Competition (VIII): The Killing Move

[In a world devoid of qi, women have no say in most things involving life. And even if they did, their physical weakness as compared to men, makes it hard for them to compete in many aspects. But even In such a world, women are still and would most probably be the most fiercest existence on earth. They're ruled by their emotions, but the advantage to that is that they're even more in control of those emotions than a man ever would. So it is with a loving heart and care I leave this warning to my descendants, disciples or any fool unlucky enough to own this journal or a copy of it. Don't you ever tangle with a woman who is angry, frustrated, in pain of any kind, hungry, in love, happy or horny. Because they would be able to channel their emotions with startling accuracy to increase and improve their strength or achieve anything they set out to do. But most importantly if you're faced with an angry woman, please for the love of God and all that is holy...….run for your life]

Bartholomew Álē

Anya moved so fast it was almost a blur in the eyes of every other low level cultivator in the area, her fingers were flat and pointed perpendicular to her body, heading straight for the neck of her opponent. But her opponent seemed to really have a wealth of experience and talent when it comes to battle as he waved his staff in front of his face, and barely managed to dodge have a hole poked in his neck. The staff met Anya's fingers and a resounding ring broke out on the platform as it sounded as if the staff had not met flesh but instead another metal.

The staff user became unbalanced as he was not able to completely counter the force behind Anya's strike. Anya was not done as she took a leap forward with her other hand, palm facing downwards and the fingers pointing straight at her opponent. She began to unleash a barrage of pierce like strikes that her opponent was barely deflecting. Her opponent was putting up a good fight, and he took advantage of a lull in her attack and raised the but of his staff upwards attempting to hit her under her chin in patented uppercut.

However Anya took a step back to evade, bringing her deadly fingers to rest at her side. But stepping back did not completely take her out of danger as her opponent pushed his staff forward and hit her on the chest. Anya involuntarily took a few steps back as the force of the hit forced her to spit blood.

This guy was at a lower realm than she was, but he the advantage of a weapon, and not just the weapon alone, he also had her bit in terms of reach, and the profoundness of his battle technique was really good. Not to mention whatever martial art he was using right now, had been mastered to either the mid or advanced stage. His cultivation level seems to be a step below hers, so they were evenly matched.

The truth is Anya could have won this match a lot earlier, however her opponent had more experience in fighting than her. Anya has never been in a fight where she wasn't completely dominating her opponent and beating the crap out of them. She's ever been in a fight this desperate with a lot riding on it. The stakes were high, now it was up to Anya to see if she had the capability to up the ante when the going get tough.

Her opponent suddenly took a step back and bunched the muscles in his calves, then he pulled his staff back and raised it over his head in a full moon like rotation. Alex quickly shot to his feet with shock and worry etched all over his face. This guy was about to perform a killing move!. A killing move is he penultimate move and martial art, it's meant to bring an end to a fight and would usually end up injuring the opponent in simple cases, or causing death in extreme cases.

Anya shot forward when the staff was already at the peak of it's crescent rotation, and directly over the head of it's wielder. Now it was a battle of attrition, who ever got to their opponent first would decide the outcome of his fight.

His staff was moving extremely fast, and from his position among the spectators, Alex was sure Anya would not be able to make it in time. But then her body blurred and she appeared in front of her opponent, bringing his killer move to a screeching halt as she began to unleash a killer move of her own. [Viper Strikes Throat] was the killer move of the finger section of the [Hidden Viper Of Buddha's Hand] martial art.

Then her straightened fingers began to stab into his unprotected body, moving fast and sharp, in and out. With every stab she made with her fingers, everyone could hear the hiss of venomous vipers whistling through the air as they struck with such speed and ferocity they were nothing but blurs. But every move she made with those fingers of hers raised clouds of blood into the air as she perforated and poked him full of holes from his neck all the way down to his toes.

The only place that was left untouched was his face and back. After almost 1 minute of rapid fire strike, Anya turned her back to her opponent and flicked her completely blood drenched fingers to her side, letting the copious amount of blood dripping from them fall to the platform below her feet. Then she walked off the platform with a ferocious look on her face.

However the moment her foot touched the ground, there was a loud bang behind her as her opponent fell flat on his back, his blood rapidly pooling around his body. At the momentum no body knew whether he was dead or alive.

The doctors on duty quickly ran to the stage to look after the almost if not already dead boy. The whole arena was silent except for the wailing of a woman who would most probably be the mother of Anya's opponent. Ever since the competition started, except for when Alex had used the [Iron Viper Strike], this was the first time a fight as brutal as this had happened. And all held on with bated breaths, wondering about the condition of the boy on the stage and wondering if he would live.

Anya made her way to her seat beside Alex in a complete daze as she stared and her still dripping blood drenched hand. She was probably in shock as she might have used that move with such an intensity in an instinctual spur of the moment.

Anya had let her anger over getting hit take control of her, and while she might have lost if she didn't do that, Alex could see she was blaming herself and wondering if there could have been a better way. Alex knew Anya better anybody else in the world right now, even her family could not claim to know her as much as he did, it was why he understood how she was feeling.

Anya was a tomboy and preferred to shoot first and ask questions later, and she might have bloodied her fair share of idiots in her sixteen years of life, but never to the point where the person was a step away from life and death.

Alex was worried about her, but this was a phase of her life she would have to experience, every competitor here would have to go through that phase too. The journey of cultivation is as bloody as it comes, there's no end to the killing, no end to the horrors and nightmares that come with it. But Alex would not let her go through this alone, after all they were different sides of the same coin. Whatever one experience the other one would have to support.

Alex quickly made his way into the crowd, and a few seconds later came back with a bottle of water and a white towel. And completely ignoring her blood drenched hands, began to wash the blood off her dainty ebony fingers. Anya looked up at him with tear filled eyes, looking as if she was going to cry, Alex could only open his mouth and say.

"Is the queen of hell going to cry, damn! It's at times like this I wished I owned a smart phone. I would have loved to take a picture, or a video. Then I can show it to our children when there are born."

What he received for his efforts was a hard hit on his head that left his eyes swimming within his skull for a moment. But from the smile etched on her face, he knew he had succeeded in calming down. The road of cultivation is unforgiven and bloody, but that doesn't mean you have to walk it alone.