King was in a pinch.
He and Seiren had successfully found Annabel after their class fell in the pit created by the enemy, but not before the pervert had gone and got himself stabbed in the shoulder and the side of the stomach by two of the crystal spikes at the bottom. So now the leader of the healer-sensor five needed to focus her attention on healing him and someone needed to provide cover for both the medic and her patient.
If Earthling Class #1’s ‘big’ battle ram were faced with only one opponent, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but right now he was up against three. That trio included Zalan, the bastard who had aided in the crumbling of the ground beneath the hot heads’ feet with his quake deva, the deviant who had created the crystals the pit was full of and another who had a teal energy deva.
Zalan was the most irritating of the three. Partially because he resembled King himself in appearance, except that he was taller, his hair – reddish-brown and his eyes – olive-colored, but mostly because his abilities inhibited the Earthling’s speed the most.
King could only move fast on even terrain, but when every surface he could use shook and cracked, utilizing the power of his Daroid was all but impossible. The only way he could pull it off was to go with full force again and again to dodge the tremors and cracks caused by them. In the present moment the speedy warrior dodged yet another quake wave only to see how the other members of the villainous trio sent a teal energy wave and hundreds of double-terminated obelisks at Seiren and Annabel.
These attack were sent from opposite directions, so there was no way the muscle-bound glutton could stop them both. He released his scarlet energy compound to a level where a whole cloud of it formed around him to try and do the impossible. And the impossible happened.
The reason for that wasn’t King overusing his deva, though. It was due to the intervention of a lightning bolt that had come out of nowhere, shredding the obelisks to pieces while the giant ripped the energy wave apart.
After that the bolt landed on the ‘big’ battle ram’s back, revealing itself as Hikaru, having a smile that was as confident as his classmate had ever seen on his face.
(Hikaru) ‘-Well done, Blackscale! I was sure you’d be dead already, but you seem to have just been incapacitated!’
(Seiren) ‘-I won’t be for much longer, Summerbolt. I like the tan on your back, by the way. How’d you accomplish that so fast? By being a dumbass?’
Although Hikaru stood on King’s back, he thought that maybe the mad genius considered his classmate to be nothing more than a prop from which to look up high on his rival. Maybe the reason the lightning freak intervened at all was to humiliate Seiren by putting him in his debt, rather than to save him and Annabel.
(King) ‘-I’m also here, guys. Can you postpone your rivals’ banter a bit while we ensure our survival?’
A new earth-shattering wave was sent at the quartet now, Hikaru teleporting Annabel and Seiren away from the range of Zalan’s attack, cladding King in his bolts, which lead to the transformation of the Daroid cloud around him into a scarlet ministorm. With the speed boost he had received, the ‘big’ battle ram zigzagged around the cracks on the ground to shorten the distance between him and the Martians’ seismic warrior, the young Summerbolt also making a move at the same time. He attacked the crystal and teal energy deviant with a barrage of lightning shots just as they reached the pervert and his healer, stopping them in their tracks.
King managed to pass through Zalan and his two classmates with one arc of scarlet energy and lightning, landing a heavy hit on each of his opponents, the crystal one managing to cover himself in an armor of his deva to lessen the damage from the attack.
Seiren had finally been healed while all this was happening, however, blasting that crystal armor to pieces with his bright red fireworks, leaving burns on his foe’s skin that distracted him long enough to receive a finishing explosive head-butt.
(Seiren) ‘-That’s for all the damage you did to our class with your crystals!! (Hikaru got off King’s back now, dispelling the union of the two’s lightning and Daroid while Annabel joined them and Seiren) Thanks for healing me, Bel.’
(Annabel) ‘-You should thank King for providing cover for me all this time, so I could finish healing you. Hikaru, too.’
(Seiren) ‘-Good job, King.’
(Hikaru) ‘-No gratitude for me, huh? Not that I was expecting such a thing from a perverted bastard like you.’
(Seiren) ‘-Since you weren’t expecting it, there’s nothing to be disappointed about, right?’
(Annabel) ‘-You two can keep on bickering while I heal Hikaru. We’ll need you at full force when Zalan and those others strike again.’
She placed her palms on his back after saying that, running cyan healing energy over the burns he had suffered. King thought that having a burn like that would be quite painful, but the young Summerbolt didn’t even seem fazed by it. He definitely had something much bigger on his mind right now than his wounds.
