Kai Lane: Beginning

The crown symbolizing the king appeared on Kai and Ryuga's foreheads. Most Kings were obviously Developers. They had been on Sky Island for a long time, so they had more opportunities to become kings than the hunters did. Thus, the balance of power shifted in the Developers' favor.

However, Kai was still in a difficult situation. He had realized something like this was going to happen when he was talking to the Sky Spirit. The Sky Spirit didn't seem to like the fact that Kai had everything in his hands. If Kai wanted to become stronger, he first had to survive against Ryuga and Valeria.

When the lightning struck, Kai appeared behind Ryuga and shattered the scales on his chest. At the same time, Valeria's arrow broke a scale on Ryuga's chest. Within seconds, Ryuga's defenses were greatly weakened!

Kai then took advantage of the energy coming from the Sky Lands. The lightning bolt and energy from the ground should have caused an immediate reaction. But Kai didn't care. He came close to Ryuga's chest and swung his fist.

The Black Sword fell to the ground, and, as the earth trembled, handcuffs emerged from the ground and grabbed Ryuga's ankle. Then, a gust of wind blew, violently pushing Ryuga back.

Of course, the wind couldn't hold Ryuga for even a second, but Kai only needed a split second.

Still, it was foolish to underestimate Ryuga. As soon as Ryuga sensed the danger, the scales on his body mobilized and covered the spot where Kai had attacked.

Kai's fist found Ryuga's body, leaving only the space of a baby's fist worth of scale-free area. In those brief seconds, Kai's fist slammed into the gap. Only the most violent part of his fist was able to fit through the gap.

Even though only some of the force reached that point, many of Ryuga's back bones were shattered, and his spine was severely damaged.

VOOOOOOAAAHHH!!!!

The explosive force of Kai's fist shattered space for thousands of meters, along with Ryuga. If Ryuga hadn't been a Healer, He probably would have been crippled, and Kai would have finished him off.

In fact, nothing had changed between Kai and Ryuga. Kai had only realized that he had killed himself unnecessarily and made selfish decisions with selfish consequences. Now, he was going to be decisive and kill Ryuga with clever moves. Perhaps Kai was the most suitable person for this method of attack in all the Sky Lands. He had so many ways to attack.

"Ryuga!"

At that moment, Valeria, who was hiding in the trees, was spotted by Kai. As soon as she sent her arrow toward him, lightning flashed in his eyes, and he swung his arm, blocking the arrow with his scales. Kai still didn't really look human. But now, he seemed to have found his way. He had finally grasped a basic principle of how to move forward in his development. He couldn't degrade his humanity any further.

Valeria didn't shoot the arrows one by one. She placed multiple arrows on her belt. Each time, however, the arrows were in Kai's path.

Kai knew he had to stop Valeria before Ryuga got up. Otherwise, the situation would become even more dangerous. He had lost the upper hand.

"You think I'm just going to let you kill him?"

Valeria was already stronger than Kai. If Kai had recognized the True Path of Development earlier, perhaps things would have been different. Divine Potential only needed a few seconds.

But now it was too late. With the help of the Sky Spirit, Kai had removed the stone he had put in front of himself, and he could no longer be allowed to live. Although it was not difficult to remove the rock, it was difficult to detect.

Without the Sky Spirit, it would have been difficult for Kai to reach Step 2.

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Valeria didn't know what was happening at that moment either, but she suspected that Kai was prepared for the moment the Colossal Lightning struck. Nevertheless, she kept shooting arrows. He didn't dare engage in close combat. The crown symbol on Kai's forehead had already consumed Valeria.

The pressure was unbearable! After all, Valeria was not a king.

It was only a matter of time before she fled under Kai's pressure. She had to prolong the fight until Ryuga arrived.

But at that moment...

FIYUUUUUUUU....!!!

The whistling sound that pierced the air carried with it the desire to kill. Valeria realized it too late, but at the last moment, she dodged the attack from afar. There was a cut on her shoulder from the arrow. She felt a warm aura coming from the arrow, which strangely pressed on her veins.

