Chapter 98: Cliffside Showdown

Chapter 98: Cliffside Showdown

Two men climbed from the shallow depths of the shoreline covered in only a slender crescent of moonlight from above on an otherwise pitch-black night.

The two men removed the thermal wetsuits they had worn to swim a mile from their offshore stealth boat to reach the shore undetected.

Jacek removed his backpack and opened a case. He reached in and grabbed a green stone.

Vega asked, “That’s not a stealth stone. What is that?”

Jacek smiled to Vega, “A gift from Erika. A ki stone.”

Vega raised his eyebrows in astonishment, “Wow. She really has progressed. With her added power, we should have no problems if we have a run in with trouble.”

Jacek replied, “So long as that trouble is not Empress Victoria, I agree.” He then crushed the stone in his hands and a warm rush of ki ran over his body and into him. He felt a surge of power just waiting and urging to be utilized. His power had easily risen by 50% and possibly more.

The two men then reached in as they each grabbed a stealth stone. As they each grabbed a stone, their bodies turned all but completely invisible. Once again, they crushed the stones within their hands to draw out the effect on to themselves.

Jacek looked to the cliffside before them and said, “Come! Let’s move. Erika has made great strides, but unlike her ki stone which will persist until the ki energy is utilized, these stealth stones will only last for but 20 minutes.”

Both began to scale the 100-foot cliffside. Although this was by far the most difficult route for approach, it was also the least guarded and landed them directly near the castle.

Jacek grunted as he lifted himself up, “Remember, engage no one unless we absolutely have to. And if we have to, incapacitate first. Kill as a last resort.”

Vega nodded, “Acknowledged. I don’t think we will have trouble until we are making our exit.”

Jacek replied, “I quite agree. The approach will be calm and quiet. We have both memorized the blueprints provided by King Ramses and Queen Zara. Hopefully, those blueprints stand true.”

The two men reached the top of the cliffside without much trouble owing to their incredible innate strength even without ki. They sprinted at full speed towards the castle. As they approached the castle, they went dark on communication.

They couldn’t speak for fear of guards hearing them, and they couldn’t motion to one another owing to their invisibility. They had to trust each other to arrive at the designated end point within the deepest parts of the dungeon.

Jacek sprinted up the majestic and ornate staircase. He had never been to the BloodStar Empire, and he wished he had more time to admire the culture and architecture of such a grand castle. Without even giving the castle his full attention, he knew it was a piece of ultimate art in the world.

Once within the castle, Jacek lost sight of Vega and made a full sprint to the dungeon entrance as he began to spiral down an ornate staircase which became progressively darker with the air also becoming heavier and more ominous.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

Eventually, he arrived at a set of metal double doors that he swung open. The doors were so heavy that an average man would have no hopes of opening them alone. And certainly, no malnourished prisoner would ever be able to budge the doors should they reach this far during an escape.

Even though Jacek knew the most direct route to the lower levels, it took him five minutes to reach his destination as he had to pause to avoid guards in narrow, dark hallways from time to time.

At last, he came to a dead-end corridor nearly pitch black save for a torch of dim embers throwing flickering shadows on three doors.

Jacek suddenly felt someone bump into the back of him. He smiled and said, “It’s me Vega.” However, as he turned he saw a confused dungeon guard reaching for his communication link.

Jacek prepared to knock him out; however, before he could act, an invisible hand reached around the guard’s neck and mouth as the guard slowly lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Vega’s voice could be heard, “Close call. Let’s get these doors open before anyone finds him.”

They quickly unlocked the three doors with the hanging keys next to each door to find two empty cells and one cell with a lone prisoner that looked worse for wear.

While Jacek steeled himself and fought to keep pace, Nero was enthralled with the fight enjoying every second. He found Jacek’s martial arts level to be impressive albeit slightly below his. He decided to utilize new techniques of the 9th degree realm of black belt taught to him by Xenia.

Nero threw a lightning-fast punch which was immediately blocked by Jacek; however, Nero followed up with a grab catching Jacek off-guard. Nero then launched Jacek into the rocky cliffside base which cratered inward upon impact.

