Chapter 89: Battle of Brothers

Xzina pants as she forces her tails to regrow.

Had that hit me fully, I don't know if the nexus would have put me back together. All the matter that this body is made of would have been turned to energy, and even worse, absorbed into that Ianite. Such a technique truly tests the limits of the Nexus's gift of immortality . . . and I do not intend to be the test subject for its answers. Not to mention, he is trouble . . .

She gulps.

. . . for us all.

. . .

The energy stored from the antimatter orb got me back to full capacity. Cutting the entire castle in half took a good chunk, huh? And I'll need every bit for this battle.

Kayn's focus is razor-sharp.

Though Xzina is livid at what Kayn has achieved, something itches at the back of her mind. She is missing something from this entire interaction. Maybe thinking about it for a second will give her a chance to discover—

Before she can see it through, Kayn dashes straight toward her. So quickly, in fact, that she feels her heart drop in panic.

All her tails fall toward him with the intent to squash him like a bug.

I'll have to keep an eye out the instant he uses that again. . .

"Second physics technique: Perfect Forces," says Kayn with another hand sign.

A bunch of the surrounding element zero moves and takes form, manipulated to become nine fluid tails that somewhat resemble Xzina's. They push with strong force against Xzina's tails, blocking them.

"You dare!" she sneers at the clear mockery Kayn displays.

It is a statement of 'I can do this better than you.' So she takes a pose, and they collide arms with their armor.

"Third Biology Technique: Reinforced Body," both of them state simultaneously.

This is an incomprehensibly weaker version of the technique that The Peak Chad runs through his body. For it to happen, Element Zero is consumed or even better, injected through the qualia and comprehension of the human body's methods to develop it to new physical capable highs. However, the only entity so far able to keep up this boost running at all times is Chad, and at its first level as well. Others would have to actively turn on a lower version of it as it does consume energy.

Kayn and Xzina then engage in intense martial arts combat, with Xzina including her slashes in her attacks. Kayn prioritizes dodging her slashes as they will still cut through and cause damage in her current form, but he still lets some land in exchange for a few hits of his own. . . only the ones he finds satisfying.

She grits her teeth as their tails clash in the background.

If only I was at full power! My tails would have won easily!

She dodges and slashes back.

No matter. This shield of his should be consuming a lot of energy from the Ianite. Even if he does have five, this level of continuous output will drain him. Controlling the Element Zero particles with perfect forces on this scale and precision is a very, very heavy task, especially since he is fighting me . . . This is a battle of endurance.

They continue to clash, blow for blow, before locking each other in a stalemate.

"Where's your toy, Kayn?" she mocks.

"I passed it down to someone more worthy."

"Aww, and here I thought I'd get the chance to break another toy of yours . . ." she taunts, leaning forward, "You know, before she lost consciousness, I could have sworn I heard her call out your name, haha!"

. . .

"I also don't need the katana to fight you. It would actually get in the way of what I will do to you," says Kayn as he sweeps her off her feet. She loses balance with all her tails occupied, having no support, and begins to fall.

Not even halfway through her fall, an oncoming punch quickly lands, shattering through her armor and sinking her face into the ground, legs up.

Ack! This punch! It wasn't just empowered by the biology technique. There is something else!

Without a second to process the damage, Kayn grabs one of her legs that is in the air.

"By the time I'm done with you, you will beg my wife for forgiveness." He promises, starting to spin quicker and quicker before he finally gets bored and throws her, launching her uncontrollably towards the rope where she lands on her back and sinks into the wall from the force of the crash.

She regains herself from her dizziness and gazes down at Kayn. He stands there, stretching his arms in the air, yawning. Then he looks at her and waves his hand, inviting her.

A vein almost pops. Kayn is the only being who gets into her head and riles her up like this. Her hatred for him knows no bounds.

"Time to try some of your brother's techniques," she snarls.

Xzina's armor recovers with more Element Zero and shifts, taking a new form, covering all of her body with what seems like a slick-looking helmet with a gas mask. The armor extends to cover her tails as well.

"Just like you, I'll use the surrounding Element Zero and keep whatever is stored in the Alpha as backup."

As for the gap in energy, I'll compensate by finding a way to direct some of mine to it . . . until I figure out how to control more than one like he is.

Her voice echoes from within the armor as she makes a hand sign.

