In the middle of the split mountain, right above the infinitely deep gorge stood two figures. They were completely covered in red, dense fog.
Each of the figures didn't look good enough. Their bodies were covered in sores from which blood was constantly gushing out. That said, it was also black in colour. It seemed that even it, coming out, was being corrupted by the interaction with this strange haze.
It had been almost a whole month since Kai had minimally learnt how to use the impulses in his body. All this time, he had been throwing himself into the fight against the King of Pain like a man possessed.
As soon as Kai came out of Asura's Hell, he would instantly start recovering. When he felt that he was in optimal condition again, he would begin to rotate the Invisible King Torture Technique.
This mode, was something similar to how he had fought the Envy King. Back then, Kai had also participated in the Endless War. It was just that now, it was a different format battle.
Over the past month, Kai had constantly exercised control over his body. As soon as there was an injury from the red mist, he would start sending impulses to that area. With each practice, he tried to narrow down the area of control more and more.
After two weeks, he had enough muscle control to heal only the injured area without wasting energy.
Except that the longer he was in the gorge, the stronger the fog became. As time went on, its corrosive power only increased. Even the effective use of momentum was beginning to fail. Kai began to realise that something was missing....
Over time, he realised that he needed to regenerate faster. Previously, he had strained the body tissues that were around the wound and thus forced the pulse to head there. But in the past few days, Kai had invented a new technique.
He realised that it was much more advantageous to build a 'path' for the pulse. Kai noticed that, for the most part, they all travelled as waves, rather than just originating at a point. If you stressed the tissues along a chain, the impulses came faster and worked even better.
That was exactly what Kai had been practising, spending all his days in Asura's Hell. Finally, he was able to resist the red mist on par with the King of Pain. As soon as a wound appeared, Kai would chain the pulses to it. He memorised the order in which the wounds appeared and healed them in the same order.
It was logical, because while you heal the first wound, the second one is not so critical, and the third one is just appearing. Naturally, such a small number of wounds was only at the beginning. After half an hour of fighting, the wounds appeared at a terrifying rate. You were just playing a race against death. Although it was impossible to die in Asura's Hell... But still, enduring the pain and feeling your consciousness fade away in the end was not a very pleasant feeling.
- This time you will lose King of Pain! - Through gritted teeth, Kai said.
The sound was a bit strange as part of Kai's face, including his lips were seriously affected by the fog. Small holes had formed in them. If one were to see such a thing from the outside, they would vomit.
Looking at the King of Pain, Kai could see that the latter was not doing much better. When Kai had set out on this attempt, he had expected to win. The last few times he had been close enough to win. Today he was going all out!
The muscles all over his body felt like they were wriggling. His control over them was terrifying! Kai seemed to control every fibre!
What was happening to his body was the result of his mind and muscles working together. He was constantly memorising the sequence in which the wounds appeared, and building 'pathways' for the impulses. Under extreme conditions like this, his body looked strange. Because every muscle in his body was literally trembling!
"It's not enough! We need to go faster!" - Shouted Kai in his head, keeping an incredible focus on the processes in his body.
Boom!" Suddenly there was a loud, thudding thump! It was as if someone had struck an incredibly large drum!
The red mist began to take on a slightly darker colour. And at the same moment, its corrosive power flew to a new level!
"Damn! This is something I haven't reached yet!" - Dazedly, Kai thought to himself, feeling an incredible pain.
At this moment, parts of flesh literally started falling off his body, exposing the bones in some parts of his body.
"Bitch! I won't last much longer!" - Screamed Kai in his thoughts, concentrating on regenerating.
He was doing the best he could. At this point, he was no longer watching the King of Pain, he just couldn't... His eyes were already affected by the mist....
Kai was just trying to hold on a second longer than the King!
"Hold on! Hold on! We need a little more!" - Shouted Kai.
Focusing on his body, he felt that there were areas that could no longer be healed. Because they simply weren't there! Kai's body was literally disintegrating before his eyes!
"Come on! As long as I have a heart and a head, I can hold on!" - Shouted Kai in his head.
At this point, he had lost almost all tactile senses, he only felt pain! Gradually, it even started to get less. But that wasn't good news....
"I must! I have to! I to...l..." - Kai's thoughts, gradually began to dissolve.
No matter how hard he tried, it was as if his consciousness was beginning to fade. Even Kai's enormous will couldn't keep him going. His thoughts were just floating...
If someone saw what was happening, they would never believe that Kai was still alive and clinging to his last thoughts... Kai wasn't even standing anymore... Just a part of his body was flying down the abyss, decomposing. All that was left was his internal organs, protected by his ribs and his almost bare skull. It was a horrifying sight....
"Shit! If not this time, then next time you're dead!" - Kai angrily decided.
At that moment, he used up the last shred of his will. That was his last thought.
.......
- Gaaaah! - Opening his eyes in the Tomb of Time, Kai began to greedily gulp in air!
But at this moment, his eyes widened greatly!
- Aaaaah! Bitch!!! - Loudly shouted Kai, falling to the ground.
His whole body went into violent convulsions and he started squirming in pain. He trembled lying on the ground, trying to realise what was happening.
After a few minutes, this state finally stopped. Kai languidly opened his eyes, rubbed the sweat on his forehead and started laughing.
- Hahaha! Yeah! I did it! I'm so glad I won't have to go through this again! - Laughing loudly, Kai shouted.
This recent pain meant only one thing. His attempts to stay conscious were not futile! He still managed to hold on a little longer than the King of Pain!
- Whew! It was difficult... But now only the King of Terror was left! The schedule is good enough! - With a smile, Kai said.
Now, four of the five Kings had been absorbed and only one remained. It had been about four months since Kai had entered the Tomb of Time. This meant that he still had two more months to absorb the last Terror King. Also, there was still time to break through to the Cloud Sphere.
"I hope that I can absorb the Terror King in a month... If so, I have a good chance of fulfilling what I have planned. It's just unclear what the final test will be..." - Lying on the ground, Kai reasoned.
The Last King was quite mysterious. He didn't even have a clear physical body.
Now, Kai didn't even try to predict what his final test would be... His final torture! He could never have guessed that the King's trials would be so varied. Therefore, there was no point in thinking about the last one either.
- There's no time to wait long... I'll get some rest, and then I'm off to my last torture! - Kai said firmly.