The Strongest Transcendent In History Is The Strongest
Chapter 35: Should've Killed Me
Kagenoarujinbutsu, with a wide grin plastered across his face, clapped his hands together, the sound ringing out as he strode forward confidently. "How does it feel to defeat a clone of me?" he taunted, his eyes glinting with mischief and superiority.
I spun around, taken aback, my heart racing, and my eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, what?!" I exclaimed, barely able to process the situation unfolding before me.
The mischievous grin on Kagenoarujinbutsu's face only widened as he replied, "Don't tell me you thought it would really be that easy to outsmart me." His tone dripped with condescension, almost mocking my earlier confidence.
Trying to regain my composure, I shot back casually, "I see now; you must have sent out a clone right from the start, haven't you?" My voice aimed at deflating his bravado, though I still felt a sense of unease creeping into my chest.
Kagenoarujinbutsu's grin transformed into a smug smirk. "So you've finally pieced it together. This is all part of my ultimate shadow ability – one I conveniently overlooked mentioning until now. After all, what kind of magician reveals all his tricks?" His voice carried a tone of dark amusement, as if he relished in my realization.
A wave of understanding washed over me, and I glanced toward Katsume, only to watch in horror as she transformed into a shadow, her form dissipating. "Oh no..." I whispered, a knot forming in my stomach as I realized the implications of what had just transpired.
Kagenoarujinbutsu leaned in closer, relishing the moment. "Oh, I failed to mention that while you were preoccupied with my clone, I seized the opportunity to take Katsume from right under your nose. I went so far as to place a fake clone of her in your line of sight, just to ensure you couldn't see through my ruse." His laughter echoed around me, a twisted melody of triumph.
My shock morphed into fury, my voice rising an octave as I demanded, "How do you know Zenchi, and what did you do with the real Katsume?" My heart pounded like a war drum, each beat urging me to fight back, to reclaim what was stolen.
Kagenoarujinbutsu's smirk grew even more sinister. "Classified information for Zenchi but for Katsume can't you guess?" He derived pleasure from my obvious distress, holding aloft the real Katsume, unconscious and vulnerable. "My objective is complete. See you later!" With that, he vanished in a flash of distorted light, leaving behind a chilling calm that felt more like a void than an ending.
"You're a bastard! You're going to pay for that!" I shouted, my voice echoing in a desperate plea against the infinite silence that followed his departure.
The absence of Kagenoarujinbutsu left a suffocating silence in its wake, one that pressed down on my chest, making it difficult to breathe. The air felt unusually thin and heavy, as if reality itself was holding its breath, trapping me in this uneasy moment. I stood frozen, my eyes fixated on the spot where he had just been, the ghostly image of Katsume's unconscious body seared into my mind.
My fingers curled tightly into trembling fists, my nails biting into my palms hard enough to draw blood, yet I felt nothing. The pain was overshadowed by a deeper turmoil brewing within me.
(Internal Monologue)
Kagenoarujinbutsu had been playing me all along, staying one step ahead. Every single move he made had been calculated. While I had fixated on coming out on top through sheer force, he had strategized with cunning purpose, and in that lapse of focus, he took her from me.
A sharp gust of wind whispered through the shattered landscape, sweeping across the battlefield, and as it brushed against my skin, for just a fleeting moment, I caught a whiff of her fragrance.
Katsume. Her name hit me like a meteor crashing into its own world, exploding in my chest with a force that knocked the breath from my lungs. I could almost picture her, that bright smile that always warmed the coldest of days, the stubborn little pout that would set her apart, her voice ringing out, calling for me—
(Internal Monologue)
Gone. Just like that, my world had been ripped away—lost forever—all because I let my guard down; because I wasn't prepared. The unforgiving unpredictability of Kagenoarujinbutsu had blindsided me, and I had been far too arrogant, far too self-satisfied to see the storm brewing on the horizon.
