Tanjo stared at the bearded man standing a mere few feet away, his body trembling as the rifts from the Disruption of Reality floated in the air weightlessly. The boy knew that Oritsu Ketsueki, past king of the now-razed Furusato village—and biological father of him—was dead. But, through the use of the Kekkan no Sosei, procured by the monstrous evil brother known as Regashi Ketsueki, the king was sprung back to life.
Sadly, the price of the resurrection meant that Oritsu's mind was seized by whoever initiated the reviving curse.
'All I need to do is capture him with my Disruption of Reality… I presume that it's easier said than done.' Tanjo thought to himself, bending his knees to assume a fighting stance.
Oritsu's zombified eyes shined in acknowledgment of the teenager's willingness to fight, his body distributing magic to every limb.
Without warning, Tanjo pushed himself off the ground and ran toward Oritsu, reeling his right arm back as he proceeded to throw a magically fueled punch. The past king swiftly dodged the assault by sliding to the side faster than Tanjo could react to it and kicked the boy in the stomach.
"Gragh!"
The jet-black-haired boy tumbled into the ground, creating elongated ruts in the dirt. Hastily, Tanjo craned his head upward with a determined look. Sticking his left arm outward, he clenched his hand into a fist.
*KRRSHH!*
The past king was briefly oblivious to Tanjo's clamped fist's significance, but he quickly realized that rifts had deformed the soil under him, sprouting upward and reaching out to seize Oritsu.
Before the Disruption of Reality could come into contact with Oritsu, the past king slipped away by seemingly vanishing into thin air, narrowly avoiding being restrained by the blue rifts.
'He moves too fast!' Tanjo clenched his teeth, whirling around in every direction to brace for an inevitable attack. 'I'll just have to plan a few steps ahead!'
Tanjo began to sense forms of magic surrounding him fully, his mind clinging to the most reasonable conclusion as to why.
"Premature Genso-Kyu!"
As the boy voiced his worry, red Genso-Kyu began to take shape in the space around him, confirming Tanjo's thoughts. Fortunately, he was ready for the abrupt tactic as a colorful barrier that encapsulated the four Aura Senses around his body, shielding him from the fatal explosions erupted by the numerous Genso-Kyu.
With shaking arms, Tanjo huffed as he noticed his accidental use of the four Aura Senses concocted into one barrier. The boy refrained from merging his Aura Amalgamation entirely due to the strain it placed on his body; however, the panic that brimmed within his body temporarily commandeered the situation as Tanjo expelled a more potent form of magic.
"Damnit…" Tanjo cursed.
Suddenly, Oritsu flickered into sight and drove his right fist into Tanjo's barrier, his hand shockingly bouncing off of the magic. Immediately after, the past king assaulted the barrier repeatedly, oppressing the Aura Amalgamation's magic with violent blows.
Tanjo had to act, and fast.
Tanjo thrust his arms forward, reshaping the colorful barrier to encircle Oritsu's arm during the subsequent punch. Tanjo first considered using his magic to cause the past king's arm to explode, but if he were to fatally injure Oritsu, the likelihood of returning him to normalcy would decrease.
"I apologize in advance for this!" The boy shouted, arriving at his next choice of action.
Twirling his hand, Tanjo controlled the magic that had fastened around Oritsu's arm and forced the past king's fist to run into his own face incessantly. During this, the jet-black-haired boy conjured the Disruption of Reality once more—*KRRSHH!*—and shot the rifts forward, attempting to snatch Oritsu in the midst of his self-confliction.
*SWISH!*
Acting quickly, Oritsu coated his second hand with his Aura Sense and sliced his arm off to free himself from Tanjo's magic, allowing him to evade the incoming rifts coming his way.
Tanjo was wide-eyed. "The hell—!?"
*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*
Cutting his bewilderment short, Tanjo hurriedly leaped over and around approaching beams of red light that were shot from above. In seconds, Oritsu crashed down from the sky, dispelling a shockwave of wind in every direction and blowing the boy off balance.
Finding his equilibrium, Tanjo zoned in on Oritsu, eyeing the man's right arm.
