Chương 18: Not Strong Enough

"You go. I'll hold them off." Kach turned and sent one of the pursuers flying with a single punch.

"What about you?" I asked. I didn't want to leave her behind. After our first encounter, she'd been kind to me. She was only the second person in my life who had shown me kindness without asking for something in return.

"Take her," she shouted.

"Drag her if you have to, but get her out of here."

"No! Why?" I yelled.

"Don't you want your fight with Mister?" She didn't answer. Mister grabbed my wrist and pulled me away.

"No! Let me go! We can't leave her here!" My cries echoed through the corridor as he dragged me farther and farther away. Behind us came the sounds of battle. Crashing. Shouting. Screams. Kach. The pursuers. Their voices chased us through the endless halls. Then... The screams stopped. And so did mine. That was the day I escaped that accursed world. Kach the Belligerent Fight was all Kach knew.

Born a girl into a family of warriors, her talent was ignored until the day she cleanly decapitated the family's eldest son during a spar. Overnight, ridicule turned into praise. She trained relentlessly, defeated every opponent placed before her, and eventually stood at the very top. With no worthy challengers left, even victory became boring. When Life's Last Hope offered to rid her of her superpower, she accepted. Then she met someone who defeated her.

She betrayed Life's Last Hope soon after and paid dearly for it. Recorded in the Akashic System in the year 13401 What have they done to her? Those fucking bastards.

"Who is she?" Lania asked.

"I've never seen her before," Pyiari answered. To me, Kach was clad in black sludge, but to them she must have looked how she originally did. I still remembered how beautifully j. m. k67 had described her. She was tall, with slender fingers and short hair that fell just above her shoulders. Her muscles bulged beneath her clothes despite her petite frame. She was a brawler. The strongest one.

"Whoever she is, she doesn't look like she'll let us go," Lania said.

"Let me do it." Pyiari stepped forward. She was going to sing again. Make Kach fall asleep, then kill her. No. I couldn't let her stain her hands again.

"Toy—" Before I could stop her—before she could even finish the first word—Kach appeared right in front of her. Pyiari's voice died in her throat. A hand swung and she collapsed without making another sound.

"Pyiari!" I rushed toward her, pathetically swinging my broken blade. Kach simply stepped back, then effortlessly dodged Strange Toy's attack. She took several long strides before hopping onto a broken machine, looking down at us.

"Pyiari. Hey, wake up."

"What happened to her?" Lania asked, panic creeping into her voice. Mine too. There was no blood. I checked her pulse. It was steady. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"She's unconscious." Relief washed over me and Lania but only for a moment as her anger drowned it out.

"That bitch." I had never heard her curse before. It showed just how furious she was.

"I'm gonna kill her."

"No." I hoisted Pyiari onto my shoulder.

"She's strong. Stronger than Moark and Orand combined. We have to retreat."

"Will she let us?" Lania glared daggers at Kach while Strange Toy's spinning blade unfolded. Kach was a battle junkie. She never cared about fights that posed no challenge. So she should let us leave. She'd been assigned to guard this place, not kill us. She hadn't killed Pyiari. I turned using one of Lindy Hop's steps and took a single stride. The air ripped apart behind me. Something shot past at supersonic speed, struck the ceiling, rebounded, and crashed into the floor right in front of us.

The ground shook harder than before. Kach blocked our path.

"Looks like she won't let us retreat," Lania growled.

"Moly... rip her to shreds." Strange Toy launched from behind like a missile. Kach sidestepped effortlessly and punched it in the side. For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then cracks spread across the wooden body.

"No!" Lania shouted. Before Kach could strike again, Strange Toy swung one of its arms. She didn't dodge. She punched the incoming arm instead. Cracks exploded across the wood. The arm shattered.

"Get back," Lania ordered. Strange Toy obeyed, retreating between us and Kach. All three heads stared curiously at the broken arm.

"Stay focused. She's coming." The three heads snapped out of their curiosity and fixed their eyes on Kach. Waiting. But she never moved. She stood there with one hand on her waist. Looking past Strange Toy. Looking at me. Why me? I was a weak little piece of shit. Why was she staring at me? She wanted a fight? Why me? I was weak. I gently lowered Pyiari onto the floor.

"Stay with her." Then I walked toward Kach. I swung my broken blade like the novice I was. She dodged every strike. It didn't even look like she was trying. I kept attacking. She kept dodging. Again and again and again. Until she grew bored. With a lazy flick of her hand, she knocked my sword away. I immediately switched to MMA. Lindy Hop had carried me through every fight until now, but it was a dancing style not a fighting one., It had helped me in dodging but right now I needed to attack.

Once again we fell into the same rhythm. I attacked. She dodged. I attacked again. She dodged again. But none of it was wasted. All this time, Strange Toy had been creeping closer. I could sense it through Shadow Detect. Most of the lights in the room were broken, making the shadows much larger than before. Strange Toy lunged from the side. I retreated at the same instant. She was just a little too slow. The spinning blade came for her neck. It shattered. How? I noticed her hand had changed position.

I hadn't even seen it move. Don't tell me... She can move faster than my eyes can perceive.

"Why is she so strong?" Lania shouted in frustration. She didn't order Strange Toy to attack again. We were back where we'd started. Kach stood silently, blocking our only way out. She wanted a fight. One I couldn't give her. She stared at me. Then her eyes shifted ever so slightly. Behind me. I turned. I wasn't worried about exposing my back. She didn't need an opening. She could kill me whenever she wanted. My gaze followed hers. The sack of medicine. She wanted me to dope myself. She wanted a better fight.

I sprinted toward the sack, dropped my bag, and began rummaging through it. Tundra's Water. Not enough. I needed something that would let me keep up with her speed. Fulgur's Blood Ryn believed the body wasn't too slow—the mind was. He spent his life searching for a way to make the brain think as fast as lightning. The medicine he created burned like a storm through the veins and gave birth to countless legends... and countless corpses. Recorded in the Akashic System in the year 13342. This'll do.

I uncorked both bottles and drank them.

"What are you doing?" Lania grabbed my arm.

"Do you want to kill yourself?" Even she knew stacking two performance-enhancing drugs was a terrible idea. But did I have a choice? Cold spread through my muscles as Tundra's Water took effect. At the same time, electricity surged through my body from Fulgur's Blood. The world slowed. Lania was still shouting at me... Only now her words crawled through the air. I looked at Kach. She hadn't moved. She simply stared. I stood, ruffled Lania's hair, and lunged. The floor exploded beneath my feet. I struck.

Kach didn't dodge. She raised both arms and blocked. Using the rebound, I spun and drove my heel into her side. It landed. She dropped to one knee. For the first time... I'd hit her. I spun again and kicked her across the jaw. She didn't budge. Fuck. Her foot struck my stomach and I was sent flying. Strange Toy caught me before I crashed.

"Are you alright?" Lania asked as we landed. No. That kick hit harder than Orand's strongest attack. My ribs were broken. I panted heavily and looked back at Kach. She still stood exactly where she'd been. Unmoving. Watching me.

"What else do you want?" I wiped the blood from my mouth.

"Can't you see I'm not strong enough? I can't satisfy your thirst for battle." She stared at me. No. Not me. My chest. Inside it. At my Skillcards. How the fuck does she know?