Okay guys, so here is chapter twenty six... Sorry it took so long but I've been a little distracted recently.

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An unfathomable amount of spiritual pressure burst into his hands as his figure flickered and disappeared.

Chapter Twenty Six –

Scenes from his childhood replayed over and over in Kiso’s mind, causing his grief to overflow.

Was his mother really dead?

Did she really die like Hanzi had said?

It didn’t matter whether or not it was the truth. The simple fact that Hanzi had even dared to speak of his mother in such a way completely ignited Kiso’s rage.

A few short seconds after Hanzi finished speaking those vile words, Kiso’s figure that was several meters away, vanished from his sight.

When Kiso’s figure disappeared, so did Hanzi’s vision.

An overwhelming heat suddenly imposed itself on Hanzi’s face as Kiso’s electrified hand grasped it tightly.

Hanzi barely had any time to react, Kiso’s sudden attack had caught him completely off guard. After all, he had no idea what sort of techniques Kiso was capable of besides his lightning.

By the time Hanzi realized Kiso’s hand was grasping his face, it was too late.

Hanzi could only manage to frantically pour his spiritual pressure into his treasured magical artifact bestowed upon him by his sect.

Every elder of the Apostles of Death carry with them an ancient grimoire containing tens of elaborate techniques. Most of the techniques written in the grimoire are passed down by the death god himself. However, there are even some useful techniques for levitation and the like.

As long as the elder was at least at the fourth stage of spiritual pressure, he would be able to use the first five techniques. Hanzi just happened to barely meet those requirements.

Hanzi’s pouring of spiritual pressure into the grimoire was precisely the fifth technique, Soul Transfer. Soul transfer is a last resort technique that allows the user to transport their soul into a contracted host, permanently. Unfortunately, the user’s spiritual pressure will be largely spent in the process and the host body must meet several requirements.

The spiritual pressure enhanced grimoire began to ooze a deathly black smoke while violently shaking.

In the same moment, Kiso’s hand suddenly tensed causing black lightning to overflow. Hanzi’s head became completely replaced by a crackling orb of black lightning.

Unfortunately, Hanzi’s battle experience was truly formidable. Within the two seconds it took for Kiso to shadowstep and disintegrate his skull, he actually determined it was necessary to use his last resort and even managed to pull it off.

While Kiso was still blinded with rage a dark silhouette amongst the group of students dashed into the shadows, disappearing.

That silhouette was precisely the host Hanzi had imposed himself on. As he stealthily escaped, he took one look back at Kiso thinking, “Too close.. To think that little brat is actually at the fifth stage of spiritual pressure.. He even received the hidden technique of Osian Tower, I’ve got to report this to the others before it’s too late..” Although Hanzi is an elder of the Apostles of Death, of the thirteen, he is ranked twelfth.

Kiso’s chest was heaving as he took deep anguished breaths, the rage in his heart was almost unbearable. Only the medicine of staring at Hanzi’s lifeless body brought Kiso a sliver of clarity and he quickly shadowstepped back to Yuni’s side.

“You six, your precious Hanzi is dead, what will you do now?” Kiso’s trembling cold voice rang out as he addressed those six black cloaked figures. They were completely silent, staring dumbfounded at Hanzi’s corpse.

Kiso wanted to give those six family members of Hanzi’s a small chance at redemption, but they quickly gave him an answer with their actions.

Five of their bodies suddenly blurred, forming a half circle formation around Kiso and Yuni. Their bodies began to ooze black smoke while they raised their arms to their sides. Following a series of hand gestures, the deathly smoke leaking from their bodies began to flow along their arms. When it reached the tips of their outstretched hands, it flowed into the air towards the next person before fully connecting together.

Between their sudden decision to attack and the gathering of their spiritual pressure to form the formation technique, all of their faces had become exceedingly ugly to behold.

“Sister! What are you doing?! GET OVER HERE!” Vixy’s voice called back to the lone figure that had yet to join the half circle.

Yan’s body trembled, with an extremely painful look on her face she shouted back, “No!!! I’ve had enough!”

