Chapter 56: The Keybearer

Chapter 56: The Keybearer

Bai Ning rushed first, his spear aiming toward Lin’s neck. She quickly avoided it with a slam of her blade’s hilt; he stopped, surprised by the precision.

"Such skills..." He whispered and then spun, the spear moving in the air.

Lin quickly stepped back, the edge of the weapon whistling a mere inch from her throat. The wind from his rotation stung her skin. Before she could recover her stance, Bai Ning altered the spear’s trajectory. He slammed the blunt wooden shaft downward.

Lin raised her blade. The impact rattled the bones in her forearms, forcing her knees to buckle.

"What’s fun about being defensive?" Bai Ning roared. He pressed the advantage, unleashing a blinding flurry of thrusts.

Lin became a blur, her eyes darting between the spear, avoiding every hit.

Clang. Clang.

Screech!

She deflected the head of the spear again and again, each parry pushing her further.

She was running out of space, back closing in against a stone pillar. Bai Ning lunged with a final, piercing thrust meant to end the bout; instead of stepping back. Lin stepped in the guard and twisted her torso sideways.

The spearhead ripped through the fabric of her shoulder, drawing a thin line of crimson. Ignoring the sting, she dropped low and slid along the shaft of his weapon, using her sword to guide it away from her body.

Bai Ning’s eyes widened. He tried to yank the spear back, but Lin was already inside his guard. With a fierce battle cry, she drove her heel directly into his knee, snapping his balance. As he stumbled, she brought her leg to his chin, smashing upward into his jaw.

Bone cracked against bone. Bai Ning went airborne, coughing spit and blood, before crashing heavily onto the stone floor.

Then a few strings formed on the tip of his fingers. "Hah, that was a strong hit." He wiped the blood and stood up again.

Lin raised her hand and threw it in the air. A symbol of the key flickered in the winf. "I can’t play longer; I’m finishing this."

Bai Ning pulled his hand back, the strings vibrating in the air. "No, you won’t." The puppets came out of the ground, their heads twitching. They all looked like human-displaced joints.

She looked at the puppets, her eyes lingering on the strings. "Yes, I am." Lin swung her blade. The whole place opened portals; the blade swung out of every portal. Bai Ning didn’t even get time to realize; he understood late. "You aren’t from the Cosmic Authority..." He paused, "A Keybearer."

The portals erupted in unison, a dozen circular tears in reality. From each rift, the identical gleam of Lin’s blade lunged outward. The blade was one, yet it attacked from everywhere.

"Formation!" Bai Ning screamed, his previous composure shattering entirely. He violently yanked his fingers. The disjointed puppets moved with sickening, unnatural speed. They threw themselves into the path of the emerging blade, covering him from the slashes.

Lin’s blade sliced through limbs, but the sheer mass of the puppets managed to clog the rifts, sacrificing their bodies to protect their master.

Lin sprinted forward, her boots clicking rapidly against the stone floor. She closed the distance while Bai Ning was hidden by the puppets.

She stabbed the blade deep into the puppets. No voice of scream came. She quickly pulled the blade out and looked behind. A puppet hung by the ceiling. Its skin split open, and Bai Ning came out of it. His spear aimed directly at her.

She didn’t falter; she slammed an invisible key in the open air. The spear passed through the space. Bai Ning’s eyes flickered in shock, and from beside him... His spear came out of the portal. He retreated it; the spear came out from the space it entered, mere centimeters away from stabbing himself from behind.

The threads attached to his fingers multiplied exponentially, glowing with a faint, toxic green light. The severed limbs of his ruined puppets began to stitch themselves together mid-air, forming a massive, multi-limbed monstrosity of bone and flesh that towered over Lin. The creature’s twitching heads let out a synchronized, hollow groan.

A massive fist swung downward, threatening to smack Lin on the ground.

Lin’s blade moved free. She planted her feet and held her blade vertically, pushing the puppet back. Bai Ning lunged from behind her; she looked over her shoulder.

The key symbol began showing; she twisted her wrist and whispered. "Open," a horizontal portal manifested directly above her like a mirror. The monstrous fist plunged right into it. Simultaneously, a second portal opened directly behind Bai Ning’s back. The colossal fist emerged from the second rift, slamming violently into Bai Ning’s own spine.

The impact sounded like a thunderclap. "Grgh," Bai Ning gasped as the breath was forced from his lungs, his own creation sending him skidding across the floor. The strings in his fingertips loosened, causing the giant puppet to collapse into a useless pile of debris.

Lin didn’t give him any time to recover. She stabbed her blade through a small portal in the air, half the blade coming out of the portal. The sharp edge came behind him.

Bai Ning, driven by pure survival instinct, rolled frantically to the side. The blade sliced through the stone floor where his chest had been. "I hate a Keybearer!" Bai Ning hissed, his eyes bloodshot in a craze. He threw three hidden strands straight toward Lin’s face, aiming to bind her eyes.

Lin caught the strings with her bare hand. The threads brushed against her palm, wounding it. Blood ran through her hand and arm. Her eyes hovered near her bloody palm. "He is not as strong; he is at my level. An Ordinal seven," she muttered under her breath. "Two ordinal six and two Ordinal seven are outside."

***

Outside the palace.

Clang!

The courtyard had become a war zone.

Riyoshi’s thin blade danced across the air, a silver whisper against Qi Huo’s mutilated sword. Every strike flew sparks. Qi Huo was relentless–each swing heavier than the last.

Riyoshi stepped back, his shoulder burning. The wound from the first exchange was still fresh. "What’s with this fighting style?" Riyoshi muttered. "He fights like someone who hates the world.

