Episode 18: Loosened Screws

The Builder’s viewing box exploded open and a young man burst free of the box and crashed into the current underground champion. Arson was seen on live television for the first time in that moment, broadcast to potentially billions of viewers. His eyes a dark crimson red that seemed to spin with galaxies within each pupil.

For The Demon, he’d done what any strong Cultivator would do against a true threat. To Arson, the Demon had just killed the one person who had accepted him without cost or requirement. Only unconditional friendship had been their bond.

When they tore through the first wall of the night club, Arson had tears in his eyes. By the second wall his eyes blazed so brightly that his tears were sucked into the spiral like suns his eyes created.

Punches and kicks were sent back and forward at speeds imperceivable to the natural eye. Most of Arson’s blows missed or were countered by the underground arena champion, and every blow sent back toward the youth was practically a killing blow.

Regardless, Arson pushed forward. Continued to chase his foe, even as his skin purpled from the weight of the punches that bashed against his skin and kicks that literally cut him open. He ignored it all and let his regeneration keep him upright.

The intensity of what he felt empowered him passed his limits and beyond. His rage manifested into a physical mana lightning that crackled on the surface of his skin from the center of his chest and rippled out down his limbs.

In this state his, regeneration was pushed to the point that instead of burning up instantly as Arson should have in that moment, he started to invoke the minor properties of a sun within his aura.

“Who do you think you are, brat?” tried The Demon. Arson didn’t hear the words as he chased down the arena champion.

At first, it seemed as if The Demon would easily overcome the small child who attempted to run him down, but the more they fought, the more matters changed.

The Demon had a longer reach that he originally used to his advantage. A combination of punches and kicks broke Arson’s bones on contact, and his rage deepened, which only fueled his power.

Arson’s instincts flared after he was struck by the arena champion many more times. Between the damage his body rapidly worked to fix, his rage-addled state, and the power he let flow free of his chest, Arson felt nothing but elation as he struck back at his enemy.

Knuckle punches from his small fists easily penetrated The Demon’s own aura, and caused the older youth’s limbs to go numb with each targeted pressure point. A spin kick to the head caused The Demon’s eyes to go wide when he realized the kid in front of him almost managed to knock him off his feet.

The arena champion realized he was in trouble a moment too late. Arson began to move so quickly that The Demon couldn’t track his movements anymore. Another roundhouse kick was barely dodged as The Demon leaned back to avoid it, which made the follow-up uppercut to the gut hurt that much more.

The Demon buckled forward and coughed as bile from his stomach jumped into his throat and he nearly puked, but Arson then grabbed him by the face. The Demon felt pure dread in that moment when

Arson pulled him down to look him in the eyes and spoke softly. “I will take everything from you. I will laugh as you watch those you love burn. I will end you.”

The Demon tried to speak, he tried to say anything to stop what he knew was to come from the little monster in front of him. He had nothing left to wait for in this life other than death’s imminent embrace.

Arson dragged The Demon by his face. Conductive waters wrapped around The Demon’s head. Arson’s foe attempted to strike him, but it only made things worse.

He’d been changed by constant training over the past days. At night, he was battered around by unnatural forces, and during the day his own mother seemed far more formidable than anything he could encounter after sundown.

Arson was now meant to battle with a group of individuals not seen as normal Cultivators. The Demon did not meet that pedigree in the slightest. Which was now apparent as he was slugged repeatedly in the body, and slammed by his skull.

Walls, seats, tables—anything Arson could use to cause his opponent pain was used. For the briefest moment, The Demon slipped free of Arson’s grasp, but he didn’t make it far. By the time The Demon could take a breath, Arson had grabbed him by the ankle. From Arson’s gut and through his throat came a roar like rolling thunder. The Demon was thrown through another wall and Arson continued to erase The Demon’s every effort to escape.

When the blonde-haired boy dared to fight back, Arson blocked his punches with his own fist and crippled his enemy’s digits with each attempt.

Most kicks were countered outright with combos centered around his torso and head. The Demon only seemed to slow as his increased attempts to strike Arson failed.

Arson seemed to be unnaturally anchored. A density that came with a near immovable weight making it impossible for even The Demon to push him telekinetically.

“What the sparks kind of monster are you?!” Said The Demon, after a wave of force was walked through as easily as air. Arson truly hadn’t noticed The Demon’s attempts to attack him. He only felt rage.

Arson shot conductive water orbs in the Demon’s path each time the young man tried to turn and run. The Demon felt hope in the situation’s momentary dwindling, especially after he realized Arson had been timing the explosions in a way that forced the arena champion back in his general direction.

