It was stupid—incomprehensibly so—tackling Lord Phoenix after launching him further into the atmosphere and proceeding to duke it out, despite the rapid incline of power that the masked lord had been receiving throughout the duration of the fight.
But Regashi could not push himself enough to care enough to make himself concerned with the instantaneous growth that his rival was undergoing nearly every second. The sole reason behind these emotions was unfortunately figuratively pillared with a residual feeling of regret.
All because he had momentarily given up.
Even now, as Regashi unleashed a barrage of close-quarter attacks, ranging from punches and kicks, the prince hated the fact that he had pathetically closed his eyes and awaited death when faced with Lord Phoenix's black hole attack.
It was not in the Ketsueki family's blood to give up, to relinquish their hold in a fight, to stop trying. Oritsu Ketsueki, the beloved king of the village of Furusato, was just a boy when he desired to be a king. There was no all-mighty and brave warrior that the Ketsueki family had descended from, so Oritsu had to work to the bone in an attempt to match the most skilled warriors there were.
And, rightfully, Oritsu Ketsueki surpassed warriors from all three nations, being crowned with the title of the new protector of Furusato.
"You taking me on alone is meaningless. Regashi!" Lord Phoenix's piercing voice washed over the prince. "No point in saving yourself if your mortality is inevitable!"
The brown-haired prince was forced to endure a violent punch to the face, splitting the skin on his cheek and sending his body flinging through the air uncontrollably.
If Oritsu Ketsueki, Regashi's very own father, refused to submit to the travails of life, why should he?
'No point in giving up here!' Regashi mentally declared, flexing every muscle in his body as he corrected himself in the sky, returning his gaze to his masked rival who was now far away.
*SWOOSH!*
Driven by a mixture of emotions, Regashi pumped his legs and soared above the planet at breakneck speeds, prepared to tussle with Lord Phoenix for the umpteenth time.
"Phoenix!" Regashi screamed as his body met his rival's, the two of them spinning wildly.
The masked lord grumbled as flexed his right hand open and rammed his palm into Regashi's chest, knocking the wind out of the prince and removing the prince's vice grip on Lord Phoenix's body. Afterward, Lord Phoenix created two Genso-Kyu—*BRRM!*—both produced with a potent form of the blue Aura Sense.
Then, the malevolent rival drove the two Genso-Kyu into each other, Regashi's body residing in the middle of the collision.
*BOOM!*
"Challenge me further, and the pain you'll feel will follow." Lord Phoenix claimed intimidatingly, his yellow eyes looking into the blinding light he had clapped into existence.
Without warning, a scorched hand coated in red magic emerged from the explosion of the two blue Genso-Kyu.
"Spare me the villain dialogue!" Regashi demanded, his magically-fueled hand clutching onto his rival's neck tightly.
With his free hand, Regashi forcefully lodged a heated punch into Lord Phoenix's mask, shattering most of the material.
"You're nothing without me to fight!" Regashi hollered, "Your battles with me allow you to stamp yourself into this world—and it's my responsibility to pick you off!"
Another punch to Lord Phoenix's face, the top left corner of his mask crumbling.
"Not once have you ever beaten me! And I don't plan on changing that!" Regashi demeaned his rival once more through gritted teeth.
Lord Phoenix's hands clenched tightly, and several tendrils of magic, formed from all four of the Aura Senses, promptly restrained the prince, coiling around his body and halting his besieging punches.
Lord Phoenix aimed his right hand at Regashi's face, a blue Genso-Kyu materializing. "Don't think you're strong after getting a few hits in!"
Regashi's eyes widened, his body burning from the tendrils that were wrapped around him. He was currently unable to fight back; he was vulnerable. Incredibly so.
However, the prince's green eyes changed color, his eyes shifting to a luminous red color.
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
Shortly after, blue and red beams clashed. One blue beam from Lord Phoenix's Genso-Kyu, and one red beam that was discharged from Regashi's eyes.
Since when could Regashi project beams of light from his eyes? Even the prince himself could not answer such a question. But, in that moment, as his entire body was restrained, left with no time to spawn any reinforcing magic around him, a strange heat had swelled up in his green eyes, turning them red and soon releasing the beam that presently battled Lord Phoenix.
"The more time you prolong your death, the more painful your family will die by my hands! Including your brother!" Lord Phoenix howled, glowering at his brown-haired rival intensely.
*SNAP!*
Each tendril that had fastened itself around Regashi was snapped in half, the prince breaking free from their hold.
"Bastard!" Regashi screamed again.
With an emotion akin to hatred, Regashi shoved his fingers into Lord Phoenix's eyes, temporarily blinding him with blood seeping from his sockets. With both of the beams being dismissed, Regashi repeatedly bashed his head into Lord Phoenix's face, disfiguring the now half-masked man's appearance.
This marked the second instance of Regashi deforming Lord Phoenix's face, both stemming from the same reason: the intolerant way Lord Phoenix had spoken about his family, namely his younger brother.
Lord Phoenix suddenly grasped Regashi's collar, clenching his teeth in pain. "Let's see if you can breathe in space, Prince!"
The moment those words spewed out from Lord Phoenix's mouth, Regashi was thrown out of the planet's atmosphere, his body entering the abyss above. For an unknown amount of time, the prince floated in space, frozen as he struggled to capture his breath—there was no oxygen in space.
