While Kyu and Ariana were facing Kolkat, high above them, up in the clouds, Nubes and Solas clashed against Ren, exchanging three to four moves in under a second. When their blurry bodies separated, Ren was standing between them, holding a purple lightning spear, wearing an excited smile as the two were looking at her with solemn eyes, flames dancing around their bodies.
"She is not an amateur at all!" Nubes complained to Solas by thought as they both launched another attack at her, but Ren somehow managed to once again dodge one and deflect the other.
"Well, she has combat experience, that is for sure!" Solas answered, "But you can feel it, no? She has not been a demigod for long!"
"That is why this doesn't make any sense!" Nubes groaned, drawing distance between them again, incinerating the dancing electricity around his arms. "Keep her busy; I'll use her disciples to distract her!"
"Do it!" Solas nodded, teleporting before Ren to immediately block her path and vision, launching a fiery attack, literally, as the sky was immediately drenched in orange flames as if a flaming tsunami had just descended down on her.
"Not a chance!" Ren snorted, thrusting her spear forward, blasting through the curtain of fire with explosive strength, almost impaling Solas too, who barely dodged, watching the figure of Ren turn into a pure bolt of lightning, arriving behind Nubes at the last second, just as he was about to teleport away.
"Shit!" Nubes cursed, sensing the attack coming at him the moment Ren flew through the flames. If he kept it up, he knew that the tip of her spear would go through his body before he would switch places. With no other choice, he had to raise a flaming shield to protect himself, providing enough of an obstacle that he could jump out of the way of Ren, who, like a lightning ram, blasted through everything.
"Don't even dream about involving others!" She laughed, facing the two Sect of Dawn elders, licking her lips. "You are going to dance with me this night until you are dead~."
"Dead?" Nubes chuckled at the simple fact he was way too angry to shout back at her. "Let's go, Solas, we can't hold back, or this won't ever end!"
"Tsk… it will take me centuries to recoup the lost energies…." He grumbled, but both of their powers skyrocketed as they started using their cores to their full extent.
The first to make a move was Solas, appearing higher above them, turning into a miniature sun, bringing a new day above the city of Solarum just after the night had barely descended. The sudden brightness blinded Ren for a moment, and using that opening, Nubes disappeared. Yet instead of teleporting, it was one of his most potent spells. Before the blinding sun that was Solas, bright, orange, and golden clouds appeared from nowhere. They blocked Ren's view and soon covered everything above her, Yet they did not block the light from Solas.
"A storm is coming, huh?" Ren scoffed at it, letting go of her spear that disintegrated, watching the clouds soon rain fire. Tiny droplets and apple-sized fireballs were coming down at her, burning in the air like shooting stars. Even worse, Solas's light, when passing through the fire clouds, was turning into beams of light, burning everything they shone on. Now it was a cat and mouse game as they tried to hit Ren, who was quickly flashing, teleporting, dodging the 'rain' alongside the multiple beams of light.
Until now, in the city, far below them, nobody noticed the battle between the demigods… but as soon as Solas turned himself into a star and brought day into the night, nobody could ignore it. Especially when the apocalyptic firestorm descended on it, starting to burn down houses and people alike, not to mention the intense beams of light sweeping through the landscape. Anyone caught in it only left behind their shadows, burnt into the pavement or onto the sides of the buildings, and nothing more.
"Big sis… this is really not good!" Kyu grabbed onto her clothing.
"Yeah, it is not…." Ariana agreed, drawing back her tentacles from the bodies of the four Lotus disciples. "We can finish this later! For now, go help and put out the fire; your water affinity is handy in such situations!"
"..." Kolkat stood up silently, not knowing how to take it all while the rest were also conflicted. On the one hand, they were now confused, not 100% sure they were really what they initially thought. On the other hand… Kyu robbed them clean and ate all of their treasures! "For now." Kolkat nodded in the end, taking a deep breath before signaling towards the others, disappearing into different directions to go, and trying to help the people around them as much as possible.
"Do you have enough space in you for some spicy food?" Ariana patted Kyu's head.
"Mmm… I can make some room!" She giggled as they also hurried to put out the fire that was raging all around them.
