Overcoming A Great Challenge (112)

Akasan trained with Amun for hours every day and night for an entire year inside of Mount Vulcan.

Amun put him through hellish training, trying to build his body up for when he would master using Nil.

''"The key to mastering Nil is to keep a clear mind. You can not be fearful of it, nor can you have any negative feelings in your heart. I'm sure you've went through great struggle in your life, which is why it is so easy for you to awaken it. But mastering Nil is a different matter. You must keep your mind clear, so that it has nothing to latch on to. That latching on is what causes you to go berserk. Remember that." Amun told him.''

--

Akasan's momentum finally stopped as he started falling back down to the earth. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind. "A clear mind, a clear mind..."

He activated his Nil. The markings quickly spread over half of his face, causing his right eyeball to turn black with a glowing purple iris.

"I can't do it!! This is the farthest I can go without losing my head!"

He turned his Nil back off.

Instead he clapped his hands. "I'll just have to make do with what I already know how to do! Magic Art, Atomic Mass: Star Form!!"

Akasan's body combusted into flames and plasma. He started falling much faster as his body weight increased. The heat he gave off caused storm clouds to form in the sky as he fell.

Dabi looked up at him. "There he goes."

Akasan outstretched his right arm to the side as it started to glow brighter. "Fusion Flash!!"

Dabi moved out of the way as Akasan missed him, hitting the ground. The immense pressure sank the entire town over a hundred meters into the earth.

Yukio looked out into the distance. "Woah... the entire town got destroyed in one hit!"

Fumiko smiled softly. "I want him to hit me like that..."

Akasan took his hand out of the ground and flew at Dabi.

After Dabi blocked a few punches he whirled around and kicked Akasan in the chest. He chased after him. A blue sphere of All formed in his hand. He aimed it at Akasan.

voosh!!

A tall splash of energy went into the air. It made a vortex in the ground, destroying everything around it.

Akasan shot out of the explosion and ran his foot into Dabi's stomach. "Fusion Flash Kick!"

boom!!

The force blew Dabi far away from the battle site. He ran his hand into the ground and dragged it to stop his momentum.

Akasan made an orange golf ball-sized sphere of energy. He threw it in Dabi's direction and watched as it blew up a large portion of land.

He then chased him down and ran his foot at the top of his head.

Dabi blocked and countered with another uppercut to his stomach.

Another few kilometers of ground was broken apart.

But Akasan was relentless. He continued to charge at Dabi, no matter what attacks were thrown his way.

Dabi glared. "How are you still able to fight? By normal means, you should be somewhat damaged."

"Star Form pushes my body's limits to the extreme. Because my mass is so large for such a small body, blunt force is basically neutralized."

Dabi made a sphere of All in his hand. ''"Ah I get it now... he's much heavier than I am. So my attacks must feel light while his attacks feel insanely strong..." ''He threw the energy at the ground. It sank several meters before exploding. A large number of blue pillars swirled out of the ground.

Akasan flew around them as they appeared, but none of them were going away and more and more of them continued to fill the battlefield.

Dabi raised both of his hands. "All Rise."

That's when there was nowhere left to run. The entire battlefield, equaling the length of a mile in all directions, was blown sky high with the blue liquid energy called All. It was like a volcanic eruption almost.

Anzu smirked. "Man, I wish I was out there fighting. I'd let Dabi have it!"

Koji shivered. "What are you, brain dead? Do you see that?!"

Akira was staying serious. "He'll be lucky to get out of that alive."

Akasan yelled out as he was hit with the devastating attack.

Inside of the attack that resembled an upwards waterfall, Akasan was forced out of his Star Form. He realized the difference between Nil and All.

Nil was a dark, negative energy. It came about when he had evil thoughts or feelings. But the All was almost, comforting.

It didn't hurt, but he could feel his body being torn apart from the inside out.

As he got closer and closer to death, something happened.

Akasan's mind finally went completely blank. All he saw around him was pure white.

There were no thoughts of his own, nor any recollection of his memories.

The markings on his right arm started to glow purple.

''"Who am I?" ''he said.

Then there was a thought. It formed out of the nothingness in his mind.

It was a person. A female. ''"Who... is she?" ''Akasan thought.

Then the woman's features became clearer. ''"Where have I seen this girl from?" ''

His mind created a single memory. He recognized the girl.

It was the sight of Hanami crying after they'd all defeated Don Viper. For some reason, Akasan could see the pain and suffering in her eyes so clearly. It stuck with him.

''"Oh, it's Hanami. Why am I thinking about her..." ''

Akasan felt a jolting heartbeat in his chest. He clutched at it. It pounded harder and harder as more memories flooded his head.

The Nil took him over.

