20 CH20

My aura sphere met a fireball in Kuyo's hand as we pressed our attacks against each other. He raised his 4 tails, curled them together, and struck out with their tips aimed at my chest. I caught them with the tip of my zanpakuto and pushed.

We both pressed our feet heavily on the ground and roared as his youki battled my aura. Then I took a step. Lifting weights and training every day had put my body at the peak a human was capable of, and I showed it by pushing Kuyo back a step. His eyes widened then he roared, erupting in flames.

"Loser," I said through the roaring flames and retreated as the heat rose.

Kuyo transformed a second time under the drug's influence. Waves of youki rolled off him as the drug condensed his monstrous energy into a single powerful core and mostly vanished from my senses. While this happened, Kuyo's body morphed into its fox form, and the room caught fire. Kuyo's youki didn't all vanish like it did in humans. Instead, more youki erupted through Kuyo's body until it matched the drug core. The two forces fought one another.

One of Kuyo's tails shot toward me quick and precise like an artillery shell. I heard the building groan around me and knew this place wouldn't last much longer. The steel beams around us turned red and sagged as Kuyo continued to power up.

I had to spread my cloak firmly around my body and form a mask to protect myself. The corpse to the side caught fire again, along with any desks and chairs left on this floor. We hadn't even clashed, but Kuyo was still powering up.

Really the only reason why I didn't attack him was the heat. I didn't know if my cloak could handle getting close to him.

He looked like a fox that took steroids from birth. Kuyo was packed with so much muscle and was so large he looked more like a bull than a fox. The bulging muscles ruined all the grace the creatures were known for. He turned his head to look at me and grinned before opening his mouth.

I dodged out of the way as a flame thrower crossed the distance before morphing into a beam of concentrated heat. To his eyes, I might as well have fazed out of existence only to appear on the other side of the room. There was no flash step involved, only pure speed.

He turned to fire another beam, and the other side of the room fell in on itself and collapsed, halving the room. The plan was smart; he halved the size of the room to deal with a speedy opponent. I raised my hand, blasted the ground in front of him, shot a hole in the roof, and jumped up. He wasn't hard to find; with his youki still rising, I raised my hand and launched a devastating aura sphere in his direction.

A green explosion lit up the building and blew out any windows left. The flames caught on in earnest and began to really burn the PSC building. I frowned when it rose exponentially instead of feeling Kuyo's power level out. A blue tail shot up, punctured my cloak, and ripped through my shoulder; I knew three more were on their way. I cut through the tail and dove out of the way as a massive fire beam blasted a melon-sized hole through the roof. Then the beam spread like a cone opening the way for Kuyo to rise from the hole he had made.

"You should be honored; human few have seen my battle form and lived to tell the tale." White fox ears stood atop his long blonde hair, and his whole body was wreathed in blue flames. Unlike other monsters, I couldn't sense any mutations coming from him; the drug in his body wasn't being forced out. Instead, it matched the youki in Kuyo's body and harmonized somehow. Or maybe this was a different drug altogether. Either way, it was time to put him down.

Kuyo moved to my back just as I prepared an air slash. He raked flame and youki-covered claws down to meet my attack and twisted, launching his tails at me. My cloak broke off and met his tails but failed to match them. My aura cloak tendrils shattered against Kuyo's tail spears forcing me to dodge and use my second air slash to counter them.

My shoulder wasn't healing quickly, so there were no aura spheres with my off-hand. So instead of attacking, I focused my cloak entirely on defense and boosting my human body even beyond its limits.

"A shame you didn't take the drug; you would have been a challenge if you had," Kuyo said.

"There are consequences to every action," I said, dodging a flurry of tail spears.

I could already feel the burnout weakening me further even as I gripped at my aura cloak. The same thing keeping me from burning on the outside was burning me from within. A full aura manifestation like an aura cloak was too much for my body to handle, killing me slowly. There was only one way I was going to win this.

