Chapter 64: Dream Ki
"I wasn't expecting this," Howard held out his hand, smiling back at the cute creature as six beams of light descended towards him. On his right and left arm, two small Channeling doors appeared, causing his body to glow an almost eerie white light. "Sorry little guy. We can't play any longer. Go back to your family, okay?"
"LEEE LEEE LEEE!" The creature let out a gut wrenching cry before Howard's body got swallowed by the massive beams.
Boom!
A large screen of dust shot in every direction that soon completely changed the sky. The beautiful shining sun which had once dominated the landscape had been blocked out by the large, outpouring of energy that gushed in every direction. Three final flickers of white light tarnished the landscape before a massive burst of fire soared upwards!
Boom!
Howard's body shot into a nearby mountain, crashing into it with such force that it instantly shattered. Traveling into three more mountains behind it, Howard finally landed in a pile of debris, floating against a surface of rocks with a small remaining white light coating the surface of his skin.
"Go check if he's still alive," Respell ordered, pointing at three members of the Brigade.
The Aresoul Royal Brigade had members only in the B rank or above, which roughly gave them the ability to fight Controllers in the C rank. Consisting of over 100 members, their combined strength was more than enough to take on the four guardians of Horned Nation.
Of course, Respell would much rather just kill Barabin, the weakest guardian, and then blame it on the Varlan. In fact, he planned on reporting the disaster to Annibell and sending her a card with some flowers.
'He has to be dead, right? That blast could kill someone in the A rank,' Respell watched the Authoritarian rush over towards Howard as two of his magicians ran past its side.
At the same time, it kept screaming "LEEE LEEE LEE!" However, even with it crying, an Authoritarian wouldn't get involved unless it sensed a child had gotten injured. Respell simply thoguht Howard was just a normal boy, and bemusingly stared at the small form wobbling to his feet.
Seeing Howard stand up, a fire swirling around him, he even clapped.
"Two more of you, flank him from behind. If he breaks for it, cut him off. He seems like a new high ranking Horned. Now would be a good time to kill him when he's alone."
"Yes!" The two brigade members wearing silk, blue gowns turned into beams of light as white light flickered up and down their armors. Shimmering even in the shroud of smoke, they covered a large distance in a second, appearing before Howard as two Magicians came at him on his left and right side.
"Please run, little guy," Howard smiled, holding out his hand before twenty snakes of flame lashed out at the magicians. Seeing they'd all been dodged, Howard held out his hands once again, this time sending out over a hundred bursts of fire balls that shot at his opponents.
Swoosh!
A magician easily dodged past Howard's body and kept pumping more Ki into his body to increase his speed. Every time he did this, a door would open, before he'd shimmer and instantly converge closer and closer to Howard's location.
Seeing a fist coming towards his face, Howard ducked and dodged before sending a turning fist into a magician's cheek. Feeling the air, Howard could only gulp as a flash impacted against his chin.
Boom!
Howard got sent into the sky, floating up into the air as four magicians crossed hands and gathered energy for a final strike. Their mouths slowly began to chant as a darkness began to emerge in Howard's face. Sensing death waiting for him in the shadows, he could only smile at the small beast before a strange force seemed to travel through his head.
Boom!
Howard disappeared into a billowing form in the sky as the magicians all took a breath of relief. Wiping the sweat from their heads, one even leaned forward, holding his hands in an obnoxious manner as he tried to scare the Authoritarian to his side.
"BLEEEHH! Your little friend is gone now. Go away!" The magician high fived his compatriots before a sense of joy spread across from them. "Heh, that little brat had some skill. How old was he, fourteen?"
"He's dust now. Can't grow back if your dust," His friend answered, turning around only to see the teeth of the strange Authoritarian barring towards him. Sighing at the little creature, the magician named Lorence gently turned his hand before a large wall erected in front of him.
Unable to stop, Menos crashed into the wall, shattering his head against the glass. It's body instantly fell, causing Lorence to laugh at its pathetic figure. As long as he didn't hit it directly, an Authoritarian wouldn't attack him. He took one last look up at the sky, checking for remnants or body parts that might have fallen.
To his surprise, as the smoke cleared, he noticed the shadow of a man's form with glowing markings all over his body. Holding out his hand, Howard appeared from the smoke before he saw the markings of the Dream Myth all over his skin.
"I-I decided to follow you. I lie a lot remember," Yindred's voice appeared in Howard's head. "Since you saved my life, I-I'll lend you all my power just this once!"
"Heh, you saved me! Is that you Yindred?" Howard looked at his body, feeling the surreal sense of Dream Ki flowing inside of him. It once again felt like he could cover an endless distance with only a single step. "Why did you come back."
"You-you don't know this about Dream Myths, but we like certain dreamers. I-I enjoyed your dream, so I decided to come back for one more night!" Yindred sounded upset, causing Howard to laugh. Appreciating her help, he couldn't help but jump up and down and try to get used to the energy spreading through his veins.
Stepping off his back foot, he instantly appeared in front of Laurence and thrust forward with his right arm. An almost unsurmountable force came out of his fist that shattered the white shield blocking his path in an instant.
Boom!
Laurence's body shot into the air before Howard flipped upwards and kicked him square in the face. The next moment, his figure had already entered the ground.
Howard, landing on one feet, smiled as more and more Dream Ki entered inside of his veins.
'Dream Ki. What is it exactly?" Howard could feel the energy in his body slowly starting ot fade away. "I-I mean. Is that what you call it? It makes me feel like I can move in strange ways."
"Dream Ki only works in the Furnace," Yindred answered, a nervous tone present in her voice. "It allows you to defy reality. Unfortunately, you can only use it for 10 more seconds. I'm giving you my maximum energy! Don't hold back and then run away! The little Authoritarian will be fine! It's father is coming and it's coming fast!"
"Hmmmm?" Howard saw three fists coming towards him and nodded his head. "Good, then I can just take care of these guys." Howard stepped off his back foot and appeared dozens of meters in the sky, feeling the fresh air swarming at him and touching against his flesh. It felt like the world had turned into a dream and anything could be a reality. Spinning his foot in the air, suddenly a transparent surface seemed to knock against his foot!
Swoosh!
Howard instantly appeared behind a 1.3 meter tall magician that had just fired an attack in the sky. Turning his fist, Howard connected with the man's spine.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Howard connected three hits into the man's back before a flame smothered his body and devoured the air inside of him. Turning to the other two men, Howard seemed to shift in ten directions, before the two remaining magicians' disappeared into embers of smoke.
Respell, looking on from the distance, couldn't believe his eyes. Looking at Howard completely dessicrating his men, he fell onto his knees somewhere between anger and madness.
"That-that has to be the next demon king! He-he's using Dream Ki! How the hell did he connect with the Varlan!"
"Regardless, that energy can only be used for short amounts of time! Yes, I know. I'll kill him myself. That way that little monster doesn't visit me in my sleep!"
"I'm leaving!" Howard said, tapping the Authoritarian on the head. "I-I'm going to die if I stay, but your father is right over there."
"LEEE" The beast replied sadly, standing up and stompings its feet in front of Howard. "LEEE LEEE!"
"Heh, I'll see you again soon, Menos. My teacher will come back and kick their ass," Howard smiled, suddenly seeming to appear in a hundred places at once before they all vanished in different directions.
Seeing this as he neared Howard, Respell could only fall to his knees, looking up as a gigantic Authoritarian ran in his direction.
"Are you kidding me? Can this day get any worse!"