Chapter 174: The Last Ki Heart

Howard's body seemed to explode into little pieces in front of Oclen's eyes.

However, what he was seeing exploding wasn't Howard, but the final Ki Heart he was trying to develop. Unfortunately, Howard had tried to develop the 60th Ki Heart, and the burden on his body was too much. He instantly shot to the other side of the room. His face turning pale while his black hair gently fell down against his shoulders.

'59 Ki Hearts… Wait, no…' Oclen focused on Howard's body and noticed a small Ki Heart remained where the previous one had exploded. '60 Ki Hearts! However, what the hell is with that last Ki Heart? It's roughly 3 times smaller than the rest of them.'

Howard smiled and instantly laughed while an unnatural feeling began to spread through his body. Whereas before he felt like he didn't have a shred of energy left, suddenly he could almost feel 60 new heart beats beating strongly inside of his chest. It felt like he'd transformed into a completely different person, yet something didn't feel right. The Last Ki Heart had indeed exploded, but something strange had grown in its place. It was as silver Ki Heart that he made as a last resort. It contained the Ki Cells that were responsible for his silver flame, and when he focused on it, the most terrifying feeling spread inside of him.

'Maybe I should've just stopped at 59.�� Howard recalled what he did in those last few minutes.

Each type of Ki he controlled besides the silver ki, Dark Ki, Dream Ki, Fire Ki and Emperor's Ki each used the same type of Ki Cell to control them. They all were able to be amplified by his Ki Hearts that he just now created, yet he noticed that this wasn't true for the silver ki.

The Silver Ki, the one he'd yet to fully control, seemed to use a different type of Ki Cell that was in the farthest reaches of his body, yet it also had the strongest Ki Cells. When he was about to fail on the 59th Ki Heart, he focused on the Ki Cells there and made them rush to build a new Ki Heart before the other one exploded.

However, when he focused on that Silver Ki Heart now, it seemed to possess almost the same strength as 50 other Ki Hearts combined, yet he also noticed a nefarious will hidden inside of it! One that made the feeling from when he used Dark Ki seem almost insignificant! It was truly a type of Ki that seemed rooted in evil, yet there was nothing he could do now! He wouldn't dare destroy it.

"You're probably the first person in history to develop 60 Ki Hearts." Oclen helped Howard up while he wobbled on his toes. "However, I have bad news, the more Ki Hearts you make, the longer it will be until you can train again. I'm guessing you'll have to wait 20 days until you can fully exert yourself. That will give us 80 days to train for ambushing Armecolith! However, I will be the one in charge of the planning, do you hear me?"

"Hehe, I see five of you," Howard smiled and patted the air. "Oh, that's not your shoulder. Haha, why don't you make a plan, Oclen while I sleep for a little while. Hehe, just promise me one thing.."

"What?" Oclen said, crossing his arms with a mixture of annoyance and awe. "I-I let you turn into a complete monster, and I have no chance of killing you even in your sleep. What can I do for you, Howard?"

"Can you go visit Jenny?" Howard's mouth began to surge with blood. The blood from the internal injuries he'd sustained from activating Fire King's Last Stand. "I-I ran out of vials, haha. Tell her about it, and she'll immediately know what to do."

"Hmph, no way?" Oclen stomped his foot on the ground. "No way am I doing that for you! Damn it! Where is she? What does she look like?"

'Go to the East Branch, and you'll find her in the Experimental Wing. She's really pretty, and almost always wears a lab coat with glasses too large for her face. Besides for her brown hair, she also has really nice-nice comfortable cleavage."

"I-I'll do my best," Oclen sighed before his hand hit Howard's neck with his maximum force. The next moment, Howard instantly passed out while the 10 remaining sets of armor all appeared around Oclen with their weapons drawn.

"He-he needs to be knocked out or he might die," Oclen stomped his foot on the ground. "Now, move! Move now before I destroy every last one of you for getting in my way!"

"Hmph, you deserve a reward." The largest statue patted Oclen on the shoulder. "Your Ki Hearts are damaged, however, Demon King Earl was an avid horticulturist. There is a fruit called the Life Blossoming Cherry that will help you grow back your Ki Hearts. You can consider it a much faster way to grow your Ki Hearts back than slaughtering dozens of Authoritarians."

