193 Furious Kouro (2) (Revision)
(Kouro POV.)
Flashbacks of every time I was with Higokumaru whether it was from this world or the real world flashed through my mind.
"Kouro-Nii!" Higokumaru from the real world happily smiled at me with fried tofu in her hand.
"Kouro!" said the Higokumaru of this world smiling happily at me.
Those short memories then melted into one.
Higokumaru... To me... Who is she? She's just an ordinary friend... Not even close.
But of course, it's normal to be angry and sad at 'Sirin' for killing Higokumaru.
But there was another feeling that arose in my heart when I saw Higokumaru who was in my arms in a lifeless state... For some reason, my chest ached even though it wasn't bleeding.
A feeling of disappointment and self-hatred also somehow arose from within my heart.
Why did those feelings appear to me?
Ah... I thought I understood why those feelings appeared to me...
'Are these your feelings towards the people you have failed to save... KOURO?'
Feelings of disappointment that I was too late to save them and feelings of self-hatred for being too weak...
'You really are a pitiful person, aren't you... KOURO?' I thought.
I closed my eyes remembering all of my time with Higokumaru for the last time.
Well... 'Sirin'... Good job, as a reward... I'll make sure that I smash you to pieces.
'I swear on my name, even if the stake is my life.'
I opened my eyes revealing purple eyes that glowed horribly.
__
Welt felt a suffocating pressure from Kouro, this made him worry if he would make impulsive actions that would endanger them.
Welt with no other choice could only grit his teeth before exclaiming, "Kouro! Please calm down!"
Right after he said that the pressure from Kouro slowly dissipated making him heave a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry Mr. Welt... I'm really calm as water right now." Kouro said while glancing at him which instantly made Welt break out in a cold sweat because of his purple eyes that were glowing horribly.
He was like the 'calm before the storm' now.
Kouro then stood up while carrying Higokumaru's corpse, he looked at her silently before discovering that Higokumaru's palm was holding something very tightly.
He touched Higokumaru's hand and opened it only to find a pink jasmine flower-shaped crystal in her hand.
"This is... Elysia's thing?" muttered Kouro with his eyes sparkling as if he realized something.
He understood the reason why the 'Sirin' in front of him was emitting a completely different aura was because the 13th Divine key had been destroyed and another Herrscher of the End core shard had been retrieved.
A special Herrscher core shard that contained the consciousness of the Herrscher of the End.
That meant that this jasmine flower-shaped crystal was probably Elysia's Herrscher core.
Only... How could Sirin possibly find the place of the seal so easily? After all, only Higokumaru herself knew the place especially since it takes the 'shadow' ability to open the seal.
He also found the Arahato robot that had become debris and was floating in the air.
'Well... Not like I care...' Kouro thought with a cold expression, he took the crystal in Higokumaru's hand before putting it away.
"You guys back off, I'll fight her alone. " Kouro said with his eyes looking at 'Sirin'.
'Sirin' raised her eyebrows in response to his words but did nothing and just looked at him calmly and a little haughtily.
Higokumaru who was in Kouro's arms floated under the influence of [Dominator's Touch] before flying towards Welt who caught her.
Hearing his words, Ashborn stood up hobbledly before calling out to him, "Kouro, don't be impulsive! That girl is the Herrscher of the End! You-"
Kouro stared at him with his shining purple eyes. Staring into Kouro's eyes, Ashborn, whose mouth had opened and closed again, felt his words get caught in his throat.
He limped towards Welt and when he was next to Kouro, Ashborn then whispered, "Be careful, Kouro."
After that, he stood beside Welt before the shadow under his feet widened and slowly sank into the shadows.
"Do you think I'll let them go?" said 'Sirin' with her eyes shining brightly.
Kouro didn't answer, he pulled something out of thin air and brought it slowly closer to his chest.
"Now that I think about it... I haven't thanked the person who gave me this thing."
'Sirin's' expression visibly changed at the sight of the Herrscher of the End core fragment in Kouro's hand.
"How could you possibly have that?!"
Ashborn and Welt's expressions also changed upon seeing it in Kouro's hands.
"Kouro... Don't tell me that he..." said Welt with a surprised expression.
"Formation." Kouro's clothes changed into the Key of Blankness revealing an empty slot on his chest.
"No!" Sirin teleportation even sped up time just to stop Kouro.
But she was a step slower, Kouro had already placed the Herrscher core fragment onto his chest.
For the last time, Kouro glanced at Ashborn and Welt behind him who would soon completely sink into the shadows before opening his mouth and saying something.
Welt and Ashborn could only see Kouro's violet eyes slowly change colour to a sparkling golden yellow and hear his last words before they finally sank into the shadow teleporting to another place.
