NOVEL NEXT Episode XCV: Kori’s Death Games Pt. IV
A wolfish grin spread across Kazuhiro's face, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous light. "Who among you is next in line for the grave?" His words echoed around the room, prompting raucous laughter from the members of the Kori family.
Felix stepped forward, raising his hands in silent acceptance of the challenge. "I guess that'd be me," he said, his voice steady despite the tension in the air.
Kazuhiro's laugh was like a knife slicing through the silence. "Ah, so it's the boy who cries wolf up next." His tone dripped with contempt and Felix bristled at the disrespect.
"Big talk for someone who won't be leaving this cage intact," Felix retorted calmly, meeting Kazuhiro's gaze without flinching.
Kazuhiro smirked, his eyes glinting with deadly seriousness. "And you're awfully brave for someone about to meet their end." The cage door clanged shut behind them, sealing their fate.
"No escape now, loser," Kazuhiro taunted but Felix just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Who said anything about escaping?" He slipped into a fighting stance as Kazuhiro lunged at him. Their fists clashed in a flurry of movement. Despite having already fought against Yosuke and Juro earlier, Kazuhiro managed to evade Felix's punches with surprising agility. Suddenly, he lashed out with an icy green kick that took Felix by surprise and sent him sprawling.
Felix quickly recovered though, using one hand to push himself back onto his feet just as Kazuhiro rushed towards him again. With a swift movement, he grabbed Kazuhiro’s leg and swung himself over his opponent���s head.
"Moonlight Punch!" Felix shouted as his fist began to glow blue before he landed a solid hit on Kazuhiro's face causing an explosion of energy that sent shockwaves through the cage.
"Direct hit!" Lionel exclaimed from the sidelines. "But will it be enough?" Tokido wondered aloud, his eyes never leaving the fight.
Takuji shook his head. "Kazuhiro won't go down that easily. That was just a basic attack." Kazuhiro's face was now marred with more bruises but he just smiled and laughed.
"You really thought that would be enough to take me down?" His voice echoed around the cage as he launched an ice block at Felix who barely had time to dodge before Kazuhiro appeared in front of him, landing a solid punch on his chest.
Felix skidded back but managed to stay on his feet. He blocked Kazuhiro's next kick with his arm, the skin there turning blue as he landed a hard punch on Kazuhiro���s gut, sending him sprawling backwards.
"That was a lucky shot," Kazuhiro taunted, smirking despite the pain. Felix didn’t respond and simply returned to his fighting stance, waiting for Kazuhiro's next move.
The fight continued with both of them exchanging blows until finally, Felix lost his footing under a particularly vicious kick from Kazuhiro and crashed onto the cold ground.
"Funny how you couldn't dodge that one," Kazuhiro sneered while Felix groaned in response.
"You caught me off guard," he admitted grudgingly as he got back up onto shaky legs. Realizing he couldn't outspeed or overpower Kazuhiro, Felix decided on another strategy - inflicting as much damage as possible without getting himself killed in the process.
With Mudar's consent, Felix transformed into their spirit form while Kazuhiro morphed into a green ice Kirin - half beast half human - eliciting gasps from their spectators.
As they resumed their battle under an illusory moonlight created by Felix’s transformation, Felix’s body started to glow a soft blue.
Kazuhiro looked intrigued. "What does it do?" he asked, blocking Felix's punches with ease.
"You'll find out soon enough," Felix retorted as he landed another Moonlight Punch on Kazuhiro’s gut followed by a swift punch to his face. Suddenly, Felix's hand turned into solid green ice under Kazuhiro’s counterattack.
"I hope you weren't too attached to that hand because you won't be using it for the rest of this fight," Kazuhiro taunted as Jax and FJ watched in horror from the sidelines.
Despite his disadvantage, Felix continued his onslaught but his attacks were becoming increasingly erratic due to the loss of his hand. Eventually, Kazuhiro shattered the frozen hand with a brutal kick leaving Felix writhing in pain on the ground.
"You put up an interesting fight," Kazuhiro said with an evil grin, laughing as he walked towards the fallen Felix. "But it wasn't enough."
Felix's fingers wrapped tightly around Kazuhiro's ankle, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. With a swift movement, Kazuhiro shook off Felix’s desperate hold. “I don’t grant mercy to the weak, only death awaits them and that is your destination.” Kazuhiro declared coldly.
“Felix, get out there now!” Lionel's voice echoed through the icy arena. At his command, Felix's body began to glow with an ethereal light again.
“Any last words, wolfy!” Kazuhiro taunted, his voice resonating with malicious amusement.
“Yes, Ultra Move: Howl of The Moon Blast!!!” Felix retorted defiantly. A massive blue energy blast formed in front of him, aimed directly at Kazuhiro’s face.
“You son of a b-----!!!!” Kazuhiro screamed as he braced himself for impact. But before he could finish his sentence, the energy blast hit him head-on. He was sent flying backward with smoke billowing from his chest.
Felix was also propelled back into the ice cage by the force of his own attack and landed painfully on an ice spike. He turned his gaze towards the moon - its silvery light illuminating the frozen battlefield - then took a long look at his friends.
“I believe I did enough for us to win this match...later guys!” Felix murmured to himself as he let his eyelids fall shut and felt his body disintegrating into lunar particles.
Jax and Lionel dropped onto their knees in despair, tears streaming down their faces. “We have to win and bring him back.” Lionel choked out between sobs.
“These guys are impossible to beat... why did I bring you guys here? This is not your fight; this is mine and Tokido's battle.” Jax lamented bitterly.
FJ strode over to Jax and hoisted him up by the gi. “This is all your fault; we wouldn’t be in this mess if you two had sorted things out with that damned family!” FJ spat at Jax, his finger jabbing towards Tokido.
“You agreed to join us in fighting them to save this world. If they don’t get stopped, we might as well die because if they take over this world, we are doomed. Plus, they want all Mitsuko to die off first because we pose a threat to them.” Tokido interjected, his voice grave and stern.
FJ released his grip on Jax. “I will make sure Kazuhiro or whatever his name is stops moving and I will exterminate every single member of that accursed Kori clan.” FJ vowed in a fit of rage.
The ice cage shuddered ominously as it prepared for the next challenger.
Meanwhile… Kiyoshi was navigating through the labyrinthine layered woods area. “Now, did we go this way or that way to get in?” Kiyoshi mused aloud.
“I think we took that path at least,” Kitaro suggested hesitantly. Trusting his friend's judgement, Kiyoshi followed the indicated direction.
“Hang on guys, we're coming...don't die yet,” Kiyoshi murmured under his breath as he pushed through the dense foliage.