Chapter 5

Five

Battle For The Baby

◊◊◊

A few miles to the north stands a man dressed sharply in tweed. His curving crimson-hued bronze hair parts in the middle, with a pair of shades glowing pink resting peacefully on his nose. Surrounded by brave Demons from all around, he holds a fragile baby crying his soul out, with the body of his mother joining the Yu as a shining yellow gas. Between the Demons and the shaded man lays a field of dead peers. Their souls have long left, but from what remains of their body, the agonizing screams begging for mercy could still be heard.

An orange-haired Demon takes a step closer, only to retract that same step the moment the shaded Demon glances at him.

'Come on, boys. Make your move, I promise to give you a swift death,' the shaded one said with dreamy eyes focused on the baby.

The confident and careless way he swung those heavy words sent shivers down the spines of all with ears. His words swayed half the crowd to leave in terror. Six individuals were left, with from the west another closing in.

'Seems like a worthy opponent is making his way. Alright, I'll be counting to ten. If any of you are within a quarter mile's distance of me, it'll be your end. 1 – 2 – 3…'

As he reaches six, one of them starts running for his dear life as the others get ready to fight.

'8 – 9 and 10.'

The bronze and broad wings of the shaded man appear from his back. He gently throws the baby 10 feet in the air. As the surrounding Demons look at the rising baby for the shortest second, they realize the man in the middle disappeared. The orange-haired Demon knows his fate is sealed, feeling the presence of the shaded one behind him, but not having the body to react adequately, he merely closes his eyes.

A storm of sands shreds his body to a million piecesl. From back to front, from his face to his feet, nothing but a clump of unrecognizable matter is left as the shaded one moves onto his next target.

After giving all that stood to fight a dirty desert funeral, he turns his head to the right, seeing the one Demon still running as fast as he can.

'I'm afraid that's not far enough,' he whispers, flying at the poor Demon that had forfeited seconds ago.

'Please, I beg of you, spare me oh Conqueror!' he pleads as the Conqueror approaches.

'I'm done sparing people,' he said as his palms grasp the poor Demon's skull, crushing it into a pulp, creating sand around him to consume the rest of him whole.

From behind him he hears a short splat, following the baby's cries becoming louder.

'Oh shit, I knew I should've thrown him a bit higher…' the Conqueror said as he flew towards the baby, 'oh well, I'm sure he's fine… I swear it won't happen again!' he said, lowering himself to lift him back up.

'Don't bother!' a voice yells from the distance.

'There you are… finally…' the Conqueror thought.

'Been a long time, Kairi,' he said now a dozen yards away. His hair long and straight, colored almost sky-blue, a few shades darker than his eyes. His hair drooped down, with some strands bounded together at the ends with gold rings. With a hunched back strut he walks closer, the strands on the front blocking his eyes in turns, alternating each step.

'I see you're not calling me King anymore, Yuzdo (Yüzdò), or should I say; Kuco?'

'Fuck that, the past is the past. You're no King anymore.'

'I'm guessing you're here for the baby too?' Kairi, the Conqueror asked.

'Nope, I'm here for you,' he answered.

Kairi gave a sigh, puffing up his chest and taking a step closer to Yuzdo and away from the baby.

'I like you. You know I'm against hurting my comrades, may they be of the past or present. I still carry your loyalty during the Kormoro's existence dearly.'

'I'm happy you do, but to be honest with you, Kairi, I lost a lot of respect for you after the fall.'

Kairi's face turned stern; 'I know… but that's why I need the little one right here, he'll serve me in getting my revenge. I'll make him pay, Yuzdo, I swear. Cuma will taste every last bit of my wrath.'

Yuzdo's eyes lit up as the murderous intent of his former King leaked from his otherwise calm demeanor.

'You've had your run, I think I'll be taking my chances on the main stage now,' Yuzdo said.

'Don't make me do this, comrade,' Kairi said, breathing out a puff of bronze Yu.

