Chapter 10: Psychopathic Dexterity vs Unbridled Torture

Bang, bang, bang.

A knife bounced around the surrounding cars, ricocheting and moving toward Kuroshi.

Kuroshi paid close attention, looking around while it bounced. Ren watched while holding his sword with a smug look on his face as he placed it on his shoulder. The sword was pitch black and red with futuristic lines going all around it. The knife was about the same, but it glowed with a red aura.

It finally barreled toward Kuroshi's face, and when it was about to strike, he deflected it with the knife he had on hand. It hit the ground, bounced off the side of a car, and then shot right back into Kuroshi's face. He was flabbergasted. "What the hell, what the hell was that?!" He slashed it away again, and then it blasted right back into Ren's hand.

Ren looked at him and grinned. "Did you like my grandiosity? Crazy, ain't it?"

Kuroshi looked at him, puzzled. "What the hell is that?!" He was annoyed, not expecting the knife to react in such crazy ways.

Then Ren started going on about how this part of his powers works. "You know when you think of something that you want to do? There is a certain gap or threshold of what could or could not be plausible or true within reality. Well, that gap for normal people is wide and all-consuming. But what about for me, huh? Well, that gap is smaller. I can bend reality to my will within reason—80% to be exact—for the things that I want to happen whenever I do anything, and that's within reason. Imagine someone wanting to jump over a moving car. He would think he can, and in reality he may just get run over. For me, I can think I can and I get there 80% of the way within reason. So with that knife bouncing everywhere? There was an 80% chance that it could do all that, the way I imagined it. So... are you ready to dance, creepy guy?"

Ren pointed his sword at Kuroshi, anticipating the fight that was about to happen and teasing him in a way.

Kuroshi's blood boiled and he fixed his glasses with his finger. "Man, you think you are something, huh? And yeah, essence that can warp reality—I am so familiar with it, as you previously saw. But is there more to you than that, or am I the only one with a secondary power?"

Kuroshi looked at him, then ran forward and lunged with a kick. Ren was against a car and jumped into the air to dodge the attack. As soon as he jumped, Kuroshi said, "The closing of the iron maiden!" and then there were plasma-looking spikes which smashed into the car, denting it all around.

When Ren started to barrel back downward, he spun and used the momentum to strike Kuroshi with his sword. Kuroshi blocked it with his knife and looked at him keenly. He moved his hand forward and then a plasma-like handcuff attached to Ren's hand. Kuroshi tripped him and somehow attached the handcuff to Ren's leg.

While falling, Ren balanced his entire weight with one hand while Kuroshi continued his assault. Kuroshi was perplexed but aimed to finish this with a decisive strike. He took a step forward and spawned a plasma paddle from his hand, ready to slam directly into Ren's face, and then Ren grinned.

Oh, this guy... I like him.

He pushed himself into the air with just that one hand, no leverage, and Kuroshi missed completely. Then he tossed his knife and it ricocheted around and then came back like a boomerang and cut the handcuffs in half, freeing Ren instantly. While he was free, he started spinning even more, and then when his foot hit the ground, he lunged forward, cartwheeling with his sword aiming it directly at Kuroshi's head.

Kuroshi slipped past the sword sleekly and then went for an uppercut in the smoothest way. Ren put his hand below the blow, then grabbed Kuroshi's hand and sent him flying into the air. But as Kuroshi was flying into the air, Ren took notice of his hand getting a second round of impact. The red aura around him seemed to have suppressed the impact of the second round of the blow.

The being looked at this action, intrigued by all the craziness going on. It wasn't as directly powerful as Maikarui or Kurai's powers, but the bending of reality intrigued him. "Look at how they apply their essence. I can't wait to see what happens next." And then he grabbed a star and started chomping on it.

So what was this interaction exactly between the essence of torture and Ren's grandiosity aura? Well, grandiosity suppresses the reality-bending of the essence of torture, effectively making Ren able to power through what would have pummeled someone else's hand clean off.

"Ha ha ha, feel that, Ren? Want some more?!"

Kuroshi came barreling down with an axe kick which turned into a plasma guillotine. Ren was genuinely scared, not expecting that, and when it came down so rapidly, he decided to meet it head-on with his grandiosity. With his sword in one hand and a knife in the other, he was ready to collide with the plasma blade. The grandiosity within him started to pulsate and then concentrate entirely on his blades. Then he jumped toward Kuroshi and they collided.

SMASH!

You could hear the sword creaking.

And where was Astra during all of this? Still dealing with his wound but in awe at what people with decent essence could do. As crazy as they were and as hurt as he was, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed with himself. Can my self-defense skills even face people like this? What if there are worse threats in the future? He looked down at the ground and started tearing up. Powerless in this type of world, huh? Sniff. Well, looks like I got my work set out for me.

Then he started thinking back. All the training sessions with Miskai's dad, all his small victories so far, and his sights on the future. He thought to himself, Hey, if I handled Katarina, maybe I could handle others. Maybe it might just be up to me.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After the collision, Ren threw his sword and knife and they ricocheted everywhere, homing in on Kuroshi. Kuroshi jumped sideways and wedged himself in the middle of the two weapons while they passed by and slammed into another wall. Then they bounced right back into Kuroshi's face. An iron mask went over his head and then they bounced off and then slammed around and went flying back into Ren's hands.

They looked at each other keenly. What were they going to do next? How was this going to end? What did each of them have up their sleeves?

The being was at the edge of his seat.

Then... "Boss, what are you doing?" said Ayumi.

Astra looked over and saw her and thought, What is she doing here?—happy and confused at the same time. Ren looked over at her, and Kuroshi as well. Kuroshi decided that it was time to go, so he ran to her side and the battle was over. Astra looked at her and she looked at him in a shy but puzzled way—he was hurt. And then in a swift moment, she ran off with Kuroshi.

Ren looked at Astra and thought, How do you know that chick, huh, rival?

Astra looked at Ren and thought, How did this meathead decide I'm his rival?

In the battle between the psychopath and the torturer, it seemed to have been a draw.

The being sighed. "Oh man, and it was just getting good."