(Hikaru) ‘-There won’t be time to heal me all the way, Bel. Not now. (the healing beauty was as confused by the mad bolt’s words as the pervert and the glutton) Me, Blackscale and King have another place to be. I came here after leaving Keiry in safe hands. She located Hock and Gorudora before that and neither of them is near this battlefield.’
(King) ‘-Where are they, then?’
(Hikaru) ‘-Across Kisdeya River, along with Nepalo.’
(Seiren) ‘-The members of the Martians’ Ares Trio are just sitting there, waiting? Why not join the battle here?’
(Hikaru) ‘-I suspect it’s all part of their strategy. While the Hera Trio delay Tora, the rest of the enemy forces are meant to face our class on the big central field. Except for Hock, Gorudora and Nepalo, who stay behind so they can move in after their classmates have tired our forces down out here, taking us out with minimum damage for those three. And their plan is probably to do this before Tora can finish off Lara and the Nelaz twins, so the rest of us can be neutralized by the time he gets to this field.’
(Annabel) ‘-And with the Ares Trio still being in good shape and Tora being all alone, they can take him out when he arrives and ensure their victory!’
(Hikaru) ‘-Precisely.’
(Seiren) ‘-We’ve fallen right in the bastards’ trap, then!!’
(Hikaru) ‘-Not necessarily. All that needs to be done to turn things in our favor is for someone to hold off those three until Tora gets to this field. I’ve already given our guys a key to turning the tide of the battle within the pit. With the healers’ support for us and the absence of the Ares Trio for the Martians, their forces here can now be taken out. If any of our people on the central field are still battle-able when Tora arrives, they can join up and aid us in finishing off Hock, Gorudora and Nepalo.’
(King) ‘-So your plan is for you, me and Seiren to hold off the Ares Trio?’
(Hikaru) ‘-We three are what’s left of the frontal assault group of our class. There’s no one better suited for a task like this. If we pull this off, we’ll rob the Martians of the advantage they have over us. Victory will be assured from there.’
(Seiren) ‘-Another one of Summerbolt’s crazy ideas. This one I like, though. Let’s do it.’
(Annabel) ‘-If you’re going after the Ares Trio, I should definitely be by your side.’
(Hikaru) ‘-No, Bel. You stay here. I know the original plan was to not leave you alone, but seeing as how the enemy’s strategy isn’t what we thought it was, we’ll have to change ours as well. You’re the strongest and most experienced fighter among the healers and sensors, so you can be far more useful here, assisting in the defeat of the rest of the Martians. (Hikaru, Seiren and King looked at each other for a moment) Plus, if we’re to hold off those three, we’ll have to go beyond all-out. You don’t want to be anywhere near us when that happens.’
(Annabel) ‘-But leaving you alone …’
Annabel’s worry was well-founded, but the more the hot heads delayed in executing HIkaru’s plan, the better chances the Martians had of defeating them. Instead of listening to what she had to say, the Daroid user grabbed each of the rivals by the neck and jumped beyond the pit, darting towards the pines from there.
(King) ‘-We’ll talk again when we’ve won, Bel!’
Crossing what remained of the pinewood area of Nebula beyond the central field with King’s energy compound took less than a minute, the valley of the Kisdeya River revealing itself before his eyes soon enough. And on the other bank of the river he could clearly make out three silhouettes. As Keiry had told Hikaru, the members of the Ares Trio were just waiting here. Waiting for the right time to strike. Such a time was never going to come now, thanks to what King considered the equivalent of those three for Earthling Class #1.
(King) ‘-There they are. Do we have a plan of action from here on?’
(Hikaru) ‘-We can’t allow them to fight together. Splitting them up comes first. You’re the best match for Hock because you both have the Daroid, so you take him on, King.’
(Seiren) ‘-Then you ought to fight Gorudora because you can both use lightning, Summerbolt.’
(Hikaru) ‘-I intend to.’
(Seiren) ‘-That leaves the strongest one for me! Ha-ha!’
(Hikaru) ‘-That’s right. So you better not screw this up and lose to him too fast.’
