Chapter 101

It was late at night. Kyon was sitting on a bench at the training area, turning the white-black ball of Seraphim unique body in his hands. The pain of the recent tortures had subsided.

He had finally made up his mind and threw the pill into his mouth. He swallowed it with difficulty.

When the tasteless medicine got to his stomach, it turned into a black and white fog that immediately rushed to the keys and entered them. Then it went through the channels into his soul where it condensed into a black and white kernel. It all happened in an instant.

All of a sudden, Kyon felt weird. The world kept changing brightness. It was getting too dark, then all of a sudden, it was like a bright sunny day. His emotional state also fluctuated.

The kernel got fixed to the very core of his soul, where it stuck like glue. It looked nothing like the pill he had taken. Beautiful black and white patterns that used to be intertwined now had split up in hatred. They separated into different poles, which made the kernel resemble a planet with daytime at one side and night time at the other. A moment passed... The core began to spin, faster and faster with each second. The dark and the white tried to attack and absorb each other. Chaos reigned in Kyon's soul.

He let out a long moan and pressed his eyes with his fists to stop the annoying hallucinations. He did not understand what was happening. It should not be. He wanted to destroy everybody and everything, get even with Juno, give her the order to finish off Dinah, turn over a new leaf, and at the same moment, he wanted to forgive each and every one, free Juno from the slave shackles, and apologize for his unforgivable actions. After that, he would thank Marina and Martha properly.

He realized at once that his emotional state was being torn between the good and the evil, the light and the darkness, Archangel and Archdevil.

{It's unthinkable… I've double checked everything a thousand times! The Cycle of Creation had to stabilize the body. Then why is it happening?!}

Kyon was getting worse and worse. The mood swings washed over his mind like ebbs and flows. Sooner or later, one of them was going to win, and his personality would dissolve in the absolute evil or good, with no chance to get back to normal. Either of the two options didn't bode him well. The good side would set him up, turn him into a weak and feeble fool. Juno would gladly enslave him and take advantage of him for all her needs. She wouldn't forget to torture him properly for everything he had done. The evil side would ruin all his plans. He would lose the profit he was hoping to get from the Stones. They might even arrest him for his hasty revenge and execute him without trial.

He knew one thing for sure… He had to do something.

Kyon picked up the Dragon God pill, but he knew better than take it. As soon as the energy of the pill got inside, he would be dead. He suddenly remembered the medicine that could destroy any unique body, but there was none of the kind in his ring. He had to go to the treasury. However, when he took the first step, it became clear he wouldn't make it too far. {Fuuuuuuck!}

Kyon roared and infused his core with Synergy trying to stop its spinning. In response, all of his Synergy disappeared, but the spinning accelerated a thousandfold. Neither side had won. Instead, it flashed green. The glow was so powerful that it entered the channels and left his physical body.

The space around Kyon warped.

He collapsed to his knees, his head touched the ground wearily. It seemed to have worked out after all. He didn't lose his personality, the core stopped spinning, both sides (the dark and the light) calmed down. Or rather... Synergy worked as a negotiator, establishing a temporary truce between the two sides. They made up for a while and turned into a spatial attribute.

{What?!} – Kyon was surprised. As far as he knew, unique bodies with spatial properties were only rumors. There had been legends about them for the last thousand years.

He called this body Seraphim because it symbolized the mighty angel who was close to god. He also remembered that Lucifer, the personification of evil, was once an angel, too. Now that there was a kind of connection between darkness and light, he had to rename the body into something associated with a spatial attribute.

{The body of the void!} – He found the name at once.

Kyon was really glad everything had worked out. Deep in his soul, there appeared a unique body with an unprecedented spatial attribute inside. He could only wonder what features it was going to give him. But it was too early to expect anything.

The question arose: how to grow it?

Kyon listened to his soul. He listened for a long time... But he could hear nothing. Indeed, nothing but emptiness... When Juno got her new body, she understood at once what it wanted, and he...

{What is this? Some kind of fraud?}

Kyon offered it pills, spheres. He sniffed different food, ran, jumped, used elements, Synergy, even smoked for some weird reason, but his body did not respond in any way.

He calmed down, entered into a state of meditation, "silenced his mind," entered the deep phase of sleep to hear at least something, but everything was in vain...

When Kyon woke up, he kicked the wall in a fit of rage.

The promising and powerful unique body refused to speak with the owner. How would he know what it needed?! How should he develop it?!

Kyon experienced a rare feeling of helplessness. At the moment of his despair, the gate to the training ground creaked. Juno, the False Angel, appeared before him in her attractive skin-tight training suit. A perfect timing, cutie... It was high time to blow off some steam on her.

Juno approached him cautiously and bowed slightly as a greeting. Her voice was full of sincere reverence, but it was evident that she was pretending:

«The apprentice welcomes her master!»

First things first, Kyon ordered Juno to tell Dinah not to harm him, never ask anyone for permission to cancel any orders given to her, and to discipline her for violating the lady's previous instructions. Let the maid think that he had told on her. It would be even better that way. He wasn't looking forward to the day when he woke up with his throat cut, or rather, didn't wake up with his throat cut.

When Juno came back with a frown on her face, Kyon flexed his neck with a crunch. The expression on his face did not bode Juno well.

«I order you to release all your elements for a battle with me. Attack!»

The corners of Juno's lips rose in a smile. In her bewitching, emerald green eyes flickered a desire to fight, but she was in no hurry to start the battle.

«Can I count on the reward of spheres each time I hit you, Master?» – Juno asked ingratiatingly.