"Kai, you go! I'll get her!"

The distant voice was full of confidence. Chaos reigned on the battlefield, and anyone who was a king, protector, or lord was a threat. Many people had experienced the Potential Awakening, but their power was much less than that of people with titles.

The one who was here now had a bow and arrow on his chest, which was invisible. Sarah was now capable of stopping Valeria. There was also the possibility of killing her in a long-distance battle.

Kai looked at Sarah for a moment. Then, he darted directly to where Ryuga had gone.

Seeing this, Valeria's eyes flashed with anger. She immediately shot an arrow in that direction.

"You bastard!"

Snap!!!

But at that moment, Sarah quickly fired another arrow, stopping the one heading towards Kai. Kai didn't wait any longer and took off in Ryuga's direction with Lightning Strides.

"Now it's just you and me."

***

Kai went deeper into the forest. This was where the impact of his punch had ended. But Ryuga was nowhere to be found. He must have risen not long ago.

'He certainly couldn't have escaped. He's probably just healing himself. If he reaches peak condition, I won't survive. I have to finish this while he's injured.'

Kai took one look at the gash Ryuga had entered, then closed his eyes. He held the Heavenly Elemental Sword in his hand. For a moment, everything around him disappeared, and even the sizzling sound that normally came from his sword was gone.

Right now, Kai felt like a drop in the ocean. Fluid and perfect. As he pulled his legs back, a huge, heavy sword came at him from behind his head. With incredible body movement, Kai spun on his heels and crashed into the great heavy sword, along with the small raindrop that had formed on the tip of the black sword.

KIIIRTT...!!!!

This attack broke the scales of the heavy sword and knocked the heavenly elemental sword out of Kai's hand.

But that didn't matter!

An ancient aura emanated from Kai's body, and his fingers intertwined. He looked at Ryuga, who was in the air, and shot his fingers forward.

"Double Finger Body Slash!"

With Ryuga's finger thrust forward like a spear, he had nowhere to run in the air. His organs were on the verge of disintegrating from the previous attack, and now his body was rebelling. Despite being a Healer, the damage to his organs was significant.

As Ryuga tilted his body slightly, Kai's fingers went straight into his abdomen!

Blood spurted into the air. Ryuga groaned in pain but also brought his fist down with all his strength, breaking the arm Kai had inserted into his body.

KAAARTTT!!!

The sound of the break echoed in their ears. Along with the blood coming out of Ryuga's chest, Kai's arm seemed to have been cut in half. His calm face was disfigured by his broken arm. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand and pulled his fingers out of Ryuga's chest.

Ryuga threw himself back and grabbed his wound. He had to throw the heavy sword aside. His organs couldn't handle it in their current state, which was made worse by the two fingers that had entered his body. His face turned white, and blood poured from the corner of his mouth.

Kai was in much better condition, but his arm was badly broken, and his blood vessels had even burst. His arm had almost doubled in size from Ryuga's punch. This was definitely not a simple injury.

Ryuga and Kai looked at each other, their faces distorted by pain. Although Ryuga was stronger than Kai, Kai had a more diverse range of attacks. Unlike ordinary people, his combat skills increased when he found his own path of development. He began to control his power better.

"Kai.... You... Indeed. You are an enemy worth fighting...."

Ryuga examined his wound as he spoke under his breath. Kai's left arm was badly damaged, but his internal organs were in worse shape. Several of his organs were cracked, and although Ryuga could survive by using the healing energy in his body, he needed to rest to fully recover. This was impossible in the current situation.

A calm smile appeared on Ryuga's face.

"So this is the end of the road, huh?"

Perhaps he had predicted this day a long time ago. Still, there was a big difference between living and predicting. The incredible pain rising through his body couldn't stop the smile that came with the realization of death.

He looked at Kai. Kai was still holding his left arm, and Ryuga was doing his best to close the hole where his fingers had entered. But it was all for naught. The moment they locked eyes, they both let go of their wounds.

They were going to finish this fair and square!

With everything they had!

Nobly!