The Cursed Vault of Ice,
Murasame appeared in Kai's left hand and Sounga in his right.
When he breathed out, ethereal redness escaped his mouth, becoming real. The Reiatsu crawled over every inch of his body, donning him under the skin-tight red suit, two curved horns jutting out from his head.
Master Selfless Breathing - Total Concentration!
But this was just the start. With an opponent like this, and with Kai's most powerful Item — Black — not with him, he needed to go all out from the very start.
…
Black Ghost had begun fooling the Supreme from the moment he had entered the Cursed Vault of Ice.
The Ad Infinitum had already confirmed the odd feeling Kai had been having after going through the Blood Prophecy several times by now.
First, the Mad Commander of the Millennial Magical Alliance openly showcased his command over speed through Cyborg 009. Then, he summoned a batch of Cyborgs before Cloning them, right in front of Kai.
Even in the heat of battle, it had puzzled Kai for a moment why the lollipop-sucker was carrying out such an open display of Summoning and Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.
However, despite his guard up against this oddity, Black Ghost managed to fool Kai… somehow.
…
Kai's 15 ft tall body pulsed with red and black runic marks, the Grimoire flaming overhead. Next to him, the Characters had already manifested, one by one.
The Cyborg 009, standing hundreds of meters in front of Kai, smiled. "I wouldn't have expected nothing less from the Five-Crowned Prince. That was quite a show. Is it over?"
Red breath misting out of his mouth, Kai pointed Sounga's tip toward the 12th-floor monster.
"No," Kai said, his demonic voice straining the eardrums. "It's just beginning."
Then, slowly, he let the sword fall, the gem on Sounga's handle glowing vilely purple.
…
The very first false sense of security Black Ghost installed in Kai's AI was the speed itself. Or, the nature of the speed, per se.
The Mad Commander had started with Mach 1.
Then, Mach 2…
Mach 3…
Now, Kai wasn't a fool, but the AI had a brief outline on Cyborg 009 in its storage.
It told him how fast the Character could go, making Kai always keep his senses tense against the possible rise of speed mid-battle.
Here, Kai erred, though.
…
Blood seeped from 009's mouth as cursed, runic marks rushed toward his heart.
"5 against 1…" 009 said, biting through the pain. "… Not fair."
Kai twisted the saber, making 009 gasp. "Nothing's fair. You just need to be stronger than unfairness."
…
Black Ghost had made him too dependent on the rise of speed.
It seemed the 12th-floor Contestant had always been counting this very fact.
He had known Kai would be wary of the rise of speed, no matter how much speed he proclaimed before sending out the Summons toward the enemy.
The crux of the matter here didn't lie in the rise of speed…
… it lay in the word — rise.
The Ad Infinitum should have focused on the word — jump, instead.
Perhaps, then, Kai in the Blood Prophecy would have seen the blow coming. Surviving that blow would have been a forsaken thought even then.
Because the blow that had vanquished Kai hadn't arrived at Mach 4… or Mach 5… or Mach 6…
It had arrived at him with a speed of beyond Mach 10!
…
The 12th-floor Contestant took the lollipop out of his mouth and smirked.
"Oh, and this time," he said, his smirk becoming a playful grin, "instead of 10, they will use 25% of my true strength."
…
The second way Black Ghost fooled Kai was related to his Summons — Cyborg 009s!
When Kai had entered the Vault of Ice, in the Blood Prophecy, he had indeed thought the Cyborg itself was the Contestant.
Of course, after coming face to face with Black Ghost, the Ad Infinitum had caught up on the resonating Chakra signatures instantly, correcting the mistake.
Ever since Kai had learned, and then later saw it happening, that the Cyborgs were just Summons, he had been guarding against Black Ghost's sudden foray.
…
Just as the five Cyborgs were about to end the Supreme, the 15 ft tall, red-black-armored, fuming demonic entity moved.
Kai's right hand, wielding Sounga, lifted slowly in the eyes of the Cyborgs, their eyes widening at the phenomenon.
Far into the distance, the Contestant eying everything, raised his right brow. He's… faster than Mach 1?!
…
Never, for a moment, the AI believed that the Summoner couldn't replicate its Summons' powers.
It was especially so when Black Ghost had already showcased extreme speed by suddenly appearing behind Kai and later popping up on a mountain far into the distance.
Kai had erred here, too.
…
The Advance Ad Infinitum, for the first time after gaining 50% Proficiency, pushed all its processing power to modify Kai's body using Biokinesis.
"If you go back to the Book on your own," the Demon King warned the Characters surrounding him, "then I will discard your Tale."
It didn't even matter if that was possible.
If Kai said it, then he would do it, no matter how.
A chill ran down Petyr, Cersei, Rintaro, and Orochimaru's spines, the legendary Sannin hearing Kai's words using the Summoned Reincarnation, Grindelwald.
And, they knew, their master meant every letter of those words.
…
Black Ghost masterfully had made Kai too wary of himself and Cyborgs.
It was as if the Mad Commander had been shouting all that time — Look at me! Keep looking at me! I am here! I am always here!!
And thus, Kai failed to calculate that the finishing blow —
— might never come from the Contestant and his Summons or —
— from the only Summons Kai thought Black Ghost was capable of Summoning!
…
A rain of flaky papers occurred around the shattered, icy peak where the black-haired man stood. In his left hand, tightly gripped between his fingers, was Orochimaru.
He dug his fingers into the legendary Sannin's throat as he saw the inexplicable sight of his Summons and Clones hitting the demon and then vanishing right away.
Crack!
The lollipop cracked under Black Ghost's molars.
"Astonishing…" he mumbled. "No wonder you became the Supreme… Well… Let it end here, then."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
He had changed almost nothing, playing his part from the Blood Prophecy by the script; an effortless thing to do for a Faceless like him.
And the changes he did cause were just too minute to even get noticed by his Characters. Much less needed to be said about the 12th-floor Contestant.
It seemed the moment he had been waiting for had come at last.
…
Black Ghost, who had just passed the death sentence, formed hand signs.
Time had literally paused around him. He had been deliberately letting the enemy see him casting Jutsus, giving him a false sense of security.
If it had been a mere Supreme he was facing, he would have never taken so many precautions.
But the enemy was the Five-Crowned Prince! Just who knew how many secrets the demon possessed?! Better to be cautious, Black Ghost had told himself.
With a poof, two Summons appeared behind him.
A sly smile surfaced on Black Ghost's lips because neither of them were 009s.
The first was a man wearing a coat and donning a high-tech helmet — Blessed Edward Higgins!
The second was a baby, floating in midair — Cyborg 001!
At a speed, impossible to even perceive, Edward clenched his fingers into a fist, solidifying air molecules into a solid object — a bullet!
With Black Ghost's one touch, the bullet tore through the space, reaching Mach 11!
But, the object possessing the insanely high momentum hadn't even gone out of sight when Cyborg 001's body glowed blue.
The bullet vanished.
Teleportation!
The next moment the bullet appeared, it was already in front of the enemy. The chance to even think of evading it — Zero!
The Mach 11 bullet hit the enemy…
Boommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
… and the Supreme ceased to exist.
Or, so Black Ghost thought.
**************
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