‘SPLASH’ came the sound when Kush broke the surface of water and another ‘SPLASH’ when he fell back into it. It took a couple of more jumps from him to reach the fourth island again. The gash from the back of his palm to the bottom of his back, was painful, but he still wanted to fight.

Brutus on the other hand took a slow prod out of the waters, the leak of green ‘blood’ from his body was not stopping and was likely to not stop for quite some time now. Julius only managed to injure him cause he attacked the eye, his daughter managed to injure him cause of a special method, but this kid… this kid managed to injure based on pure strength and will power. He could take care of Julie later but this guy was a priority now.

Brutus was fast cause of his muscle strength but not agile cause of the nature of his transformation, he was stronger but the difference seemed to be markedly less than anyone he had faced till now and that weapon… that ominous looking monolithic weapon, was definitely not made using zorax. He was just playing around, hence he didn’t reveal his true strength till now but if wanted he could have gone through zorax armour like paper, only with a little more effort. But the previous punch which could have destroyed anything in his path, even a thick zorax wall, was stopped by that weapon and taking a closer look at it now, he didn’t see a single crack on it.

“Kid where did you get that weapon” asked the monster, pissed at its inability to destroy it

“My father got it made for me” replied the boy without any malice

Brutus wasn’t really interested in the answer anyway, the question was rhetorical, he leapt in with the punch as soon as the kid finished answering the question. Kush owing to his quicker reactions dodged the punch to his left and smashed Brutus on the back throwing him on the ground. He then followed up the smack with another attack on the Brutus’s back ‘Bam’ plunging him back in the ground as he was trying to get up. He then followed that up with a strike to the left of Brutus’s body which sent him dragging across the ground. Kush then took a running start and jumped to Brutus and attempted to plunge Tanka’s blade in the middle of Brutus’s forehead. Brutus grabbed the axe using its handle and Kush landed on his two feet and then it was a tussle of power. The jumping start gave Kush an initial advantage, he managed to push Brutus back by about 3 feet dragging his feet in the ground, but Brutus managed to stop him and held themselves in place through sheer power. There were a lot of steps both of them could take to break the stalemate, one of them could take a step back and let the other one falter and then strike him but none of them did. To them this was a primeval feeling, the feeling of knowing who would come out on top. Brutus could not use his left hand to his fullest cause of the cut across his fingers and Kush powered through the pain in his left hand to maintain his supremacy. They stood like statues for close to 2 minutes, the first to make his move was Brutus. He kicked Kush in his stomach using his right leg expecting to put a hole right through his torso, but Kush jumped back just enough that kick grazed him. He was unscathed from the kick. He expected the kick to injure him big time cause of the corrosion, but he didn’t see any injuries. Kush thought Brutus made a mistake and calmed himself and went in again.

Brutus was ready this time, he grabbed Tanka again and tried his hardest to erode the blade but no matter how hard he exerted, nothing happened. The blade stood unblemished and sharp as ever. Kush just pushed into the blade more, he couldn’t pull Brutus closer cause this is what the monster wanted him to do. Brutus then tried to surprise Kush by pulling him closer to grab him but Kush dodged. Kush managed to get the next hit in on Brutus’s shoulders, Brutus was forced to eat dirt. Kush brought the full force of his axe on the Brutus’s head and Brutus felt it. Not pain, but he felt himself losing strength in his lower body and arms. He couldn’t get himself to get back up. Kush took a deep breath and screamed “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH…” as he came down with the judgement of heavens on Brutus’s back. Brutus’s invincibility had caused him to lose his instincts of a warrior, he had honed through many battles, the complacence had made him vulnerable to attacks. He didn’t step out in time and allowed the attacks to land on him as it went

‘BANG’x3

The jolt from the third strike woke him up, as he rolled from under Kush’s attack which hit the ground and caused the sand to spill over in the air. Brutus used the opportunity and stretched his hands outwards to grab at Kush using his undamaged hand through the cloud of dust, but Kush realized the risks and had already backed off. The two then went after each other’s throats like wild dogs. Both wanted to win, Brutus to prove his way of life was better and Kush cause he wanted to get stronger and Brutus was a stepping stone. This continued for another 3 hours by when Sylvie started to realize, Brutus was gaining on Kush little by little. It then struck her, this is what happens in every fight and she ordered her men.

Kush plunged his blade in Brutus’s gut and send him flying. He then jumped after him and struck him down on the ground mid-air

‘BOOM’

He then went to work on his back again

‘BANG’x3

Kush realized somethings, Brutus was anatomically still a being, meaning he could be knocked out and have his exoskeleton broken or sprained, only he required the right amount of force. Force he might have not been exposed to yet. Kush was attempting to do just that…

‘BANG’x5

It was starting to hurt…

‘BANG’x8

Brutus tried rolling out, but Kush didn’t let him. Brutus was getting annoyed being treated like a play thing

‘BANG’x16

A ditch grew deeper every time Kush slammed his axe on Brutus’s back, he was intent on cutting Brutus in half. Brutus was now in tremendous pain, a thin line almost as thick as Tanka’s blade was starting to feel like a burn on his back. This was getting annoying, but Kush was still able to power through and stop him in his place.