Jim circled Taein, his blade low, his eyes fixed on the scythe. Taein didn’t attack first. His blue eyes tracked every movement.

"What are you waiting for?" Jim called out.

"I’m waiting to examine your stance." Taein replied. His voice was calm and patient. "You have a tell. We both are hesitating... how about we fight without using our Authority?"

Jim’s grip tightened at his offer. He didn’t reply.

Qi Huo lunged again. Riyoshi’s blade rose to meet him, the thin vibrating as it echoed through the air. But Qi Huo didn’t stop. He pushed. The weight of his sword drove Riyoshi back, his boots scraping against the stone.

Riyoshi finally twisted his sword, and suddenly his hand moved automatically faster than before... almost as if the gravity was horizontal now. The speed was faster than Qi Huo could think. The blade stabbed through his guard, piercing through the right arm.

Qui Huo’s breath hitched; the blade didn’t hurt at first, and then a sharp pain filled his arm. Riyoshi jumped back, blood coming out of the Royal Guard’s shoulder.

Riyoshi slashed the air. The blood dripped down on the ground from the blade. "Surprised?" Riyoshi stared quietly.

Qi Huo’s hand twitched. The hand turned crimson, flesh coming out of his body. Finally, the flesh retreated, his skin knitting together. "That was quite an interesting way to use your Authority. That blade of yours..." He examined the thin blade. "You put your Authority on that blade; that’s why it didn’t break yet."

***

Jim moved first.

He surged forward, his blade aimed at Taein’s throat. Taein raised the scythe’s haft, blocking the strike with practiced ease. Jim pressed the advantage, his strikes coming faster and faster. Taein parried each one, his expression unchanged.

"I’ve heard about you," Taein said, almost conversationally. "Jim Hermit. Northern states’ royal guard of Astral Cult."

Jim’s blade found a gap. Taein’s eyes flickered with a hint of surprise. The scythe moved just in time, the blade sliding past his guard and leaving a thin line of red across his neck. He touched the blood, his fingers coming away stained.

"It’s not something that I wish to hear currently." Jim whispered.

Taein blinked once. "Ah. So that’s your tell. An introduction doesn’t hurt, but words matter." He swung the scythe in a wide arc. Jim ducked, the blade passing inches above his head.

***

Riyoshi and Qi Huo had moved to the edge of the courtyard. The fast strikes of the delicate blade carved the air, each strike forcing Qi Huo to retreat.

Qi Huo was faster than he looked. His crimson eyes tracked every movement with predatory precision. "That’s a pointless fight; once the god is born, it doesn’t matter if you survive now."

"That doesn’t concern me."

"Is that so?" Qi Huo lunged, his blade aimed at Riyoshi’s heart. Riyoshi twisted, the mutilated edge grazing his ribs. He spun, his thin blade cutting a line across Qi Huo’s forearm.

Qi Huo looked down at the wound. Blood dripped from his arm, but he didn’t flinch. "That was a mistake," he said. "You should have aimed for my throat." The skin regenerated.

"The throat is a small target. The arm is easier."

"And easier to miss."

The blade changed direction mid-swing. Riyoshi’s eyes widened as the mutilated edge carved through the air, forcing him to stumble back. Qi Huo pressed the advantage, his strikes coming faster and faster. Riyoshi’s thin blade flashed, deflecting blow after blow, but he began losing ground.

Jim and Taein exchanged a flurry of blows.

The scythe swept low; Jim jumped over it. He rolled and came up swinging, his blade catching the scythe’s haft. Taein pushed him back, then swung again. The scythe’s blade hooked around Jim’s sword, yanking it to the side.

Jim let go of his weapon. The sword clattered to the ground.

Taein paused. "You dropped your weapon."

Jim smiled, as exaggerated and planned.

"I know." He lunged forward empty-handed. Taein’s eyes widened. Before he could react, Jim’s fist connected with his gut. The air left his lungs. Taein stumbled back, gasping. Then the gravity smacked him on the ground again. His breath stopped for a moment.

Jim grabbed his fallen sword and swung it upward. "Now." He stabbed downward. The blade touched Taien’s chest.

Clatter!

Taien’s body turned into bones.

Flesh transposition.

Jim’s blade stabbed the ground instead. His gaze turned around. "That was close."

Taein came from behind Jim. He kicked him in the knee. Jim’s leg buckled, his hand holding the blade tightly. Taien clawed his hand in midair. The scythe came into his hand, and he swung it vertically. Jim quickly turned.

Clang!

The blade locked onto the scythe, but its long edge stung Jim’s chest, who coughed, blood trickling from his lips. "Urgh." Jim quickly stumbled back; Riyoshi’s back supported him.

"Don’t push yourself," Riyoshi replied. "We just have to buy time."

"What is Lin doing? It’s taking her so long. What is happening there?"

The courtyard fell silent.

Qi Huo’s grip on his blade tightened. Riyoshi launched forward. Qi Huo met him mid-air, the mutilated blade and thin sword clashing in a shower of sparks. Taien circled Jim now, whose blade was low and eyes fixed on the scythe.

The battle had entered its final phase.

****

Mo Fei walked toward the camera and knocked it. Staring down at the glass, he waved his hand. "Yo, readers. Well, from my author I got some pretty nice news. Today is the day when he got offered a contract. He must be happy about it." With a sigh, he wrapped his hands around and continued. "I can hope that he gets slightly soft, because where the fuck is this story going on? Is he planning to kill me?"

Mo Fei pulled a long rod. "If I find him, I swear I’m going to hang him by his legs on a tree. Anyway, forgetting my grudge with him, thank you; now enjoy because the next is coming tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about the story..."

He smashed the camera and, with a final wave, walked away while humming a tune.