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Return of the Fallen Volume 5 Chapter 101

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Author: Blue_Rat

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ch101

Etora and Fera continued to clash and shake the world around them. Dark energy once more began to seep out from between the cracks the two left in their wake. Sam and the others had their own difficulties and could not stop Reya from going after Kazuki.

In the distance, Kazuki’s body flashed and blurred, leaving several afterimages behind. His speed after entering the 4th stage was unparalleled to his peers and he would leave any other foe at the same stage in the dust. He knew this for a fact, yet behind him, Reya who was delayed for nearly a minute by Asuna and the others was now gaining on Kazuki.

Kazuki cursed bitterly seeing this.

“Damn this ugly bitch! She’s getting closer and closer.”

(Her fused body obviously makes her faster but what about defense?)

Kazuki created a blue flame and threw it behind him.

The distance between the two was several thousand feet and closing but with the two’s speed, they could cover that in basically no time. Once Kazuki threw the fireball behind him, it appeared in front of Reya about as fast as one could blink.

Reya was no fool. Even if her body was tougher after fusing, she still recalled how dangerous Kazuki’s blue flames were. She sidestepped it and didn’t give the fire a chance to inflict any damage before she kicked off the ground and sped up some more.

“You’ll have to do better than that human worm!”

Kazuki saw this but wasn’t discouraged.

(She’s cautious of my attack but that doesn’t prove if she’s actually vulnerable to it. I have to think differently if I’m to attack her. How though? Sam’s Heisho armor was barely doing anything to that other Azirian, and his armor is stronger than any steel. Can my flame do anything to her? If I’m to find out I need to at least touch her with it first.)

Kazuki’s main objective was to flee as far away from there as possible. He needed to escape and find someplace to hideaway. Only then would he be able to bide his time and grow stronger. No matter how far he went, high or low, in the end, would not matter so long as Reya followed. Reya’s stamina was seemingly unlimited while Kazuki, on the other hand, may have an enhanced body but he was still human. He could go weeks without food and nearly as long without water but his body would still grow weary, and his mind fatigued. He would need time in order to rest and recover. As things went through, even if he ran for months straight eventually Reya would outlast him and kill him in a weakened state.

In order to reach his main objective of getting away, he had to first delay Reya so he could have enough of a gap to disappear from her sight.

Kazuki looked at his waist for a moment and gripped the black ruler.

(Should I try it?)

Reya’s body flashed forward and she was now only a few hundred feet away. Kazuki grit his teeth.

(This thing uses so much energy and drains one’s mind but its power is something that can’t be underestimated.)

Kazuki peeked up at the sky. He would have liked to wait until he grew stronger and reveal this Black Ruler possibly taking Garn by surprise and maybe killing him in one go but there was no other choice right now.

Kazuki held his right hand in front of him and several blue fireballs hovered above his palm, each one bigger than a person’s head. He didn’t stop and the number of fireballs grew at a rapid rate. Using his other hand, he flashed several ancient hand signs, and a soft glow emanated from the blue flames. One last thing, using his dark magic, he created one more ball of energy and tossed it to the ground in front of him out of sight. Leaping over it, he raced ahead just in time for Reya to step on it.

As soon as she did the black ball of energy expanded all at once and created a huge cloud of black fog, blocking Reya’s vision.

“Hmph, you think this fog will stop me from chasing after you!”

Reya ran forward to escape the fog but as soon as she took a single step, she stepped on one of Kazuki’s fireballs. As soon as she did the soft glow emanating within expanded and the fireball exploded and with it, a large chunk of Reya’s foot and leg exploded as well. The blue flames started to climb up the rest of her leg and she was forced to sever the rest of her leg to prevent the spread of the flames.

She knew how dangerous Kazuki’s blue fire was. They were not something one could just snuff out and they would continue to burn until there was nothing left.

The place where Reya cut slowly regenerated but before she could leave the black fog, Reya froze her steps and saw many blue fireballs laying in wait like landmines scattered all around her on the ground.

“So you’ve placed some traps! I’ll just fly out…”

Reya only now looked above her and found that in the black fog she could see small blue glows covering the route above. Were she to fly up, she would no doubt run into a dozen of them before she escaped the fog. This was all part of Kazuki’s plan.

No matter where Reya looked, there were blue flames hovering around her or lying on the ground. No matter which route she took, she would run into them.

“Kazuki, you cheap fucking bastard. Run all you want coward, this fire…this will not stop me!”

Reya grabbed dozens of her arms and ripped them off with ease. The very next moment she threw them out all around her, activating the fireballs.