‘BANG’x30

Every time Brutus tried getting up Kush plunged Tanka in his spine and then…

‘BANG’x31

It ruptured… the layer of skin, the impenetrable defence on his body, his invincibility, one which survived a barrage of hundreds of mana cannons without so as a scratch, survived thousands of blows from magicians, sword fighters, spear men, hundreds of thousands of arrows without giving him a single itch. But today it ruptured twice… at the hands of a barbarian sans technique, who simply just went at it like lumberjack would at a tree. A gash almost three inches deep was formed across the entire width of his back right below his spine. It started bleeding.

Rage… blinding rage… Brutus’s only surviving right eye went white, his mouth parted in half as scream left his mouth.

First was in pain “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

‘BANG’x32

Then the next scream was a mix of annoyance and frustration like a toddler would have at not being to fit a lego on another piece “AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

‘BANG’x33

And then in rage “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” and dug his hands in the ground and applied force.

‘CRACK’ came the sound and then after a series of cracks the crack stopped going in a straight line. Following a fault line the crack circled back to his hands. The sudden loss of footing made Kush loose a beat and the next second threw him away with the piece of the island he was standing on. Brutus was in tremendous pain, one which hadn’t felt in over a decade and today a fucking nobody was take his time to cut him. Copious amounts of blood spilled down his back down his hips to his thighs, his shin and then the ground, drop by drop. They were never able to form a pool, because here on out Brutus never stopped at one place…

He picked up the other piece of hemispherical rock 40 m in diameter and lunged it at Kush like it was nothing. Brutus’s instincts told him this was not going to be like before. Kush pulverized the giant rock using Tanka and flew out of the debris towards the direction he thought Brutus was coming from, but Brutus using his incredible muscle power had lunged out of the way before and come behind Kush. Used one of the debris pieces and threw it at Kush’s back getting him right in the sweet spot, he then changed directions and came from Kush’s side to grab him but Kush put Tanka in between. Brutus swatted aside the axe used his other hand to grab piece of rock debris and throw it Kush’s head and used the first hand again to swat him mid-air. Kush rotated in air and dodged the hand and took the rock in the back his head. Getting bruised and losing his footing a little when he landed on the ground. Brutus then threw another rock 3 m in diameter. Kush light headed couldn’t dodge and took the rock head on and flew off in the direction of the throw like rocket. Brutus not letting up on the attack came from top toward the flying Kush intending to punch him but once again Kush put Tanka between them using it like shield throwing him in the ground like a missile ‘BAM’. Brutus then landed near him and didn’t stop and punched right, Kush rolled to the side away from his reach, Brutus not leaving his location grabbed a rock and plunged it on Kush’s torso. Now it was Kush in a ditch, but he rolled out before further damage. All these attacks were exacerbating the pain from his injury he got at the start of the battle, but surprisingly for him and for Brutus as well Kush was proving to be very durable. Kush was the only one who understood, it was his parent’s clothes which were protecting him. Brutus continued his merciless barrage of attacks, not letting up for even a moment. After a few minutes the he had lunged atleast 40 such rocks at Kush, but Kush still managed to survive and block any of his limbs from touching him. Brutus realized something was weird. The defence on this man was abnormal but he does bruise and bleed from the head, meaning it’s those weird clothes. His background was starting to seem weirder and weirder to Brutus. But he didn’t let up, going at Kush like a monster possessed ignoring the pain he was in and more importantly ignoring the fact that he was bleeding all over the battlefield.

It was the dawn of a new day when in midst of his blinding hot rage, Brutus didn’t realize a crucial fact, the sound of battle around him was waning and the fact that he was not getting any stronger. Yes, the queen’s men had successfully managed to execute her command, the entire left out army of 10000 had retreated from the battlefield. It had taken them 4 hours to execute her orders, but the ferry ships were redirected to the artificial islands and soldiers were piled on like cattle to rapidly evacuate them. A lot of people were required to defend from the incoming barrage of 3000 armies, but as part their training they used their shields as walls to funnel the goblins towards a single direction and they used a tiny battalion to fend to them off the final numbers were forced to swim, but their water related Karmic powers made them faster than the goblins in water. Once in water, the goblins were sitting ducks for ship cannons. Though this would not have been possible had it not for the fact that they been reduced to less than 1/5 of their initial numbers. The only ones on the battlefield were the two fighters, the queen, Tara, the remaining cabinet, Marcus, the general, the national guardian and a few personal guards for their security. They took care of the occasional stray goblin which came their way.

Brutus was getting losing blood by the second now, since his transformation the only two downfalls for him were his reduced speed and the fact that he lost his natural healing capability, he healed like a normal non-cultivating human being now and a gash that big was going to impact him. He went to town on Kush with his attacks, not stopping, not letting up while Kush simply balled up and took the hits and only reacted when Brutus himself tried making contact. Each hit from the rocks would have mashed people to a pile of shattered bones and goo, but Kush took them on his body, his clothes took most of the damage but he too was taking damage and after so many attack they were piling up. It was noon now and the game of cat and mouse still continued, it was now that Brutus let up for the first time. Coming back to himself. The fourth island was no longer an island, only a few pieces of rocks protruding out of the water, Kush lying on one of them and Brutus standing their panting on another.

