«KYO-O-ON!» - Bai roared and ran to his grandson at great speed.Diana, Juno, and Stephanie jumped out of their seats, stunned. In the battle with Kara, Kyon could defend himself with a s.h.i.+eld. Now he must be dead!
The audience screamed in horror. The stream of fire would melt even a metal wall, let alone a defenseless first-phaser! He was definitely dead!
When of a sudden, contrary to all expectations, a green sword flew out of the fiery cloud and entered Yegorka"s solar plexus an inch deep. Some black substance could be seen on its tip, the element of darkness.
«а-ааа-а-аа-а-аа-аh!» - Yegorka howled in pain and bounced a few steps back. His whole body shuddered in agony. The pain was so unbearable as if glowing pins were pierced under his nails. He infused the wound with pure energy, which dispelled the remnants of the darkness and helped him to regain his composure. However, he was still trembling, his forehead soaked in sweat.
At that moment, Kyon flew out of the flaming cloud, absolutely unharmed. He attacked again, but to no avail. Yegorka had come to his senses and moved much faster than him.
Bai froze, dumbfounded by what he saw. He never crossed the arena.
Diana, Juno, and Stephanie clapped their hands to their mouths all at once.
The shocked audience began whispering. – «Did you see it? The fire couldn"t hurt him! Even his clothes are untouched! How is it possible?! He is only in the first phase! He can"t defend himself against the fire, not if the opponent has such a huge advantage in development!»
Kyon shook an invisible speck of dust off his shoulder as if he was talking a leisurely walk. – «Your flame is kind of weak, Yegorka. It lacks some masculine energy if you know what I mean.»
Yegorka"s face distorted in a grimace of hate and rage. He muttered hoa.r.s.ely:
«How did you survive?! How did you avoid my flame?! Why are even your clothes intact?!»
Kyon decided it was a great time to mess with Yegorka.
«It"s all because you hit like a girl. Maybe you are a girl, after all?»
«You… Shut up, a.s.shole! SHUT UP!»
They heard Flitz cough somewhere not too far away.
«Come on, dearie. By the way, thank you for your nice little present. Soaring Angel... I really enjoyed it. I can still feel the effect. Too bad, you"re not my type. Go and find yourself another guy.» - Kyon said with an arrogant smile.
Yegorka was shaking with anger, his face turned red. He was on the point of exploding. – «You stole it from me? It was YOU? You stole my future with Juno!»
Juno covered her eyes in shame. Her beautiful delicate ears turned a charming shade of crimson.
«I would never allow you to go out with my sister, that"s why...» - He cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered to Yegorka. – «I asked Flitz to cut off your b.a.l.l.s.»
Yeorha"s face turned gray. A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. It all deemed to add up... All his troubles began with this d.a.m.ned slave, since the very moment he appeared! Kyon was to blame for everything!
At that moment, the flame around Yegorka"s sword turned dark. He started emanating waves that suppressed the will and inspired fear in the souls of those around them.
«The attribute of darkness! Yegorka has mastered the fourth element!» - Yegorka"s former master yelled happily, running his fingers through his hair. His student was a great genius who had a very promising life ahead of him. Now the name of his first master would take an honorary place in the family history!
Yegorka"s status had instantly increased in the eyes of the Stones. Pract.i.tioners with four elements were considered great geniuses. They had a great future. Fortune favored them. Yegorka was going to reach great heights!
The elders looked at Yegorka with rapt interest. The most promising young man in the family turned out to be even more talented than they thought!
The girls squealed with delight. Even Juno was surprised by this turn of events.
Yegorka mastered the darkness after the series of tragic events that had happened to him. His life became a nightmare. He had lost everything he held dear: love, home, resources, manhood... He hated the whole world, especially two people in it. It was then that he discovered a new element.
Kyon whistled grimly, glancing at the dark flames swirling around the sword. What should he do now? The effect of surprise wouldn"t work this time. This moron had completely lost his temper. He would fight tooth and nail. However, that was Lovr"s intention. But what"s next?
The good news was that Kyon didn"t have to look out for any residual attacks like heat. When he mastered the advanced grade of wind, he worked out a new technique that originated from his past world. He used science to discover the vacuum barrier. The complete absence of all kinds of particles on his skin prevented any residual attacks from transferring energy to his body through the air.
But there was a catch. He couldn"t avoid getting burned if a red-hot sword touched his body. He could also expect trouble if the heat was transferred by an object or fast wind capable of penetrating his vacuum barrier.
Yegorka"s sword shone brighter. Then it flickered dazzlingly, covering the entire arena in black and white spots. A dark flame danced and buzzed predatorily around his weapon. He was going to use his favorite technique.
«The sword of four directions! Yegorka, don"t! You will kill him!» - shouted his former master. He knew better than anyone else how dangerous this technique was. If his student used it now, his opponent was doomed to death. And it meant death punishment for Yegorka! The master would lose all his glory if his student killed the patriarch"s grandson!
«THE BATTLE IS OVER! I order to end the fight!» - Bai shouted deafeningly.
The audience held their breath. Juno clenched her fists.
«I don"t give a s.h.i.+t. You will die with me, dirty slave. You will die for ruining my life!» - Yegorka shouted and rushed to his opponent.
Kyon saw the dark weapon suddenly turn into four illusory swords, each of them was pointed at his vital point. Their speed was much higher than all the previous attacks. It was impossible to dodge.
«WI-I-I-I-IT!» - Bai yelled. His daughter and granddaughter rushed from their seats to the arena.
Kyon pulled out his gun in a honed, precise movement and fired without a second"s hesitation.