'I'm more worthy and I'll prove it.'

Yuzdo unleashes his azure wings, rising into the air as droplets of water fall off his body.

'I'm tired of following, Kairi. I want to lead.'

'I know you want to, it's too bad I'm around, right?' Kairi says rising after him.

'No, I still have a lot to prove, and what's better than defeating the former King of United Central and leader of the Kormoro? The kid will make a great apprentice too, I suppose.'

'Alright, enough daydreaming,' Kairi says as he charges forward, starting the battle off with a right knee aimed at Yuzdo's chin. With a smile, Yuzdo intercepts it with his palms, but Kairi extends his leg in an attempt to kick him in the chest. Yuzdo brings his elbows together, with his palms still on Kairi's knee.

If it was anyone but Kairi, the Conqueror, a kick with such low momentum would only leave a scratch at most, leaving him open for a counter. Unfortunately, Yuzdo's opponent's power defies any kind of logic.

The kick knocks Yuzdo back almost a hundred yards as blue Yu rises from his elbows.

'You're still the monster you always were!' Yuzdo says, smiling from his eyes.

'All these people beneath us died trying to put up a fight against me, none of them could even touch me.'

A narrow line of bronze Yu escapes from Kairi's knee as he breaks off the chunk of ice formed by Yuzdo. 'I've missed you,' he says.

Yuzdo bites his lips in anger. 'I've always hated that about you. That disgusting pride of yours…'

Kairi breaths out of his nose as he smiles with his eyes closed, confirming the truth in Yuzdo's words.

'I stand here, thinking about ways to defeat you, and you say you've missed me. Do you think so lowly of me, huh, Conqueror!?'

Kairi laughs; 'I stand above you, comrade. Even if you'd show me the face of the Beast.'

'Fuck you,' Yuzdo said, forming a razor sharp icicle in his right hand.

'I respect you for trying, but the truth of the matter is, I've yet to meet one greater than I am.'

'Says the one bested by the Deceiver.'

Kairi gritted his teeth at hearing that title. 'It was a fluke…'

'Didn't really seem like a fluke to me, either way, does it matter?'

'It does! He never bested me in battle, he used cheap tricks and my trust and loyalty to the people I cared about!'

'You spent centuries to build the Kormoro, roaming the lands of Central to form the greatest band of soldiers there could ever be. And what happened? Tell me, big man, what happened?'

'Watch your tongue, Yuzdo,' Kairi says as fury rose in his eyes.

'A slick motherfucker from the east came and took it all from you. And what do you have left? Nothing but yourself!'

'I'll do things right from now on. I trusted too many, thinking it'd do me good. The next time I'll pick my allies wisely.'

'The next time?' Yuzdo asked. 'Are you going to reform the Kormoro?'

'No, there are… none left willing to follow me.'

'Then what are you talking about?'

'Instead of spreading my ideology over a whole region, I'll condense my powers to a single kingdom, a kingdom I'll rule completely on my own.'

Yuzdo bursts out in laughter, 'my God, Kairi, you're something else!'

'What's so funny?'

'Look at you! You're all alone! You enforced your beliefs on the people of Central to such an extent, that people will fear you for centuries to come. And now you say you want to rule a kingdom!'

'I'll change,' Kairi said, 'after I kill that son of a bitch Cuma… I'll truly show the people of this realm my worth.'

Upon hearing that, within an instant, Yuzdo threw his icicle at the baby laying on the sand beneath.

Kairi reacted in time to stop it from piercing the baby's skull, but having his guard down cost him in an injury as the icicle pierced the palm of his left hand.

'Are you out of your mind!' Kairi yelled.

'Don't worry, I knew you'd catch it. Kairi, I'm your opponent. Don't you dare disrespect me by thinking of another at this time,' Yuzdo says with a look as cold as the icicle.

Kairi looks down at the child, who had cut his cries and portrayed the faintest of smiles, 'oh… I see, what a shame… poor little thing,' Kairi thinks.

