481 Second Transformation!
Kai let the Samurai hold himself up.
"I can't believe it!" Jack said, his eyes opened wide in shock and full of concern. "You did it! God!"
Kai's left hand was around Jack's shoulders. Night Lord had hacked off his right hand. Sounga was hovering by his side, his cut right hand's fingers still gripping its hilt, bleeding at the stump.
Behind him, Cersei walked, her eyes planted on Kai in sheer disbelief; in pure, raw awe.
Selene slithered on the rocky pasture near his feet, mumbling and hissing to herself like a lunatic.
Kai let Jack's words sink in, ignoring his broken body. It was a mess.
Yes. He somehow recalled the moment. Yes, he had done it.
But what of it?
The injuries he had sustained were not only physical but also magical. Even the combined power of Island X wouldn't be able to heal him. Such was the hideousness of his wounds.
This was the bane of becoming an existence at the Peak of Absolute Power. Things that worked wonders in the past became useless.
Could he buy another Life Halt Capsule and try something new in the next 10 years?
This question he let sink deeper than Jack's words as his teacher dragged him toward the Hut, slowly, his dark eyes flashing on Kai's face; his breath fading.
The answer was as sharp as Murasame's blade.
He could.
But what of it?
There comes a point in a man's life when he must come to terms with the Truth.
For Kai, that point had already come and gone. It had come when he had created the 100th Crystal. His Fate had been set in stone since then, like words etched by a chisel on a rough rock.
Those words read — His Potential had ended. No more. Come 10 years, 100 years, or 1000 years; he wouldn't take another step.
Beautiful, indeed, this Peak of Absolute Power was. But, it seemed, there were more banes than boons hidden in it.
Island X held no more opportunities for him. Jack had already taught him all he could; whatever he could. Ad Infinitum was his greatest legacy, which he had never expected Kai to master.
And Kai had done exactly that.
But what of it?
"Take…" Kai choked. Behind him, Cersei's entire existence trembled. Selene's hisses paused as if she had just realized where she was, with whom, and what she was losing, besides her senses. "Take… me to… Tea Room."
"Now!" Jack exclaimed. "Have you gone mad, old friend? Take rest, buy your capsule, and return. You will be alright." He licked his lips, ashamed at lying to his own student.
Injuries might get healed without leaving scars. But it wasn't the injuries that troubled them.
Kai's Vitality had run out. And like Tiredness, the Systems didn't have any Stays related to it.
There was a way to stretch this process of dying, this horrible feeling of not knowing if there was a Peak higher than where he was standing. A sure way.
The Troopers, Commanders, 5 Generals, and 2 Supreme Generals were still alive. Kai hadn't killed them. He could go, kill some every 10 years, come back here to buy the Life Halt Capsule, and return, repeating this process like a maniac who had nothing better to do, and who was afraid of dying.
He could do it.
But what of it?
"To… the Tea Room," Kai insisted, forcing out a smile. If his lips arched up or not, he didn't care.
"You!" Jack almost cursed, closing his eyes, his feet already shifting in that direction. "Sigh! What happened, Kai? How did you…"
It's impossible! Jack had thundered some 500 years back, the loudest ever since Kai's arrival at the Samurai's Hut. You blind fool! Just consume the Blue Spider Lily and use its inherent Ability to divide your consciousness. Better to live a life of a rat, than whatever pointless thing you are attempting now.
Kai didn't mind leaving a life of a rat. What he did mind, though, was to bend his knees to the Systems.
The Systems had brought him to a point where he must use the Blue Spider Lily if he expected to survive. It was as if they wanted him to continue this game for tens of thousands of years, reaching nowhere.
Well, no, thank you!
Kai had already become a personification of Calm, then.
100 Crystals, at least. That was the number Jack had told him he would need if he were to resist the Legilimency of the Supreme General and Generals combined. But that only meant resisting. No retaliation. He would get killed by others during this, Jack had assured. No doubt.
What to do, then?
There was a way. A classic one.
Defend and Attack, simultaneously. Turn the attackers into your Pawns. Let them slaughter each other while you enjoy the show.
Have you gone mad?! Jack had bellowed. 100 Crystals means doing 100 tasks at once. To do what you claim, you must parasitize the target's subconscious with an empty Crystal, and then manipulate this Crystal to invade the conscious of the target's mind, acting as if it was a part of his/her Mind Structure.
But you must keep a thread of your consciousness attached to this empty Crystal. And it will become difficult with the rise in strength of the target. Theoretically, you can defend and attack, playing this battle of minds. The question remains, though, my student. What about your body?
Kai had been well aware of Jack's concerns.
First, no matter how much he had trained in these over thousands of years, his body wasn't just strong enough to bear the pressure of splitting his mind over 100 times. If he could do so, in the first place. That was a big if to deal with.
But he had done it.
Second, even if he brought his physical strength up enough to handle this absurd pressure, the enemy would kill him in no time.
No matter how strong he would become, these were Supreme Generals who he must fight against. They were no joke. To even think against them, standing still, doing nothing, was the height of stupidity.
For 200 years, Kai had ruminated, meditated, and fumbled upon a plausible solution for this problem.
Only then had a path disclosed itself to him.
Physical Strength alone wasn't the solution. Mental Strength alone wasn't the solution, either.
Then what about is a combination of the two? But an ordinary summing of these two fields won't work, Kai knew, and Jack had agreed with him. He must use a primer of some sort to hold these two together. To accomplish all without dying at one strike.
And that primer was Selfless Breathing.
Kai had been already closing up in attaining Constant Breathing by then. If he could combine Occlumency, Legilimency, and the Blood Coating resulting from his Constant Breathing, then Kai could do all this, and much more.
If could do this, then he would become invincible on Island X.
The only issue was, Selfless Breathing had never been about just Ability, Skill, or Training. It resulted from Comprehension, Understanding, and Epiphanies.
One time Kai had already defied logic in the Reality Marble of his when he had comprehended the True Essence of Limitless Blood Firmament - the Parselscript. But he had the assistance of his Sword Spirit, then. There was no one to help him here, though.
When Kai had arrived at Cloudbreak Spire, even then he hadn't found a way.
It was only during the battle, on the brink of total annihilation, had he comprehended the way to combine the three concepts.
The result?
Second Transformation.
In that battle, when Kai had come with the will to do or die, he finally transformed his Self the second time.
He must not resist. He must not think. He must not take joy in this killing. Just survive.
This was the Second Transformation; a suicidal one. There was no distinction between Occlumency, Legilimency, and Constant Breathing in this Transformation.
These three were the same. And he had only one blind chance to attempt it.
If he succeeded, then he would come out as the winner.
If he didn't, then he would die a bitter death.
Shockingly, he had done it at the very last moment.
… But what of it?
************
AN: You can access up to 519th chapter on Pat-reon. Or you can show your support at my Ko-Fi account. Links are in Synopsis.
Alright. I will start working on new chapters of ff by the end of this week. And I really hope that the readers who can show their support by becoming Patrons will do so, given they are still interested in the novel, of course. If you have some suggestion related to this, you can do so in the comments.
Thank you and Enjoy!!!