"First Chemistry Technique: Acid Rain."

A code launches, and the Alpha operates. Large amounts of Element Zero begin to hover overhead, covering a vast area in a cloud-like manner, with mere gaps here and there where rays of light pass through.

. . . drip . . . drip drip . . . tsssss . . .

The droplets falling on Kayn's armor begin to react with it . . . the compound of the droplets is a super acid that forces the ions to form.

With every drop, Kayn's armor races to heal itself as a single drop will burn the skin badly.

But the rain gets heavier and heavier, soon becoming a full-on rainstorm of the acidic compound used.

Kayn's armor is steaming all over from the chemical reaction, yet his armor's regeneration rate keeps up by the Ianites.

Yet Xzina's armor seems unaffected, along with her covered tails.

Kayn chuckles as he places a pool of Element Zero above him like an umbrella, covering himself from the rain.

"Not done yet! Another: Acid Tsunami!"

Before her other move is launched, she jumps ahead straight towards Kayn, attacking with her tails.

Kayn drops his umbrella as he maintains his focus on nine other tails to clash with Xzina's yet again.

He braces as they lock into combat once more, his armor melting and recovering as they do, with their tails clashing all around them.

Before long, Kayn starts to create space between them, but Xzina is in hot pursuit.

To his side, Kayn notices a large tsunami of acid heading his way.

It must be somewhere around 5,000 feet or 1,500 meters high, with no idea of its thickness.

He looks back at Xzina, blocking a kick that sends him toward it. He recovers before reaching it and starts gliding upon its surface as if surfing the wave. At least here, the top of the wave covers him from the rain, so his armor needs minimal regeneration for now.

He takes a second to look at his hand as if trying to pull something off.

But then looks forward, seeing Xzina surfing along straight towards him. They continue to clash in a jaw-dropping battle while surfing the wave, their tails fighting in and out of the wave.

In one of her attacks, Xzina pretends to go for a hit on Kayn, which he prepares to block, but she feints with her real target being the surface, splashing acid from the wave at him, creating a temporary impairing smokescreen for her.

He catches a glimpse of her motion at the last minute as she is about to kick him from above, and he blocks upwards. But the force of her kick sends him sinking into the wave.

She follows him right after, swimming like a fish with her tails, attacking like a hawk coming down to strike with its wings.

It doesn't take long for Kayn to adjust and stop her, forcing another clash inside the wave as they move through it.

It takes a mere second for Xzina to realize that Kayn's armor is no longer dissolving, and when blocking one of his attacks, she realizes what he is doing.

The reason her armor isn't dissolving is that it is made of a compound with very strong molecular bonds, and the element is highly inert and unreactive. Kayn cannot not make such armor. Hence, he resorts to running a thin film of Element Zero around his armor using his perfect force technique. Element Zero is not like ordinary matter. It is what chemists classify as inert. It only ever responds to and interacts with Ianites in every conceivable manner. However, this level of physical control over Element Zero was energy-consuming as well.

No matter.

Xzina forces a situation where she and Kayn lock each other momentarily.

"Disturb mode . . ."

The Alpha on Xzina's helmet begins to glow . . .

 Kayn's film of Element Zero begins to break away from him. It is as if it is very difficult for him to maintain his technique.

And his armor starts to melt.

 Yes . . . dissolve to nothing!

Kayn maneuvers out of the hold they both have on each other swiftly, and before she knows it, Xzina finds herself in a chokehold by Kayn's legs from the knee down. She turns around, looking at him, and her eyes widen as a glow of light appears from his fingertips in the shape of a gun.

Xzina uses her one free arm to cover her face and, with the other, attempts to slash Kayn's arm off that is about to release the technique.

First physics technique: Fission, he directs.

Xzina is launched along with the ball of light, sending her flying into the clouds that rain acid.

. . .

A large explosion happens above.

. . .

Thud!

She lands on the ground in a sphere of her tails, crystallized and heavily damaged.

Even though this is not the full output and destructive power of Kayn's technique, the heat it produces is hot enough to decompose the acid around the area.

She lets her tails down and glares at him.

A smooth grin arches across his face, and his hair, no longer tied, blows along the wind as his arm reattaches from the slash.

She can tell . . . anyone can tell . . . he is enjoying this. His eyes tell the story of someone reminiscing his time with his brother.