King Dabi Appears! The Risk of A Lifetime!! (111)

Akasan was still up.

It was well into the night, and everyone was sleeping except for him. He walked outside for a breath of fresh air, even though the air of Urvenia was dry and hot. He made his way to the northern harbor where he initially arrived in the country. Here the air was much more pleasant thanks to the ocean's cool breeze.

Someone suddenly appeared in Akasan's peripheral vision. He turned his head to the right, where the same white-skinned, hooded man that visited Jasper stood.

"Need something?" Akasan asked.

The man grinned. "I see you've befriended the archangels."

Akasan's eyes narrowed. "And you are?"

"Dante."

Akasan jumped back. "Dante? You mean the Demon King?"

Dante laughed. "So you remember..."

Akasan clenched his fists. "How are you still alive? Are you some sort of god?"

"No, I'm not a god." Dante's teeth showed as he grinned, showing his sharp canines. "I'm far beyond that."

The waves crashed against the shore as the smell of rain filled the air.

Dante turned Akasan's way. "You can relax. I'm not gonna do anything. If anything I'm just checking up on you. You might have to become the next Demon King."

Akasan shook his head. "Me? A Demon King? No way in hell."

Dante chuckled. "You might. You'll need one in the future to come."

"But there's no demon clan."

"The demon clan is with me, don't worry about that. But no matter what I say, it can't happen now. You're weak."

Akasan frowned. "I'm not weak, I've gotten stronger since I visited the Jade Islands!"

Dante shook his head. "You have to conquer this world first. If you're not even stronger than Nyx, then how could you possibly be strong enough. Your body is not capable of using Sho yet. Train. We'll talk if you're able to kill Nyx."

Akasan scowled at him. "So I'm not strong enough to fight Nyx?"

"No. Not at all. The issue here is that Nyx is child's play."

Akasan couldn't tell if he was lying or not. "Prove it."

Dante raised a hand and placed it on Akasan's shoulder.

Akasan found himself instantly teleported into outer space. He immediately covered his mouth, holding his breath. He covered himself in crimson fire off instinct, just because of how cold it was. He was just floating there, wide-eyed and silent, not able to comprehend what just happened.

In a fraction of a second they teleported back to the same spot they were in originally.

"Believe me now?" Dante asked.

Akasan slowly nodded after he caught his breath.

Dante grinned from under the hood. "That's called Sho. Remember it."

Akasan was still hyperventilating.

Dante looked at him. "Akasan. You do not necessarily need to own the title of Demon King to be one. The Demon King does not have to be the leader of the Demon Clan. The Demon King is the one true ruler of the world, the one who is not only the strongest, but most respected. The Demon King has no enemies. Simply because they know that his dominance could never be challenged. That is the level you should be trying to reach."

--

Morning came. Dabi marched through the town with a brigade of guards behind him.

He headed straight for Sara's house and stood in front of it.

All of the Bloodhounds on the inside jolted up.

Anzu looked at the door. "He's here!"

Hanami got up. "Already?!"

Dabi made a small concentrated blue sphere of energy in his hand. He tossed it at the house. "Come out, you traitors!!"

An explosion went up in the air.

Dabi watched the house get completely obliterated as he stood with his arms crossed.

The smoke cleared. There was a black dome protecting everyone inside.

The dome dissipated into energy.

Dabi frowned. "Koji... you know it's useless don't you? Don't go against me. All of you will be killed by my hand."

Hanami backed up. She shivered in fear.

Dabi noticed her. He suddenly vanished from his position and grabbed her head, smashing her into the ground.

The other Bloodhounds stopped in their tracks.

Sara held Aimi closely with her on the ground.

Hanami cried as Dabi kept a punishing grip on her skull.

Dabi squeezed harder. "You... I especially trusted you! And this is what you do in return?!"

Akira clenched his teeth. "No!! Stop it!! Take me instead!!"

Dabi gave him a sharp look. "Don't worry. All of you will die in just a moment. But I'm going to take my time with you, Hanami."

Hanami squirmed and struggled. "No! No! Leave me alone!! I don't want to die!! Leave me alone!!"

Hikaru tried to move Dabi's arm. "Let her go!!"

Dabi shrugged him off, throwing him several feet away.

No one could do anything about it. They knew that they couldn't harm Dabi no matter what.

Kosuke looked around. "Where's Akasan?!"

"I'm right here!!"

Akasan dropped to the ground from the sky.

Dabi turned his head. "So you're the prince..." He let go of Hanami and stood up.

Hanami was bleeding down her face. "Akasan..."

Dabi grinned. "Tell me... do you have the Kamigen?"

Akasan nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking... it would be useful to me if I had one for myself... I would be stronger than ever before!"

Akasan scowled. "You planning on taking it from me?"

Dabi laughed. "So you do have it! But I'm a king! I wouldn't just take it without any... incentive. Let's wager for it. If I defeat you, I get the Kamigen."

"But what would I get for winning?"

