78 Plan of Attack

"Hoh, in my youth," The old Zarkales man replied, cracking his neck while looking at Howard. "In my youth, I had someone I loved too. Then she died. I wonder if I can make the same happen to you?" He snickered, and gently stepped forward towards Howard.

"How about this. Why don't we sit down and talk so I don't have to execute you right away. We can let you live for a little while. After all, you did just barge in here and kick my grandsons in the face. A little boy like you can't be killed immediately. You have to be admonished slowly. How would me chopping off your hands first sound?" The man laughed, shaking his head before he noticed Howard's power had begun to surge.

Howard hadn't wanted to use the Zarkales Ki ebbing and flowing around him at first that seemed omnipresent in the small cavern. Still, if he didn't this old man might seriously harm Monica. A powerful flame began to surge around his body, traveling across his muscular torso, before a white light shot out of it.

He could feel a craving for death and destruction from the Zarkales Ki he'd pulled out of the air. Suddenly, it felt like a monster had been birthed inside of his chest, and all he wanted to do was kill the old wizened man taunting him a few meters away.

"Oh, you're not normal? Your power is getting close to the B rank. You can't be older that 15. If you were a Zarkales, you'd be in the top one percent. It's a shame against me you're nothing but a little trophy to take him."

'Yindred, are you still there?' Howards teeth shot out the side of his mouth, cutting through his lips, while the rest of his body struggled to absorb more and more energy from the air. Unfortunately, his body had only reached the peak of the D rank, and because of that he seemed to have endless shackles on his body.

However, if he could use Dream Ki, those limits would be crushed and he might even be able to enter the peak of the B rank! The old Zarkales was clearly strong in body and mind, but all he needed to do is destroy the point behind him! Yindred hadn't talked to him since the battle with the Aresoul, but this was a matter of life and death! He could tell one slash of those glimmering axes and he'd probably vanish into dust!

'I-I can't help you very much,' Yindred's voice appeared in his mind, full of a tenderness and sadness that he did not expect. 'I-I need to go to dreamscapes to recharge my dream ki. I-I can only help you for one second. Any longer than that, and I'll fall asleep for a long time.'

'I knew it. I'll have to do outsmart him,' Howard stepped off his back foot, surging forward, before he activated Ki Transformation and sent a hundred fire pythons surging in various directions.

The old Zarkales named Jarlock, laughed, before he realized 80 of those pythons seemed to be moving towards his grandchildren. Sensing this, his body suddenly shifted, traveling 300 meters in an instant and striking Howard in the chest.

Boom!

Howard turned into a beam of light that crashed into his own pythons, and felt the entire pressure of the wall smashing into his body. His eyes immediately appeared to shoot out of his skull before he looked forward and saw Jarlock's entire torso on fire.

"You-you're not bad. Attacking my grandchildren without any remorse," Jarlock gently wiped off the trail of fire from his shirt. "Heh, you can even use Ki Transformation. However, what are you going to do now? You think you can escape."

"Heh, you care about your family too?" Howard said, gently pushing himself off the wall, and pushed his shoulder back into his socket. "I do too. I care about them so much that you have to die."

"Right now, by body is at the peak of the B rank, but my skills are in the S rank." Jarlock laughed, waving Howard forward. "How about this? Since you seem smart, I'll give you three seconds to run before I start chasing you.'

Jarlock sensed something strange in the boy in front of him, and didn't want to leave his grandsons at risk. Though he killed enough in his time to make a sea of blood, he still had wives and a family. Even the most demented people still wanted to have progeny that lived onto the next generation. He had to ensure their survival. Even if it meant letting this little brat get away for a few seconds, it be worth it to save his precious, talented grandsons.

In the Zarkales subnation of Stellmore, his grandsons had only average aptitude but had great potential to be team leaders. For the Zarkales, that traveled in teams of ten, having a great tactician with only moderate Ki Control was better than having an expert that only cared about himself.

"So, have you decided?" Jarlock walked towards Howard slowly, gently and placidly making his ways to his grandson body. "You can't win in here. All you can do is die a little bit slower than I'd like."

"I got an idea," Howard smiled, lifting up his hand before a gigantic flame started to grow larger and larger before it began to spin in the air. A few rocks from the ground started to get wound inside of it, before it grew into a terrifying snake. "Why don't we both die? So everyone I love can live," Howard held out his hand, causing three more pythons of fire to get birthed and begin to suck up the air in the space. "I'll just drain this place of oxygen. Your grandsons can't live without air right?"

"Like I'll let you, brat." Jarlock rushed towards Howard only to see a dozen pillars of flames shooting at his grandsons. Both of them had passed out from that kick earlier, and hadn't even turned their necks to look at the attack. They looked like frail beings on the floor, their torso sunk into the wall, before Jarlock instantly appeared in front of them and slashed forward.

Swoosh!

Howard activated King Fire Sprint to the maximum and turned into three phantoms that sent out dozens of flames in various directions.

Boom!

A large hand slammed into Howard's back before it disappeared and stepped back in space. Appearing in front of his grandsons again, Jarlock opened his arms, creating a white shield as the flames bounced off the wall towards him.

'Ugh, he filled his flames with rocks so they'd bounce." Jarlock shook his head, creating a white beam of light in his hand as Howard scrambled to his feet. "It's a shame. He's smart for a teenager. Watching him die without anyone else to see it is almost a waste."

"Now!" Howard said, wiping the blood off his mouth. "Yindred, now!"

'One second coming right up!' Yindred sighed, feeling the last bit of power she had disappearing inside of her. 'You-you better find a dreamscape after this brat, and it better be a high level one! You owe me!'

"I promise," Howard's body suddenly seemed to get covered with the strange markings he had against the Aresoul. His body instantly felt lighter than a feather, his pupils darkening, before he seemed to turn into a beam of light that shifted into the horizon.

"What the hell? Is he a Varlen?" Jarlock watched in disbelief as Howard instantly appeared in front of the pathway he'd made and gently touched it with his finger.

Boom!

The next moment, Howard had already appeared in front of his chest, hooking it towards his face with a powerful flame surging all around him. Moving towards Jarlock, Howard had basically activated every single ounce of his strength and sent it all into his fist.

Training Fire King Sprint taught him how to begin to understand sending Ki into his body in order to create the maximum amount of destruction and death. Right now, because of the dream ki, his ability to do this expanded manifold, and his fist had basically turned into a flame of untold power. Pushing off his back foot, Howard sent all of this energy screaming towards Jarlock's chest.

Boom!

Jarlocks' ax somehow managed to move to block his heart, however, the force beyond Howard's attack caused his spine to arch back, his torso to cave in, before a gigantic imprint pushed into his body. Feeling the energy picking him off the floor, Jarlock saw his grandsons left vulnerable on the floor.

"No, please don't kill them! Please!" Jarlock could've used the time to defend, but instead pleaded to Howard as his fist swung forward one more time. "Please! Please forgive me!"

"You're all dead!" Howards hand sent out a pillar of flames that shot into Jarlock's chest one more time, causing blood to shoot out of his mouth before the room turned amber from the flickering of flames! Jarlock instantly flew out the cave, rolling against the sharp rocks that barbed into his soul.

The next moment, he could only look up in horror as the flames burned in the cavern.

"You'll pay for this you brat! Even if I have to search through every crevice of the Furnace, you'll die a thousand times!"