Back in the sky, Ren's body flashed with lightning, looking upwards, watching the clouds and the fake sun above it while dancing amongst the storm, like a lonely girl waltzing by herself under the spotlight.
"There are no true storms without thunder!" She said with a grin as her violet lightning spread out all around her like an electric field. To the surprise and horror of Nubes, Ren's spell simply fused with their fire, sneaking up along them into the clouds and causing multiple explosions along the way. "You picked the wrong opponent to play with in the rain!" She laughed.
The merged fire and lightning quickly ran rampant as Ren and Nubes lost control over those fragments of their spells, resulting in blasts across the sky. Nubes could not keep up his ethereal form, reappearing amongst the 'clouds,' gasping for air, trying to reign in his berserk flames.
"I never aimed at the Sun before; this is great practice!" Ren laughed, already above them as a second set of clouds gathered, even higher up. They were black, dark as the night itself, flashing with genuine, blue lightning bolts that progressively turned darker and darker until reaching a deep purple color, overlapping into dark red sometimes.
"Damn!" Solas shouted, trying to quickly come out from his form, yet it took time to draw back his radiating energies and swallow everything back up.
"Too late!" Ren laughed, which sounded like thunder, and a streak of thick lightning struck straight at the 'sun' in the sky with a wave of her hand. Solas's scream echoed far distances before the fake sun was finally blown apart. Its shockwave knocked down walls and buildings below them, shaking the earth itself, and producing an earthquake, lasting for almost half a minute.
When Solas's body reappeared, it was battered and smoking, and he missed his left arm from below the elbow as he tried to block the lightning bolt with it. He wanted to say something, but only blood sprayed out of his mouth; looking upwards, seeing Ren flying downwards at him with a wide, almost mad-looking grin on her face.
"We need to go!" Nubes appeared next to him, panicking a little, placing his hand on his shoulder to transfer a little energy of his over, helping him enough so Solas could teleport away.
"Nope, you stay right here~," Ren said, looking into Solas's eyes as her irises lit up, assaulting Solas's mind with a surprising move that none of them were ready for. Nubes could do nothing as he was already disappearing in the middle of teleportation and could only feel Solas flinch, stopping his own movements. "Appear!" Ren commanded and what Nubes last saw was a glimpse of a millisecond as Solas's demigod core surfaced from his abdomen. When he was finally gone, Ren arrived before Solas, punching at his core with all her might.
"NO-!" He screamed, with bone-chilling fear in his voice as he regained his mind, but it was way too late. Ren's strike not just broke away a part of his core. It completely blasted it apart, and the shockwave simply turned the chunks into smithereens. The demigod from the Sect of Dawn could say no more as light immediately disappeared from his eyes, his soul gone alongside his core, entering into reincarnation in pieces.
On the ground, Kolkat suddenly shook, hearing the pitiful scream of someone in a realm he had only looked up to until now. Dina and the rest also trembled, feeling fear that was not their own but the residue of Solas's last emotions amongst the living. Soon a lifeless body fell from the sky, crashing through buildings, remaining intact, with open, hollow eyes reflecting his final expression of dread. It was followed by thick and heavy rain, as if mourning had come, helping to put out the fire all over the city. Everyone knew then that a demigod had died today.
"Tsk, one got away!" Ren appeared beside Ariana and Kyu, the former quickly producing some energy-replenishing pills for her Master while Kyu just laughed, hugging her waist in the rain.
"Mom, can I get the body that fell from the sky?"
"No!" Ren chuckled, flicking her forehead.
"Kyah… Hauh… not fair…" She pouted, holding the reddish spot as Ren laughed, ruffling her hair.
"Let's go; I want to check up on his body! Fighting them felt a bit weird; I need to examine it!"
As they were about to walk to the spot where Solas's body landed, a golden streak arrived from the distance, turning into the figure of Kolkat's Master, looking down on Solarum. Seeing the destruction and feeling the residue from the fight, it was still so intense that he almost stumbled down from the air the moment he arrived. His eyes quickly scanned everything, stopping on the lifeless body of Solas. Watching the trio heading toward the body made his eyebrows draw closer together, examining them, and except for Ren, he could tell the others' strengths. The fact he could not read the one in the middle made him hesitate at what to do.
"Master!" Kolkat's voice transmission arrived, happy to see him coming here.