A keen edge of aura gave my zanpakuto a pseudo-physical form; it was just enough to cut living and spiritual matter. I withdrew the unneeded parts of my aura cloak until I only had enough to protect myself from the heat.

"I see, so this is your battle form. Then let's end this fight as monsters." Kuyo said before charging in with his tails raining down like endless spears.

Flash step took me in close enough to stab him through the chest. Air slash came down as I carved through. Two twisted tails shot towards my chest. I moved enough to only get clipped by the attack and unleashed the air slash point-blank. Half of his torso was bisected in an instant, and a claw ripped through my armor and across my chest.

I slashed down on his neck and unleashed the second air cutter. Then, I pulled my off-hand back, punched him, and sent a mental command to the blueberry kaiju.

His wounds healed almost as I opened them. Kuyo's blood was fire, and it regenerated his body quickly. We punched and slashed each other as the fight fell into a brawl. But with each second passed, my body weakened a little while he kept growing stronger. The damage I had done barely slowed him down, and I had to use flash steps to keep up. I didn't have the spiritual pressure to assist the hogyoku in making the impossible possible I wasn't that strong.

A final tail spear from Kuyo blasted through my good shoulder when I dodged a hit on my vitals. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. My aura cloak began to slip away, and soon I would be burnt to a crisp by Kuyo's presence alone.

"Humans used to worship my kind like gods; it's no wonder you lost," Kuyo said.

"We killed god a long time ago," I said.

Kuyo smiled. "A shame because you'll meet your maker soon. I'll send your ashes to your women. It's the least," A white beam smashed through Kuyo's body.

I threw myself forward, using the last of my aura to puppeteer my body, and slashed, removing Kuyo's head from his shoulders before kicking the body away.

The second his head hit the ground, I collapsed as fires raged around me. I stared at Kuyo's shocked expression. "Sorry, humans are sneaky," I said.

To be sure, I raised my hand and blasted his remains with the last embers of my aura. But, after that, my reserves were reduced to a flickering candle flame. I hadn't felt so weak in a long time.

New Quest: Defeat Kuyo And Drive Out Eternity

Reward 6 Gotcha, 1 Elemental Skill Tickets

Bonus: Kill Kuyo +1 Gotcha

Bonus: Destroy The Final Product +1 Gotcha

Bonus: Prevent Kuyo from using the drug failed

Bonus: Win Through Trickery +1 Gotcha

Bonus: Slay the Eternity Executive Failed

Rewarded 9 Gotcha, 1 Elemental Skill Ticket

I heard someone cough before rising from the rubble. It was the man in the trench coat. He walked over and picked up Kuyo's head before looking down at me.

"You ruined our plans for the final product of the drug, but every setback is an opportunity. While our original buyer won't take it now, there is another." My eyes widened.

My voice sounded scratchy even to my ears. "Was that what this was about money?" I asked.

"Of course, someone has to pay for advancements in technology or, in this case, pharmaceuticals. We are just a company working for a much bigger monster. Don't believe what you hear in the media kid companies don't have militaries or the power to write laws. We can't point guns at people and force them to buy our products." The man said before tucking Kuyo's head under his arm. "No hard feelings, kid but may we never meet again."

Vines stronger than steel took hold of me and pulled me off the building. My blueberry bush took me back to the ship and knocked on the door. Moka opened it and rushed over when she saw me. I tried to wave at her but couldn't move a muscle. The burnout was too much to even move.

"I won," I said as she rushed me to the bed.

"His body is covered in second and third-degree burns; we need to get him to a hospital. But, unfortunately, I can only do so much for him." Yukari said.

Pain wracked my body, but I felt the presence of the hogyoku and knew that I would heal soon enough. My reserves were already filling back up even though that wasn't the best for burnout. They at least helped the hogyoku heal my physical injuries. Qi was a good medium for spiritual energy. I would recover without a mark from this fight, and I would be stronger for it. Already some of my worst injuries were getting better. Finally, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.