The Blood Of God

The black smoke was burning intensely around Warbreaker, and Arega looked down at his bleeding opponent, Yin Kang. His eyes latched onto the mysterious weapon. 

"What's with this smoke?" Yin questioned the towering monster who was standing in front of him. 

"It's an emblem defining my power." Arega said, wheezing and grinning at him.

"Yeah, right." Yin coughed out the dirt.

Yin slowly got up, trembling and shaking from the impact of the attack on his head and his ankles, his face dripping with blood from the forehead. Only two strikes, and he was down. "Are you and I that weak?" Yin questioned Xil inside his head.

"Honestly, I applaud you for being able to withstand two strikes from Warbreaker. I'll give you that." Arega threw back Warbreaker and rested it on his right shoulder. 

And Yin stood, hunched. 

His eyes were caving in while he panted.

…

Then Yin started ripping off his black shirt with his bare hands. 

Every spectator gazed at him in utter confusion.

With every exhale, he tore.

And finally, he ripped out his shirt, revealing his atheletic and fit body, with marks and smudges of dirt and blood here and there. And as each second went by, the blood on his face dripped down to his body; it ran so close to his nose that he was able to smell it. It was human blood. It was his blood. Blood that belonged to Earth.

Suddenly, Yin plunged Destiny straight into his own heart with intense speed and pressure.

!

The crowd yelled, and the knights gasped in disbelief.

Everyone in Yin's crew has remained frozen and speechless since Warbreaker swiped his face. 

Arega's drowned eyes opened wide for the first time. His deep blue iris was stone cold, like the moon.

And Yin was unharmed, as usual. No blood spurted out, so he proceeded to gather a set of logical assumptions inside his head.

"Hmm… A normal sword, a burning arrow, or a sharp dagger doesn't harm me, even in the slightest bit. I'm basically an immortal. But this hammer... And this smoke... Maybe it's a special weapon? That would explain the weird smoke."

Yin spat out the blood that slithered its way into the sides of his lips. 

"If his weapon is able to make me bleed, then it can even kill me... Haha! A giant from the depths of hell couldn't squish me. That weapon of his is something greater than that." Yin concluded the interaction he had with himself in his head.

"Wha? Tryna prove everyone that you're the God-boy by doing these fancy stunts?" Arega spoke as he readied Warbreaker.

He broke out laughing and wheezing with an annoying tone.

"You think these fuckers are gonna fall for this and bow down to you? Well, even if they do, you have to be alive for that to happen, dork. No one likes to worship a dead man." He mocked and then laughed again. 

Arega got back into his fighting position.

This time, he was even more casual with it.

"Do you smell death, Mr. Kong?" He pointed Warbreaker at Yin's skull, and the black smoke kept evaporating like steam. 

"Hah! Not really. I just smell blood. My blood." Yin brought back his childish smile.

"I'm not gonna waste any more time." Arega exhaled quietly and re-stanced himself. 

"AHH!" He grunted and rushed at Yin.

He waved Warbreaker to his rib. Yin quickly slipped back and drew Destiny to the front. 

Arega lifted his leg and kicked Yin in the chest. 

Right before Yin could fall again, he placed his hand on the cracked ground and back-flipped safely. 

Arega went for the slam, but Yin predicted it.

Instinctively, he dove down and tried to cut through Arega's knee cap, which was exposed every time he bent down. 

Yin's slashes were quick as a rabbit.

So he cut through.

"You know, you shoulda wore some clothes behind your armor." Yin joked at him as he slit a layer of skin from his knee caps. 

"AHH! YA FUCKING BASTARD!" Arega groaned in pain.

Master Li had taught Yin that the simplest cuts hurt the most. And Yin did exactly that. He did not aim or plot for any big attacks; he just made simple cuts here and there to torment and put the monster constantly in an uneasy state. 

Then Yin quickly rolled over forward to Arega as he irritatedly yelled in pain. Yin swiftly pierced multiple times into both of Arega's hands. It spurted out little rains of blood, further pushing him back.

Yin kicked his distracted face, leaped onto his shoulder, and drove Destiny in. He pushed it deeper and deeper and rotated Destiny internally until Arega finally dropped Warbreaker and snatched Yin off his shoulder. 

That made Yin helplessly drop his weapon too. 

Arega tightly held Yin, hugging him around his hips while his arms were locked behind him too. 

Yin tried pulling himself out, but Arega's lock was too strong and tight to break apart.

Arega wheezed in pain and panted.

"No one's cut through me this many times, Mr. Kong." Arega's voice trembled, but it was still deep, and the tone of the pain inflicted was audibly heard.

"Neither have I. It's not part of our sport." Yin replied.

"TO HELL WITH YOUR SHIT!" Arega yelled loudly and smashed Yin to the ground, and it cracked even more. The lines grew darker, and it seemed like the floor was starting to break apart. 

The back of Yin's head hit hard on the floor, but that had no effect on him. 

Arega, with his pierced knuckles, punched Yin's face. 

It still had no effect.

"DIE MOTHERFUCKER! DIE!" Arega wheezed and yelled.

"Now, now, don't let your anger get the best of you." Yin said it calmly as Arega tried smashing his face with his bare knuckles. 

Arega stopped immediately and looked to his left, and he saw Warbreaker within his hand's reach.

Yin saw it too, and Warbreaker was closer to him than Destiny was.

Arega went to reach for it.

But Yin's right hand reached it first.

And Yin lifted Warbreaker with absolute ease. It felt like a cake to him.

Arega was shaken at the sight of that.

"How are you able to lift it?" He was in utter disbelief and fright.

But Yin didn't think twice.

"Would you like a taste of your own medicine?" 

Yin exhaled and swung Warbreaker at Arega.

It only reached his neck. 

But it hit him brutally. Very brutally.

"RWAHHHHH!" He groaned loudly. 

Arega flew back, scraping mud and dirt along the way.

Two of his teeth were visibly shattered.

Yin got up immediately and spat out dirt and blood.

For a brief moment, he forgot about their deal.

Yin walked over to the knocked-out body of Arega, lying helplessly in the dirt and mud.

A vision of the old man with the gouged eye slipped in front of him.

"KILL THAT FUCKING MONSTER! KILL THAT MONSTER AND SAVE MY DAUGHTER!" 

The old man's voice echoed inside his head.

Yin inhaled and lifted Warbreaker to finish him for good.

Time slowed down.

Yin heard his own voice saying the words he had just uttered minutes ago.

"Now, now, don't let your anger get the best of you."

Just before he could smash the skull...

…

"Wait." 

There was a hand in front of Yin's face.

Yin looked behind it, and it was the face of Erik.

"Don't kill him." He ordered boldly.

Arega's knights and everyone in the crowd were stunned and perplexed.

"He doesn't deserve a pure gift like death." Erik added.

…

Yin came back to his senses.

And he quickly dropped Warbreaker to the floor.

"I yield." 

Everyone suddenly heard a faint voice blurting out from the ground.

It was Arega's voice.