Chapter XXIX: Desperate Measures

 Tymon was in trouble. He was struggling to get anywhere with these two.

 He was already using Black Fists, where he coats his fists in his spirit energy plus his Last Breath cintracy. It wasn't as effective as he hoped it'd be since he was too weak to break through their spirit enhancement.

 It also didn't help that he wasn't fast enough to land many hits, and the hits he made lacked power behind them.

 However, he was starting to grasp the nature of Trevor and Junichiro's cintracies.

 Trevor could cause explosions by creating spheres of condensed spirit energy that he could shoot at Tymon. And it seemed like the element of his spirit energy was smoke.

 If he understood correctly, that would be two cintracies, but Trevor only had one ring around his wrists. Did that mean he had a mystic cintracy?

 Junichiro's spirit energy didn't appear to have an element; it was just dark violet and black. But his cintracy seemed to allow him to create objects from his spirit energy. So far, Tymon has had to dodge floating purple blades and scattered floor traps meant to impale him.

 He was thankful they were holding back to keep damage to a minimum.

 Tymon looked at Trevor, who pointed two fingers like a gun at him.

 "Smoke Trail," he called out as a thin stream of smoke moved toward Tymon.

 Tymon dodged it, but it quickly adjusted itself to pursue him. Tymon had flipped and rolled over the area, trying to escape it, so by the time it caught him, the room looked like it was covered in a gray web.

 To Tymon's surprise, nothing happened as the smoke surrounded him. He looked over to Trevor, whose fingertips were now glowing orange.

  Shit, Tymon thought as Trevor uttered, "Boom."

 Suddenly, the energy from his fingers began tracking down the stream of smoke at lightning speeds, reaching Tymon before he knew it. The moment the energy reached Tymon, he winced as he was engulfed in a controlled explosion.

 Somehow, Tymon was still standing after the explosion. Once Trevor commanded the smoke to clear, Tymon stood there, inspecting himself in confusion.

 Trevor looked just as confused as he watched in disbelief.

 "Is it just me, or is he not taking damage from my blasts," he said to Junichiro.

 Junichiro studied Tymon silently before responding.

 "Try again," he told Trevor.

 "All right," Trevor stated as he rolled his shoulders.

 In a burst of speed, he appeared in front of Tymon and slammed a ball of energy the size of a melon into Tymon's stomach.

 The explosion ejected Tymon into the wall many feet behind him, but Tymon still hadn't felt it. As Tymon prepared to get back to his feet still unscathed, Junichiro reached for something on his waist as he rushed toward Tymon.

 When he appeared a few feet before Tymon, he pointed a grayish-black gun with dark violet and black energy coming from its barrel at Tymon.

 Before Tymon could react, Junichiro pulled the trigger, sending a bullet made of spirit energy spiraling toward Tymon's head.

 Due to a klevonian possessing an advanced perception, Tymon and the others could perceive the bullet as it came toward him.

 Tymon tried to move, but his body wasn't fast enough to react as he wanted it to.

 Not yet, Tymon found himself pleading.

 He wasn't going to accept dying yet. Not before he could save the others.

 The bullet was now less than an inch away from him. As he and the others continued to sense it, to everyone's astonishment, the bullet instantly dissipated as it touched his skin.

 Everyone's perception resumed normally as they stared at Tymon, probably questioning what had happened.

 "What's going on...." Junichiro voiced aloud.

 "Look at his wrist," Verin said, motioning toward Tymon. "He has an extra line now. He only had four last time."

 Everyone eyed Tymon's wrist with suspicion.

 "So, you somehow got another cintracy since dying; is that why their powers aren't working on you?" Avarice in curiosity. "What is it?"

 "He seems as clueless as us," Wren remarked.

 "Verin..." Avarice commanded.

 "I've already tried. Most of our abilities don't affect him," she stated. She then reached her hand toward Tymon.

 Suddenly his body felt extremely heavy, similar to what he felt the night he died. Tymon struggled to resist the weight and collapsed to the floor as the gravity around him was too intense to move in.

 "But it seems he's vulnerable to Wren and my elemental abilities," she added after displaying.

 Avarice watched Tymon silently, letting what Verin said sink in.

