Chapter 104: A Windy Rematch in the Clouds

Chapter 104: A Windy Rematch in the Clouds

As she stepped away from the controls, Inafay rolled her shoulders like she always did before they sparred. There was no delay in summoning her skills anymore: she would be ready in an instant. The only thing keeping her from attacking was the way she was looking at him.

"I don't know what you've heard," Kai said, "but it isn't-"

"I heard that you had turned yourself into a monster, and that seems pretty damn clear!" She smashed her gauntlets together and took a step forward.

"Don't use your spiritual sight, just think! What does it mean for me to be a monster, if we're standing here talking like this?"

"Hannagan said that you had been corrupted and would do anything to sabotage the city's defenses. I didn't believe it while you were defending everyone below, but now you fought your way through the guards, threw people off the edge, and went straight for the controls. What am I supposed to think?"

"He's the one sabotaging the defenses!" He almost wanted to growl and tried to shove the instincts back down. "Why are you running away instead of helping everyone putting their lives on the line?"

"We're going to come back to rescue more people, unless you break the ship!"

"Look around you! You're not evacuating the citizens, you're running away with the Guild's wealth. Just be logical and think about everything Hannagan has told you. After what he did to get me banished, how can you trust him?"

Inafay might have hesitated, but then her eyes narrowed. "He said that you weren't yourself and that you'd say anything to accomplish your objectives. Are you even in control? It sounds like the real Kai talking to me, but would you know if you had been corrupted?"

"Dammit, Inafay, you have no idea what you're talking about. This is-"

Without warning her fist caught him in the chest. Wood splintered behind them as they shattered through multiple boards and they didn't stop until they'd broken through above the deck. She continued pushing forward, her wind driving them on, until she slammed him onto his back.

"Don't condescend, Kai. Take me seriously!"

He took her seriously by punching her in the face as hard as he could. Inafay tumbled back across the deck, but she managed to stop herself with one hand and then pulled back to her feet. Kai's chest ached from the impact of the wind, so it took him almost as long to get up. All around them, the guards and officials were backpedaling to whatever crannies they could find.

She wanted him to take her seriously? Kai finally opened his spiritual sight to examine her the way she had as soon as he'd entered.

Name: Inafay Corinin

Just before he arrived, he saw the grin on her face and realized he'd miscalculated. A green tornado of mana burst around Inafay, so powerful that it knocked the box skyward. He had almost reached her anyway, but she didn't need any time to recharge: she knocked her gauntlets together and the tornado transformed into her sphere of wind.

The wind slammed against his chest like a wall, the currents of mana opening dozens of shallow cuts. He staggered back as coins and broken boards showered around them.

"Ha, gotcha that time!" Inafay grinned, and for a moment it was just like they were in their old training courtyard.

If he reached out to Aquagorgon's Health, the bloody lines across his chest would begin to heal immediately. But she would see it and make the wrong conclusion... and in a strange way, that would feel like cheating. Without his monstrous regeneration, all the injuries were slowing him down and his stamina was flagging, but there had to be a way...

"This is all I really wanted." Inafay smiled sadly at him. "Human or monster, I just wanted to fight you again, instead of... everything..."

That sealed his decision. He would keep all bestial instincts and powers in check for this, win or lose. He'd trained in many disciplines before becoming a hunter, hoping that one of them would serve him after he awakened. Even though his life had taken an entirely different path, that discipline would serve him now.

Inafay began punching wind in his direction again, so he was forced to retreat. As an idea formed in his mind, he moved back toward another set of boxes. Along the way, he had to roll underneath one horizontal arc of wind and he grabbed a fallen coin from the deck. Inafay had the advantage, but she was running down her mana and her Physique couldn't take many more blows, if he could just create an opening.

When he reached the boxes, she snorted mockingly but didn't let down her guard. Kai threw one at her, just as he had before, but he also dropped the coin he was holding.

Inafay didn't play around with this one, she simply knocked the box skyward with a rush of wind. He'd already kicked the coin as hard as he could, directly into her head. It pinged off, not doing much damage to her F-4 Physique, but she reeled back at the unexpected blow.

In that moment, Kai leapt the distance between them. In midair he grabbed the box she had knocked skyward, then slammed it over her head.

All the mana-driven wind died as Inafay crumpled. Immediately the adrenaline of combat faded and Kai rushed to her side. She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, but she smiled at him.

"It is... you..." Her eyes fluttered closed the next second, but he could feel that her heart was still strong. Kai smiled and reached down to brush her hair out of her wound.

Then he realized that someone was charging him. He reacted instantly, slashing upwards with a claw to drive them back.

When he rose to his feet, he saw that Fhazi Lantrian stood on the deck of the flying ship. Judging from the warriors emerging from the back cabin, he had been hiding inside until then. Unfortunately, it looked like he had his Earthenshield bodyguard and both Tonjin brothers along with him.

"It's just like grandfather said!" Fhazi grinned at his minions and gestured them forward. "You can all stand back - watch me put down this monster!"

Kai straightened his back and let all his monstrous abilities loose. This battle had nothing to do with humanity.