Yan had been the only one amongst Hanzi’s family that had been contracted and forced to do things she never wished to do. When Hanzi’s body died, her contract had lifted its restrictions, freeing her.

Without Yan’s power in the formation, it lacked the power needed to deal with Kiso and Yuni. If Yan joined the formation, its power would increase to the sixth stage of spiritual pressure. They were extremely confident Kiso had yet to reach such a lofty stage.

As lightning started to spark on Kiso and Yuni’s outstretched hands, Yan’s eyes widened and she cried out, “Look out you guys!” Although she didn’t want to help them, they were still family. She couldn’t help but call out almost subconsciously.

Kiso wasn’t about to wait and find out what those five had in store for him. The feeling their technique was giving him screamed danger. “Yuni, let’s roast em! Hurry!” Kiso urged through a mental message.

Without hesitation, their arms raised and four intense bolts of thick crackling lightning burst into the air.

Her sudden shout snapped their attention back to Kiso and Yuni. All five of their hearts skipped a beat. They just saw how powerful that lightning could be, even Hanzi had been unable to resist and died just like that.

Even so, they could only grit their teeth and execute the unfinished formation technique.

The smoke rapidly churned and raced out forming a deadly scythe.

If this scythe had been formed with Yan’s assistance, it would have had no problem dealing with Kiso and Yuni’s fifth stage lightning.

But Yan had refused to help.

As the smoke scythe met the lightning midway between the two parties, a thunderous boom rang out. Everyone present couldn’t help but cup their hands over their ears and clench their eyes.

The two parties continuously poured spiritual pressure into their attacks as the lightning and smoke continued to struggle for an advantage in midair.

“How strong!” Kiso’s face revealed an astonished expression. This was his first encounter with a formation technique.

Although the individual power of all of his opponents was lower then his own, their combined might rivaled both his and Yuni’s.

Even so, Kiso’s cold lips raised into a sneer as his azure eyes suddenly brightened. A powerful gust of wind raced from behind Kiso and Yuni, flowing along their lightning before making contact with that deathly smoke scythe.

When the divine wind from Kiso’s azure eyes met the smoke scythe, it didn’t even take a half second before it rapidly dissipated.

Without obstruction, Kiso and Yuni’s lightning intertwined forming a radiant snake of lightning.

The snake of lightning seemed to come alive, locking onto Vixy’s pale face.

“NO!!” Vixy couldn’t believe their combined attack would lose so easily. She couldn’t accept her own defeat even as the flash of light in her eyes spelled it out clearly for her.

“SISTER!!!” The remaining four cloaked figures cried out as Vixy’s body was reduced to ash, scattering into the wind.

Kiso nodded his head, indicating the next target for Yuni as lightning began to coil around their hands once again.

“WAIT!” A shrill cry rang out as Yan frantically stumbled between the two parties.

Tears streaking down her face, she begged, “Kiso, you’ve had your revenge! Please, spare my family! We will sever our ties with my grandfather’s sect!”

Kiso’s heart slightly trembled. Being tearfully begged by such a pretty girl almost caused his determination to waver.

But as he shifted his gaze back at those other four faces, he shook his head in disappointment. They were looking at Yan with condemning eyes, as if they no longer recognized her.

Yan’s face froze in disbelief as Kiso’s black lightning buzzed by her.

Glancing back, she could only catch a glimpse of another cloud of ash drifting into the wind.

“Teq!!” Beq’s coarse voice cried out as he fell to his knees.

Rather then tears, his sudden grief of losing his twin caused his innermost feelings to rush out. He accusingly pointed at Yan, “This is your fault! You refused to help us! If it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t have been like this!”

Yan’s tears stopped.

His words reminded her of her choice, but she didn’t regret it. When she chose not to help them complete the formation technique, she made the decision while recalling all the terrible things they had done.

She struggled to her feet, facing Kiso.

In Kiso’s mind, her solemn voice rang out, “Kiso, I’m as guilty as they are. My hands are stained with the blood of countless innocents. Regardless of being forced to or not, I chose my own life instead of countless others. I deserve this!”