“Pant… pant… what the fuck is happening to me” he thought to himself before realizing the silence and looking around him and saw the deserted place and realized his fuck up. Kush stood up slowly and assessed his body. The beating was not light, he doubted he would be able to stand after taking a beating this size had it not been for the clothes. 4 ribs fractured and 3 shattered, three of his toes on the left foot and two on the right foot were broken, he had dislocated his right ankle, making him really dependant on the left leg, he bruised all over, his skull had been fractured on three places atleast and he had lost a lot on blood. He bent down and put the ankle back in place winced from pain but feeling relaxed once done. He looked around and smirked “Heh… looks like the queen smartened up”. Brutus’s immediate mana source had been cut off and he was losing fuel like crazy. Things were going haywire for him, but for some reason he was remembering the past and location in his mind transformed and he was transported to a battlefield…

Brutus was a giant in human terms standing at 6 feet 10 inch, muscular, intimidating and powerful and he was panting in the battle field his heavy sword in hand. Before being transformed into a monster, Brutus was the calculating and shrewd type unlike his brother, tiring the opponent out before sieging them with his powerful arms. He was standing bent down at the waist on his ship, which had been invaded by pirates looking to loot the merchant ship. It was part his training as a prince wherein he was supposed to escort a merchant ship from a trade route infested with pirates. The captain was proving to be a handful for the prince as he used his club to thrash Brutus around the ship…

Back to the current battlefield…

Kush launched in an onslaught of his own, Brutus used his forearm to parry his axe and used his other arm to grab his neck, used his axe as a leverage and turned mid-air and smacked Brutus’s back with his axe causing him to fall face first. Brutus rolled out of the way and punched at him, injuries and blood loss had slowed both of them down but one didn’t care about speed and agility and one was in constant pressure of being agile and dodging attacks. Brutus went in with his shoulders trying to knock him in the air, Kush dodged and hit him in the fish shaped head on his left. Brutus as expected was even slower to react when the attack came from the left, when against others he was casual taking the hits as they came but with Kush he had to be careful, especially now that he was weakening bit by bit but he was helpless in this matter, he could fight his best but he was still slower than Kush in all respect. Kush hit him across the head every chance he got trying to knock him down and or crack his skull, but the leverage was never enough. Brutus was now on the receiving end of the attacks and occasionally got a few attacks in when he was not making contact. Things continued like this for another few hours with none of them letting up. Just as sun was about to set on the day, Kush lost his concentration and stepped on a piece of rock which already had cracks on it and lost his footing, Tanka slipped his hand and fell to the side. Brutus didn’t miss this opportunity and ran with clams open towards the boy’s heart…

On the ship in Brutus’s past…

After getting thrashed around, Brutus block an attack from the pirate captain to his head, he parried another attack, but got stabbed in the back by another low life thug who managed to sneak in on his back. He smashed his head using his elbow and ducked the next club blow from the captain and parried another blow. For the next few minutes Brutus just ducked into his shell dodging, parrying and taking hits from the captain, who didn’t seem like he would let up.

“Haa haa haa looks like the teachings to the royal princes in a joke in this country” shouted the captain.

Brutus didn’t respond to his provocations, he endured and endured waiting for the moment he could hit and make it count and finally part of the bulwark of the ship fell behind the captain and distracted him for just the enough fraction of a second and Brutus holding his broad sword like joust went straight for the man’s heart

(in both locations)

“NOW DIE FOR ME” x 2 Brutus screamed in excitement, the feeling of killing a tough foe after a long time made him remember the pirate captain who had half his chest from the middle including his heart crushed and pulled out from the other side.

“NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Tara at the top of her voice as she lunged in scythe poised to murder the monster.

Marcus standing next to Sylvia dropped to his knees, the soldiers standing guard hung their neck knowing the inevitable if the kid died, Augustus and Brachios clenched their fists in anger and impotence they felt and the queen was on all her fours, extending her right hand forward towards Kush as if willing to pull him away from Brutus’s grasp. He was her final hope the final hope for her country which was now bound to doom. She had lost self-control as the sudden jerking of hand had caused the thin dhoti she had worn like a bath towel around her chest fell off allowing her massive breasts to drop freely and swing uncontrollably till they stopped after a few seconds. Her mouth and eyes were open and a single tear fell down her unblemished cheek to the ground. But then Tara who had herself in an attempt to save their only hope stopped on another piece of rock which was about 40 meters from their location. Sylvie on seeing this turned her head towards the two combatants and brought her outstretched back to her chest to console her heart. Her right forearm pressed again her right breast right above the nipple and the compressed breasts wrapped around her thin forearm, which would have been completely submerged in the dough had it been any thinner.

Brutus had already celebrated his victory in his mind expecting an easy access through his clothes to his chest, then his lungs and heart and then his back. But something was weird and it had happened twice today already. He then felt something grab at his forearm and then before being thrown to the ground in a wrestling move he heard “Now… this is going to be fun!!!”