressing a hand to his mouth in all the smoke, while also trying to penetrate the thick pillars of gray with his eyes.

As the smoke clears, a shadow clone similar to Kunai in appearance has taken its place right behind Kunai. Like Kunai, it bears a triplet set of Steelys in its hand, twirling it threateningly.

Even as Rill continues to stare, wide-eyed, Kunai pounces, striking not once, or twice, but three times with an Avenger, plus another three with his clone.

Rill blocks each attack, eventually crawling up the wall behind him and bouncing off of it, landing behind Kunai. He bears two Tobis in his clawed hand, staring bitterly at Kunai. “I’m glad Ivy isn’t here to see this.”

“Hmph,” Kunai barely replies indifferently.

“This could get pretty bloody,” Rill mutters to himself under his breath, just before liftoff, as he propels himself into the air, meeting Kunai head-on.

Rill spins in the air, to avoid the pair of Avengers spiraling straight towards him. As he spins, he slides his own pair of Tobis from under his arm straight at Kunai, nailing him on the shoulder both times.

Kunai lands roughly on the ground, grasping his bleeding shoulder. “Not bad,” he murmurs, “but I’ve still got the upper hand, Rill.”

Rill himself lands awkwardly, holding his arms out to balance his body. However, even as Rill lands, Kunai’s clone tails him from behind, stabbing Rill once in the back with a sharpened Steely.

Rill’s eyes open wide, as he feels the Steely tear into the tissue in his back. He gasps, coughing out blood. Rill falls to his knees, and crawls onto all fours, eventually falling flat on his face, sprawled on the ground and breathing heavily.

Kunai’s clone returns to his originator’s side obediently, watching as Kunai saunters up to Rill’s immobile body. Kunai glances at it for a moment, before snapping his fingers and allowing it to disappear in a puff of smoke.

“Hmph, Rill. Did you earnestly believe you have the ability to defeat me? You are not even Third Advancement level yet. What made you think you could possibly even kill me?”

“Because I’m doing this…” Rill stutters from the floor, coughing with every breath.

Kunai takes a step backward in surprise. “I’m surprised you can still speak so coherently.”

“I’m doing this…” Rill continues to stutter, rising slowly from the floor, “FOR THE SAKE OF IVY!”

Kunai bears his teeth, scowling as Rill leaps back to his feet, launching a continuous multitude of Tobis into the air, at point-blank range straight towards every available inch of Kunai.

However, Kunai merely steps back calmly, waving his claw even as it protrudes into the shape and form of an enormous, butcher knife-like sword. “Refract!”

With an ear-shattering blast like that of breaking glass, the numerous Tobis in the air scatter away. They leap and bound into the air, falling slowly to the floor like snowflakes.

Rill bites his lip, eyes widening in absolute shock at the immense show of power from Kunai. Grimly, he reaches into his holster of stars. ‘That attack…consumed all the rest of my stars. I am officially…fresh out.’

Kunai lowers his raised sword, staring haughtily down at Rill, an absolutely hysteric look in the latter’s eyes. ‘And with Kunai only just now revealing his full powers…’

“There’s no way you can win, Rill.” Kunai waves his sword loftily in the air. “Unless—” Kunai suddenly freezes, gasping as he grabs his face with his gloved hand. Several lines of shock make their way into his face, as he grimaces painfully.

Rill watches in wonder, amazed at the sudden transformation in Kunai’s face.

‘Unless…what, exactly?’

Next Time: Episode 75 The Presence of Light

Otis: Don’t miss the conclusion of Kunai-gorilla versus Rill-gorilla next time! And is anybody tired of the wordplay in these chapter titles—OWW! Who hit me?!

Episode 75 The Presence of Light coming soon!