Jacek stood and lunged back at Nero who fired a ki blast directly at him. Jacek took it head on blocking it with his arms in an ‘X’ formation. As he recovered from blocking the blast, Nero caught him with a ki-reinforced kick to his left arm.

Jacek cried out in pain as the humerus of his upper arm snapped in the middle from the impact of Nero’s kick. Nero gave no reprieve as he followed with an uppercut powered by immense ki.

Jacek once again flew back into the cliffside with rocks tumbling on to him from above.

Vega could hear the battle as he swam to their boat towing Peter behind him. He looked back for a moment to see beams of light shining through a rocky accumulation at the base of the cliff with Jacek bursting forth with fresh energy.

Nero smiled and welcomed Jacek’s rush meeting him head on with an exchange of punches with each landing powerful blows sending them both stumbling back several steps.

Nero smiled as he thought to himself, “We are quite evenly matched; however, my 9th degree black belt level gives me an edge. The only thing I can’t quite figure out is where his energy is coming from. He is taking damage but growing his ki.”

Meanwhile, Jacek hurried to catch his breath as he thought, “Even with Erika’s extra ki, I am only an even match for Nero. I should not be surprised. He is a warrior of legend around the world. But... so long as he doesn’t crush me to death, I have a surprise coming for him.”

Jacek stepped forward and opened his arms, “Give me your best shot, Nero! Let’s see what the Gladiator Champion of the BloodStar Empire can muster!”

Jacek had a bit of anxiety as he began his gambit. He thought to himself, “If I can take this damage without dying or getting knocked out, I’ll have enough energy to take him out with one immense ki blast.”

Nero stood as a blinding white light began to gather in his massive fist hanging at his side. He then roared as he lunged forward with his ki-powered punch making contact with Jacek’s chest directly. Nero could feel Jacek’s sternum crunch under the pressure of his punch and as Jacek’s body went flying backwards, Nero took note of a couple of ribs breaking through the skin surface as well.

Nero grunted as Jacek fell against the cliffside once more, rocks crumbling down and covering him. “You fool! You are the heir to the great Heraklinos Empire? How can you lead a nation when you can’t land a single blow on me?”

Jacek stood from the rubble with his chest caving inwards and his left arm hanging broken at his side. Blood ran from his mouth as he shouted, “If you really want to test your might, stand right where you are!”

Nero took a defensive stance and welcomed him to try his attack. Jacek began to channel all of his energy including the excess energy from Perfect Warrior into a single-handed attack with his right hand gathering an ever-growing and frightening amount of blinding white ki that lit up the beach head.

Nero frowned as he recognized the amount of energy in the coming attack to be quite meaningful. Jacek then held his right arm out in front of him and began to yell as he shot a beam of ki directly at Nero.

Nero met it head on and caught it against his hands. He struggled to hold it back as sweat dripped down his face and he grit his teeth.

Jacek began to walk seemingly without effort towards Nero as he pushed him further and further back towards the water as Nero struggled to hold the beam back. Jacek yelled, “As you say, I am the heir to the great Heraklinos Empire. And I will not be outmatched by the likes of you!”

Jacek then gave a loud final yell pushing all of his energy into the blast. Nero lost control of receiving the beam as it crushed against his chest sending him flying into the sea behind him with the water breaking his fall as he splashed into the ocean and fell below the surface.

Jacek fell to his knees and then further collapsed to the ground. His body was broken, and he had only survived thanks to the added energy from Erika and Nero.

He heard the sound of a motor as Vega ran the stealth boat ashore as he hopped out and picked up Jacek, gently placing him aboard before pushing off again, “Hang in there Jacek. It’s only one hundred short miles to the destroyer fleet and you’ll be able to rest after some medical attention.”

Vega, Jacek, and Peter zoomed off in the small stealth boat. Meanwhile, the tide washed Nero’s body ashore. He lay unconscious for ten minutes until he finally woke and sat up.

He shook his head and looked down to see his entire upper body charred by the final attack from Jacek. He shook his head and smiled, “Well played, Lord Heraklinos. You have much more talent. But I will outwork you. I look forward to our next battle. I promise you will find me much more prepared.”

Nero fell back onto the beach and looked up at the stars as he fell asleep due to fatigue.