Road 7: The Clashdown

In the midst of the bustling and brightly lit city of Arima, a lively crowd was gathered, enjoying a festive atmosphere. Street performers and magicians entertained the onlookers, and amidst the cheerfulness, Aisha sat in a cafe, quietly observing the scene outside. Aisha's face appeared sad as she waited for Kai to bring Aira home. Old Man Hugo, seeing Aisha's sorrowful expression, felt concerned.

Old man Hugo sighed, troubled by Kai's recent journey that had already encountered such problems. 'Aisha, don't worry. Kai and Aira will be fine. Come, let's go up to the rooftop of the shop', said old man Hugo. Aisha stood up and followed old man Hugo, her mind still troubled about Aira. Aisha walked with her head down, lost in thought about what had happened. 'Aisha!' old man Hugo Hugo's voice startled her, and she looked up. As she lifted her head, Aisha saw a stunning sight—the shop lights brightly illuminated the streets, even more vibrant than before. A sense of calmness washed over Aisha's heart, and she began to smile. Old man Hugo gently rubbed Aisha's head, hoping for Kai and Aira's safe return.

Far from that place, beneath the ground in the hiding place of the Dum bandits' group, chaos ensued due to Kai. Aira, hearing the commotion, felt a sense of safety knowing that only Kai was capable of causing this turmoil. Not far from Aira, Kai stood calmly, observing the man who had kidnapped Aira. 'From the moment I entered, I knew you were one of the strongest here!' The man who kidnapped Aira smiled upon hearing Kai's words. 'My name is Sniege, nice to meet you..' Kai leaped towards Sniege, attempting to attack the bandit leader, but his punch hit an ice wall that suddenly appeared. 'Oh, it seems like you underestimated me…?'

'No... I didn't underestimate you!' Kai kicked Sniege, surprising him and sending him flying. 'Better get rid of the pawns before killing the king, hmm... but this foolish man is not a king, just trash!' Sniege began to rise from his fall and laughed. 'Hahaha! You're quite interesting!' After finishing speaking, the temperature in the area dropped, and the place where Sniege stood froze. Kai just smiled quietly, looking at Sniege. 'Looks like you've met a tough opponent.' The temperature in the underground rose again, and the area became warm and hot, all due to Kai's aura.

'So you can control two elements, interesting!'

"Ice Rebellion!" Ice shards began to attack Kai. With his speed, Kai easily dodged the ice shards. Sniege smiled as he watched Kai dodge his attacks. "Ice Tiger!" A giant tiger made of ice attacked Kai and nearly clawed him. Using both his hands, Kai managed to hold the ice tiger's claws and punched it until it shattered. Sniege smirked and continued his assault. "Bird Dance!" Kai felt a bit strange as the attacks from Sniege didn't stop, as if they were only meant to test his abilities. Kai continued to dodge the attacks and ran towards Sniege, feeling the pressure of time. Kai had to finish this as quickly as possible because he was still worried about Aira. "Blaze Fist!" Kai's punch released red flames, attempting to strike Sniege. Sniege just smiled and blocked Kai's punch with an ice wall. "I'm gonna show you our differences!"

Aira, still in captivity, was visited by the man with the wooden cane. The man approached Aira with an angry face and opened Aira's cell, grabbing her hair and pulling her out. 'So this is what y-y-you m-m-mean?!!! How would your h-h-hero save you if I u-u-use you as a ra-ra-ran-ransom?'. In the area where Kai was battling, ice covered the area and Kai was seen kneeling and badly injured, ice shards sticking out from his right shoulder. Kai breathed heavily, and his vision was slightly blurred. 'You're really strong, but I am stronger' Sniege looked at Kai, badly injured, with a sense of awe as there were only a few who could endure this long when fighting him.

'Oiii, kid!!! L-lo-look here!! S-sto-stop and g-g-get out of here!!' The man with the wooden cane pointed a knife at Aira's throat. The bandit leader, who had been watching Kai's battle with Sniege, turned towards the man with the wooden cane threatening Kai by using Aira as a ransom. 'Yahahaha!! So that's where you are!! Yahahaha!! Now our victory is clear!! You tell your boss that this is over, this Princess Aira will be sent to your boss!!!" The bandit chief smiled arrogantly, thinking he had won.