"What happened here?" He asked back with a stern voice, his eyes quickly finding his disciple on the ground.
"Those three are… dangerous! The youngest-looking one is a Demigod, Master! She just killed the City Lord of Solarum!" Kolkat said hurriedly, turning his Master's expression even heavier, prompting him to crush a Warning Jade in his pocket, sending a message back to the Sect. Its purpose was to alert all demigods, requesting immediate help. Something like this was rare, and everyone knew if a signal like this came back, it meant there was not just a fight between demigods, but one even perished! Near their border, this could mean deep trouble! "Her disciples… robbed us blind!"
"What?!" He flinched again, taking deep breaths, readying every treasure and defensive measure in and on his body before descending downwards. He could not stand aside after all of this, especially not when wearing the symbol of the Lotus Mandala Sect on his robes! "I only need to draw things out until help arrives…" he whispered, calming himself down as he landed behind the three. Strangely, the rain around them was distorted, as if they were in a bubble, avoiding the spot where they stood. Clearly, it was Ren's doing, ensuring they were not drenched to the bone.
"Hm?" Ariana turned towards him, feeling immense pressure from his body, knowing immediately that he was at the 3rd stage… and possibly just as strong as Sect Head back home when he established the Sect. She was sure she could only block him for a minute or so, and she should think about how to escape if it came to fighting and not how to win. "So this is a real cultivator here, huh?" she smiled a bit at her previous naivety as she had very few experiences with others who received proper guidance, such as herself.
On the other hand, Kyu, not bothered by his appearance, still continuously nagged Ren to give him some of the rings from his finger, but she only received constant refusals after refusals from her mother.
"Yo," Ren replied, standing above the corpse of her first actual demigod kill, only sparing one glance at the newcomer.
"My name is Trestan, an elder of the Lotus Mandala Sect, serving in the Disciplinary Bureau!"
"Ok." came the simple reply from Ren, making him twitch his fingers a little.
"As to what happened here," Trestan continued, trying to remain calm and show a confident appearance, "we are going to do our own investigation!"
"Sure, investigate away!" Ren nodded again, crouching down, placing her hand on the chest of Solas, sending her energy into his body, making it twitch and even move as if he was still alive. "Hmm…" she licked her lips, finding proof of something she had previously guessed.
"I also heard…." Trestan continued once again, recollecting himself, "That your disciples robbed mine! Our elders are already on their way, so I suggest you remain calm until they arrive so we can deal with this without needless violence!"
"I'm not against violence!" Ren chuckled, standing back up and stretching while the four other disciples also arrived. Yet hearing her, they soon wanted to leave, but it was already too late.
"I can see that." Trestan's voice turned firmer as his aura swept away the rain above them, shooting a bright beam upwards, clearing the thick clouds.
"Master… they may… not be the ones, they…" Kolkat stepped forward, trying to put his unsure thoughts into words.
"They helped people!" Dina blurted out, too, with cupped hands, greeting the elder of her Sect.
"That is that! Robbing you is another matter, just as killing a Demigod is different! One good deed does not nullify a bad one! If they are related to the missing disciples, it is important to investigate every part of it, so we will do just that! The clues you found and their strangeness are also suspicious! We will take charge and uphold Justice until everything has come to light!"
"I hate people like you." Ren tilted her head, sighing with honesty, before crossing her hands. "I won't hurt any of you, but I suggest you stop talking because a spanking is still something I can dish out without remorse!" she scanned over them with her eyes. "The fact that your disciple and his entourage lost to mine means they are the ones to bear the burden of being stripped butt naked and left on the streets! Hmph, who said they should attack them? Pick your battles better next time!" She snorted, "And he said he came up with clues? Vying for achievements, eh? I can't fault him for that; I can see the logic behind it. Still… take it he paid for that achievement with his stuff~" Ren grinned, rubbing the head of Kyu, who laughed happily. "So?" She looked into Trestan's eyes once again. "Either draw back your false bravado, or I'll strip you butt naked alongside the boys and girls behind you and make you run laps around the city!"
"Oh really?" Trestan steeled himself, "I'll see how you going to do that!" he said, his voice carrying a much more assertive tone just because of a simple fact. He received a message that three demigods should arrive in less than a minute.
