The Primordials: Retribution (Book Four)

Chapter XVII: Junichiro vs Damien - Desperate Measures (Pt. 1)

       Junichiro stood guarded as he observed Damien's new form. Its electrical presence was altering the storm around them and caused lightning bolts to rip through funnel clouds, dispersing them. The once cool, heavy rain warmed as Damien's body emitted ripples of electric currents that even he felt.

       "What is that form?"

       Without answering, Damien vanished simultaneously with a lightning strike. Faster than Junichiro could react, Damien connected a straight kick to his stomach, which sent him hurdling across the ground. Junichiro managed to stop himself by jamming his sword into the ground, carving a fine line as he slowed down his velocity. When he finally stopped over a thousand feet away, he coughed up blood and nearly lost consciousness as he dropped to his knees.

       He gritted his teeth as he fought to stay awake with sheer force of will. He looked at Damien through blurry vision as he began to practice his breathing.

       His mind was rattled with questions.

       Damien strolled toward him as lightning struck the ground around him.

       "Mm, your strength of will truly is astounding," Damien commended as he approached Junichiro.

       Junichiro chose to strike quickly and true when Damien was within his reach. Still, he was immediately hit with electricity that ran through his body intensely as his blade went through Damien's center.

       Curiously, through a pained vision, Junichiro witnessed Damien's body shimmer around his blade like air as it dissipated.

       This was strange. He'd struck him. He knew it. He felt it. Damien had just been there; he was sure of it, yet no one was before him. And no blood stained his blade. Was it a mirage? Where was the actual body, then? Junichiro could sense Damien's presence everywhere, making it difficult to discern his exact location, but that was impossible.

       Is he moving at such speeds that his presence can be felt everywhere at once? Just how fast has his transformation made him?

       Junichiro suddenly felt the hairs on his neck stand as he heard Damien's voice come from behind him.

       "Careful not to let your guard down."

       When Junichiro felt Damien's hand touch his shoulder, he was filled with a blinding pain again. He swung behind him only to be electrocuted again, his mental and physical fortitude being sapped even further.

       However, Damien was gone again.

       He is too quick now. This was not in his file... Junichiro thought.

       When Junichiro felt the prickling on the back of his neck again, his instinct went on high alert, and he reflexively blocked just as Damien struck out of nowhere.

       Their swords clashed, and Damien struck again, only to be met with another block by Junichiro. Each of Damien's swings sent agonizing vibrations through Junichiro's body, which became more and more challenging to deal with as the rain worsened his resistance.

       Junichiro was struggling to keep up now. He tried to strike in, but Damien was so confident in his speed that he tossed his blade into the air and casually knocked Junichiro's blade from his hand. They immediately entered hand-to-hand combat, but Junichiro couldn't keep up with Damien's movements and was struck with the back of Damien's hand before Damien caught his blade that had fallen perfectly into his hand and flashed a mocking smile with a wink.

       The backhand that at one point wouldn't have fazed him now felt like he was hit with a building. The pain from it seared somewhere behind his eyes as blood dripped from his nose.

       This humiliation enraged Junichiro and forced him to do something potentially dangerous. He recalled the energy converters Claeg and Kaila had rejected and pulled one from his pocket. Without hesitation, he jammed it onto his lower hip next to the previous one.

       [Speed boosted. Speed level: High Level 11 – 115,000pmh. Flight speed: Low Special Level 1 – Mach 220. Temporary enhancement completed. Alert: Further enhancement not advised.]

       Junichiro felt like his body was on fire. Especially his legs, but he pushed through the pain.

       When Damien struck again, he could see each of Damien's movements this time—and manifested two well-timed traps to counter Damien. But Damien was still fast enough to evade them. Even with his Rendering Zone activated, Junichiro hadn't yet landed a single blow since Damien's unforeseen increase in speed.

       Just then, they both stopped in their tracks as Junichiro sensed three unbelievable releases of energy.

       He looked off in the direction of the laboratory. He'd been so engrossed in his battle that he hadn't registered Tymon's or his father's energies.

       To think that Father would need to use this much of his power...

       Junichiro sharpened his sense to discern what transpired between Tymon and Avarice. Based on what he sensed, Tymon's energy now dwarfed his own.

       Why is he suddenly so powerful?

       When his sense finally reached them, Junichiro could see them more clearly—not visibly as with vision but vaguely through the shape and state of their energies. With this, he could sense that his father was...losing? Tymon constantly pressured his father to prevent him from gathering the power to transform.

       He possesses enough power to push Father this far...? Even without Father transforming this still should not be happening. How? How did they change this much in such a short amount of time?

       "You know, there's a third energy you should be focusing on as well," Damien casually pointed out, breaking his concentration.

       Junichiro did sense another significant energy source. Considering who the other two were, he figured it was Michael battling the twins. But even as he made this assumption, he subconsciously diverted his sense toward the source of the power.

       His eyes widened slowly as he realized the energy was not Michael's but belonged to the human. No human should possess that much power. It was well over even Kaila's, and judging from what he sensed, the twins were plainly outclassed.

       "Scary, aren't they?" Damien teased, clearly pleased with Junichiro's shock of it all.

       "What sort of trickery is this..." he demanded.

       "Trickery?" Damien laughed. "She's the real deal, I can assure you. I'd even go as far as to say she's more than a match for Avarice at full strength. But you won't have to worry about fighting her or Tymon. After all, if you can't defeat me, what hopes do you have against them?"