 "You'll forever be a pain in my ass," he grumbled before giving his next order. "Don't use your abilities! Use physical attacks."

 "Understood," Junichiro replied. He put away his gun and made the blades floating in the air disappear.

 The next moments were of a brutal one-sided battle as Tymon was mercilessly beaten by Junichiro and Trevor. Any time he tried to escape one, the other would cut him off. Anytime he attacked them, they'd outmaneuver him and counter with an even stronger attack. It came to the point where all Tymon could do was hold his guard as their attacks sent him flying.

 He was now beaten and covered in his blood as he barely stood before them.

 Then, Junichiro pulled out his actual blade.

 Tymon watched as Junichiro's spirit energy wrapped itself around the blade, giving it a purple and black aura as Junichiro swung it through the air a few times.

 Tymon knew Junichiro was about to come at him, so he used spirit enhancement to reinforce his arms to block Junichiro's sword. But when Junichiro's blade connected with Tymon, it cut straight through his spirit energy and sliced his arms, sending blood trickling down to his elbow and onto the floor.

 Tymon fell to his knees as he looked at his bleeding arms in confusion. He looked up and focused on the sword, sensing the same odd energy he could sense from his cloak.

 "That cindium's crazy, huh?" Trevor spoke. "When used right, it'll cut through weak energy like butter. Even learned it's hard enough to cut through our thick skin."

 Tymon groaned.

 Trevor looked at Tymon in his pitiful state and then sighed heavily.

 "This sucks," he said. "Kid, why don't you enter your hybrid form? At this point, this feels more like bullying."

 "Do not let him transform; otherwise, his powers will be too much for you to handle," Avarice warned them.

 "Thought you said we'd be fine so long as we don't fight alone," Trevor remarked.

 "Normally, but not during the first transformation. Those are always the wildest. We also just found out your abilities don't work on him," Avarice replied.

 Tymon started chuckling.

 "What's so funny," Junichiro asked with his blade pointed at Tymon.

 "I think I've figured out why you want me dead so bad," Tymon said after spitting up blood. "You've already taken whatever power you wanted from me, so you don't have a reason to keep me alive. In fact, you prefer me dead. Everyone already knows what happens when I'm not around, and you were able to capitalize off it. Most of your force is proof of that. Not to mention, with me out of the way, none of you would have to worry about dying when you go after the others. They wouldn't die either, but I'm sure you've planned for that. And since we can't reincarnate unless we die after 1,000 years old, you know I won't return. After I die, your only worry would be controlling the population."

 There was dead silence after Tymon finished speaking.

 "Interesting theory," Avarice said, smiling in amusement.

 "Hey, Pops, he's kind of smart," Trevor said condescendingly as he stood beside Junichiro.

 Trevor turned his attention back to Tymon.

 "Kid, Pops haven't even explained the full plan to us, but we've come to the same conclusion. The only problem with that theory is why'd we still have to build you a—Ow!"

 "You talk too much," Junichiro stated as he knocked Trevor on the head.

 "Never mind the plan," Avarice inserted. "Tymon, you will die today. I bet you can sense it, can't you? Just like last time."

 Tymon glared at Avarice in hatred, baring his bloodied teeth at him—the effort he put into doing even that made him feel woozy, and his vision started going out.

 "You know, you could become stronger if you feed off humans," he heard Avarice say as he fell forward, and his vision went dark.

 He lay there, confused by what Avarice meant. Then, he remembered his sensation after killing the guy in the alley.

 Tymon wished he'd known that earlier, but that wouldn't help now. Now, he'd have to rely on the untamed power within him. As much as he hated to do it with Alissia around, he knew his only choice was to use his hybrid form. It was a risk, but his back was against the wall.

 Tymon sensed deep within him as he felt for the reservoir of energy locked away. Once he found it, the mass of energy reacted to his presence, sending out a wave of immense power. Tymon could feel its strong desire to run rampant, to kill.

 No going back now, Tymon thought as his senses approached the dark mass.

 Concentrating, he focused on channeling the power through his ascension mark. It began to burn as more and more of the energy started to exit from his mark. As this continued, he struggled to reign it in until he finally lost control as he felt his mind abruptly be taken over by its violent nature, becoming focused on one singular thought: death.