She is mine!!! - The explosion of Haki

Reminder: 'xyz' - thoughts, ~xyz~ memories

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The newly arrived obstruction was a colossal cyborg dinosaur beast, over 30 ft tall, and its giant revolver was pointed at Kai.

With a bang, it fired 3 shadowy bursts.

There was a time when Kai had looked at red meteors, wondering about their absurdness. There was a time when he had wondered, what it would be like have such a power of his own.

There was a time when he had asked himself, what would it be like facing such an attack?

If he didn't do something, then he would soon know the answer.

With the power that was infinitely nearer to the 8th floor, these black meteors felt like heralds of doom.

Kai had never been so sure of death. Not when he could see it coming at him, spinning round and round.

To left… To left… Move to the left… Go there and you will survive…

Instincts were roaring in Kai's mind. Thoughts followed those Instincts, sending electrical signals to his muscles.

Not fast enough.

He was just not fast enough.

He knew what to do, and how to survive, but even with 32 Agility, his body refused to move.

"Murasame!" Kai roared and the cursed sword blurred, slashing at none but her master.

Strength, Stamina, Perception, and… Agility.

The Little War Horn added 5 Points to each, and the still world stagnated even more in Kai's eyes.

The first of those shadow bullets had already come close enough to Kai to make him feel hot through the Iron Man Mark V armor.

To the left…

Kai's body blurred as if the entire world had shifted to the right.

The shadow bullet passed by inches away from his helmet, and it shattered, metallic pieces sparking, falling off the armor.

The second and third bullets also arrived, and the world shifted once more in Kai's eyes with another thought.

They couldn't even scratch him this time.

BOOM!

A black mushroom cloud erupted behind Kai, and it was also then his long hair fell out of the armor, the entire world gawking at the sight.

His hair had lengthened, becoming redder than red. The white sclera of his eyes had become black, and his hazel pupils had gained a dark, bloody color. All over Golduck-Kai's blue face, one could see cursed runic marks running up and down.

There was no humanity about this person.

Kai Stormborn was a Demon to the core.

The mind jewel on his forehead flashed, and Kai blurred. At the same time, the colossal Shadow Digimon blurred as well.

Both appeared in the middle.

And then Kai rushed past it, the beast's head tumbling down like a piece of a log cut down by a chainsaw.

For the first time, Shadow Lord opened his eyes and gave another look to Kai, and at his demonic appearance. His grip over Cersei's head tightened. "Ahhhh!" she screamed.

"She is mine!" Kai growled, looking at the earring, and sensing the acceleration of shadows on Cersei's body.

That was her last scream, for the shadows had crawled up to her nose now.

Kai felt a tug at his heart. Time… was running out.

It was then that a Shadow Creature appeared in front of Kai that shouldn't have. Not on this battlefield.

This Shadow Creature had a black helmet on its head; a copy of the Supreme-Protector, from the time when he was still alive.

There was no thought, no Instinct.

This wasn't an opponent Kai could take on even with the absurdly piled-up Attribute Points. The Iron Man armor, Little War Horn, and his Instincts had let him take on Shadow Creatures with the strength of 7th-floor Contestants. But that was only because they had almost no intelligence. Kai was their natural enemy, especially with his battle experience.

Yet, this Shadow Creature had the true strength of an 8th-floor Contestant.

And everything failed against raw power, eventually.

Contestant Nexus' copy flicked his hands, and a miniature world-ending hurricane materialized in front of Kai.

The hurricane slammed right into his chest.

BANG!

Kai became the red meteor he had so admired and struck the earth with such a bang that everything exploded around the impact.

~Heh! Weak!~

'Whose voice is it?' Kai asked himself, his mind going blank. 'Who is calling me weak?'

~You know why you are weak, don't you? Power… You lack true Power, Demon!~

'I lack Power…'

~Do you know your mother begged me to not kill you? Do you know why? Heh! She knew, she knew how weak you were. Your own mother… pitied you.~

'She pitied me…'

~One with Beast? So what? You lack Power, Kai Stormborn. You will never have it.~

'I will never…'

BOOM!

"… let someone snatch my POWER! AHHHHHH!"

Kai's figure floated up, shaking and trembling. His long, red hair swayed in the black wind, and the cursed marks in his eyes fluctuated like ripples in water.

But it was the Blood Flames around him that experienced the change. Yes. He was weak, Kai realized. But this weakness wasn't because of his Attribute Points… It was because of his body. If his body had been stronger, he could have squeezed out more power in the 30 minutes of Selfless Breathing.

He could… be more powerful.

Kai's flesh dried up, and the skin on his face got stuck to the bones as if there was no flesh underneath it, too. His entire body shook, squeezing the last drop of power, and eating away his flesh.

Drip! Drip!

The ethereal blood flames gained substance, becoming liquid, and rained down on Kai himself. A red color fell upon his swords and they looked like blood swords, power rippling along their blades.

Kai's entire body became a mummy as he pushed his limits to the extreme. And beyond.

Then one more transformation occurred.

The blue of his skin became black, and his tail vanished. A tattered black cloak manifested around him, becoming one with the Iron Man armor. A chilly breath melted within the blood flames.

The evilest and vilest creature known across the Multiverse had presented itself to this world.

Up in the air, Red Sun had gone silent. His very heart was shuddering since his eyes had fallen upon Kai's transformation after using Little War Horn. That existence had shown him an image. That image… was exactly like that of Kai, with red hair and red pupils.

The Five-crowned Prince!