'Distance yourself from the kid,' Yuzdo said, 'I want you to go all out.'

Kairi lifted his right hand and squeezed his fist. Sand gathered around Yuzdo, moving in to crush his torso. Yuzdo tightened his body as a layer of water shot out and covered the sand. With a gentle hand motion, he formed the moistened sand around him in a ball and froze it, sending it flying at his opponent beneath.

Kairi simply smacks it away with the back of his fist.

'Forget the child, it's only you and me now, Yuzdo,' he thinks. He launches himself at Yuzdo, with a speed much faster than before. Yuzdo prepares himself. With both his feet, Kairi kicks him into the distance.

'As-you-wish!' Kairi shouts as he flies after him.

With them entering clearer fields of the same Dead Ring, Kairi finally showed Yuzdo what he had been waiting for.

Yuzdo begins to whisper a chant.

'I don't have time to deal with your annoying accomplices!' Kairi shouts, pointing his index-finger at him as thin rays of piercing sand shoot out of thinner air in Yuzdo's direction.

Using the most minimal motion, Yuzdo evades all his attacks, closing his eyes halfway through.

With the rays continuing to fire, Kairi holds his underarm with his left hand as he goes from pointing with his right index-finger to a fist. Aiming at Yuzdo, he shouts; 'I'll shred you to pieces!'

From his fist, a cyclone of sand emerges, making its way towards the blue-haired Demon.

'Scatter, murder of crows!' Yuzdo shouts as thirteen crows made of ice appear out of his azure wings.

The crows make their way towards Kairi, but not before the cyclone would reach their master.

'Wall!' Yuzdo shouts as he pushes his hand towards the approaching cyclone, forming a wall of pure ice. However, the destructive power of the cyclone proved stronger, as it hit the wall and began thinning it rapidly. Unable to protect his stationary arm fortifying the wall, the rays of sand pierce a dozen holes in it, until eventually the crows reach Kairi, forcing him to halt his barrage in order to protect himself. The wall breaks at the last flurry of sand.

Kairi fights off the crows, half of them manage to rip a piece of his back, cloth and skin alike. The other half get pulverized one by one, falling victim to Kairi's crushing grip.

'You're great at keeping up, never letting me get a free hit,' Kairi says.

Yuzdo doesn't respond and continues his chant with Yu leaking from the wounds in his left underarm.

'You're still going on… then block this!' Kairi shouts, 'quartz spear!'

Kairi positions himself with his hand over his head in a throwing pose. A clearer type of sand forms a sharp spear, ready to be thrown. Before he could, however, Yuzdo finishes his chant, shouting; 'flood the wicked!'

Dark clouds appear in the sky, with Yuzdo flying away in a zigzag motion. Kairi ignores the weather completely, closing his left eye, aiming the spear at his opponent. 'Pierce!' he shouts as he throws.

Yuzdo tried his best, but having used a significant amount of Yu, together with the injuries he'd suffered, made him too slow to dodge a spear thrown by the mighty Conqueror. Yuzdo sees the spear continue on in front of him. He looks down and sees the gaping hole it had created, piercing his left lower back, exiting from the other side.

'Gotcha!' he says, rushing with a laugh towards the injured Yuzdo. However, a drop of water falling on his nose halts his movement. Surprised, he looks up as the rain pours down on his body.

'It doesn't rain in the Dead Ring…' Kairi says.

Yuzdo smiles, 'a water-Demon from East Central taught me this one,' he says with a thick cloud of Yu escaping from his mouth.

'Yuzdo.'

'Are you surprised? That's a good sign.'

'A simple rainfall won't stop me!' Kairi says, his fist ready to finish this battle, his wings spanning wide from excitement as he flies towards Yuzdo.

'Freeze!' Yuzdo shouts, turning the water on the drenched Kairi solid, slowing him down tremendously.

'Frostbite!'