All at once, dozens of explosions rang out before Reya charged forward. Following that, dozens of more explosions echoed all around and flames scattered in every direction.

After a few moments, the sound of explosions died down and Reya charged out of the black fog. Several places on her body were engulfed in blue fire and large holes covered her entirely. Reya was forced to sever and tear away large portions of her body. This time, however, her body was recovering at a much slower and noticeable rate.

After she ripped off hundreds of limbs and cut away hundreds more, her body had shrunk down several times but finally, she was no longer a burning torch.

Reya though was not happy at all. Her eyes glowed a firey blood filled red and she cursed.

“That bastard dares to use traps on me like I’m a fucking rat. I’ll crush him, I’ll strangle him and chew on his bones and after his organ is reduced to a pulpy liquid, I’ll suck them up and drink him.”

Reya’s curses and anger though were her own distraction.

*Schink*

Reya felt a strange tug on her body. It felt as though someone pulled something off of her upper back down to the middle of her stomach. Her eyes naturally looked down and she saw a strange thin piece of black metal covered in fire poking out from her chest.

“You didn’t really think I would simply run away, did ya?”

Reya recognized the voice behind her and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“KAZUKI!!!!”

Her head snapped around 180 degrees and her arms divided. some gripped Kazuki’s weapon while the rest stretched behind her but Kazuki already had a palm open directly behind her.

“BURN!”

Before Reya’s arms could reach Kazuki or her mouth could open and snap at him. A large pillar of blue fire shot out of Kazuki’s palm like a flamethrower. It covered nearly all of Reya’s body and her arms and body were charred and turned black. Her head turned to ash and her body fell to the ground.

Kazuki had wanted to run away a moment ago but something caught his attention. He noticed that Reya was still hesitant around his blue flames and once he sensed her leg being damaged from the blue flame, he knew, he could deal with her. He knew she would be weakened once she left the black fog and that would be the perfect opportunity. He had to go for it when she was regenerating. Only when she was weakened, regenerating, and furious would her guard be at it’s lowest.

Not only that, when she grabbed his weapon, he knew she was done for. She had done it too rashly, to try and either hold Kazuki in place or take it from him but that was part of her downfall. With her own hands grabbing it, she would have no time to get away from Kazuki’s attack. Taking a blow from that close, it was over.

Kazuki pulled his ruler away and wrapped it back around his waist like a belt.

He didn’t have to show off his new weapon’s abilities too much and was able to kill Reya without revealing his secrets in front of Garn. Kazuki couldn’t help but look up at the sky and smile toward Garn’s pure white palace.

Thinking about how things played out just now, Kazuki realized how lucky he was. If Reya had thought more clearly, she would not have been taking by surprise. At the same time, Kazuki was lucky that he didn’t have to keep running. He had come fairly close to the Abyssal trench and he could already feel some interference with his magic. If he couldn’t use magic at that moment, things would have certainly been worse.

Staring at the palace above, Kazuki wondered just what exactly Garn wanted. Garn had not interfered at all. Whether for good or for bad, he simply watched everything go down. Had he stepped in, he could have turned the tides for anyone he helped.

(What are his intentions. I am his enemy but so are the Azirian’s. Does he just wish for us to kill one another and then he’ll clean up the pieces? What is his actual goal here?)

Up in the sky, Both Brian and Tobern wondered the exact same thing. Tobern pointed at the ground below.

“Garn do you see that. Kazuki actually won, you missed an opportunity to save him and put the bad blood between you two behind. Now, what are you going to do? If you step in, you can still push back Fera but will that really gain you any favors with Glacious? Stepping in at the last moment when you’ve been here nearly the whole time, I don’t think they’d be too grateful and probably see it as a spilled cup of wine, an insult.”

Tobern began to ramble before he remembered.

“Speaking of Glacious, I still see no signs of him. Fera’s words couldn’t be true, could they? There’s no way she really killed him, right?”

Brian watched Garn carefully for any change in expression before he spoke.

“Garn is that why you have yet to make a move? You yourself are unsure if Glacious is dead or not? If he is and you help Kazuki, then you’d have helped your enemy for nothing. If you sit here and watch them die though and Glacious is alive, it could all fall on your head since you didn’t help. I think though you are missing the real dilemma here.”

Garn looked over at Brian.

“And what dilemma would that be?”

“Your pride. Can you put it behind and help a fellow human. Save them from humanity’s enemy or will you continue to be stubborn and let Kazuki face Fera’s wrath so you can be satisfied. One choice may gain you nothing and at the same time, it would put you at odds with a powerful force but in that same line of thinking we as humans were bound to face Fera eventually. In the end, what will you choose?”

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