Standing on a pentagram, hovering in the middle of the air, Yuso had his eyes closed—he appeared relaxed, taking sedate breaths. Contrary to his actions, his red Aura Sense leaked out of his body like steam, the air around him reaching temperatures hotter than a forest fire.
It took time for Yuso to learn a facet of his power; the emotion that controls it. Every time he felt aggravated, his power waned, whether it was positive or negative. For ages, he wondered why he lacked moderation and control over his Aura Sense, but recently, Yuso had figured it out.
As for Itami, he stood atop his roots, hundreds of feet in the air. "If we hadn't been so high, he would've damn near wiped everything around the village out, and beyond…"
He clicked his tongue in annoyance—a nominal rogue with big talk appears and ruins everything, proceeding to release uncanny power-ups.
"Just what we needed…"
Down below, Yuso took one quick breath. "Perhaps I should be more forceful in order to make them submit."
In a stationary position, Doryoku awaited any further movement from the redhead in the sky, his eyes intently analyzing Yuso. Despite his stupidity, the ring-wielding rogue could deduce that Yuso had discharged more power than before, resulting in his brother's failed attempt at subduing him.
"Huh..?"
In seconds, Doryoku noticed Yuso shifting his entire body, feeling as the redhead's gaze transitioned onto him, intensely.
Yuso clenched his fists, his Aura Sense flaring. Then,
*FOOM!*
At imperceivable speeds, Yuso dashed toward Doryoku. The ring-wielding rogue barely had enough time to respond as a fist buried itself into his stomach and slammed him into the earth with immense strength. Yuso's fist continued to push Doryoku through the dirt for several yards, the ruts being made by his body indenting the ground deeply.
Luckily for Doryoku, he managed to coat himself with a thin sheen of green magic, acting as armor. Thrusting his ring outward, Doryoku knocked back Yuso with a direct blast, enabling him to stand back up.
"Not sure how well I would've lived if I tanked that blow." Doryoku commented, forcing his armor-like shield to dissipate.
Soon, the ring-wielding rogue noticed something.
"...And I'm no longer inside Furusato."
Suddenly, numerous pentagrams filled the area, alerting Doryoku instantly. In response, he lifted his arm upward, his ring facing the sky—a green ball amassed by magic, resembling a Genso-Kyu, was conjured. Spikes shot out from all sides of the ball, extending toward each pentagram and shattering them.
"He keeps using the same tricks over and over again!" Doryoku hollered in anger, his eyes darting all over.
"Then try initiating attacks instead." Yuso said, appearing behind Doryoku in an instant.
Doryoku spun briskly, his arm swiping at Yuso, only for the redhead to duck and swing himself. From this, the two repeatedly fought by sending blows in rapid succession, both of their movements moving faster than a light beam would be able to strike.
Finally, Yuso delivered a powerful knee strike that lifted Doryoku into the air for the first time. Yuso appeared in crimson on the ground before reappearing in the air to throw the ring-wielding rogue around. After a while, Doryoku grew tired of being used as a toy. To vent his frustration, he encased himself with a transparent ball of green using his ring—*BOOM!*— which caused it to erupt in volatile heat and force Yuso to face the brunt of the blast.
Unfortunately for Doryoku, he was no longer being forced into the air, meaning that he started to fall back to the ground quickly.
"Heads up!"
With haste, wooden roots entangled themselves, catching Doryoku mid-air, courtesy of Itami.
Doryoku grinned. "I love ya!"
"Shut up and let us kill the bastard!" Itami barked, redirecting his gaze to Yuso, who stood on a floating pentagram.
Yuso tilted his head sideways, his Shirugeto whirling uncontrollably. At any moment, the monotone redhead could teleport, setting the two green-haired brothers on edge.
Subsequently, Yuso appeared behind the two in less than a second, his radiating palms extending outward to grab the Furusato Unit rogues. Quickly, Itami separated the three of them using his roots, preventing Yuso from reaching them.
With pent-up ferocity, Itami dispatched four roots toward Yuso. The redhead easily maneuvered around them, rushing at the staff-wielding rogue. With a spike protruding from his palm, Yuso aimed to impale Itami, being intercepted shortly after by a barrier of erected wood.
"Try again, bit—ARGH!"
Unsuspectingly, a pentagram formed behind Itami, Yuso's hand sticking out of it.
Yuso's emotionless voice could be heard. "Your barricades do not provide any protection; there is nowhere I cannot enter; your wood, cowardly, has only delayed your end."
Blood spilt from Itami's mouth. "You… suck!"
Through the spike, Yuso transported Itami to the other side of the wooden barricade, becoming face-to-face with one another.
"I should have killed you from the start," Yuso stated. "It would have cleared me of so much squandered time."
Doryoku, who sat on roots behind the two, watched in surprise and shock, observing as his brother was impaled through the chest. With wide eyes, the ring-wielding rogue watched as Yuso sent out more spikes from his palm, causing more blood to pool out of Itami's weakened body.
It didn't matter how harsh his brother was with him; Itami was his only remaining family member—the last person who had put up with his stupidity, ignorance, and failures since he was a child.
"Brother…" Doryoku called out mutely.
It was natural that no one else in the Furusato Unit was as tolerable as Itami or even remotely social; yet, Doryoku detested the alone and the depressing reality.
Doryoku clenched his fists, a brilliant green shine illuminating the area instantly. Yuso, who still had his spikes within Itami's chest, turned his head to gaze at what was occurring behind him, only for his eyes to widen in bewilderment.
"...BROTHER!"
With a new surge in power, Doryoku's ring discharged seemingly limitless amounts of magic, forming a new creation. It was huge, blinding the entire area with a consuming green light.
Yuso froze in surprise, his head craned upward in an attempt to survey the new opponent before him.
With new power, Doryoku's magic took the shape of a humanoid, 250 meter tall statue, towering over Yuso intimidatingly. Doryoku's new form was so large that it practically dwarfed the Furusato castle, especially Yuso himself.
With a voice full of venom Doryoku yelled, "I'll blast you to the damn stars for what you did!"
XXX
A little short, but I had more to end this with; however, I didn't have much time and I did not want to end this chapter on a different note than I originally planned, so I concluded it here. Hope the fight was entertaining enough, and I'll gladly introduce the next chapter as soon as possible! Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_