Many say the mere existence of humans is insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe, but how can one deny the amusement stars must get from watching human lives like theatre?
In the entire universe, we are the lone intelligent life, the most emotional beings and the species with the most potential. How could someone denote humanity's power and intellect for the sole reason of our small size and short time in this universe? The continuity of a community is what expresses its significance. Even if humanity drives itself into extinction, the rest of the world will know that nothing else could kill us. The infinite stamina of hope and vigour to survive natural disasters, wars and adverse conditions would carry us to survival in any and every situation.
Ali slammed his fist into his palm and grinned with indestructible pride. This fight was the exact same as those people who doubted Ali, the large stone demon, Kammu, the demon who called Ali a rip-off. The only difference was now it was Ali beaming with arrogance and underestimating his opponent.
His emotions were all over the place. He hadn't fully taken time to realise his emotions yet. He faced his emotions by coping with violence against others. When he was fixated on feeling the warmth of others' blood on his hands, he could almost forget about Akaza. Yet, this evil coping mechanism only pushed Ali further into sorrow as he not only mourned the loss of Akaza, but also the loss of himself.
Who had he become? He wanted to be Ali. Who had he become?
Ali jumped off the ground and rocketed towards Kaze. Loose dirt jumped in the air as a powerful tremor washed over the ground. Winds swirled around his body to accelerate him even more.
Kaze inhaled deeply and tightened his stance, his eyes remained locked on Ali. Who would've thought he would be using the Motion of the Shadow in such a crucial fight? His life was on the line and he couldn't be prouder using the martial art, first taught to him by his father and then practised by himself every day without fail.
Ali swung the first attack. His arm burst with energy as he aimed his sharp knuckle at Kaze's chin. His fist felt… nothing. There was no impact, he flew past Kaze. Ali dug his fingers into the ground to ease his momentum. As he came to a halt, he saw Kaze had pivoted to the side. He had dodged that with ease.
Ali dashed forward again and this time stopped in front of Kaze, he swung his fists blind with fury and wrath at Kaze.
Kaze effortlessly swerved with ease from side to side, adjusting his torso's angle, his feets' direction and the way his knees bent to swiftly swerve around the attacks. It wasn't that Ali wasn't fast, but once again, he was swinging with loose form. A lack of challenging enemies had caused Ali to get comfortable with just throwing any punches that felt good, instead of the punches that he had so painfully learnt and developed during his training with Akaza. One would think it would become a habit, yet blind in wrath, Ali simply swung his fists and thought it would lead to success.
No matter how powerful Ali's strikes were, a predictable attack could always be dodged by any one who had at least average experience in martial arts.
Even after all the training Ali went through, he still didn't understand just how important to be strict to a style was. It was the foundation of a fight, swinging your arms around like a beginner would lead to an inevitable defeat to anyone with experience.
Kaze saw it, as Ali flailed his fist once again, Kaze saw an opening. Ali's swing was too wide and his entire body would have to complete the wide angle he swung at by rotating, which would cost him time and leave him open for a counterattack.
Ali grunted as he swung and missed once again. Just this time, in the second he couldn't swing back he was faced by a relentless assault of strikes.
Kaze slammed his fist into Ali's face. The next microsecond his other hand struck upwards into his abdomen. With every strike, his other fist would retract and get into position for the next blow, creating a seamless and endless stream of punches. But of course, the Motion of the Shadow taught us to use more than just fists. To finish his combination of relentless punches, Kaze twisted his body and shattered Ali's jaw by striking with his elbow, and finally, he kicked Ali backwards onto the ground.
Blood splattered out of Ali's mouth as his body roughly crashed onto the ground. Kaze had broken the indestructible pride. The inferno of fury within Ali was humbled. His mind raced to connect what had just happened.
"Ah…" Ali held his jaw as it healed back into shape. Even though his wounds had regenerated in a matter of seconds, he could feel a phantom throb of Kaze's attacks. Almost as if bruises were embedded into his very soul. He inhaled deeply and his expression quickly regained anger as he jumped to his feet and sent winds blasting towards Kaze.
Kaze's body was etched backwards a few centimetres, but his feet were solidly stuck onto the ground. The wind soon grew weaker as Ali stared in disbelief.
