Chapter 34: The Monkey King

Chapter 34:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

{___} - Internal Voice(s)

Join the discord! - https://discord.gg/gqSKcC43NW

(Not good.) 

A familiar metallic taste corroded his tongue as a stream of red liquid trickled down both sides of his mouth. In terms of staying alive his plan could be labeled a success, but Jin hadn't accounted for the damage being this potent after he had already weakened her attack, especially considering his durability. 

"Are you a cockroach in disguise or something?" She spat, clicking her tongue as the very sight of Jin still standing irritated her to the core. "Resisting this much is just going to make things more painful for you." 

"It's nothing new." He grinned. 

Though Kuroka did a good job making herself appear fit as a fiddle, Jin could see clear as day that she was starting to run out of gas. A natural result of her launching a barrage with near volcanic intensity. 

The fight had become a contest to see which would last longer, Kuroka's mana reserves, or his body, and Jin had a healthy amount of faith in the latter. 

(She knows that if tries something like that again I'll have the edge, which means—) 

The bottom of his feet tingled as he catapulted himself backwards, avoiding a cluster of roots which burst forth from the surface in an attempt to grab him by the ankles. 

(She'll try to keep me at a distance whilst using minimal energy in order to wear me out as much as possible, just like I'm trying to do.) 

The corners of his mouth stretched wider as he continued to skirt all over the terrain like a waterbug, accumulating nothing but minor grazes on his skin in the process. "Seems like you're getting a little desperate?" He taunted. 

"Save your breath." 

Kuroka was quick to come to terms with the fact that Mother Nature would be of little use against him, requiring her to switch up her approach. 

(Like I'd allow that.) 

Not wanting to be sent back to square one, Jin wasted no time lunging towards her at full-speed and putting the Nekoshou within arms reach. "This is what you were trying to avoid, no?" 

She had gambled naught but an instant in order to curate a better counter, and her gamble had blown up in her face. 

Light-spear in hand, he was pretty much guaranteed to drill a hole through her chest. Even though her reflexes enabled her to swiftly begin the process of casting a defensive circle between them, at this range Jin's speed was too much for her to handle. 

Especially with [Twice Critical] active. 

But whilst his spear moved towards her, his pupils suddenly dilated in tremendous fear as he felt a looming sense of death aimed straight towards his scalp. 

He couldn't explain it, but his entire being was fully convinced that death had somehow approached his horizon, ready to devour him in a matter of seconds. 

There was no room for hesitation, no room for thought, he was going to die. The fact that not even Adaloth had picked up on it until it was too late did nothing but reinforce the notion.

Which left him with only one option. 

He instantaneously halted his attack, not interested in losing his life a second time as the shine emitting from his gauntlet reached blinding levels. 

"𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜!"

His body hurriedly layered itself in a freezing aura as it raced to coat him in a set of shining silver scale mail from head to toe. 

Unlike his pseudo-activation during the Peace Conference, his [Balance Breaker] was significantly more — complete. Parts of the plated armor were embedded with icy jewels that seemed desperate to bestow a winter fallout on all that surrounded Jin. 

It was pretty much identical to both Ddraig and Albion's [Balance Breaker's] save for the fact that Jin's Fallen Angel wings were present where their Draconic ones were. 

CRACK!

But right as the armor finished manifesting, Jin heard a stomach churning crunching sound coming from his helmet, or at least what was left of it. 

(I might be in a bit of trouble here…) 

The end of a Bo Staff collided with his cranium with such speed that his skull was practically leaking like a faucet, Jin could feel his world spinning as he stumbled backwards in a fruitless attempt to regain his balance. 

"What are you doing Kuroka? Finish him off." A voice ordered, snapping her out of stupor as she quickly casted a tightly packed Senjutsu bullet. 

WHOOSH!

She aimed it towards the exposed opening on his slowly regenerating helmet in an effort to finish him off before he could recompose herself, surely this would be more than enough to silence him, right? 

"You fought well—" 

CRACKLE! 

The deafening screech of lightning assaulted her eardrums as her attack was completely thwarted by a simple beam of electricity. Almost like her Senjutsu had been mere child's play. 

"...What?" She muttered, turning towards the source of the intervention in shock. 