The Demon tried to use his telekinesis at its maximum output to swat away some of the conductive water orbs, and it worked.

At first.

Arson then shot orbs the size of watermelons from both hands, and The Demon gave up hope after being bounced between explosions that guided him back toward Arson. Arson didn’t even let the young man hit the ground before he tried to rip his own arm through the Demon’s chest.

The arena champion was saved by a random wave of energy that rippled out from the distance and stopped the punch cold. Arson merely roared as he slammed his fist through the wall of light and sent the arena champion up through the ceiling into the second floor of the nightclub.

He hadn’t even realized that someone had stepped in to cease his assault, and had instead broken through the resistance almost as if there were none. Onlookers even cheered at the sight of Arson as the youth jumped through the hole in the ceiling as if he took a step up a single stair.

He’d never been so angry. He’d never hurt so badly. He hadn’t known Troy long, but he was closer to no one left alive. And until The Demon knew his pain, Arson’s wrath would not remain untamed.

He tried to focus, but the image of Troy wouldn’t leave his mind. For the briefest moment he wanted to stop and break down, overcome with emotions as he was, but his chest was filled with a storm that refused to be tamped down.

Arson was entirely unaware of his surroundings. His group had never seen him this angry, and Jade had gotten to Troy before anyone else could, with a promise to the Builders to save her if possible. So they all continued with the plan for the night as if nothing was wrong. As if one of them hadn’t just been killed by a predator.

They all worked, and worried, but were partially shocked at their young leader’s actions. They all hoped that they wouldn’t lose Troy this way, and were even more fearful at what Arson would be like without Troy to keep him level-headed.

“And finally we have a roasted phoenix drizzled with ambrosia honey and a side of purity grain rice as a bed,” said Rob to Almarine. He’ed almost put the plate on Almarine’s table but Arson broke through the wall, smashed the underground champion through the orphan mother’s table, then managed to spartan kick The Demon out of the room.

A massive hole was left where the wall had been, and the orphan mother was forced to watch the fight temporarily through the hole, rather than the screen Arson had just smashed the underground arena champion through.

Almarine opened her mouth to try and say something to Arson, but had a feeling she’d be wasting her time. She’d seen him angry to this degree once prior, and the boy almost burned down an entire wing of the orphanage to stage his firework-fueled revenge back then. She could only imagine what he would do now with the power of the sun rushing through his veins.

Almarine didn’t mind the commotion. She enjoyed the view similar to the most expensive viewing boxes above her. The richest members of local society got to enjoy and experience the action up close and without true barriers, and in that moment, so did Almarine.

Rob slid a nearby table over and two other orphans rushed into the room beside Xani and Jasmine. One orphan used earthen mana to reconstruct the stone walls of the nightclub, and the other used a small box to pick up all the debris of the table like a vacuum. Before Almarine could comment on the device that piqued her interest, the group spoke.

“He’s going to bring down the nightclub at this rate. My people weren’t prepared for this at all. We’re lucky I even brought people,” said Xani in a panic.

“Yeah, the boss is pissed. Should we try and stop him?” asked Jasmine. The group looked at her, bewildered, and Almarine chuckled.

“He’s a bit out of your weight class, girlie. He may even be a prodigy among prodigies at this point,” said the woman with a huge smile on her face.

“And I thought you loved all of us equally,” said Khalif as he ran into the room. He and two others at his flank jumped out the second hole Arson had created in the room, a moment before Xani’s help closed the hole and the wall display once more showed Arson’s rampage below.

“Served,” said Rob as he sat the plate on Almarine’s table. Lane rushed into the doorway panting heavily. Her cameras were nowhere to be seen, and she seemed to be exhausted in her attempt to keep up with the action.

“Looks like I’m joining those training sessions with the running and stuff,” said Lane.

“Where’s your cloud thing you rode on?” asked Jasmine.

“Confiscated,” said Lane with a wheeze. She pointed as if in question of which way she should go and they all nodded as they also followed the devastation that Arson’s fury resulted in.

Almarine looked back at her food then the group of children as they left the room and smiled even deeper.

“It has begun again,” said Almarine as she blew out a cloud of blue mana into the room and began to eat. Once more enthralled as she watched the now-fixed wall that displayed the carnage around her.

“So…” Lane tried to collect herself before she spoke into the camera.

“This is what happens when the Builders, AKA my new guild, has any of its members disrespected,” said Lane. The wall behind her erupted and she was forced to duck as bricks rained down around her. The kitchen’s walk-in freezer dislodged from the wall and slid into the hall near to her.