"You're good," Ali spoke through his teeth. He respected Kaze at the very least. He hadn't felt the pain of punches and kicks for a long time. This past month or so, Akaza was too busy to spar. He missed sparring, and now he could never spar with Akaza ever again.
Ali inhaled deeply and huffed out, he dashed forward once again. This time, Kaze noticed a monumental change. The aggression that predominantly built Ali's previous attacks had dampened substantially. Ali's mind was flooded with thoughts of his training and sparring with Akaza. Why now? Why in the middle of a battle he so eagerly needed to win to avenge him? Why was his commitment to revenge slowly draining?
Kaze bent down and rapidly lifted his fist upward to uppercut Ali right in the jaw. Every hit that Ali took, his vision would flash and a memory of Akaza would slam open into his brain.
Kaze drove his knee into Ali's stomach. Ali remembered the time Ali went in disguise to get fried rice, only to find our demons couldn't eat regular food and threw up. Akaza was there laughing at Ali's naivety.
Kaze slammed his fist into Ali's cheek. Ali remembered the time Akaza and Ali went on their first joint mission.
Kaze's heel struck the side of Ali's neck and sent him tumbling to the side. Ali remembered when he first landed a hit on Akaza, and he saw that look of pride on Akaza's face.
The grainy dirt rubbed onto Ali's face as he skidded to a halt on the damp yet rough ground. He stayed still for a while. His healing had already repaired his wounds, yet, he just wished it could heal the pain of Akaza's death. It was all he could think about the past days.
Kaze stared at the still Ali. He could use this weird moment to run away, or at least try, but an overwhelming sense of pity and empathy overrode him.
"Is everything alright?" Kaze's words once again were poorly chosen, they could be easily misunderstood, especially in Ali's current hysterical state. Ali's spirit erupted with energy as he heard Kaze's statement. To him, even with the soft tone, it felt like a mockery. He could imagine Kaze saying the same to Akaza. Ali was on the same level as Eira the way he was twisting words.
Ali stood up quickly and glared at Kaze with the same fury he came with. He had to avenge Akaza, then he'd feel better. Ali clenched his fists and slowly bent his knees to assume a proper stance. Kaze's eyes widened as he saw Ali finally form a proper stance.
Ali launched himself off the ground and spun his leg to diagonally axe down at Kaze, the speed, the precision, the power, all of it had been taught by Akaza. Ali would honour Akaza by killing Kaze with the fighting style he put his entire time passing down.
Unlike before, Kaze couldn't evade this strike, he only had one choice. His raised his arm and blocked the kick with his forearm. Pain surged through Kaze's arm as Ali's shin dug into Kaze's arm.
Regardless, Kaze's fist blasted forward as an immediate counter. Ali took the punch straight to the stomach and reeled his arm backwards. Kaze's eyes widened. The wind stopped. Ali inhaled. Kaze quickly jumped backwards to get as far away as possible.
Blood Demon Art. Turbulence: Typhoon Needles. A powerful constant breeze screamed itself into existence. Kaze felt his body float in the air and accelerate backwards. He quickly guarded his head as he felt his body lurched backwards. Typhoon Needles as a technique that could kill if a person was stuck in one position, like Kammu who was held in place by Ali. But in Kaze's case, it was nothing but an extremely powerful gust of wind, fortunately, his skin wouldn't be ripped off his flesh.
Kaze tumbled on the floor, slamming on the ground and bouncing back up like a stone skipped on a river. Just as he felt the gust decrease in power, Ali caught up Kaze and slammed him into the ground, holding him by the neck. He squeezed Kaze's neck tightly. Kaze couldn't breathe or speak.
"Why… did you kill Akaza?!" Ali's fist trembled, his jaw clenched as he slammed his fist into Kaze's face. Blood splattered on the dirt below Kaze as the impact made blood leak out of his nose.
Amid Kaze's thrashing, he was struck by immense confusion. Why did Ali think he had killed Akaza?
He tried to speak, but he couldn't.
Ali's fist drove into Kaze's face again. And again. He wanted Kaze to suffer in a state of near death for a while, just like Akaza had. So he pulled his punches.
"Why?!" Ali couldn't contain his rage. He lifted his fist up and his eyes widened. Ali's arm flexed and tensed, all of his pent-up frustration, grief and anger concentrated into this next punch.
Blood Demon Art. Turbulence: Kamikaze.