While Kyu and Ariana were facing Kolkat, high above them, up in the clouds, Nubes and Solas clashed against Ren, exchanging three to four moves in under a second. When their blurry bodies separated, Ren was standing between them, holding a purple lightning spear, wearing an excited smile as the two were looking at her with solemn eyes, flames dancing around their bodies.
"She is not an amateur at all!" Nubes complained to Solas by thought as they both launched another attack at her, but Ren somehow managed to once again dodge one and deflect the other.
"Well, she has combat experience, that is for sure!" Solas answered, "But you can feel it, no? She has not been a demigod for long!"
"That is why this doesn't make any sense!" Nubes groaned, drawing distance between them again, incinerating the dancing electricity around his arms. "Keep her busy; I'll use her disciples to distract her!"
"Do it!" Solas nodded, teleporting before Ren to immediately block her path and vision, launching a fiery attack, literally, as the sky was immediately drenched in orange flames as if a flaming tsunami had just descended down on her.
"Not a chance!" Ren snorted, thrusting her spear forward, blasting through the curtain of fire with explosive strength, almost impaling Solas too, who barely dodged, watching the figure of Ren turn into a pure bolt of lightning, arriving behind Nubes at the last second, just as he was about to teleport away.
"Shit!" Nubes cursed, sensing the attack coming at him the moment Ren flew through the flames. If he kept it up, he knew that the tip of her spear would go through his body before he would switch places. With no other choice, he had to raise a flaming shield to protect himself, providing enough of an obstacle that he could jump out of the way of Ren, who, like a lightning ram, blasted through everything.
"Don't even dream about involving others!" She laughed, facing the two Sect of Dawn elders, licking her lips. "You are going to dance with me this night until you are dead~."
"Dead?" Nubes chuckled at the simple fact he was way too angry to shout back at her. "Let's go, Solas, we can't hold back, or this won't ever end!"
"Tsk… it will take me centuries to recoup the lost energies…." He grumbled, but both of their powers skyrocketed as they started using their cores to their full extent.
The first to make a move was Solas, appearing higher above them, turning into a miniature sun, bringing a new day above the city of Solarum just after the night had barely descended. The sudden brightness blinded Ren for a moment, and using that opening, Nubes disappeared. Yet instead of teleporting, it was one of his most potent spells. Before the blinding sun that was Solas, bright, orange, and golden clouds appeared from nowhere. They blocked Ren's view and soon covered everything above her, Yet they did not block the light from Solas.
"A storm is coming, huh?" Ren scoffed at it, letting go of her spear that disintegrated, watching the clouds soon rain fire. Tiny droplets and apple-sized fireballs were coming down at her, burning in the air like shooting stars. Even worse, Solas's light, when passing through the fire clouds, was turning into beams of light, burning everything they shone on. Now it was a cat and mouse game as they tried to hit Ren, who was quickly flashing, teleporting, dodging the 'rain' alongside the multiple beams of light.
Until now, in the city, far below them, nobody noticed the battle between the demigods… but as soon as Solas turned himself into a star and brought day into the night, nobody could ignore it. Especially when the apocalyptic firestorm descended on it, starting to burn down houses and people alike, not to mention the intense beams of light sweeping through the landscape. Anyone caught in it only left behind their shadows, burnt into the pavement or onto the sides of the buildings, and nothing more.
"Big sis… this is really not good!" Kyu grabbed onto her clothing.
"Yeah, it is not…." Ariana agreed, drawing back her tentacles from the bodies of the four Lotus disciples. "We can finish this later! For now, go help and put out the fire; your water affinity is handy in such situations!"
"..." Kolkat stood up silently, not knowing how to take it all while the rest were also conflicted. On the one hand, they were now confused, not 100% sure they were really what they initially thought. On the other hand… Kyu robbed them clean and ate all of their treasures! "For now." Kolkat nodded in the end, taking a deep breath before signaling towards the others, disappearing into different directions to go, and trying to help the people around them as much as possible.
"Do you have enough space in you for some spicy food?" Ariana patted Kyu's head.
"Mmm… I can make some room!" She giggled as they also hurried to put out the fire that was raging all around them.