Kyon nodded. Juno could not hold back her joy, her pretty face was beaming with delight. The next moment, she attacked him without any delay. She was convinced she would defeat him and get a whole bunch of spheres this time. Her energy key had been pure enough to give her a significant advantage over the boy at the pathetic 4th stage.

*bam*

Their fists collided. Juno flew back half a meter, dumbfounded. Her fist was numb, just like the previous time. Nothing seemed to have changed since then, nothing at all!

«Why?! But WHY?» – Juno shouted, holding back bitter tears. All week long, she had been training for hours every day. She couldn't get enough of her newfound strength. She thought she would defeat her master in a couple of blows, but ... Nothing had changed! Her expectations were in tatters yet again!

Kyon gloated. «Was the apprentice hoping to surpass her powerful teacher?»

«It's not an answer!» – Juno glared at him indignantly and gave a warning stamp of her foot.

Kyon had set up the 4th stage in the bracelet of concealment. That's why Juno couldn't understand what was going on. During the battle, the fighters usually reveal their actual stage of development. Juno didn't realize he had concealed his. That's why she didn't feel the change in the power of her opponent and failed to react in time.

«My mediocre student, never forget that your master is always better than you in everything. Now try again.» – He beckoned her towards him.

Juno arched her thin eyebrows and frantically continued sparring, focusing on her defence, just like the last time.

Just a couple of seconds later, she exclaimed in shock:

«What?! Are you already in the sixth stage?!»

It was a relief to know. Kyon's excellence humiliated her. He was two stages lower in development, after all. And still… How could he possibly have developed two stages in a week!

Kyon wanted to take advantage of her confusion, but she retreated. A variety of emotions flashed across her beautiful face. Juno had to accept the harsh reality with a bitter smile when she admitted that his flow of energy was 900%. That's why he could develop so quickly.

The battle began again.

Juno tried to hit him with electricity, but for some reason, he was immune to her advanced grade of the element. She threw wind blades at him but he managed to block them with the ether barrier. When did he master it?! Juno's advantage in speed used to help her avoid the direct clash with his fists. However, after his development had risen two stages, his speed accelerated, and she no longer felt at ease.

Juno really did not want to lose. She was so sure that she had become stronger than she used to be. And now the nasty, rude servant was going to beat her just like he did last time. She shuddered at the mere thought. Juno didn't know what to expect of him. The proud little weasel claimed to be her master. Would he spare his own apprentice? Did he have any conscience at all?

Kyon was in his element. He could defeat Juno at once. All he needed were the wind, the water, and the earth elements to raise his level of the battle fist to 13. Yet, he decided to wait until Juno finally gave up. He wanted to see her pretty face distorted with fear of being beaten and humiliated. And then he would bring all her fears to life. There was one catch, though. He could not create barriers of ether and isolation at the same time, which means he couldn't block the attack of electricity and the wind blades at the same time.

Juno looked depressed. Her enemy could predict each of her movements. She felt like a rabbit driven into the trap. The electric shock and the wind blades did not work at all. What could she possibly do without her speed advantage after all?!

Meanwhile, Kyon giggled to some of his sadistic thoughts, mumbling under his breath something along the lines:

«The master isn't pleased with his mediocre student. The master will punish her with pain for her weakness…»

With a grimace of disgust on her face, Juno pressed against the wall, when suddenly a dense stream of water shot out of her hand with a splash.

*bam*

Hidden inside the jet, electricity discharge reached Kyon and found a loophole in his insulation barrier. It struck him really bad. His whole body shook violently... For a second, everything swam before his eyes. When he came to his senses, Juno kicked him in the guts with a battle cry.

Kyon tucked in his legs in flight and quickly got to his feet. He stopped the approaching girl with a gesture.

«Stand still!»

It was no order but a request, but Juno stopped nevertheless quite reluctantly. A triumphant smile lit up her desperate face. Her assumption that the servant's protection against electricity was only partial had been confirmed.

«Well, well… Who's mediocre here?! While you were wasting time and resources in the treasury last week, I had mastered the element of water! Only a genius can bend four elements! Ha-ha-ha! Master, you should see your face! Aren't you ashamed of your incompetence? Your student bends four elements, and you only two! Ha-ha-ha!» – The stream of her angry words seemed never to run out. The dripping contempt in her little voice was unmistakable... She spoke with an air of superiority, her lips curved into a scornful smile...

Kyon wanted to beat her even more. Juno was talented, there was no doubt about that. The water and the ether elements are a powerful combination. His basic grade of the ether couldn't create a barrier all over his body, which made him extremely vulnerable against water attacks of the insolent mean girl.

Juno laughed mockingly at him, holding her stomach:

«Well, master...» – She emphasized the last word with obvious disdain. – «Are you going to continue the battle? Or will you humbly acknowledge your incompetence and give up?»

The young lady was 100% sure of her victory. Moreover, she was no longer afraid of the boy.

«I've punished you for your insolence more than once, but you have learned nothing.» – Kyon said irritably, making a tsking sound.

Juno's smile disappeared at once.

«You can order me not to move and beat me here and now. But don't you dare call yourself my master after that. You will earn nothing but my eternal contempt!»

«Come on… Let's do it fair just like before.» – Kyon answered with a malicious grin. Juno had an unpleasant feeling of déjà vu. She made half a step back and said uncertainly:

«You are cunning! You have no chance, but you act as if you were winning an unconditional victory!» – A bright thought flashed across her mind. – «Master, you already owe me spheres for the blow that you've missed. But let's make another deal. You clear my key when you lose, and I won't despise you. Even more so, I'll give you a foot massage!»

Kyon burst out laughing at such impudence. «Why not?»