~bang~
The bullet pa.s.sed through his open mouth and shot through the mucosal tissues. The insides of Yegorka"s skull flew out like fireworks and spattered the whole arena. The already dead body with a large hole in the head was still moving forward by inertia knocking Kyon down.
A sudden silence fell in the stadium. Someone let out an ear-piercing scream. The patriarch"s grandson had killed his opponent in an instant as if everything was just a game or some kind of scam.
Bai looked at the corpse who used to be a member of his family and then at Kyon. He was dumbstruck. However, the patriarch quickly came to his senses. His grandson was pale as a ghost.
«Are you injured, Kyon?!» - When the old man pulled Kyon from under the dead body, his eyes widened. There was a wound in his chest. It was rather deep but it did not reach the heart. Given that it was the attribute of darkness, his grandson must be experiencing h.e.l.lish pain!
The patriarch was horrified, but his cold, rational mind took over. Bai immediately infused Kyon"s wound with pure energy to free him from the invasive element. If darkness reached his heart, his grandson would die a fast yet excruciating death. However, to his complete surprise, he did not feel any foreign energy in Kyon"s body.
Kyon was still in a state of shock. It wasn"t so easy to dispel the attribute of darkness if the opponent was 15 stages stronger. What had happened? Why did he feel only a slight resonance with the key of darkness when Yegorka hit him? Yegorka"s energy of darkness vanished just like the time Kyon had a battle with Tsayan. Only then it was the element of light. Could his gluttonous key-spheres really able to completely neutralize the element? Or absorb it... Anyway, it was too close this time. He could have died a terrible death.
A crowd of people ran up to Kyon: the elders, the tournament partic.i.p.ants, Diana and Juno. Everyone looked at him as he was an anomaly. Some of them were worried, some were shocked and appalled, others felt hostility and even hatred.
Alright, he won, he proved his overwhelming power. He left no doubt that he was a genius! But at what cost? He had infuriated Yegorka and killed him! The most promising talent in the Stone family was dead! He was at the 4th stage of the superior phase at 14. Lee, Stone number one, was only two stages above but four years older than him! Yegorka would have surpa.s.sed him by that time! He had a great future ahead. The elders were already making plans for him. And now he was a cold corpse.
Kyon pretended to be unconscious.
«Is he alive?» - Diana asked anxiously. She was on the point of crying.
Bai felt his pulse and knew at once that he was simulating.
«He is alright. The blow did not reach his heart. I have removed the darkness inside him.» - He looked gloomily at all those gathered around. – «The qualifier is over. Kyon... I announce Kyon the winner. He is the tenth partic.i.p.ant in the family tournament.»
Thousands of spectators hesitantly applauded. Next second, the cheers gave way to a heated discussion. The Stones fell into two camps. Some of them said that Kyon had defended himself. He had won fair and square, using a powerful technique because he had no other choice. The others claimed that his behavior had been impudent and excessively rude from the start. He had deliberately p.i.s.sed Yegorka off. Self-defence was nothing but an excuse to kill his relative, which was a great sin by the standards of the family.
They all agreed on one thing, though. The end of the battle, as well as Kyon"s talent, was shocking and scandalous.
Before the doctors put Kyon on the stretcher, he had absorbed Yegorka"s soul. A young soul appeared somewhere in the heart of the void. It hated the guts of the one whom it served as a valuable and nouris.h.i.+ng source of power. Wasn"t it ironic?
Apart from his soul, Yegorka gave Kyon ten turns of darkness. A nice harvest from a hare-brained dumba.s.s.
Bai, Diana, and Juno followed the doctors who were carrying the stretcher to the nearest hospital. No one else was allowed to follow them.
When Kyon was in his ward, he overheard a conversation in the next room.
«I don"t know, daughter. I"m not sure... My grandson, he... He doesn"t seem right. He holds aloof from our ways. He doesn"t accept family values. He has nothing but contempt for his relatives. He is... He is like a demon!»
«Father! It"s my son you"re talking about!»
«He killed Kirsan!»
Diana gasped for breath. Juno silently leaned against the wall.
«Kirsan... Kirsan wanted to punish him, but Kyon mercilessly killed him. And now, Yegorka. I don"t even know why... I don"t know! Maybe Kyon was envious, or he just didn"t like Yegorka... He attacked from the very start as if his life was at stake. It seemed a bit too excessive! He provoked Yegorka to take the battle seriously, and then he pushed him, pointing out his weakness. Then, under the pretext of self-defense, he used a gun! But all he had to do was just to give up! I believe he did it to take part in the tournament! I am... I am giving up on him, Diana.» - Bai fell silent for a while, covering his face with his hands. The old man"s eyes went dark with uncertainty and disappointment.
Diana didn"t know what to say. Kyon had become her official son. Her att.i.tude toward him was different from her father"s. A son is a son, even if he is a killer. Diana had only one regret. She wished she had spent more time with him.
«Father, give him another chance. I don"t believe him to be a villain as you imagine him.»
«Alright.» - Bai finally nodded after a long pause. Then he left the hospital with his daughter.
Soon, the patriarch filled in the list of the partic.i.p.ants and sent it to the Grands to approve. The list couldn"t be edited no more. It was the law that ensured that the families would think strategically and carefully which of their geniuses to send for the tournament.
As a matter of fact, Bai wasn"t against the idea of sending Kyon to the tournament. His grandson had proved by his cruelty and strength that he was worthy to be at least number ten. If he was so eager to be in the spotlight, let him be. As for Juno... It was a different story. She would also take part in the tournament, but it was no place for her! Well, things hadn"t been going well in his family... Lee, Eric, and Stephanie, the cream of the young generation of the Stones, did not inspire much hope.