Oclen somewhat trembled in rage before he nodded his head. He didn't deserve to be rewarded. Not after what he just did to Arthraku Nation! He just created a monster that had no rival in all of history! Perhaps only Demon King Earl had 60 Ki Hearts, but no one ever counted them!

To be honest, there was actually multiple people in the Furnace that had broken through the magical 60 Ki Heart barrier, but none that the Arthraku or the Horned were aware of. Yet even in the other side of the Furance, it was still exceptionally rare. Oclen sighed and nodded his head when looking at the beautiful silver statue. 

"Are you sure you want me to give me the Life Blossoming Cherry. I might be able to use it to get to 40 Ki Hearts. After all, the Arthraku aren't as simple as the Horned. We are, after all, the strongest nation in the Furnace!"

"I'd be a fool to give it to you, but it wouldn't match the stupidity you showed by helping Howard," The 10 statues bowed in front of Oclen and crossed their arms in front of their chest. "If you ever decide to fight along side Howard, we'd be happy to serve beside you two. It's just an offer. Otherwise, we'd love to kill you."

"Hmph, even though you're just a Ki Projection, you have Demon King's Earl revered intelligence," Oclen walked towards the door and nodded his head. "However, don't you dare think I'm his ally just yet! I'd much rather see Howard dead then ever fight with him on the battlefield!"

"We expect to fight with you soon," The smallest statue of the bunch said. "Take care. Down the hallway to your right, you'll find the cherry waiting for you on a small table. Take it, and get back here as soon as you can."

"Right, with the serum that will let Howard live," Oclen grinded his ball into a fist. "Hmph, you guys are going to regret giving me that cherry. An Arthraku with 40 Ki Hearts can probably match a Horned with 60! There will not be a day that goes by that Howard won't suffer for your generosity!"

"We look forward to working with you," The statues said in unison before Oclen disappeared. On the other hand, Howard simply layed motionless on the floor. If you were an observer, it be almost impossible to tell if he'd lived or died.

###

Oclen took only a single day to arrive at the East Branch.

He took the Life Blossoming Cherry and instantly his abilities and power soared. He was now well back in the S rank, and had 42 Ki Hearts beating inside of him!

'Though the Ki Hearts I have are nothing compared to my father, it's still more than enough to slaughter every single Horned student." Oclen's body instantly transformed back into the Eighteen Eyed Juggernaut while Reslan and Annibell slowly walked out of the East Branches Green Gate.

Monica and Jenny were standing behind them with Harley while all three of them trembled in fear. If Oclen was here, did that mean Howard had died? All three of them didn't want to beleive it!

"It must be some mistake! There is no way Howard died," Monica screamed and stomped her foot. "I won't believe it! Howard-Howard isn't ever going to die! He's going to marry 100 girls and have a lot of children! He's going to walk me down the isle and kiss me for 10 days straight! Where the hell is that bastard!"

"Don't worry," Harley said, "If Howard were dead, Teacher Annibell and Reslan would've sensed it. This is something different. Oclen is clearly not who he was last time he was here. Don't you feel it? The hesitation?"

Oclen indeed didn't approach, and just waited for Reslan and Annibell to surround him. However, he also didn't seem afraid. He had gained the Eighteen Eyed Juggernaut back because of the Life Blossoming Cherry, and it had also developed a new ability. Yet now wasn't the time to try it out.

"Why are you here?"

"We got attacked by a Night Lord," Oclen held out his hand, "I need to take Jenny with me to see Howard. I expected you wouldn't believe me, but I'm here anyway. Here because Aremcolith can't be allowed to exist!"

"Armecolith?" Reslan crossed his large arms around his chest. His winding beard patting his chest. "I thought he was dead? Didn't the Arthraku kill him? Annibell, didn't Arista tell us?"

"Yes, she did," Teacher Annibell sighed and gently dropped the Ki that had formed around her body. "If what you're saying is true, then I assume you and Howard are no longer enemies?"

"Right now, I'm pushing all my feelings about Howard aside until Aremcolith is dead. However, I really need to go. Give me Jenny or I'll kill both of you! I'm in a rush!"

Teacher Annibell and Reslan both laughed, and looked back at the beautiful girl in the lab coat in the black turtle neck. They weren't obviously going to let him take her. Of course, unless someone equally strong went with her.

"How about this? Reslan will go with you?"