Dabi closed his eyes for a moment. "That's bold of you, assuming that you can win. Very well, I'll grant you any one wish. What will it be?"

Akasan thought on it for a several seconds in silence. Then he decided.

"I'll take the Bloodhounds from you!"

Everyone was more or less shocked at his request.

Dabi laughed out loud. "My Bloodhounds?! You're a smart man. You must've known that the curse can never be uplifted. But yes... it is possible to transfer ownership. I accept your request. As a matter of fact, you can have them now. After all, this is going to be a battle to the death. If you die, they'll die along with you." He looked at the guards. "Men! Evacuate the premises along with any other people living here! Get far away!"

Hanami sat up. "Akasan!! Are you stupid?! What do you think you're doing?!"

Akasan looked at her angrily. "Shut up!!"

Hanami had a shocked expression on her face.

"I don't care what you think about me!! But I'm not letting any more of my friends die on my watch!! You got that?!!"

Hikaru smirked.

Akasan clenched his fists. "All of you are coming back with me!! This country isn't fit for people to live in! I'm taking the entire country down!!"

Dabi chuckled. "Big words from a little brat like yourself." His blue skin glowed, letting out blue energy. The ground began to shake.

Akira grabbed Sara and Aimi. "Come on! We've got to get away from here too!" The twelve of them hurried and got away from the area.

Akasan awakened his Kamigen and charged up with a massive burst of blue energy. "Soul Drive."

Dabi's pressure caused the ground to shake violently. It started to break apart. "You know... I originally planned on starting out slow, but because there's so much on the line, I'm going all out from the start!! Be honored!! For you get to see the ultimate power!! The opposite of Nil! All!!"

Dabi's blue energy became what appeared to be a liquid. It started glowing and powering Dabi up beyond anything Akasan had ever seen.

Dabi became slimmer, and his blue skin turned gray. His hair became white.

He roared out. The soundwaves of his voice caused the temperature to rise greatly, as wind rushed upwards at high speed.

"It's now or never!" Akasan said. He rushed Dabi.

Dabi seamlessly moved around Akasan and kicked him to the ground easily.

Akasan immediately flew back up only to be beaten down again.

He tried and tried, but Dabi was effortlessly knocking him around.

Dabi grinned. "My All is stronger than anything you could use! Wake up already!" He uppercutted Akasan in the stomach. The force sent him way up into the sky, past the clouds.

Anzu looked up. "Dabi is stronger than I thought he'd be."

Hanami sat on the ground. "We're going to die. Akasan doesn't stand a chance." she said worriedly.

Akira was watching the battle silently. He didn't say a word. Neither did anyone else.

Akasan snapped awake. He'd fallen unconscious from the punch. He looked around him. He was still going upwards from the momentum. "Sirius energy isn't nearly enough to fight him...! What should I do...?!"

--

''Akasan ran across the ground, charging at Amun. ''

''Amun held out a hand and seamlessly pushed him back with a purple burst. ''

"Akasan! I told you that you can't reach the next level without letting the Nil take you over completely. Stop using it in small bursts."

''Akasan stood up, hurt. "I can't do it!! I'll lose myself..."''

''Amun scowled at him. "Just do it."''

''Akasan hesitated, then he calmed down. The markings on his arms turned purple. They made their way across his entire body. His eyes became pure white circles as he let out an inhuman roar. The ground cracked open with a purple glow.''

''Amun shook his head. "Idiot..."''

''He quickly got over to Akasan and tapped him on the forehead with two fingers. ''

''Akasan's Nil disappeared. He fell to the ground. ''

''When he woke up, Amun was sitting next to him having a drink. "Oh? You finally came to. Took you long enough."''

"How long was I out?"

"About three hours."

''Akasan sat up. "You've been sitting here for that long?"''

''Amun poured himself some more drink. "Three hours is nothing to a hundred years. Time is limited, but fragile. Sometimes it doesn't exist at all."''

''Akasan sighed. "What's that supposed to mean?"''

''Amun took himself a sip. "You know, Akasan. In all my years of studying. There's something I could never grasp. You know what that is?"''

Akasan shook his head.

''Amun took another sip. "Sho. An art form that was developed in a completely different realm than our own. Legend says only one person in Earth's history had mastery over it. But I could never learn how to use it."''

"What's Sho?"

''Amun swirled the liquid in his glass. "Sho translates literally to 'place'. It is the manipulation of the very origin and understanding of time and space. The theory is that all time and space within a single universe is connected in infinite ways. So the time taken to reach one place to another is always the same, no matter how far or absurd the place may be. There are six paths of Sho. The first Sho, Saisho, deals with moving one's body from one place to another without wasting even a single second. To do so, the speed you would be moving at is infinite, and so would be the energy required. For the life of me I just can't wrap my head around it. For all I know it could be completely fake. But that's what makes the process fun." He took another drink.''

''Akasan jumped up. "Come on, enough with the magical fairy tales, I have to master Nil already! I don't have time for this!"''

''Amun stood up. "Yes, you're absolutely correct."''