From over a hundred meters in the air, two long inhuman legs extended to the ground.

The All attack vanished instantly.

Two long arms formed out of the torso. Akasan had turned into a monster.

Dabi made another sphere of energy in his hand. "All you did was make yourself easier to hit..."

But he didn't get that chance. All of the Nil was quickly swallowed back up into Akasan's body. His hair was now purple, and all of his limbs were black, but pulsing a neon purple color. His eyes both turned black with purple irises.

Akasan's eyes rolled around in their sockets until locking onto Dabi.

"Dabi... oh. That's right. I was in the middle of a fight."

Dabi narrowed his eyes. "Did he just master Nil? No, not yet at least. That form is still imperfect. It seems he at least regained his identity. What a strong will... he should have just died in the center of my All. His mind should have faded to nothingness!"

Akasan squeezed his fists open and close. "This feeling... the power of rage... my Nil hasn't felt like this since... I lost control against Jack back then... Did it come back? No, this feels more concentrated. This energy... is pure."

Dabi twisted his body and started spinning at ultra-high speeds. A blue tornado formed. It drilled into the ground as it grew larger and larger. The winds blew violently. Even the storm clouds in the sky began to swirl. It was like a natural disaster.

The town was no longer there. It looked like a nuclear war zone.

Dabi was spinning counterclockwise, so the winds were blowing away from the source, not towards.

Akasan flew high into the air. His arm ignited with purple flames and started glowing brightly. Then his entire body emitted a soft blue glow from electricity. He grit his teeth. "This is the most lightning I can control at one time..."

He dropped down into the deadly tornado. "Destruction Fusion Flash: One Million Gigawatts!!"

Anzu sensed danger. "We gotta go, now!!"

Everyone quickly flew away as fast as possible along with as many refugees as they could bring with them.

The impact of Akasan's attack was devastating. Lightning struck the sky upwards from the earth and ignited the gases in the air.

The sky turned bright orange. The ground melted into lava for miles.

Lava eruptions blew upwards into the air.

Even with Anzu and the other Bloodhounds flying away at top speed, the winds were catching up to them.

Suddenly Naozumi appeared and took them all through a black portal. They came out inside their castle.

Jin looked at Naozumi. "Where were you all this time?"

Taichi put Sara and Aimi down.

Naozumi fixed his hair. "I put all the other nearby citizens in the king's palace. It's far enough."

Anzu sat down. "Quick thinking. Good work."

Hanami sat in the chair at the back of the room. "What kind of power do those two have? It's nothing like we've seen from Akasan before."

Anzu laid on her back. "He's actually going all out now. Before he probably wasn't taking us completely serious."

Fumiko sat on the stairs. "That, or Dabi's power forced him to surpass his limits."

Hanami seemed to be in thought.

--

Dabi slowly flew up out of the lava. He looked around at the surrounding damage. "Lightning is certainly the most dangerous element."

Akasan flew up out of the lava soon after. He roared out and flew at Dabi in a fit of rage.

Even with his Nil, Akasan was no match for Dabi's archangelic strength.

With a solid punch to the face, Akasan was sent flying. He put his hands together as Dabi rushed him again.

In the middle of Dabi's combo, Akasan put his hand out. "Pallor Mortis!"

A black orb shot through Dabi's body. He froze from the effects and was immediately weakened.

Akasan took this opportunity to attack. "Destruction Fusion Flash!"

boom!!

Dabi felt it that time. The impact blew up the air around him as he was thrust into the lava.

In a few seconds he came back up. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Akasan. He placed his hand on Akasan's chest. "All Push!"

Akasan's entire body went through shock. His Nil left and his eyes turned white again as they rolled in the back of his head. He went unconscious as he fell into the magma below. His body ignited on fire as he burned.

Dabi waited for his opponent to rise again. He watched carefully as the lava turned a neon purple color.

It started to rain heavily.

Akasan flew out of the lava once more. His body was badly damaged from severe burns. His hair and eyes were neon purple and his aura was like a black fire. The markings on his arm remained a solid purple without them spreading over or pulsing. His Nil was steady. Dabi's attack had shocked his mind into complete nothingness, allowing Akasan to fully gain a hold over his power.

After a short while Akasan and Dabi let their feet touch the ground now that the surface of the lava had cooled due to all the water pouring down from above.

Akasan regained control over his mind. "His irises turned purple without the sclera of his eyes turning black."

Dabi grinned. "Finally. You've gotten serious. About time."

Akasan clenched his fists. "I don't want to drag this out. But now I should be able to do things I couldn't before." He clapped his hands together then put his left arm in the air. A large purple star formed over it. It was over a hundred times larger than his full powered Sirius Star.

Akasan's right eye became a Kamigen. "Nil Star."