'Oi. oi, oi!!!, do you think this is over? You just need to stay there quietly because I'm coming to thrash you!!' Kai's spirit was still strong, making Sniege amazed by Kai, who was still trying to fight even though Kai was badly injured. 'Just give u..' before finishing his words, Kai was already in front of Sniege and punched Sniege's face sending Sniege flying far. Kai just stared at the bandit's chief with a sharp gaze, 'Wait here, your time will come'. Sniege got up from his fall and was surprised by the sudden increase in Kai's speed. Before he could finish thinking, a kick was unleashed towards Sniege. 'What the hell happened!!, his speed is like nothing before..!' Sniege began to scrutinise Kai more closely and saw Kai surrounded by a lightning aura. 'So.. you use lightning to enhance your speed.'

"Purgatory Flame," Kai utilized his technique, engulfing the area in flames. 'You can't defeat me with your flame!' "Ice Chaos," Sniege began to launch an attack, and ice started to form and assault Kai. Sniege's attack was easily evaded by Kai, and he continued towards Sniege. "Fiery Punch!" Sniege started using his technique, and a wall of ice blocked the punch from hitting him. Kai's punch was held by the ice wall. 'I told you that you wouldn't be able to defeat me!' After that, the ice wall began to crack, and the fire in the punch grew larger than before, causing the ice wall to shatter and Kai's punch hit Sniege.

'Oiii Sniege!!! What are you doing?!! Defeat him!!' the bandit chief started to worry because the situation had changed, Sniege had lost. His shout went in vain as Sniege didn't appear after being hit by Kai's punch. 'What-what-what's happening?!!' the man with a cane began to fret. Kai's gaze focused on him, and the man began to fall as his knees trembled, fearing what Kai would do to him. The knife he was holding began to fall, allowing Aira to break free. Kai started walking towards the bandit chief, who was frightened and grabbed his collar, pulling him towards Aira. Kai passed the man with a cane, and the man could be heard whispering, 'hehehe, hahahaha!! My name is Garnile, one of the Shadow leaders…' Aira, hearing the man whisper, started to get surprised and confused because the way the man spoke had changed.

'Now, I think I need to get involved in this..' Kai started feeling uneasy as an evil aura began emanating from the man, and he quickly jumped away from the area, taking the bandit chief with him. 'I should've left you there and let you die..' The bandit chief started to feel terrified hearing Kai's words when he saw the area emanating a dangerous aura. To his horror, he saw a rat had died after approaching the area. Kai was exhausted, his breath getting heavy, and blood didn't stop flowing from the wounds he received from Sniege. Aira realized this and began to think about how she and Kai could escape from this place. Kai, who had been tirelessly searching for Aira all day, was exhausted and didn't expect that he would encounter two formidable opponents. Given his severe injuries, the situation was getting worse. Saving Aira was the only thing on his mind.

'Hmmm, I thought my luck was bad for encountering a formidable opponent, but it seems I'm fortunate because I found the man I've been looking for,' Sniege's voice startled Kai, making Kai cautious as he might have to fight two strong individuals. Sniege noticed Kai's caution and just smiled, saying, 'Don't worry, I don't want to fight you. I've found my target... Garnile, an important figure in the Shadow Group. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time.' Garnile was surprised to hear Sniege's words. "Oh, it seems I have an enemy. Why are you looking for me? Have I ever done anything to you? Maybe you're one of the village people I poisoned. Ohhhh, I like to see people die from my poison, skssksksksks!' Sniege, upon hearing Garnile's words and laughter, just smiled and said, "So, I don't need to say anything more to you."