Back in the sky, Ren's body flashed with lightning, looking upwards, watching the clouds and the fake sun above it while dancing amongst the storm, like a lonely girl waltzing by herself under the spotlight.
"There are no true storms without thunder!" She said with a grin as her violet lightning spread out all around her like an electric field. To the surprise and horror of Nubes, Ren's spell simply fused with their fire, sneaking up along them into the clouds and causing multiple explosions along the way. "You picked the wrong opponent to play with in the rain!" She laughed.
The merged fire and lightning quickly ran rampant as Ren and Nubes lost control over those fragments of their spells, resulting in blasts across the sky. Nubes could not keep up his ethereal form, reappearing amongst the 'clouds,' gasping for air, trying to reign in his berserk flames.
"I never aimed at the Sun before; this is great practice!" Ren laughed, already above them as a second set of clouds gathered, even higher up. They were black, dark as the night itself, flashing with genuine, blue lightning bolts that progressively turned darker and darker until reaching a deep purple color, overlapping into dark red sometimes.
"Damn!" Solas shouted, trying to quickly come out from his form, yet it took time to draw back his radiating energies and swallow everything back up.
"Too late!" Ren laughed, which sounded like thunder, and a streak of thick lightning struck straight at the 'sun' in the sky with a wave of her hand. Solas's scream echoed far distances before the fake sun was finally blown apart. Its shockwave knocked down walls and buildings below them, shaking the earth itself, and producing an earthquake, lasting for almost half a minute.
When Solas's body reappeared, it was battered and smoking, and he missed his left arm from below the elbow as he tried to block the lightning bolt with it. He wanted to say something, but only blood sprayed out of his mouth; looking upwards, seeing Ren flying downwards at him with a wide, almost mad-looking grin on her face.
"We need to go!" Nubes appeared next to him, panicking a little, placing his hand on his shoulder to transfer a little energy of his over, helping him enough so Solas could teleport away.
"Nope, you stay right here~," Ren said, looking into Solas's eyes as her irises lit up, assaulting Solas's mind with a surprising move that none of them were ready for. Nubes could do nothing as he was already disappearing in the middle of teleportation and could only feel Solas flinch, stopping his own movements. "Appear!" Ren commanded and what Nubes last saw was a glimpse of a millisecond as Solas's demigod core surfaced from his abdomen. When he was finally gone, Ren arrived before Solas, punching at his core with all her might.
"NO-!" He screamed, with bone-chilling fear in his voice as he regained his mind, but it was way too late. Ren's strike not just broke away a part of his core. It completely blasted it apart, and the shockwave simply turned the chunks into smithereens. The demigod from the Sect of Dawn could say no more as light immediately disappeared from his eyes, his soul gone alongside his core, entering into reincarnation in pieces.
On the ground, Kolkat suddenly shook, hearing the pitiful scream of someone in a realm he had only looked up to until now. Dina and the rest also trembled, feeling fear that was not their own but the residue of Solas's last emotions amongst the living. Soon a lifeless body fell from the sky, crashing through buildings, remaining intact, with open, hollow eyes reflecting his final expression of dread. It was followed by thick and heavy rain, as if mourning had come, helping to put out the fire all over the city. Everyone knew then that a demigod had died today.
"Tsk, one got away!" Ren appeared beside Ariana and Kyu, the former quickly producing some energy-replenishing pills for her Master while Kyu just laughed, hugging her waist in the rain.
"Mom, can I get the body that fell from the sky?"
"No!" Ren chuckled, flicking her forehead.
"Kyah… Hauh… not fair…" She pouted, holding the reddish spot as Ren laughed, ruffling her hair.
"Let's go; I want to check up on his body! Fighting them felt a bit weird; I need to examine it!"
As they were about to walk to the spot where Solas's body landed, a golden streak arrived from the distance, turning into the figure of Kolkat's Master, looking down on Solarum. Seeing the destruction and feeling the residue from the fight, it was still so intense that he almost stumbled down from the air the moment he arrived. His eyes quickly scanned everything, stopping on the lifeless body of Solas. Watching the trio heading toward the body made his eyebrows draw closer together, examining them, and except for Ren, he could tell the others' strengths. The fact he could not read the one in the middle made him hesitate at what to do.
"Master!" Kolkat's voice transmission arrived, happy to see him coming here.