"I sensed something on the way here," Oclen pointed in the distant West, towards a large sandstorm brewing in the distance. "I-I sensed Aremcolith's army. I-I'm guessing this part of Horned Nation will be attacked in a few weeks."

"Nonesense!" Reslan shook his head. "How can we not sense it and you can?"

Reslan had decided to start training seriously after 100 years, and was confident in his ability to Ki Fluctuations. Even from a large distance, he could still sense Howard's Ki somewhat simmering in a unique space. There was no way that he couldn't sense a massive army! Especially one that Armecolith controlled.

"Arthraku have a different way of sensing Ki." Teacher Annibell gently nudged Reslan. "Send Monica, Priscilla, Harley to check it out. If what you're saying is true, then you're saving us. Why would you go that far for the Horned."

"I made a decision on the way here. It's insane, but I want the Horned to help me assassinate my father." Oclen sighed and pointed at the girl in the labcoat. "Now HEY YOU! JENNY! HOWARD TOLD ME ABOUT YOU! GET OVER HERE NOW WITH THAT SYRUM! OTHERWISE, I'M COMING TO GET YOU!'

"No way!" Monica screamed, her green hair spinning over her head, while her entire body seemed to freeze over and turn into a beautiful ice statue. "You-you want someone to come with you, it's going to be me! Now come here so I can kick your as--"

"Monica, I got to go," Jenny smiled and waved, "Hehe, I trust him already. He's calm and calculating just like my father. You can always trust men like that if you have something they want." Jenny pulled out a black case full of 10 viles. "I'll see you guys soon okay?"

"She can go with him," Annibell sighed and looked towards the West. "Now that you mention it, I have been sensing something weird. How big would you say this army is?"

'At least 100,000 strange zombies," Oclen sighed, "Now answer the question! Will you help me asssassinate my father?"

"Your father… who is this man?" Annibell raised her brow in suspicion. "He's not the leader of the Arthraku is he? That man, not even an army could kill him." 

"I don't need an army. I need him dead!" Oclen sighed and watched Jenny nervously stop in front of him. Her hands were trembling while she held the case, and stared into Oclen's eyes. "However, if you're not willing to try, then you can forget about me helping Howard! I-I'm taking a huge risk here! I-I'm getting what I want, or I'm going home now! You all can deal with Aremcolith yourself!"

"We agree," Reslan nodded his head. "However, why are you doing this? Why are you helping Howard? If I were you, I'd be thrilled that Howard needed help, and use the opportunity to kill him? What made you detest your father so much that you'd come here and ask the Horned, a relatively weak nation by the Arthraku's standards, for help?"

The answer to that question was complicated, but it definitely had to do with Oclens' mother. She had been a beautiful woman once that loved live and took care of Authoritarians during the day and spent almost all her time with her father at night.

Yet, when Oclen had been 10, his father used this strange rule of Arthraku Nation to request a new set of wives. His father who was well over the age 0f a thousand, was said to have had 100 wives in the last 1000 years, but Oclen didn't believee it. To be honest, when he had been a child, he had been a good father, taught him lessons, and helped strengthen him in the Arthraku tradition.

Yet after he became the most promising student of the generation, his father all but disappeared from his life. Dozens of women showed up and offered themselves to him, and his mother just got left to take care of Authoritarians. There had not been a single day she didn't cry.

Though she expected her father to do what he did, it still broke her to pieces. Oclen wanted to kill his father so his mother would get the revenge she deserved! She was too beautiful to suffer! Then there was the reason that he wanted to destroy the entire planet to make it in his own design, but still! When he thought about it, the main reason had to be that look in his mother's eyes! There was never a day he didn't wish for his father's demise!

"Hmph, the reason is simple. He deserves to die because he's a danger to the Furnace and to the Surface and the entire planet," Oclen surmised his intentions before Jenny nervously stopped in front of him. "Now, get on my back," Oclen turned around and slightly blushed while Jenny nervously put her hand up in the air towards his massive frame. "I-I've done enough explaining. Now good luck. When that army comes, you'll need another army to take it down. Not even 10,000 White Mist Warriors will be enough."

"We have been planning for a day like this. Don't worry," Annibell smiled at Oclen. "Now hurry back to Howard. I imagine he's having a lot less fun than we are right now. And thank you."

"You owe me," Oclen picked up Jenny before he disappeared into the distance. "And I owe you father! I owe you the type of death you deserve!"