"Five years ago, there was a village named Kala. The residents were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a person, and that person was Sniege. Sniege was revered as a hero by the village due to his extraordinary abilities. The entire village held great respect for him. Sniege's return after 3 years was meant to be celebrated by the village.However, seven days before Sniege's return, the village was struck by a severe drought. The situation was resolved with the arrival of Garnille. Garnille used his powers to address the drought by creating a river in the village and seeking out a water source. While Garnille successfully solved the drought problem, he had insidiously poisoned the water source. As a result, the villagers suffered from a grave illness, and day by day, they succumbed to the effects of the poisoned water. Upon Sniege's return, he was devastated to discover that almost all of the village's residents had perished. The village he had left was now in ruins, and its beloved inhabitants had died due to the deceit of one person. Sniege swore to avenge them and kill Garnille with his own hands."

'I'm sorry for taking your opponent this time; I have a long-standing grudge with him.' Kai, still injured, remained silent, disregarding Sniege's words. 'Silence, I don't care about your past, but this person is my enemy now!' Sniege, hearing Kai's words, began to get angry as Kai refused his request. Sniege felt that Kai was being ignorant and a selfish for not letting him seeking revenge. 'You're useless. I thought you understood the meaning of honour, but I didn't expect you to hinder me!I'll kill both of you!'

Kai, ignoring Sniege's words mmediately leaped, launching an attack towards Garnille. Sniege, seeing Kai act first, just watched him. Garnille, with his creepy smile, countered Kai's attack with his poisonous wall. After touching the poisonous Kai immediately leaped away as his hand, affected by the poisonous wall, it felt like it was burning due to the effect of the poison."

"Kai remained silent and immediately leaped, launching an attack towards Garnille. Sniege, seeing Kai act first, just watched him. Garnille, with a smile, countered Kai's attack with his poisonous wall. Kai's hand, affected by the poisonous wall, started to get injured; it felt like it was burning due to the effect of the poison. Garnille, behind the poisonous wall, laughed at Kai, who could no longer use his hand affected by the poison. While he laughed, the poison wall froze and crumbled. 'I told you to hand him over to me... you're really disobedient, go treat your hand and leave!' Kai remained silent and smiled, 'Hmm, who needs treatment, my hand is fine.' Using his flames, Kai burned his hand to eliminate the poison's effects.

'It's still too early for me to surrender and lose!!'

'Silence!!!' Kai's body froze into ice and didn't move. 'Kai!' Aira, seeing Kai freeze, was shocked. Aira immediately picked up a stone and tried to throw it at Sniege. 'Calm down, young lady, he's fine.' Aira, hearing Sniege's words, felt relieved and sat down. She felt that Sniege wasn't an evil person and it would be better not to interfere with his affairs. 'Now we are alone... Shall we continue?' Garnille, hearing Sniege's words, was surprised because he saw Sniege's power freeze Kai so easily. Garnille started to think of various ways to escape because he knew he couldn't win against Sniege. He started to feel scared and tried to escape, but he couldn't because his legs had frozen."

'Your time has come…'

"Ice Blade," Sniege created an ice blade with his power and slowly stabbed Garnille. Garnille, who was stabbed, tried to free himself but couldn't; his hands and lower body began to freeze. Suddenly, a large spear attacked Sniege. Sniege stepped back to avoid being hit by the spear. A man dressed in all black with yellow hair was holding the large spear. 'Looks like my dear friend's in trouble.' The mysterious man remained silent, astonished, observing Garnille's almost frozen state. 'Save me, you bastard!!' Garnille yelled, the mysterious man then turning his gaze towards Sniege. 'My name is Nagi, one of the Four Fingers. The man you've frozen is also one of them. Sadly, I have to save him.' The man introducing himself as Nagi just smiled. 'Oiii, where do you think you're taking him?!' Sniege looked very angry as his prey was about to be taken away. Nagi's demeanour began to change upon hearing Sniege's words."

'I don't like people who don't follow orders. Do you think you can defeat the two of us?!'

Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Sniege and grabbed his shoulder. 'Shut up and just sit here.' Sniege remained silent, staring only at Nagi. That guy is Astroth, one of the 4 Fingers. He's hot-headed, so don't do anything foolish.' After Nagi finished speaking, Kai appeared in front of Nagi and punched him. Blood sprayed from Nagi's mouth.

'Arghh, that ice is so hard to break. I tried to melt it with my fire, but it takes a very long time. It seems we have new players. Let's start…'