1st floor,
Teleportation zone of newbie Contestants
Kai felt odd, as he stood there in the dry bleakness.
Once again, he was standing on the earth where he had begun his journey many months ago. In front of him, there were hundreds of caves; dark tunnels running down into the pit of the earth.
This was where she would come out from.
"It was her Soul-Blood drop," Kai told Meg, who was standing by his side. "I don't know who that flaming being was, but he had forcefully claimed half her soul, and along with it, half of my control over her. I can feel her. She is coming.
"And if she doesn't bend to my Will, then we will have to kill her. The curse has lost its meaning to me weeks ago already. Only Karma remains. And I think I can deal with my Karmic Cycle by myself too."
"It will be difficult, master," Meg replied. "Our Stats are restricted, and we can't use Mana, Spiritual Energy, and even the complete extent of our Abilities. Our Skills are locked, and though you can use your Glitch, it is nothing without the Abilities. We can use Items, but we don't have the strength to back them up. Our City Passes allowed us to come here unhindered, and our pretense of bringing the newbies to the City of Assignments might work as well. But if even two or three of the newbies grouped against us, then…"
Kai knew what would happen then. "They are here."
A gust of dry, hot air breezed over the open mouths of the tunnels, and newbie Contestants came out one after another.
Two, three, ten, forty…
Kai counted them all, standing far from the nearest cave. When the hundredth Contestant had come out, only then did his senses pick up her existence. He could feel it, his control over half of her soul and body.
Even the very air had receded, leaving behind a choking silence.
Then she came out.
A red blur, Kai noticed, his eyes narrowing. An enormous red cloak with high collars flapped behind her as if it had a life of its own. Her body seemed to be covered in a red-black rubbery costume from head to toe. Even from here, he could see her eyes, glowing green.
Four iron chains were flailing about her, lashing out at anyone unfortunate enough to come in her approach. All Contestants backed away as she walked towards him, her feet scarcely touching the beaten ground.
She had sensed him as well.
When she arrived a few feet away from him, goosebumps stood up on Kai's hands and the back of his neck. A devilish hunger for revenge and monstrous waves of power were ebbing out of her, flowing towards Kai.
Her entire face was hidden behind the black mask with white crescent-shaped patterns over her eyes. Suddenly, all iron chains snapped, whipping at the earth, and shattering the ground just under Kai's feet.
Boom!
Kai stepped forward, shocking the already-stunned Meg.
He grinned and a hint of his bloodlust seeped out of his hazel eyes. His slave trembled. The iron chains receded, melting back into her body, and her red cloak, billowing majestically without the wind, fell on the dirt. At last, she dropped to one knee.
"Selena greets you, master," she said, her head down, and her voice echoing. "I have returned."
"Who was he?" Kai asked, not wasting any time.
"Not he, master," she told him, lifting her head. "He was a HE. Malebolgia was HIS name, a Deep One. I have HIS Blessing now. The Blessing of…
"… Spawn."
…
"Haha!" Kai laughed demonically, less at the name and more at the irony of meeting another Deep One. "Spawn… yes, that suits you best, I guess. Let it be your name. Haha!"
Spawn had bent as Malebolgia's servant, but the only one who rose was a slave. A slave of a Demon, nevertheless. Her iron chains slithered out, and her high-collared red cloak left the ground, billowing with a bloody aura.
The green glow in her eyes exploded, becoming the epitome of revenge, hatred, and Hell.
The tale of Spawn had finally begun.
*
*
Huff! Huff!
Kai panted, his right eye completely shut and swollen, its color purple.
His upper body was naked, and hundreds of wounds had claimed his chest and back, bleeding and stabbing now and then. Just above his waist, there was an arrow running through and through his abdomen.
Fangs hovered over his shoulders, their blade covered in green and red viscous liquids.
Kai pressed his toes into the grass and mud under his naked feet, and grinned, his laugh low and demonic.
"Come on, girls," he spat. "You can do better than this." With one jerk, and gritting his teeth, Kai pulled out the arrow, blood splattering on the dew-covered hilly ground.
In front of him, dozens of meters away, was Spawn, her long, red cloak billowing, and her four iron chains flailing menacingly. Her body was covered in cuts even more hideous than Kai's, and green juices were oozing out from them. But in the next instant, they closed up with a rate that defied even the monstrous healing abilities of the Contestants. Her green eyes blazed as they narrowed at him.
Up in the air, with huge paper wings on her back, was Meg, nocking another arrow on Jet Wing. The ground around Kai was covered with her Origamis that kept ambushing him, testing his senses.
Hisss!