“Sovereign—the new scion I’ve been talking about—hired me, and to be honest at first,” said Lane with a deep look into the camera. “I had my doubts.”

The freezer was punctured by the body of the underground champion, and a roar escaped from its interior. All that Lane’s cameras caught at first were two eyes that spun with spiraled suns at their centers. This moment alone would be watched more than anything in their city for the next season.

Arson let loose two beams of light from his eyes so bright and powerful that they cleaved an immense hole through the nightclub and into the pitch-black city sky above. The animalistic roar that accompanied the sun beams only further added to the intensity of the situation.

Arson had missed The Demon, but also filled the young man with fear. The underground champion now not only knew he could be killed in fair combat, but it could be accomplished easily and at any moment by his opponent. With this epiphany, he begun to panic further.

“She was just some street trash, kid!” said The Demon as he tried to throw things into Arson’s path to slow him down. Yet, Arson merely smashed through walls as they were telekinetically uprooted and hurled at him, he vaulted tables, and punched a steel support beam in half after it was flung in his direction.

“You don’t have to do this. I can pay you everything, anything, whatever you want, kid. I promise. Just stop!” Arson had no intention of doing what he was asked to. The Demon would regret what he did to Troy and Arson wouldn’t stop until he did.

Arson finally caught The Demon when he started to flee. The young man even turned his back to Arson as he ran in terror. Only to be grabbed by the back of the neck. The Demon felt what it was like to be slammed into the ground, only Arson broke through the ceiling and slammed him further into the arena below.

The panicked audience members had, at one point, attempted to leave during the original chaos, but as the Builders followed their boss and catered to the needs of the guests, they’d returned to their seats.

Arson turned the bloody young man toward himself and roared in his face. He once again grabbed The Demon by the front of his head and summoned conductive waters. At first the Demon managed to keep water from his lungs with the use of his abilities. Without them, he’d have lost to Arson’s assault long ago, and to Troy’s onslaught even sooner.

The barrier that covered his body broke under the chaotic orb around his head and The Demon thrashed. He desperately tried to break free of Arson’s small hand but couldn’t. All fight left The Demon as Arson punched him for every attempt to escape.

“Arson, stop this. You have done enough,” said Jade. Arson didn’t even look at his mother, but his response shook the air around them all.

“He will die here.”

“No one needs to die here, Arson,” said Troy in a weak voice behind him. Arson turned back to look at the voice in disbelief.

The sight of Troy standing upright took his breath away.

She was still covered in blood and seemed unsteady on her feet, but there was nothing but perfect skin underneath the ripped cloth of her shirt.

“Let him go, Arson,” said Troy softly. Arson looked at The Demon as his eyes pleaded with his tormentor. Arson felt no remorse and his eyes brightened as the stars within spun faster.

“Please. This is my foe to overcome, buddy. Don’t take that from me,” said Troy. He looked at her smile in that moment and tossed The Demon aside. The bubble of water around his head popped as Arson’s eyes returned to normal.

Lane ran up to the group as the rest of the Builders settled around Arson. The girl looked between them all with a smile and nodded to herself. After what she’d just witnessed the girl knew the group would be a lot to handle, but she’d decided to join the Builders.

“I’m sorry guys, I lost it there for a second,” said Arson. His mother laughed, and Arson frowned when the woman wiped away tears of laughter from her face.

“What? Don’t look at me like that. It’s just the Fury Blood in your veins. You will eventually get used to it, and no, before you even ask, we should talk about this later. You have more pressing matters to deal with,” said Jade with a look around.

“Do you think Mr Kim is going to be mad?” asked Arson with a look at his mother. She was the only one there who’d met the Keeper who owned the ManaWell, and Arson worried over the backlash he and his group may receive from the owner of the destroyed building.

“Probably, he’s a bit of a spark plug, not one I tend to communicate easily with. I think he’s still mad I bought my rights to the dump back from his family,” admitted Jade with a sigh. Arson took a deep breath as he was filled with questions, he knew he wouldn’t easily be answered.

He took in the damage and observed his guild doing their best to keep the building stable. They’d managed to keep the exterior strong, but the inside was destroyed.

The guests left inside continued eating and socialized as if what had happened was an everyday occurrence. Even though they’d destroyed the nightclub, The Builders of Godhood had actually reaped quite a large yield from the event.

Maybe enough to buy the place?

If it wasn’t for the Builders, the room would resemble an empty warehouse used for raves. Arson looked at his guild, then The Demon as the young man tried to crawl away and shook his head before he took in the gazes of his family.

“How much you think this is going to cost me?”