"Of course," Tanjo heaved a heavy sigh, "he was a king… so regrowing a limb isn't too shocking!"
True to the boy's words, the past king's severed arm started to grow back, the flesh and bone that structured the limb stretching out from the rest of his body grotesquely. After a brief moment, his arm was good as new—it looked like nothing had ever happened to it.
The sight also reminded Tanjo of the time he did that to his previously severed arm back in Furusato.
"You just have to make this difficult, don't you?" Tanjo mumbled in a hushed voice.
*BRRM!*
Adding irony to the moment, dozens of red Genso-Kyu appeared behind Oritsu.
"Thanks for the confirmation, past father…"
To combat the rows of Genso-Kyu, Tanjo let the Disruption of Reality hover around him again. This time, the boy could feel a burning sensation course through his body, similar to when he and the alternate version of Regashi fought Lord Phoenix.
'If what Kronos said was true, then the rifts should just fly right through his Genso-Kyu, right? Light is an existing concept in the universe… and that's exactly what those Genso-Kyu are made of.'
All was silent for a short period of time, with both Tanjo and Oritsu staring each other down. The whole moment felt unreal—like a twisted dream that defies logic by a large margin. Truthfully, Tanjo still believes that the past king's presence defies logic quite earnestly, despite seeing the bearded man before his very eyes.
*KABOOM!*
All of the red Genso-Kyu behind Oritsu simultaneously fired beams of light directly toward the jet-black-haired boy, making Tanjo brace with gritted teeth and push his hands outward—*KRRSHH!*—and release the Disruption of Reality in response.
Fortunately, the rifts tore straight through the red beams of light and continued to rage forward at incomprehensible speeds, managing to successfully link with Oritsu's right arm. In an instant, the past king's entire body shook erratically, forcing him to try and slice his arm off once again, only to be stopped by the rifts swarming his other arm.
Shockingly, Oritsu's face began to scrunch up in what appeared to be an indication of pain. With both of his arms locked together and the Disruption of Reality traveling up his body like insects, the struggling man opened his mouth widely.
Tanjo's shoulders fell. "No way…!"
*BOOM!*
A red beam had escaped from the past king's mouth and sought out the jet-black-haired boy. In a state of panic, Tanjo stomped on the ground below with just enough might to kick a thick portion of the earth upward to act as a temporary shield until it imminently exploded into pebbles.
"Grrgh!"
Once the rumbling noise of the explosion disappeared, Tanjo could hear Oritsu grunting in pain and resilience, fighting the blue rifts that were connected to his body.
"Oritsu Ketsueki!" Tanjo called out to his opponent, "wake up! You need to fight the curse controlling your body!"
The bearded man only howled further, gripping at his limbs as his body was swallowed by the Disruption of Reality. It was notably painful—the past king dug deep into his skin with his nails as if it were to placate the intense heat flowing through him internally.
Eventually, Oritsu's unnaturally green eyes faded intermittently, flashing to his original eye color every few seconds.
'I don't want to risk applying more of the Disruption of Reality… it could kill him if I'm not lenient with it.' The boy reflected on the rifts that currently besieged the bearded man.
An idea gradually floated to the top of Tanjo's head.
"...Dad! Please fight this! Dad!"
Oritsu's jaw clenched. "GRAAGH!"
The green in the past king's eyes vanished, a guttural cry piercing the skies as he fell to his knees in agony, the blue rifts still torturing his body. Racing forward, Tanjo was fast to wave his hands and cancel the Disruption of Reality, purging all of the rifts that were wrapped around Oritsu's body.
Tanjo grabbed the man's shoulders, crouching down to hopefully meet the past king's gaze.
"Dad?" Tanjo spoke to Oritsu cautiously, breathing heavily. "Can you hear me?"
The bearded man gasped for air as he queried:
"Why are you calling me… dad?"
XXX
Was this fight a little too short? Nah. It's fine. No point in dragging it out if there's a reason behind everything that has happened, and believe me, the fight was not a fair fight for both parties, and you'll be learning why soon. Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_