I gritted my teeth, a wave of pressure spiraling within me, an unrelenting tide rising to the surface. My aura began to shimmer and glow; what started as a mere flicker soon transformed into a mad tempest of raw energy, violently coiling around my form like a serpent ready to strike. The ground beneath my feet responded, cracking and splintering like fragile glass, unable to withstand the intensity of my awakening power. Each fracture resonated with an echo of my turmoil—like the world itself was breaking under the weight of my emotions.
(Internal Monologue)
But this wasn't simply rage; it surpassed the confines of mere anger. It evolved into a profound silence that roared within my very bones, reverberating with an unpredictable energy that mirrored my anguish. It was a desperate storm—a tempestuous whirlwind—one that sighed her name, a name I cherished, as if it were a malignant curse whirling amidst my thoughts.
My golden aura erupted outward, transforming into a blinding corona of radiance that, by no means, could be described as gentle. It twisted and turned in frenzied loops, a chaotic dance filled with wild, unrestrained energy that threatened to consume everything around me. The sky behind me morphed into a tortured void, storm clouds looming ominously, twisted with brilliant golden veins that coursed through the darkness like veins of some mythical creature. The earth beneath my feet, once steady and unyielding, was now a shattered patchwork of jagged forms, fragments of debris scattered like shattered dreams, unable to contain the raw power of my rebirth.
In the midst of this turmoil, a faint image flickered at the edge of my vision—a ghostly, transparent silhouette of Katsume, slowly fading away, a haunting reminder of what had been taken from me, a beacon of the loss that drove me to this point.
(Internal Monologue)
I don't care if I have to tear through the very fabric of reality itself, rending existence asunder like a piece of fragile parchment. I don't care if I am branded a monstrosity—an abomination even feared by the cold light of the stars. None of it matters. I will retrieve her. I will bring her back, no matter the cost.
With determination surging through my veins like wildfire, I forced my eyes open, shedding the façade of the calm and collected warrior I had embodied moments before. My gaze flickered with an ancient ferocity, reflecting a fierce determination that was both unnerving and powerful, reminiscent of the calm stillness that exists right before total annihilation.
Here I stand, utterly alone in the aftermath of his disappearance, trapped in a vortex of chaos swirling around me, the storm of energy I had summoned growing only more volatile. Dust swirled like ashes amidst a funeral pyre across the shattered battlefield, the glow of my shimmering aura casting long, golden shadows that danced like silent witnesses to the tragedy unfolding. My eyes, once merely calm mirrors of contemplation, now blazed with an incandescent light that radiated not just fury, but an indomitable sense of purpose. My voice cut through the stillness of the air like a finely honed blade, low and deliberate. "The moment you took what I couldn't afford to lose…" Each word dripped with a venomous intensity, as if the very syllables were steeped in layers of grief and wrath, each acronym a nail driven deeper into the coffin of his fate. The ground quivered beneath me with every exhale I took, unable to contain the spiritual pressure radiating fiercely from my core, pulsating like a living entity.
I lifted my gaze, unwavering and unblinking, into that haunting distance—where he had vanished, where she had been forcefully taken. "…you signed your own fate in blood." The final word sliced through the air with the reverberation of a war drum echoing through the battle's remnants. My voice, once merely my own, now carried the weight of a soul pushed to its very limits—a vow articulated through the bones of the world. The very space surrounding me began to fracture slightly, reality distorting in jagged pulses as though it couldn't bear the weight of my burgeoning wrath. Golden veins of power writhed outward from beneath my feet, snaking through the battlefield like the cracks of a world on the brink of collapse. My aura, a blazing beacon of fury and intent, burned brighter still. The skies above darkened in response, the storm that had always been brewing now at the cusp of descending upon all who stood in my way. I was now its tempestuous center. My gaze was unflinching—dead calm yet undeniably deadly—a still fury poised on the verge of detonation. I whispered, my voice laced with a bone-chilling promise, "...You should've killed me when you had the chance.
To be continued...