Depthless Hunger

Chapter 104: A Windy Rematch in the Clouds

As she stepped away from the controls, Inafay rolled her shoulders like she always did before they sparred. There was no delay in summoning her skills anymore: she would be ready in an instant. The only thing keeping her from attacking was the way she was looking at him.

"I don't know what you've heard," Kai said, "but it isn't-"

"I heard that you had turned yourself into a monster, and that seems pretty damn clear!" She smashed her gauntlets together and took a step forward.

"Don't use your spiritual sight, just think! What does it mean for me to be a monster, if we're standing here talking like this?"

"Hannagan said that you had been corrupted and would do anything to sabotage the city's defenses. I didn't believe it while you were defending everyone below, but now you fought your way through the guards, threw people off the edge, and went straight for the controls. What am I supposed to think?"

"He's the one sabotaging the defenses!" He almost wanted to growl and tried to shove the instincts back down. "Why are you running away instead of helping everyone putting their lives on the line?"

"We're going to come back to rescue more people, unless you break the ship!"

"Look around you! You're not evacuating the citizens, you're running away with the Guild's wealth. Just be logical and think about everything Hannagan has told you. After what he did to get me banished, how can you trust him?"

Inafay might have hesitated, but then her eyes narrowed. "He said that you weren't yourself and that you'd say anything to accomplish your objectives. Are you even in control? It sounds like the real Kai talking to me, but would you know if you had been corrupted?"

"Dammit, Inafay, you have no idea what you're talking about. This is-"

Without warning her fist caught him in the chest. Wood splintered behind them as they shattered through multiple boards and they didn't stop until they'd broken through above the deck. She continued pushing forward, her wind driving them on, until she slammed him onto his back.

"Don't condescend, Kai. Take me seriously!"

He took her seriously by punching her in the face as hard as he could. Inafay tumbled back across the deck, but she managed to stop herself with one hand and then pulled back to her feet. Kai's chest ached from the impact of the wind, so it took him almost as long to get up. All around them, the guards and officials were backpedaling to whatever crannies they could find.

She wanted him to take her seriously? Kai finally opened his spiritual sight to examine her the way she had as soon as he'd entered.

Name: Inafay Corinin

Total Power: 98

Windcutter Class: 34 (44)

Physique Level: F-4 (38)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

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Inafay Corinin had certainly been training hard. Her Windcutter Class had already grown to the point where many adults reached their limit, and her Physique and Soul Levels had almost caught up to his. Not only did her strength total to 98, every aspect of her soul was in balance.

When she began unleashing wind strikes at him, their old dance resumed as if there hadn't been so many months apart. She still used the same punching movements leading into concentrated bursts, her technique was just more refined. He adjusted to the new speed and dodged back and forth as he tried to close the distance.

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Kai began edging to the side so that some of the officials would be behind him. He knew that Inafay wouldn't risk harming them, and in her moment of hesitation he could get within her range. Of course she still had her sphere, so...

Realizing what he was planning, and how it would look to her, Kai hesitated and then shifted in the opposite direction. That weakness was too much in such a close fight and one of her blasts caught him in the chest. The instant he fell, she didn't let up, hurling more intense blasts in his direction.

He just barely managed to push off the ground to dodge the next gust and flipped up to one of the piles of boxes. Even if he needed to fight Inafay, tactics that made him look like a monster wouldn't work.

The most logical thing to do would be to use his claw technique. He was almost certain that her wind couldn't deflect pure energy, so that might end the fight on its own. But as much as he told himself that he could explain afterwards, trying to fight her with his monstrous skills caused a sense of dread to claw up his throat. It was true that he had been less in control lately, and he didn't want to cause a fatal wound...

Without those skills, he had no choice but to dodge behind the boxes. Inafay didn't hesitate for a second and she would circle around the pile soon. Fighting just as a human... did he have a chance at winning? Using just his human strength she was stronger than him, plus he hadn't cultivated long enough to equal her Class skills. A logical hunter would say that it was impossible.

But he'd been finding ways to beat opponents he had no business fighting from the beginning. Kai took a deep breath and grabbed one of the boxes.

When he hurled it at her with his full strength, Inafay had no choice but to dodge. He'd already picked up another box and thrown it. She cast another wind burst against it, but she only broke open one corner and sent Goralian Eagles scattering all over the ship. Her blow didn't redirect the center of the mass of the box very much, so she still needed to dodge.

Kai had already hurled a third box, and this time he rushed in after it.

Just before he arrived, he saw the grin on her face and realized he'd miscalculated. A green tornado of mana burst around Inafay, so powerful that it knocked the box skyward. He had almost reached her anyway, but she didn't need any time to recharge: she knocked her gauntlets together and the tornado transformed into her sphere of wind.

The wind slammed against his chest like a wall, the currents of mana opening dozens of shallow cuts. He staggered back as coins and broken boards showered around them.

"Ha, gotcha that time!" Inafay grinned, and for a moment it was just like they were in their old training courtyard.

If he reached out to Aquagorgon's Health, the bloody lines across his chest would begin to heal immediately. But she would see it and make the wrong conclusion... and in a strange way, that would feel like cheating. Without his monstrous regeneration, all the injuries were slowing him down and his stamina was flagging, but there had to be a way...

"This is all I really wanted." Inafay smiled sadly at him. "Human or monster, I just wanted to fight you again, instead of... everything..."

That sealed his decision. He would keep all bestial instincts and powers in check for this, win or lose. He'd trained in many disciplines before becoming a hunter, hoping that one of them would serve him after he awakened. Even though his life had taken an entirely different path, that discipline would serve him now.

Inafay began punching wind in his direction again, so he was forced to retreat. As an idea formed in his mind, he moved back toward another set of boxes. Along the way, he had to roll underneath one horizontal arc of wind and he grabbed a fallen coin from the deck. Inafay had the advantage, but she was running down her mana and her Physique couldn't take many more blows, if he could just create an opening.

When he reached the boxes, she snorted mockingly but didn't let down her guard. Kai threw one at her, just as he had before, but he also dropped the coin he was holding.

Inafay didn't play around with this one, she simply knocked the box skyward with a rush of wind. He'd already kicked the coin as hard as he could, directly into her head. It pinged off, not doing much damage to her F-4 Physique, but she reeled back at the unexpected blow.

In that moment, Kai leapt the distance between them. In midair he grabbed the box she had knocked skyward, then slammed it over her head.

All the mana-driven wind died as Inafay crumpled. Immediately the adrenaline of combat faded and Kai rushed to her side. She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, but she smiled at him.

"It is... you..." Her eyes fluttered closed the next second, but he could feel that her heart was still strong. Kai smiled and reached down to brush her hair out of her wound.

Then he realized that someone was charging him. He reacted instantly, slashing upwards with a claw to drive them back.

When he rose to his feet, he saw that Fhazi Lantrian stood on the deck of the flying ship. Judging from the warriors emerging from the back cabin, he had been hiding inside until then. Unfortunately, it looked like he had his Earthenshield bodyguard and both Tonjin brothers along with him.

"It's just like grandfather said!" Fhazi grinned at his minions and gestured them forward. "You can all stand back - watch me put down this monster!"

Kai straightened his back and let all his monstrous abilities loose. This battle had nothing to do with humanity.

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