*BOOM!*
The loud explosion and blinding light made 'Sirin' fly backwards and shield her eyes using both hands for a few seconds before the light finally faded away slowly.
"He really is crazy to use my power against me." muttered 'Sirin'.
But right after that her premonition of danger instantly stood straight up making her expression change instantly.
Just when she wanted to move, her eyes caught the silhouette of someone's fist that shot towards her face.
*BAM!*
'Sirin' bounced up creating a supersonic impact and destroying several Honkai rocks in the process, fortunately, due to her energy shield, she did not suffer much damage so she then quickly stabilized her body.
But right after that, hundreds if not tens of thousands of fists from all directions appeared targeting her making her instantly raise her energy shield that enveloped her body.
"You... Cheater! Not giving me a turn!" said 'Sirin' in an angry tone.
Blow after blow filled Sirin's vision before she heard a cracking sound.
*Crack!*
Cracks were visible from 'Sirin's' energy shield, seeing this she gritted her teeth before using the [Flame] ability and creating a huge explosion.
*BOOM!*
'Sirin' was instantly flying backwards with a wary expression staring ahead where the smoke from the explosion was flying.
"I didn't expect that he would be able to control the authority of [Time] to such an extent..." muttered 'Sirin' before hearing the sound of footsteps from behind the smoke.
The silhouette of a person seen before passing through the thick smoke turned out to be Kouro with his golden eyes shining brightly.
His clothes hadn't changed at all other than having a dominant light purple pattern with gray-white, Kouro didn't have the halo that a Herrscher would normally have as he was only using a shard of this Herrscher.
But his body did have a very noticeable change, he has a muscular body that made him over 3 meters tall like a small giant.
His body shape is now completely Escanor-like other than that he didn't have a moustache or Rhitta's golden axe.
Fortunately, the Key of Blankness can customize its body shape according to the user.
Moreover, his white hair became very long and flew upwards like an adult Gon when fighting Pitou.
[Herrscher form: The One]
In this Form mode, all of Kouro's statuses increase 25 times including the [Honkai] status, because the sudden increase it made Kouro's body expand like that.
Seeing Kouro whose changes were so striking that even 'Sirin' almost couldn't recognize him make her unable resist to shouting before stopping, she stared at Kouro for a moment before asking in confusion.
"Hey, why do you have 3 legs?"
Hearing 'Sirin''s question, Kouro for the first time put on a confused expression before looking down.
"Oh. That's just my penis. It's not important." Kouro said calmly.
Since the Key of Blankness was a tight-fitting outfit that exposed the curves of the body thus exposing Kouro's 'Buddy' which was really as big and long as an adult man's hand, the problem was that it was still in a state of sleep...
Hearing Kouro's flat reply, 'Sirin' almost choked.
Damn it! Don't you know how many men will get angry and cry at your words?
Although she wanted to scream, her eyes were somehow always drawn towards Kouro's 'it' as if it had become a magnetic field.
"More importantly-"
"Huh?! Don't think your 'it' is more important than our fight!" 'Sirin' shouted with a flushed face.
"What do you mean? Of course, our fight is more important. What's more important than our fight?" asked Kouro calmly while walking slowly making his third leg also move.
'Sirin's' mouth opened as she wanted to make a meaningless excuse but her eyes unconsciously followed the movement of Kouro's third leg.
'Damn! Don't be fooled! He's using his advantages to catch me off, guard! Don't be fooled! Don't ever be fooled!' thought 'Sirin'.
"Oi, why are you always staring at my bottom? Wait don't tell me you-" asked Kouro looking at 'Sirin' with a strange look.
'Sirin''s face instantly turned red with embarrassment at his question before shouting.
"Kyaa!!! Beast!"
Dozens of giant fire typhoons appeared with purple-black lightning storms and shot towards Kouro.
Facing all of the 'Sirin's' attacks Kouro's face looked calm, the Abyssal Edge in his hand was enveloped in purple-black flames before he swung it vertically.
*Swoosh!*
*BOOM!*
A huge explosion with eye-blinding light filled the sight of the two of them.
Not wasting this opportunity, Kouro instantly appeared in front of 'Sirin' only to find dozens of white spears streaking towards him at high speed.
Kouro cut off all the spears and looked back only to find 'Sirin' pulling something and creating a twister-shaped purple box before launching it at him.
Kouro was unable to dodge the attack and could only watch as the purple box darted into his chest before hitting the purple box until it cracked into pieces.
"What's with this little trick? Why have you become unfocused since you've been staring at me?"
"SHUT UP!" shouted 'Sirin' before creating hundreds of wind slashes that eroded Kouro's body and pushed him away.