(Seiren) ‘-There’s no such risk as long as …’
A crescent that was a mixture of a scarlet and electric violet color passed beyond the river and through the Earthlings’ Ares Trio then, Hock, Gorudora and Nepalo coming out of it. Hock dragged Hikaru down a nearby gully, Gorudora teleporting himself along with Seiren amid the rocks on the other side of the river with his carmine bolts, while Nepalo crushed the giant in the waters of Kisdeya with a burst of crimson energy.
Things certainly hadn’t gone according to plan so far, because all three hot heads were facing the wrong opponent. The time for worry had passed, however. Right now it was time to fight. Against the man renowned as the King of the Martians, just as Ulura was their Queen – Nepalo, the Crimson God of War.
Now that he looked upon his opponent up close, King thought he had never seen a more plain-looking person: average height and muscle mass for his age, average complexion, straight black hair, dark brown eyes. No distinctive features whatsoever. No emotion on his face. Nepalo could pass off as a puppet if only puppets were as devoid of personality as him.
This appearance could be a trick, though. The giant’s normal form didn’t look like much, either, and that had made his opponents underestimate him to the speedy warrior’s advantage. He couldn’t let himself fall in a trap like this now.
Nepalo was getting ready to say something, but his adversary interrupted him by unleashing his attack.
(King) ‘-Sorry, but I don’t have time to chat, fellow King. (the first wave of the attack took the shape of a barrage of fists made of Daroid energy, after the target was destabilized by them King himself moving in with a barrage of his own fists and kicks, not allowing a moment of respite amid his superfast combos) DAROGIANT’S 1000 FISTS!!!!’
When faced with an opponent like this, who was clearly hiding their true power, the key to victory was not allowing their trump card to be put to use. To neutralize them before they can act. And so the ‘big’ battle ram held nothing back with his two-staged attack, finding himself out of breath by the end of its execution.
What was left in front of him was a smoking hole with cracks stemming from it, scarring the valley’s face within a range of over 50 meters. A part of the valley gave in under all the pressure it had been put through and collapsed over the place where King had left his opponent lying down, ensuring further damage.
The muscle-bound glutton started searching through the rubble to confirm his enemy had been defeated, making a discovery that defied reason. Nepalo was indeed amid the rubble, just sitting there with no change in his appearance – not a scratch on him and his face still being as expressionless as before.
(King) ‘-T-this can’t be …!!! Even if you were a Daroid user, there’s no way you would’ve been able to evade all those attacks!! No one could evade all of them!!’
(Nepalo) ‘-I didn’t evade them. Every single one of those fists and kicks landed. I commend you. You’re almost a match for Hock in terms of speed. Yet your attacks lack power even more than his.’
King’s utter surprise had now turned to rage.
Seeing as how this was just a Class Battle and he had never released such a powerful attack against an opponent whose actual power level he wasn’t aware of, maybe the giant had unconsciously held back a bit. He knew how strong he was. His fists had brought down many a foe. There was definitely some kind of trick behind Nepalo being able to survive such a barrage unscathed. This time King needed to really break all the restraints his mind had put on his power. To just focus on sheer destruction. Without mercy.
He lunged at the leader of the Ares Trio with a speed that made him fear he would hurt his own body, everything around him becoming a blur. Luckily, his target stood still right in front of him, so he didn’t need to see him clearly, but only ensure he’d keep going in the same direction. And release the greatest barrage he was capable of when he reached his target.
That’s what King thought to unleash when he was pierced between the chest and the stomach, stopping prematurely. Huge amounts of crimson energy spread around the Earthling, his vision still being a little blurry from the high speed he had just moved with to clearly discern anything else.
As the pain from the piercing wound became stronger and his eyesight returned to normal, he was struck by shock again. The arm that had pierced him was connected to something, but that creature did not bare any resemblance with Nepalo. Standing taller than even King in his giant form, it had bright yellow eyes burning with murderous intent, its mouth being a shredder full of wide and sharp teeth with brown smoke coming out of it. Its hair was a cluster of long and thin strands sticking out in all directions, its skin – pinkish-red with patterns of black shapes here and there, a number of dark gray spikes coming out of its face and body.
(Nepalo) ‘-I see you have nothing more to offer than those hollow attacks, so I’ll spare you any further embarrassment. And I’ll just end it all for you right now.’