Kairi lets out a cry of pain as the ice works its way into his skin. He breaks the ice off of him, but within a second the continued rainfall takes its place. The ice builds up with every drop, slowing the sand-Demon more and more each second.

'I will defeat you,' Yuzdo says.

…

But then, in the midst of his peril, Kairi, from the corner of his eye, saw the silhouette of a man most familiar approaching the resting baby afar.

'Cuma,' he whispers.

The face of his mortal enemy flipped a switch in Kairi's mind. Yuzdo didn't matter, the baby didn't matter, neither did his dreams to build an empire. At that very moment, Kairi cared about a single mission concerning a single man.

'Cuma,' he thought

'Cuma – Cuma – Cuma – Cuma.'

The man who destroyed his life's work. The man who caused the death of half the people he cared about, turning the other half against him. The man who entered his mind and refused to leave for these past decades. The man standing in the distance, about to serve him another loss. The man he wanted to kill most. The man he must kill to go on. The man he will kill now.

'Cuma!' he shouts, his voice reaching the ears of people miles and miles away.

Kairi's body tenses so much, it shatters the ice that had gathered on and in his body to splinters of frost. Like a falcon laying eyes on the first prey in days, Kairi rushes with the strength of his wings, assisted by gravity, down towards the unknowing Cuma.

Yuzdo watches with utter disappointment. A disappointment directed not at his opponent, but at himself. His dreams of one day defeating his former master shatter like the ice that had clung to him.

'How long will it take?' he thought, 'how long before I gain the power to pose the slightest threat to that man? How long until I live in Alem, not because he allows me to, but because I've deserved my survival?' But even worse than the disappointment was his jealousy.

He watches Kairi swoop down. With visible wounds aching less and invisible more, Yuzdo decides to rest, freeing the dark clouds above and letting the scorching sun shine on the back of his neck.

Rage induced, lacking every trace of serenity his demeanor carried seconds ago, Kairi crashes his mighty fist in Cuma's skull. Knowing a Demon like him can survive even headless, he shreds the Deceivers body with the deadliest sand he can manifest, until nothing but a fine dust of gray Yu returns to the nature that birthed him, confirming his kill.

Eyes widened, the Conqueror looks around him. First left, then right, above him, beneath, and behind. Meeting eyes with Yuzdo floating steadily closer, he rushes towards him, taking a hold of his head with both hands.

'Are you him!?' Kairi yells at the startled Yuzdo.

'Wh-what?'

'Are you Cuma or are you Yuzdo!? How do I know? How do I know I really killed him!?'

'I…'

'Tell me!' he demands, grabbing his neck with his left and creating a Quartz Spear in his right.

'I'm Yuzdo.'

'How do I know!?' Kairi says, squeezing his throat.

Yuzdo grabbed his forearm, pulling it back to release some pressure. 'Sh-shades… Jas-mine's… gift,' he utters.

Kairi releases his grip slowly with a calmer look on his face.

'I can't believe those stupid glasses saved me,' Yuzdo thinks.

'It's the kid…' Kairi says calmly.

'What now again…'

'It must be the baby…'

'What about him?'

'The baby is Cuma, I'm sure of it!' Kairi says, turning his head towards the baby.

'He… he can't be seriously thinking about…' Yuzdo thinks.

As Kairi made his way towards the innocent newborn, Yuzdo halts him by taking a hold of a wing.

'Let go!' Kairi shouts.

'I know where he is! I know where Cuma is, trust me! H-he's playing you from the shadows…' Yuzdo says.

Before Yuzdo knew, Kairi held his head again like he did before, looking deep in his blue eyes, searching for answers. 'Where?' he asks.

'Follow me,' he says, thinking; 'you owe me one, kid… I guess you weren't destined to join either of us.'

Yuzdo leads Kairi farther north, not caring about the destination, as long as it was far enough from here.

Minutes later, from the south, a Demon with spider silk-like hair senses a clear coast, and makes a second appearance.