~Chapter 6- Zantii's Explosion~

Jirro stood beside Aero, taking a defensive stance against the silver-eyed Ranuulan. Zantii was bruised all over, and a fierce expression crossed his face. He charged forward, knitting his fists together and slamming them against Aero.

Jirro saw an opening and attacked. His fist emanated a radiant blue light, and he struck him in the ribs. Zantii groaned out in pain, grabbed him, and used his superior strength to pin him to the ground. He brought his fists down wildly on Jirro.

Each hit hurt badly... But not as badly as Jirro would've thought. The King had been built up as a fearsome threat, but his strikes weren't that terrible. A kick from Aero got Zantii off him. He helped him off the ground.

"I thought he'd be tougher," Jirro said as he stood to his feet.

Aero shook his head, "He was stronger when I fought him before. We must've hurt him pretty badly while we were merged."

Zantii shouted, his voice cracking as he spoke, "I'm still more than strong enough to tear both of you apart!"

Zantii came forward with a series of quick blows. Jirro and Aero kept their distance, evading and dodging his attacks as best they could. They focused on defense and evasion - they wanted to see his movements for a while before countering.

Zantii punched the air and unleashed a radiant Focus burst. The two boys jumped back into a building, and it began to collapse around them. As the building fell, they clashed with the king.

There was a messy exchange of attacks between the three - they darted between buildings; the strength of their strikes permeated through the foundations. Building after building fell from their sheer power.

Attack hit

Jirro took a hit to the ribs, Aero had a fist cross his cheek, and Zantii took several gut punches. They traded powerful blows.

Finally, Jirro and Aero found their rhythm. While one attacked, the other covered him. Every attempted strike by Zantii led to a swift counter. Soon, he couldn't land a single hit. Meanwhile, the boys peppered him with lightning-fast attacks.

Jirro kicked Zantii hard, and he rocketed through several buildings before stumbling into the middle of a street. The boys followed him in pursuit, and Zantii actually turned to run. He knew they'd beaten him. But before he could escape, Corri, Nout, Ruben, and Temp blocked his escape. He was surrounded.

Zantii looked around him, breathing erratically and unevenly. His eyes looked bloodshot. Jirro couldn't quite tell, but it almost looked as if there were tears around his eyes.

"This can't be happening to me..." Zantii muttered to himself. His voice grew more intense. "This can't be happening to me!"

The six youths watched as Zantii's mental state deteriorated before them. He began muttering to himself incessantly, his eyes darting back and forth in an unnatural manner. The air around him reverberated and shook.

"DAMN YOU!" He screamed. The ground beneath him cracked, and wisps of light started to emanate from him, "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! YOU ALL ARE WORTHLESS COMPARED TO ME! I AM KING ZANTII! THE TRUE RULER OF THIS WORLD!"

Zantii screamed like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. He crossed his arms across his chest, and his body began to glow. Jirro and the others were afraid to approach him. What could he be doing?

Then Jirro recalled the tournament. In the semi-final match, Aero fought Emil, and as a last-ditch resort, his opponent used something called a Focus Explosion. He formed a sphere of destructive light around him that covered the entire ring.

Emil was probably holding back to make sure Aero wasn't seriously injured, and that no one in the crowd was harmed. But Zantii would take no precaution. If he was going to use that technique, he was going to give it everything he had. He was far more powerful than Emil ever was. Jirro shuddered to think how destructive that attack would be coming from him.

If they tried to run or attack now, he'd unleash it immediately. They probably wouldn't be able to escape. He needed to protect everyone somehow.

"Everyone! Get close to me! Now!" Jirro shouted. The fear in his voice promptly made everyone group around him. Jirro held out his hands and formed a blue dome of light around him as quickly as he could. Hopefully, his Focus Shield would hold up.

Zantii screamed again. He outstretched his arms, and an explosion of light came from him. The cobblestones lining the streets crumbled to the dust; the buildings around them were torn asunder as if a tornado had passed through them.

Jirro's Focus Shield waivered from the sheer might of the attack, but he held it firm. But maintaining the shield took up a great deal of stamina. He had his limits. The dome began to crack before falling away. The six youths were blown away by the explosion, scattered every which way.

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When Jirro regained consciousness, he found himself under various pieces of rubble, mostly from destroyed homes and buildings in the area. Jirro used what strength he had left to push an annoying piece of rubble off him.