She teleported away from Kouro and panted while thinking, 'He's right! I need to calm down and focus... Think of Kouro's weakness, there's no way he can maintain that form forever...That means the only way to defeat him now is to buy time.'
After all, no matter how strong Kouro was, he would definitely get exhausted due to the limited energy unlike herself who had unlimited energy thanks to the 'Will of Honkai'.
Thinking of this, 'Sirin's' expression became confident and haughty again.
"Your defeat is certain at my hands."
Seeing 'Sirin's' haughty expression Kouro's expression turned cold before instantly appearing in front of 'Sirin'.
"Wha-!?" Her premonition of danger immediately stood upright at the sight of Kouro's fist that was about to hit her stomach.
With Kouro's power status reaching 4 digits coupled with the [Kong Angry!] + [Power Strike] ability Kouro's punch was increased by 700%!
'I will die!' thought 'Sirin' with a terrified expression.
*BAM!*
Kouro's crushing blow stuck to 'Sirin's' abdomen as if time had slowed down before 'Sirin's' body slammed backwards at Mach 100 speed with her body torn and twisted.
But in just a few seconds 'Sirin's' body regenerated before returning to its original state, as if activating [Status Recovery].
"Hah... Hah... Hah..." 'Sirin' gasped for air holding her stomach with a terrified expression even breaking out into a cold sweat.
Although she was spared from the state of death, the pain she experienced was still felt.
"Ah... I just remembered that as long as 'God' is with you, you can't die." Kouro said calmly.
"But that's good. Because I won't be satisfied with just killing you..."
Kouro then rapped his hands and said in a deep voice.
"I will definitely smash you into pieces."
Hearing this, for the first time 'Sirin' wanted to curse her 'god'.
...
15 minutes later.
Sirin' didn't know how many times she had been 'killed' by Kouro's blows, the pain she felt always building up to the point she felt numb.
But she could feel it... Kouro's punches were getting slower and slower, he was exhausted!
'I have to buy time even if it's not in my favour...' Kouro thought before hitting 'Sirin's' head until her brain was crushed.
He had to buy enough time for Welt and Ashborn so that they could notify the AE organization, Schicksal, or even World Serpent to prepare for the Herrscher of the End.
It was fortunate that he preferred to enhance his physical abilities rather than Herrscher's authority because he was not very good at using those abilities.
Moreover, he was convinced that 'Sirin' was more proficient in using Herrscher's abilities than he was, hence he chose to increase his physique even though he knew that this power was temporary.
[Fatigue: 75]
Kouro glanced at his slowly increasing fatigue status, he estimated that he had about 5 minutes left before his fatigue status reached 100.
If he could defeat 'Sirin' that would be great, unfortunately... It was impossible because 'Sirin' could not die as long as 'god' was by her side.
Fortunately in terms of recovery... Kouro still had an unused ace.
...
15 minutes later.
Kouro with a body full of wounds and even a hole in his stomach from the white spear was embedded in a cracked box-shaped purple rock.
Around them were countless piles of dust or even debris that bore mute witness to the aftermath of their battle.
"Give up." 'Sirin' said coldly after being 'killed' dozens of times, she had memorized Kouro's fighting moves so she could easily dodge all his attacks.
Kouro vomited blood before spitting it out and responded to 'Sirin's' words, "Huh? A wound like this still isn't enough to make me retreat."
"[Recovery Status]."
Kouro's body miraculously healed instantly even the hole in his stomach had disappeared without any trace, and his stamina, vitality and Honkai energy returned to their peak.
Kouro stood up before stretching his shoulders and said in a deep voice, "I think you're done attacking...It's my turn now... I hope you don't mind."
'Sirin's' expression looked serious at the moment, even so, she remained confident of defeating Kouro since he didn't have the protection of a 'god'.
"Are you stupid? Even if you can recover, you will forever be unable to defeat me with just that power." said 'Sirin'.
Kouro also understood that he couldn't defeat her even if he used [Status Recovery] because of that...
Kouro turned the Abyssal Edge into a greatsword larger than his body and held it with both hands.
"Fool." 'Sirin' said coldly before creating tens of thousands of white spears from all directions of Kouro.
Seeing that, Kouro's purple star pupils shrunk, and the greatsword in his hand had been enveloped in dazzling purple-black flames before he swung his sword forward.
*Swoosh!*
*BOOM!*
This time, Kouro would put everything into a single attack.
Seeing that her spear attack was useless, 'Sirin' threw all the abilities she had to stop Kouro, whether it was fireballs, earth spears, thunderstorms, tornadoes, black balls of gravity and so on.
Kouro didn't dodge the attacks, instead, he ran straight through making all the attacks hit his body.
Kouro could feel the pain from 'Sirin's' attacks that made his expression change but he endured it because the only thing that could change the outcome of the fight was in his hands.