Kai looked over his shoulder and saw Selene slithering, coiling around herself, her tongue flicking out to taste the air.
She dashed, becoming a white blur. From his front, a blurrier red figure came for him. Three paper Meg jumped out of the ground, each holding a sword, an ax, and a kunai.
Two arrows targeted his chest and his legs.
Kai let out a breath and took a step.
Selene was slower than Selena, but she was closer too. She reached him first, her entire length lunging for Kai's neck, baring her venom-infused fangs.
Kai slithered. An afterimage appeared where he was standing, and Selene's head went right through it. Kai grabbed her from the back of her head before she could become intangible and slammed her into the earth. A heart-gripping crunch racked the ears.
-Stay down, my precious,- Kai hissed.
The iron chains came for him, together with the arrows. Kai slithered again, as the sabers hovering above him blurred, and parried the arrows. The iron chains split the air apart as they came for him, but only found an afterimage in his place. With the barest touch, Kai was moving like a bleeding shadow, his long white hair swaying and taunting the Hellspawn.
The paper-Meg threw their weapons at him, but before they could come close, invisible hands grabbed them, throwing them back. The origamis exploded, but now four more rose in their place, rushing for him.
Spawn grunted in anger meanwhile. She was faster than Kai, as his Stats were restricted, but her chains failed to even scratch him now.
Kai laughed at her attempts.
Suddenly, something grabbed his ankle. Kai's head snapped downward and saw a red cloth bursting out of rock, and coiling itself around his leg in a steel-like grip.
Oh, shit! When Kai looked up, she was already in her stance.
Eight Trigram Sixteen Palms…
The fastest Contestant in Kai's group didn't even give him time to think of an escape.
Two Palms!
Her hands blurred, hitting Kai's shoulders.
Four Palms!
Now, all the iron chains hit his chest, blood showering all over.
Eight Palms!
Her two hands split, becoming four, and together with iron chains, they kissed Kai's body at eight points. Then, eight more scythe-shaped arms jutted out of her black-red costume.
Sixteen Palms!
Kai was already coughing up blood, but at this point, he got a moment to think. One thought was enough to bridge the gap between his actual and restricted Stats.
His eyes glowed red and the sabers hovering mid-air disappeared.
Twin Saber Style…
Fangs were like arrows, their blades shuddering as the Telekinesis pulled them. Then, with a monstrous pull, Kai reversed the Telekinesis' acting direction instantaneously.
… Viper Strike!
Boommmmmmmmmmm!
The power behind the move was so great that the boom rang far, stretching for miles.
It wasn't just power, though. For long the Telekinesis had remained Elementary. No matter what Kai did, he just couldn't move up its Proficiency after bringing it over 95. Yet, in this moment, it soared, surpassing even Kai's expectations.
…
[
Elementary Telekinesis has upgraded to become Advance Telekinesis
]
…
Spawn got thrown off into the distance, but Kai wasn't done yet.
Using the Fangs' great momentum, he threw one of them at the figure hovering midair. It was so fast that Meg didn't even get the time to move. The reptilian-eyed blade cut right into her.
Then Meg fell, becoming paper.
Kai's eyes narrowed. When did she switch?! He asked himself, shocked.
Meg answered with an attack.
One origami disappeared, showing a burst of speed impossible for its kind. Meg's feet landed behind Kai, and she thrust the longsword into his back. The sword went in with no effort.
In the next moment, Kai's body blurred out of existence. It was an afterimage.
Kai grabbed her from the back of her head and slammed her on the ground too, before lifting her back and throwing her somewhere far.
Now, he looked at Spawn. She looked back at him.
They lunged at each other, dozens of spikes protruding out of her costume, pointing at Kai.
He saw her, felt her emotions, and concentrated on his thoughts. The moment she attacked him, Kai fired those thoughts in her mind and snatched her thoughts from her in return involuntarily.
Kill! Kill! Kill! She was thinking.
Ma, please don't kill me! Kai mimicked little Hao's voice in his thoughts.
Selena suddenly halted, a spasm running down her body.
"You are Spawn, not Selena anymore," Kai said. He was merciless. He made a fist and bashed it into her face. It was like hitting a solid wall of iron. One more punch, and then another. Kai rained down punches and kicks on her like a torrential rain until the flesh over his knuckles split apart, white bones surfacing out, tasting the air.
When she was half buried in the earth, her red cloak lying lifelessly over her, Kai straightened his spine, his eyes bloodshot.
"Pathetic!" he scoffed, walking off, heading for a small hut in the distance.
"Today's morning routine was the best," Kai told them, not caring if they were listening at all. "It's time to go to the Random World of Harry Potter, I guess."
***************
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