Chapter 512: Daddy’s Home
Then he vanished.
Not phased into shadow like I could with Shade Cloak. Just... gone. Like he’d become wind itself.
My Protection from Arrows went absolutely berserk.
I dove to the right just as an invisible blade carved through the space where my head had been. Another attack came from behind. I spun, bat up, blocking on pure instinct.
Kenjiro materialized twenty feet away, his hands still in those complex patterns. His turquoise eyes were glowing now, actually glowing, like twin stars burning in his skull.
"Spirit Dive," Isabelle breathed behind me, her voice filled with something that might’ve been awe or terror. "His signature technique. He merges with the wind itself. You can’t hit what you can’t see, and he can strike from any angle."
"That’s cheating."
"That’s an A-Rank ability," I shot back, my eyes frantically scanning the empty space around me. "Big fucking difference."
Kenjiro vanished again, and this time something fundamental about the fight changed. I didn’t just lose sight of him—I lost the sense of him entirely. The air itself became hostile territory, pressing in from all sides with malicious intent. The atmosphere turned predatory, like the world itself had decided to kill me. He wasn’t just hiding in the wind anymore; he was the wind. Everywhere and nowhere simultaneously, the entire fucking stratosphere his weapon.
My Tori Sense was going haywire, firing off warnings in every direction at once because the threat wasn’t coming from a direction—it was coming from the medium itself.
Fuck this.
I activated Thermal Vision, and my eyes suddenly translated the world into a different language—shades of crimson and cobalt, a gradient map of heat and cold. The crowd became a field of bright yellow-red blobs. The arena floor was a dull blue. And there, flowing through the temperature map like an inverse flame, was a humanoid void.
Cold spots. Displacement currents. The thermal negative space where Kenjiro pushed air aside as he circled.
There.
I swung my bat through what looked like completely empty air to anyone watching with normal vision. The Louisville Slugger connected with something extremely solid.
Kenjiro materialized mid-strike, genuine surprise flashing across his face as my bat caught him across the shoulder with a meaty crack. His eyes widened—probably the first time in years someone had tagged him during Spirit Dive.
Kinetic Absorption drank in the impact like a man dying of thirst, converting his momentum into raw power that flooded my muscles.
He dove back into wind form immediately, that surprised expression dissolving into mist, but I’d cracked the code now. I’d seen the pattern in his thermal shadow. Every time he solidified to strike, he had to become matter for a fraction of a second. Flesh and bone were required to transfer kinetic force. That microsecond of materialization—that was the window.
But I couldn’t capitalize on it alone. Not fast enough. Not precise enough.
I needed a force multiplier.
"Isabelle," I called out, not taking my eyes off the thermal void circling us like a great white. "Can you make the air cold? Really fucking cold?"
She didn’t question it. Green light exploded from her position as she channeled wind that felt like it came straight from the arctic. The temperature plummeted twenty degrees in as many seconds.
Kenjiro stumbled out of Spirit Dive, his human form condensing like steam hitting ice. His teeth chattered.
"Cold air is denser," Isabelle explained, her breath misting. "Harder for him to dissolve into."
"Smart girl."
"I graduated top of my class before coming here."
"Show-off."
We moved as one. Isabelle launched wind blades that forced Kenjiro to dodge toward me. I was already there, bat raised, ready to cave in his smug pretty-boy skull.
He blocked with a wind shield, but this time I didn’t pull back. I activated Ember, heat flooding through the bat until it glowed white-hot. The thermal shock shattered his shield, and my follow-through caught him clean across the chest.
Kenjiro hit the ground hard.
The buzzer sounded.
Maximus Hype’s voice boomed: "KNOCKOUT! The Onyx Hounds advance to the semifinals!"
The crowd went absolutely feral.
I offered Kenjiro a hand up. He stared at it for a moment, then took it with a rueful smile.
"You’re stronger than your file says," he muttered.
"I get that a lot."
"You also fight like someone who’s done this before. Real combat. Not training."
I shrugged, playing it casual even as my gut twisted. "Life’s been educational."
He studied me a moment longer, then released my hand and walked off without another word. Jin followed him, shooting me a glare that suggested our next meeting wouldn’t be quite so friendly.
Isabelle appeared at my side, her spear already dismissed. "We won."
"I noticed."
"You’re bleeding again."
I touched my nose, my fingers coming away red. "Adds to my rugged charm."
"You’re impossible," she said for the third time today.
"That’s my—"
"Brand, yes. You’ve mentioned." She actually smiled. It transformed her entire face, made her look younger and less like a warrior queen judging peasants. "We should move before your harem descends."
Too late.
Natalia reached me first, her hands immediately going to my ribs even though Emi was right behind her with actual medical training. "You promised to be careful."
"I was careful. You should see the other guy."
"The other guy isn’t bleeding from his nose."
"Minor detail."
Emi pushed Natalia aside gently but firmly, her healing aura already pulsing. "Sit. Now."
I sat.
Skylar appeared, leaning against one of the prep benches with her arms crossed. "That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Letting yourself get thrown like a human cannonball."
"It worked."
"Because you’re stupid lucky."
"I prefer ’tactically innovative.’"
Celeste materialized on my other side, her silver hair catching the light. "My sister just texted me. She wants to know how you managed to break through Kenjiro’s Spirit Dive when professional A-Ranks struggle with that technique."
"Tell her I used the power of friendship and believing in myself."
Cel’s lips twitched. "I’ll tell her you improvised."
"That works too."
Akari sauntered over, her chains jingling softly. "So when do I get to fight beside you, Daddy?"
The temperature dropped about fifty degrees.
Natalia’s voice was absolutely arctic. "What did you just call him?"
"I said what I said." Akari’s smile was pure poison honey.
"Girls," I said quickly, before Natalia could literally freeze Akari solid. "Can we save the death match for after I win this tournament?"
"No promises," they said in perfect unison.
The scoreboard updated, showing the next match: Natalia and Skylar versus two Sentinels I didn’t recognize. Both girls straightened immediately, their playful hostility vanishing like smoke.
"That’s us," Skylar said, her voice flat.
Natalia kissed me hard and fast, her tongue briefly invading my mouth before she pulled back. "Watch and learn, Stray Dog."
Then they were gone, walking toward the arena entrance together like twin angels of death in purple and black.
I settled in to watch my queen go to war.
And gods help anyone stupid enough to get in her way.