He then jumped up and raised his greatsword vertically letting the purple-black flames burn brightly.
Seeing this, 'Sirin's' expression changed as she felt a premonition of danger from Kouro.
She without holding back instantly combined all her authority abilities into one creating a drill made of space and time so that it was dark in colour and points of light like outer space and stars that finally shot towards Kouro.
*Swoosh!*
"Don't get cocky!" shouted 'Sirin'.
Kouro faced the ultimate attack head-on letting his body be torn to shreds, even both legs had been cut off.
Staring at his greatsword enveloped in purple-black flames, Kouro wanted to grab it only to realize his hand had been cut off before moving his teeth.
Kouro did not give up and he bit the hilt of the greatsword with a determined expression before spinning horizontally and darting towards 'Sirin'.
"HHAHH!!!"
Perhaps because of his vigour, his arms and legs in less than a millisecond instantly grew back like new, and in less than a second he was holding the greatsword with both hands.
'Sirin's' expression changed, she was unable to dodge the absolute attack!
*BOOM!*
A huge explosion like a supernova explosion destroyed everything around it with dazzling light.
'Sirin' with shrunken pupils unblinkingly stared at Kouro's face that was only inches away from hers.
What a pity... Just as Kouro's attack was about to hit her, the Key of Blankness suddenly shattered as it could not withstand the charge of the Herrscher of the End Core thus eliminating Kouro's ability.
But fortunately, at that moment he kept the core fragment in his inventory to prevent it from being taken by 'Sirin'.
"Just... A little more..." muttered Kouro whose body had returned to its original state with empty eyes, so exhausted that he leaned on his greatsword to stand up.
[Fatigue: 99]
Seeing Kouro's exhausted expression, 'Sirin' immediately used telekinesis and pushed away towards a purple box-shaped rock.
Kouro immediately vomited blood and the Abyssal Edge slipped out of his hand.
'Sirin' walked slowly towards Kouro with an annoyed expression, "You lost, Kouro."
Kouro didn't respond to her words, seeing this, 'Sirin' clicked her tongue before kicking him so hard that he fell down.
She then stomped on Kouro's chest several times so hard that it made him spit out blood.
After torturing Kouro for a full 5 minutes, 'Sirin' wiped off her sweat feeling refreshed, she looked at Kouro whose appearance was almost unrecognizable.
If not for his chest still moving up and down weakly, he would have been thought to be dead, 'Sirin' was not allowed to kill Kouro by her 'god', even so, she was not forbidden to torture him.
She then grabbed Kouro by the hair and said to him, "Now, tell me where you hid my core shard?"
Kouro raised his head slowly and looked at her wordlessly only giving her his middle finger.
Seeing this, 'Sirin' with a cold expression directly threw Kouro until he bounced towards a piece of rubble violently.
*BAM!*
"Well... It's fine, if you're not going to tell me, I can ask the others. Hmm... I wonder what expression you'll wear when I destroy the earth." said 'Sirin'.
Kouro's expression visibly changed when he heard this, he dragged his body full of blood closer to 'Sirin'.
Seeing Kouro's reaction, 'Sirin' smiled cruelly before cutting off both of Kouro's hands and feet and even removing his tongue before sealing him into a box-shaped Honkai rock.
Kouro's body was slowly covered by the Honkai box, at the last moment he raised his head and looked at her without saying anything until he was completely sealed.
'Sirin' turned around and glanced at the Abyssal Edge stuck in the ground before sealing it as well.
After that she waved her hand to open the portal, a moment later Bella was seen coming out of the portal limping and a little scuffed.
Bella with a worried expression then knelt down and said in a self-reproachful tone, "My Queen! Forgive me for not being able to carry out my orders, I beg for a punishment!"
"..." 'Sirin' just stared at her silently before glancing at the adult-sized purple box with a thinking expression, she still remembered Kouro's deep gaze.
That gaze gave her a bad feeling.
Although she thought it was just a bluff... After all she sealed away the power and energy Honkai that Kouro possessed, moreover he was also previously in a dying state... But it wouldn't hurt to be more cautious.
"Bella."
"Yes! My Queen." Bella bowed her head in preparation for her punishment.
"Don't worry, I won't punish you because I know the power of the man himself. I called you here to guard this place, more precisely guard the purple box and the katana." 'Sirin' said coldly.
Hearing her words, Bella raised her head and looked at 'Sirin' with a surprised expression
.
"I hope you won't fail again this time."
"Yes! My queen! I will definitely guard this place with all my soul!"
"Good." Said 'Sirin' while glancing at her, she then looked at the purple box where Kouro was sealed for the last time before turning her attention back.
"Earth... I'm coming."