And that was not all.
Lord Phoenix propelled himself into space as well, seemingly unaffected by the inhabitable conditions of the empty abyss beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Relentlessly, the contemptuous rival of the prince knocked Regashi around like a ragdoll.
Regashi, though impeded by his lack of oxygen, tried to fight back, throwing significantly weaker punches and marginally less potent beams from his red Aura Sense. He was disadvantaged, and the prince had virtually no way of coming back from his current predicament.
It was at that moment that Regashi realized he could not win this, not as he was now. The prince had an idea, and it was not the most ideal, but it was definitely needed.
While clinging to consciousness, the lack of air crippling Regashi greatly, the brown-haired prince did his best to charge his entire body with his Aura Sense, straining himself to an even greater degree. He had an idea, and in his family's name, he would succeed.
Unexpectedly, Lord Phoenix was tackled by the prince, both of their bodies flying back toward the earth at impressive speeds, the velocity increasing with every passing second.
Regashi knew he could not breach lightspeed; he would damage the planet beyond repair just by clashing into it with his pace and strength. Although that did not stop the prince from still rolling back into Earth at speeds beyond the human eye's capability,
'I need… to get… back to Earth!' Regashi thought, his vision fading slowly.
Lord Phoenix enabled his body to phase through Regashi, giving the half-masked lord the chance to redirect the grip that was held on the two of them.
The malicious rival narrowed his eyes. 'Time to end this!'
Lord Phoenix pushed his palm against Regashi's chest, magic flowing through his hand immediately. It was instantaneous—Regashi could feel his life force being abducted from him. It felt like Lord Phoenix was absorbing his very soul.
But that did not stop Regashi from flying back to Earth, with Lord Phoenix sticking close by, depleting the prince's lifespan expeditiously along the way.
'...Almost… there!' Regashi desired the ability to breathe just once, his eyes half-lidded due to exhaustion.
His heartbeat was far from its typical speed, the adrenaline that Regashi once harbored being purged entirely.
'Almost… back… home!' Regashi continued to hope, his eyes locked on his home planet, plummeting through its atmosphere once more.
"It was an honor to be your executioner, Regashi." Lord Phoenix spoke as sound returned to their ears, Earth's atmosphere encompassing them.
Regashi looked down at the three nations, his eyes trained on Adonai. Though he could now breathe, the prince could only muster brief inhales as Lord Phoenix still had a grasp on his soul, extracting Regashi's life from his body.
'...Sorry I didn't end Lord Phoenix sooner… Sorry I can't be there anymore… Kenji.'
Lifting his head with all of the strength he had, Regashi stared Lord Phoenix directly in the eyes, his laborious breath indicating what little energy was left in the prince.
"I said… that it was my responsibility to pick you off… and I'm doing just that!" Regashi declared, both of his hands clutching onto his rival's shoulders.
Lord Phoenix's eyes broadened.
Regashi brimmed himself with his magic, using all of what he could possibly have reserved within his body. It was like swimming in lava; his bones were probably melting on the inside. It was too late by now to go back.
"You're taking yourself out!?" Lord Phoenix bellowed questioningly, fear rising within him.
The prince smiled faintly. "Perhaps wherever we end up in the afterlife will let us keep fighting… Maybe you'll win for once…"
"No!" Lord Phoenix resisted, but his body was overwhelmed with Regashi's Aura Sense, his body weakened by the unsuspecting surge of power that diminished his own.
It appears that Tanjo had the right idea: Lord Phoenix could be overwhelmed with power, especially if it was not his own. Regashi was capitalizing on the fact, no longer permitting his rival to dash away from his grasp.
"It's just you and me, Phoenix! You and me!" Regashi said hoarsely, closing his eyes. "And now I'll experience losing for the first time with you!"
Regashi's body shone brightly as if he were a lightbulb, exuding an intense heat. With that heat and all of the stored power that the prince was now using, he would prepare to discharge one last beam of light. One to end the fight for good.
'See you later, Mom, Dad… Kenji…'
*KABOOOOOOOOOM!*
Just then, a crimson beam blasted from Regashi's body, dangerously blasting through the air and staining the heavens red. The beam had already blown Lord Phoenix to nothingness the moment that it was released; not even the atoms that formed him were present. Everyone in the world, particularly the three nations, could see the dazzling red beam but couldn't tell where it would finish. It ventured into space for what seemed like an infinite distance.
Unfortunately, due to Regashi exerting everything he had into that final blast, he was doomed to die. His body fell to the ground, no longer able to steer himself to safety. After a few minutes of freefalling, the prince's body landed in Furusato, or, to be more precise, the village's castle. He crashed through every story in the village's edifice, only for his impending collision with the ground to be with a golden throne structured for the king.
Regashi was sitting upright on the throne, his light in his eyes dimming as time continued to pass.
"What… a place to land…" Regashi chuckled, the back of his head hitting the throne.
From that point forward, Regashi Ketsueki was no longer among the living, his soul escaping to the realms above.
XXX
I am not a fan of killing off characters, and Regashi is undoubtedly my favorite character—well, this version. I wish I could have embellished on him more, but I did not want to milk it out longer than necessary. The Regashi I created will always live in my mind, and, who knows, maybe another variation of Regashi Ketsueki will come to fruition! However, like Regashi in this part, this chapter must come to an end. Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_