Chapter 265 Cori Vs Keng

"And will it stay that way?" Cori bumped into Keng, forcing him to pull backwards. "You couldn't fully bind with your vessel because you're incapable of doing it. You thought too much of your vessel and now the vessel's in control while you sit idly by and do nothing." Keng could feel the heat rising off of her. It was starting to become unbearable. He gulped and took a step forward. She was burning the air around her and the grass beneath her feet. Small flames licked around her as her angry eyes stared at him.

"And you think telling me this is gonna change anything?" Keng asked. Her lip twitched. "The God King knew this would happen so it will happen. This is foretold and it will be carried out like it was told."

"Fate has a way of messing with things. It may be like this, but how long? How long will you follow your fate? Your vessel's a human. Humans don't like to follow their fates however great or bad it may be. How long are you going to follow that?" Flames shot out around Cori. Keng jumped backwards, catching a lone flame eating at his arm. He grunted in pain as he clutched his arm. His arm slowly started to heal as he landed on his toes, crouched.

"Why're you so against this?" Keng asked. His arm stopped healing. He could feel the pain still.

'She's doing something to me. I can't fully heal.' Keng thought.

"Why're you putting your anger out on me?" Keng shouted.

"Should I just put it out on your human vessel then?!?" Cori launched forward. Flames circling her fists and body. She swung forward, Keng quickly throwing his arms to block.

'Shit, I shouldn't have–' The punch sent Keng flying, scorching him as he cancelled the momentum with gravity. He landed, feeling the burn marks not heal.

'She stopped my healing? This is gonna be bad.' Keng thought. The silver aura poured out of Keng as a mask started to form.

"Still using a babe's trick with your aura? You shouldn't even have that mask by now!" Cori burst forward, flames arcing behind her as she flew straight for Keng. Keng took a quick breath and palmed the air in front of him. Cori shot backwards as the gravity hit her. She quickly landed on the ground, burning away the grass. "Seems you do have some fight in you. Now you're in for it!"

Cori's body disappeared from Keng's sight. He glanced around. He couldn't sense her. A strange sound chimed before Cori appeared to his left, sending a punch straight for his cheek. The flames at him as the punch sent him flying. She disappeared again and another chime appeared to his right.

'What's that?' Keng acknowledged the chimes. Cori appeared and swung at him. She began to pummel him back and forth, flames burning him faster than he could fully heal them.

"You're just a useless Fox Spirit who can't do anything right! You should've held onto the reins harder! And to top it all off, you let your vessel bring a human into the holy Village!" Cori pulled her arm back to land the final blow.

Her insults turned towards Ritsuka and he gritted his teeth together. Cori sent the punch straight for his stomach. She would send him six feet under.

"That's it." Keng quietly spoke. Cori' body instantly froze as Keng's body fully healed. He twisted himself and landed on the ground, on all fours. He was angry. He knew Lee Seng and him would be doubted, but someone would blame his vessel for bringing a friend into this realm? "You don't know how much he's been through, old crow!" Keng sent his head straight into her chest. Cori felt the immense strength push her backwards. Keng flickered out of her sight.

'He can do that already?' Cori thought. Keng appeared above her as she was in mid flight and slashed at her. The gravity sent her flying straight into the ground, sending up a large cloud of dirt. Keng landed, moving out of the smoke as the mask began to meld into his skin. Lines began to move across his face, connecting with his tear ducts. His eyes quickly narrowed his Cori flew out of the smoke.

'She broke it.' Keng thought.

"You brat!" Cori shouted. "You really pissed me off! I'll kill you all!" Red energy started to condense around her. Chimes were starting to ping all around him.

'The chimes…' Flames began to pour out quickly. Keng quickly began to dodge them, moving away from the direction of each chime. Cori rushed at him, eyes widening as she watched the young Foxling dodge the flames.

"How can he…?" She leapt forward, disappearing. A final chime pinged all around him at once.

"Shit." Keng cursed. Flame images of Cori all appeared at once. Whatever the chimes were, weren't going to help him with this.

"Spectral Form: Flame Helix!" Cori shouted. All of the Cori's turned into pure flame and launched themselves at him.