From her trembled jade white hand, a thin deathly smoke snake oozed out. The snake hesitated in the air for a moment, before snapping towards Yuni threatening to take her life.

In the moment the smoke raced towards Yuni, Kiso’s eyes brightened, a gust of wind blowing the snake away as if it hadn’t even existed.

Frowning, Kiso shook his head at Yuni who had raised her hand, threatening to end Yan’s life.

He looked back at Yan and sent a mental message, “Don’t think it’ll be that easy. You have to live on in order to repay the damage you’ve done. I’ll have you accompany Yuni and I after this is all said and done. We’re going to need some information on this sect of yours. Now, move aside, those rotten family members of yours seem to have some fight left in them.”

Yan’s eyes widened, rapidly growing red once again. Complex emotions fought each other in her heart but she nodded at Kiso and ran off to the side regardless.

“Traitor!” Beq had watched quietly as Yan struggled within herself and even made an attempt to attack Yuni. He had thought she meant to atone for her actions with that attack, yet now she simply ran off to the side without a fight.

He couldn’t take it anymore, his entire life was crashing down around him.

“Die!” Beq shouted as his body suddenly began to deteriorate into smoke.

The smoke rapidly congealed a few feet above the ground into the shape of an arrow. The arrow was an entire meter long and was covered in thick oozing black gas.

Beq’s face revealed a final expression of satisfaction before deteriorating as well.

The moment Beq’s head transformed into smoke congealing into the arrow, it show forward straight at Kiso.

This arrow contained all of Beq’s spiritual pressure combined with his entire life force. Its power completely exceeded the limits of Beq’s third stage spiritual pressure, directly climbing to the peak of the fifth stage.

Even Kiso couldn’t compete with the power behind this arrow.

His hairs standing straight up, Kiso’s eyes focused on the arrow rapidly approaching him. He wanted to shadowstep out of the way, yet the arrow seemed to be moving in an arc. If he avoided the arrow, it would continue to arc and strike Yuni instead.

“Not good.” Kiso’s eyes brightened as he sent all his remaining spiritual pressure into them.

A screen of violent screaming wind intercepted the deadly arrow, only to be directly pierced and bypassed.

Although divine wind is capable of completely negating death type spiritual pressure, this arrow contained life force. It was entirely different technique!

Kiso’s heart sank, he used all his remaining spiritual pressure to counter that arrow.

As the arrow came within three meters of Kiso’s face, he chuckled to himself, “Again and again I’m reminded just how naive I am. I should have quickly dealt with this Beq. He should have never had a chance to conjure such a ridiculous attack.” He sighed to himself, “A life for a life, he actually sacrificed his life to take my own. I don’t even know what to…”

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a strange sound passed by his ear. The air trembled as a blinding light intercepted that deathly black smoke arrow.

BOOM!

A shockwave of energy burst forth from the two forces, sending Kiso flying backwards crashing into Yuni.

Yuni and Kiso continued to fly backwards before crashing into the Osian Tower.

After several seconds, Kiso’s mind cleared and he stared blankly at a large crater that had been formed beneath the shockwave.

“What the hell happened?!” Kiso couldn’t understand, he was certainly almost killed just now.

What had saved him?

In his mind, a gentle voice gave him the answer, “Kiso, that scared me! Such a vicious attack… I had to take a chance and use Koho’s Soul Piercing Arrow, I thought you were going to die!”

Fortunately, since Beq’s technique contained his life force, his soul was still attached to it. The Soul Piercing arrow was able to directly strike Beq’s soul residing in his final attack, resulting in the shockwave that ended it.

Kiso grunted as he moved forward, turning around to face Yuni he inquired, “Soul Piercing Arrow? Koho actually gave you such a thing? Why didn’t you use it back then?”

Kiso was of course referring to the fight between them and Danstun. She could have easily used the arrow to take care of him, thus avoiding the near fatal encounter.

Yuni’s face blushed, replying quietly, “I forgot…”

Kiso couldn’t help but pause for a moment, then laugh loudly.

Amidst his laughter, Yan’s voice echoed through the air, “Kiso! They’re escaping!”

To Be Continued!