His vision had become blurry, but he could tell the area around him looked like a disaster had passed through. Which, to be fair, was accurate. Jirro tried to stand, but his stamina had been drained by using the Focus Shield.

In the distance, he saw a single figure limping towards him. His heartbeat quickened when he realized it was Zantii.

How was any one person that formidable? Jirro thought for sure after that attack, Zantii would be completely exhausted. But there he was, still soldering on.

"You're going to suffer, kid." Zantii growled through gritted teeth.

Jirro tried to push more of the rubble off him but struggled. He wasn't going anywhere. All he could do was watch as Zantii hobbled towards him. But a saving grace appeared - the pink tinted Phantine Nout appeared and charged at Zantii. He was bruised and all, but still able to fight.

Nout charged with his sharpened tusks and drove one of them into Zantii's shoulder from behind. The silver-eyed Ranuulan grunted, pulled away from the tusk, and faced the Phantine, blood spilling over one of his arms.

Nout charged with his tusks again, but this time, Zantii grabbed them, and with a harsh twist, snapped the end off of one of them.

Nout shouted in pain, but he wasn't done yet. He came forward with two quick punches, striking Zantii square in the mouth. Zantii landed a powerful strike on his torso before picking him over his head and driving him into the ground. He spat on Nout while he was down.

Nout still didn't stop. He curled his trunk around Zantii's leg and refused to let go. Zantii gave him a few kicks to try and get him off, but despite how painful each strike was, how he bled from the repeated impacts, Nout didn't let go.

And then... Corri came in from behind. She clenched her fists and lunged forward with her Golden Gauntlets. Zantii had a look of doom on his face as he saw her close in. With an arching hook, she punched across Zantii's abdomen. The Gauntlets glowed as it made impact, and she tore clean through his body.

The top half of Zantii's body separated from the bottom half. His upper body fell unceremoniously to the ground, and the bottom half fell on Nout. He picked it up by his trunk and tossed it away, sickened by the sight. Nout and Corri were both breathless as they looked at Zantii, what was left of him at least.

But even after being literally cut in half, Zantii refused to die. He coughed violently, digging his fingers into the ground to try and crawl away.

Corri looked down at the stump of a man, "You are seriously hard to kill."

Nout pulled the rubble off Jirro and helped him up, and Corri walked over to Zantii, intending to put him out of his misery. But then a rhythmic clapping came a short distance from them. They looked and saw another Ranuulan, one with orange eyes, sitting on the remains of a building.

"Impressive. Very impressive!" The Ranuulan said nonchalantly. Jirro looked closer and saw that a jagged sword was resting beside him, the same one Zantii held earlier. The Sword of Ranuulo.

Corri raised her fists as if to fight, but she had to know she was in no condition for that right now, "Stay back!"

The orange-eyed Ranuulan stood and picked up the sword as he did. Just as it was weightless for Zantii, it was weightless to him.

"Who is this guy?" Jirro asked.

Lunahreim placed his hand against his chest, "I'm hurt. I suppose your father didn't speak about me?"

Corri gritted her teeth, "It's Lunahreim!"

Jirro looked at the orange eyed Ranuulan again, "Lunahreim? The same one that taught our dads?"

The Ranuulan smirked, "Indeed. Now, I have no desire to harm you kids. But I still have need of Zantii. Hand him over."

"Why?" Jirro asked inquisitively.

"That's none of your concern. Now leave him to me."

Lunahreim marched forward but Corri stood in his path. He rolled his eyes at the red-haired girl and flicked the sword in his hand as a threat, "I don't want to hurt you. Just stand aside."

Jirro spoke up, "Zantii isn't a threat anymore, Corri. Let him have him."

Corri paused for a moment before sauntering away. Lunahreim walked over to what remained of Zantii and knelt beside him, "You hardly accomplished what I wanted you too... But you still have one more role to fulfill."

Lunahreim placed a hand on Zantii's back, and it glowed white for a moment. Zantii's breathing started to slow down, and he lost consciousness. But somehow, he was still alive.

Lunahreim hoisted Zantii over his shoulder. He whistled, and moments later, a crow, one far larger than any one of them, descended from the sky and landed near him. Zantii was slung over the crow's saddle. Lunahreim mounted the black-winged bird with Ranuulo's sword in hand and took to the skies.