"What happened here?" He asked back with a stern voice, his eyes quickly finding his disciple on the ground.
"Those three are… dangerous! The youngest-looking one is a Demigod, Master! She just killed the City Lord of Solarum!" Kolkat said hurriedly, turning his Master's expression even heavier, prompting him to crush a Warning Jade in his pocket, sending a message back to the Sect. Its purpose was to alert all demigods, requesting immediate help. Something like this was rare, and everyone knew if a signal like this came back, it meant there was not just a fight between demigods, but one even perished! Near their border, this could mean deep trouble! "Her disciples… robbed us blind!"
"What?!" He flinched again, taking deep breaths, readying every treasure and defensive measure in and on his body before descending downwards. He could not stand aside after all of this, especially not when wearing the symbol of the Lotus Mandala Sect on his robes! "I only need to draw things out until help arrives…" he whispered, calming himself down as he landed behind the three. Strangely, the rain around them was distorted, as if they were in a bubble, avoiding the spot where they stood. Clearly, it was Ren's doing, ensuring they were not drenched to the bone.
"Hm?" Ariana turned towards him, feeling immense pressure from his body, knowing immediately that he was at the 3rd stage… and possibly just as strong as Sect Head back home when he established the Sect. She was sure she could only block him for a minute or so, and she should think about how to escape if it came to fighting and not how to win. "So this is a real cultivator here, huh?" she smiled a bit at her previous naivety as she had very few experiences with others who received proper guidance, such as herself.
On the other hand, Kyu, not bothered by his appearance, still continuously nagged Ren to give him some of the rings from his finger, but she only received constant refusals after refusals from her mother.
"Yo," Ren replied, standing above the corpse of her first actual demigod kill, only sparing one glance at the newcomer.
"My name is Trestan, an elder of the Lotus Mandala Sect, serving in the Disciplinary Bureau!"
"Ok." came the simple reply from Ren, making him twitch his fingers a little.
"As to what happened here," Trestan continued, trying to remain calm and show a confident appearance, "we are going to do our own investigation!"
"Sure, investigate away!" Ren nodded again, crouching down, placing her hand on the chest of Solas, sending her energy into his body, making it twitch and even move as if he was still alive. "Hmm…" she licked her lips, finding proof of something she had previously guessed.
"I also heard…." Trestan continued once again, recollecting himself, "That your disciples robbed mine! Our elders are already on their way, so I suggest you remain calm until they arrive so we can deal with this without needless violence!"
"I'm not against violence!" Ren chuckled, standing back up and stretching while the four other disciples also arrived. Yet hearing her, they soon wanted to leave, but it was already too late.
"I can see that." Trestan's voice turned firmer as his aura swept away the rain above them, shooting a bright beam upwards, clearing the thick clouds.
"Master… they may… not be the ones, they…" Kolkat stepped forward, trying to put his unsure thoughts into words.
"They helped people!" Dina blurted out, too, with cupped hands, greeting the elder of her Sect.
"That is that! Robbing you is another matter, just as killing a Demigod is different! One good deed does not nullify a bad one! If they are related to the missing disciples, it is important to investigate every part of it, so we will do just that! The clues you found and their strangeness are also suspicious! We will take charge and uphold Justice until everything has come to light!"
"I hate people like you." Ren tilted her head, sighing with honesty, before crossing her hands. "I won't hurt any of you, but I suggest you stop talking because a spanking is still something I can dish out without remorse!" she scanned over them with her eyes. "The fact that your disciple and his entourage lost to mine means they are the ones to bear the burden of being stripped butt naked and left on the streets! Hmph, who said they should attack them? Pick your battles better next time!" She snorted, "And he said he came up with clues? Vying for achievements, eh? I can't fault him for that; I can see the logic behind it. Still… take it he paid for that achievement with his stuff~" Ren grinned, rubbing the head of Kyu, who laughed happily. "So?" She looked into Trestan's eyes once again. "Either draw back your false bravado, or I'll strip you butt naked alongside the boys and girls behind you and make you run laps around the city!"
"Oh really?" Trestan steeled himself, "I'll see how you going to do that!" he said, his voice carrying a much more assertive tone just because of a simple fact. He received a message that three demigods should arrive in less than a minute.