'Ah, what am I gonna do!' Keng panicked. His eyes shut and he shielded his face. He could feel the flames but nothing seemed to be hitting him. Flames exploded all around him for a while.

"What the hell?" Cori's voice held confusion. Keng peeked and noticed the large amount of flames around him. His arms glimmered a silver color. He was see through. He turned, following Cori's voice. "How the hell did you manage to dodge all of them?!? You're hiding your true form from me aren't you?!?" She tried to grab him but her hand just went straight through him.

"W-w-w-what's happening?!?" Keng stuttered. Cori tried to swing at him but none of them touched him. He moved backwards, trying to make distance as Cori angrily followed him.

"What are you?!? You were taking hits like you're an actual Foxling but now you show me your true form?!? Why haven't I heard about you then?!?" Cori shouted. His form shimmered as her fist flew straight for him.

"Ah!" Keng shouted as he fell. A snake wrapped itself around Cori's fist. The delayed reaction of what was happening, stunned both of them. "A s-snake?!?" Cori immediately turned and saw Commander Chimera with the rest of the crew. They were all carrying different pots and bowls. Chimera stood halfway between the group and Cori and Keng.

"That's enough, Cori." Chimera looked at her. Cori gulped.

"C-C-Commander!" Cori couldn't lower her arm. Chimera held onto it as the snake hissed.

"Why're you trying to kill the Foxling? I thought you were coming to help General Halys."

"I-I… I am, s-s-sir." Cori stuttered. Chimera looked over at Keng. His ghostly silver form pulled away. The tattoo lines were still on his face as he stared at Cori. Chimera sighed and released the snake. The snake pulled back into Chimera's body as they shook their head.

"The rest of you can continue towards the cabin. I'll stay behind." Chimera told them.

"Y-yes, Commander!" They stomped in unison and slowly moved forward. They all wanted to stay for the drama. Chimera sighed and moved towards Keng. They stuck their hand out for Keng to grab.

"Stand, foxling." Chimera spoke. Keng hesitantly reached out and grabbed Chimera's hand. He seemed spooked about everything that just happened. Chimera lifted the foxling up and patted Keng. "Care to explain what happened?"

"W-w-well, Commander, sir…" Cori stuttered.

"I wasn't talking to you, Cori." Chimera's voice sternly spoke towards Cori. This drew Keng to look at Chimera. "I was talking to our brother, here." Keng took a gulp.

"G-general Halys t-told Co-Cori to train me. S-she…" His voice trailed off. The insults came back and his fist bundled. "I understand you don't like me or my 'vessel' hothead!" Keng shouted, turning at her. "But you don't get to throw us around like we're nothing! Just cause you're a six-tailed Fox Spirit within Commander Chimera's group doesn't mean you're automatically better than the rest of us, bitch!" The swear word escaped his mouth faster than he thought. He pulled his hand to cover his mouth and watched as Cori's lips twitched, again. "I don't care if you threaten me. I don't care if you throw me around. Don't talk about Lee Seng like he's an object of use. He's just as important as I am. He brought Ritsuka here because he chose to. Not because he wanted to disrupt the rules at that 'holy' Village, alright?" Keng pulled away from Chimera and moved closer. Cori was angry but Chimera simply gave her a deathly stare that made her too scared to move.

"If Commander Chimera didn't come here, I would've been dead. I should've been dead after you pulled that move on me." Keng shouted.

"But why didn't you then, huh?!?" Cori shouted. She couldn't hold herself back anymore. "You took so many hits but that last one, you didn't take any hits. You dodged those flames. You dodged my Flame Helix, too! What're you hiding from us?!?"

"Us?" Keng gave her a weird look.

"Enough, you two." Chimera spoke. Keng could feel himself growing heavy. He gritted his teeth and tightened his fists. A chime noise shot through Keng's head. He immediately looked away from Cori and towards the forest.

"How did… you…?" Cori struggled to speak.

"What's wrong?" Chimera asked Keng. Keng could tell something was wrong. The strong force removed itself from Keng and Cori. The two older Foxes watched as Keng gasped for air and clutched his chest. He buckled onto his knees.

"F-foxling?" Cori's anger disappeared. Concern appeared on her face as she reached out. Keng swatted her hand away as he continued to clutch his chest.

"L-Lee..?"