Moraine threw herself at Black Wasp again, her left hand missing. Her eyes stared at Dementor-Kai, a horrifying… hideous… heaven-defying guess surfacing in her heart.

3 heads and 6 arms materialized on his body, space shattering under his feet. It was then Dementor-Kai's demonic eyes landed on the Supreme-Protector's body.

In the next moment, he appeared behind it.

And then he continued shooting up, heading toward Shadow Lord.

Behind him, Contestant Nexus's copy fell apart, sliced into hundreds of pieces.

First Transformation — Three-headed Vritra!!!

Red Sun wasn't someone who lost the sense of time mid-fight. However, it did happen. His heart just couldn't take the realization. And with this, another fact appeared in his mind. He had been wondering how the kid was just dodging and slaughtering the Shadow Creatures all over. At that time, he had guessed it as a hidden Skill of Iron Armor, added later by some means.

Now, however, he knew what it was. Contestant Shadow Origin had told him about doing those things to him, forcing him to swear an oath.

It was… Observation Haki!

Red Sun and his Digimon, RizeGreymon, were fighting his own Copy and the two other Shadow Digimon. The moment his heart shook, creating a gap between his onslaught, the colossal Shadow copy of Red Sun disappeared.

Kai was just 100 meters away from Cersei; from the earring; from the Book. From his Power.

He could see Shadow Lord's indifferent gaze, and the world's disdain.

Kai cared for nothing. He just needed the Book back. It was his. It must be returned to him.

It was then Red Sun's copy blurred into existence between him and Cersei, the shadow crawling over her body blinding her eyes; her gaze never leaving Kai's scabbed and dead face.

A massive revolver of dozens of feet long barrel appeared in Red Sun's copy's hand, the barrel's tip landing in front of Kai.

And the Shadow Creature fired as it was the most natural act.

BANG!!!

The wind blew, rain fell, Robin roared, and Moraine's sword beheaded Black Wasp, her heart shattering as it looked at the scene.

Almost as if the space had been torn apart, Kai's entire body below the waist disappeared. It was as if someone had erased it.

Red Sun appeared near his copy's head and fired his revolver, forcing it to hold back from firing another shot.

But… was another shot needed?

Everything under his waist had gone; erased by a single shot. Kai's upper body fell, and Murasame fell along with him.

Afro's Tachi couldn't be seen anywhere.

-Master!- Selene's hisses tore through the space. Over half of her body was missing, and all her eyes were bleeding.

With a thud, Kai fell to the ground, and the minor Shadow Creatures lunged at his broken figure.

From above, Red Sun's copy fought through Robin and RizeGreymon, obviously coming at Kai to finish him.

Shadow Lord seemed to have labeled him as a greater danger.

From another side, the remaining two Shadow Digimon also flew toward Kai, aiming the muzzles of their shadow revolvers at him.

Who could save him now?

Red had replaced everything for Kai. He couldn't see anything. He didn't know in what state he was, either.

There was only one thing on his mind.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was his. And it must be returned to him.

Dementor-Kai's remaining body stirred under the stunned gazes, as the Shadow Creatures were just on the verge of tearing and blasting him to pieces.

Levitating up, Kai lifted his face and saw Cersei, the shadows almost covering her entire head. He also saw the sneer dancing on Shadow Lord's lips.

But in his bloody eyes, there was only one reflection that lingered the most.

The earring.

~Did you see it? You saw, didn't you? Did you… see the disgust in your mother's eyes when she died in your arms?~

'Brock…' Kai recognized the voice. 'You… were wrong. No one… No one can take away the thing that belongs to me. Not anymore.'

'That Book is mine…'

"… SHE…" Kai's hoarse voice echoed far and wide as if the entire world had gone silent. He clenched his fist, his entire body trembling with a never known ferocity. "… IS…" Shadow Lord's, Red Sun's, and Moraine's hearts shuddered. "… MINE!!!"

SILENCE.

First, the entire world imploded, all auras gathering at Kai, ethereal ripples of shockwaves converging at one point.

And then, as if Kai had become a world, yellow bolts of lightning exploded out of him, engulfing every corner of the Inheritance Land.

CRACK!!!

Wherever these bolts of lightning slithered, the Shadow Creatures melted apart. Moraine was still looking at this scene, dumbfounded when her eyes rolled back in her head. Cracks covered the bodies of the two Shadow Digimon. The colossal Shadow Creature, Red Sun's copy, shuddered, hairline fissures running down on its head and its dark figure.

Even Red Sun lost his hold over the revolver in his hands, the amber-colored glasses on his face shattering in tiny shards.

The most pathetic was RizeGreymon, for it was a magical beast and it had sensed a primal fear, so vast that it scared him back to the Beast Ball.

Shadow Lord stood up, but his hand didn't leave Cersei's head.

It was then it happened.

Under the stunned gazes of both Shadow Lord and Red Sun, the entire Inheritance Land gained a bloody hue, as if reality itself was getting replaced by a foreign world.

And then a hiss originated from this new world.

No. At first, it indeed felt like the very wind was speaking. But, if one were to listen closely, they would have felt like it was coming from Kai.

But Kai wasn't speaking, either. So where did this voice come from? None noticed a distinct beat before the voices as if a heart had awakened.

A demonic heart!

It was this heart that was speaking, using the world as its mouth.

— I… am… the… blood… in… my… bones… —

Another explosion occurred from Kai, from his heart, and the bloody hue of the world became corporeal, a demonic cackle echoing to the farthest corners.

— LIMITLESS BLOOD FIRMAMENT! Kekekekekeke!!! —