Raon hovered above Koneko as a bright aura emanating from his scales lit up the surrounding darkness in a deep blue. His eyes shifted between Kuroka and her supposed ally with nothing but pure rage seeping out of his being. Growls continued to bellow out of his maw as his head twitched vehemently. 

"Looks like you weren't just a pet after all." She chided, the move had only caught her off guard because it was unexpected. Even though Raon's power wasn't anything to scoff at, a hatchling couldn't possibly pose a real threat towards her. 

The Dragon faced Jin with evident worry on his face as he flew towards him, carefully inspecting the wound on his head. 

"Halfling…" 

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." 

Surprisingly, Jin had already begun to regain his balance whilst a thin layer of ice formed on his scalp to prevent any further blood loss. "If you're going to interrupt like that, you might as well introduce yourself." The fact that he was still on his feet made little sense, after all he had just been directly stuck on his head with immense force. 

Even if he was able to move, at the very least he would be in an gut-wrenching world of pain — 

And he was. 

But his training with Sairaorg had made him almost numb to the sensation, like it was a mere afterthought. 

"I suppose I should." 

The figure hopped down from one of the tree branches up above, landing only a few inches in front of Kuroka. 

"Oh? I remember you, you're Vali's getaway driver right?" Jin's comment earned a chuckle from him as he spun his staff before planting it into the ground. 

"Heh, that's a fun way to remember me. Name's Bikou." He smiled playfully, as if he had not just tried to explode Jin's head like a watermelon moments earlier. "Sorry, but I can't really afford to let my friend over here be killed y'know?" 

"Doubt you being here will change much, but sure." By now Jin's helmet had already finished reconstructing, causing his voice to sound almost robotic in nature as he spoke. "Guessing you're also here to get this one?" He pointed towards Koneko, causing her to flinch ever so slightly as the Monkey Youkai glanced at her. 

"Me? I couldn't care less about the kitten." He shrugged, earning a skeptical look from Jin. "I just can't afford to let her die ya hear?" 

"I see." Jin nodded, already trying to figure out how he would defeat both foe's on his lonesome. "Any chance the two of you could just leave?" Obviously a half-assed attempt like that wouldn't work, but part of him felt obligated to try nonetheless. 

Bikou hummed as he scratched his chin whilst looking up at the sky. 

(He's way stronger than her, the situation really has gone from bad to worse.) 

"I mean, we could." Before Kuroka could intervene Bikou raised his hand towards her. "But, I don't really feel like it to be honest. You seem like a fun fight." Once more, he spun his staff and pointed it towards Jin. "Well? How about it? Down for a scuffle with lil ol' me?" 

"Doesn't seem like I have much of a choice." Jin replied plainly, clenching his fists as he took his stance. 

"Yeah, you don't. But don't worry about our twintailed friend over here, she won't interfere." 

"What are you talk—" 

"I said you won't interfere." He replied sternly, in a manner that appeared out of character to Kuroka. "You're not strong enough to fight him anyways." He continued as both Jin and Adaloth readied themselves. 

"Halfling! You're still injured!" 

"I told you not to worry about it, didn't I? I've got this under control." 

Naturally he was just trying to reassure the child, in his [Balance Breaker] state he felt more than capable of dealing with Kuroka, but Bikou on the other hand — the pressure he was letting off felt more than twice as potent than her's. 

"Anyhow, you're probably bored of hearing me ramble on. Let's just get started shall we?" Bikou grinned as he hopped from side to side, though he looked to be taking his opponent lightly his mind had practically drowned out everything in his surroundings other than Jin. He quite literally couldn't be more focused.

He could sense his power clear as day, this fight would be something he could truly immerse himself in. 

Jin arched his legs as the plated armor covering his feet gleamed with Draconic energy, his eyes narrowing from within the confines of his metallic mask. 

WHOOSH! 

—

AN: Just to clarify, when Adaloth is acting through Jin's body she isn't using her original power, she is using however much power Jin has unlocked. For example, let's say (hypothetically) Adaloth had Ultimate-Class strength when she was unsealed, and Jin had High-Class. She would only be able to exert her strength on a High-Class level, but if Jin reached Ultimate-Class then she'd be able to use that. 

If it's still confusing or you have more questions about it, or really anything in the story you can go ahead and shoot them here.