Suppressing all sides - the Eight-tailed Water Demon

Even though Kai's 5th strike using Afro's Tachi had looked simple, it wasn't truly the case.

Kai's using the exploding water ball wasn't a spontaneous divergence, but a calculated one. By the time he had reached Ensui's wielder, Kai still had a few seconds remaining to his Skill Disable.

Now, Ensui was known to be an exceptional magical tool, and its Stats vary too much with Contestants. When Kai attacked the black-haired man, he wasn't sure if the water blade protruding out of the magical tool was because of an Item's Skill or an inherent technique. But he did know that the Item Water-Bearers' use of water to make hydro constructs was a Skill.

Thus, Kai had decided to finish the dark-skinned boy first, taking him by surprise.

When Afro's Tachi had hacked at the water shield, the shield hadn't failed to defend against the attack. It was Kai who had disabled the Skill.

Even though Afro's Tachi was a Top-level Common-grade Item, and had its Base Damage enhanced to 100 HP at the 5th strike, it couldn't have just ignored the Skill of another Item of almost equal level.

What mattered was… Timing!

And Kai had already learned to grab the opportunity when he saw it.

But even he had failed to notice a bunch of Marines hiding under the seabed. However, despite the shock, it took him just a moment to guess the origin of this shock.

'Mirror Dimension!' Kai named his guess, narrowing his eyes. 'They must have buried themselves under the seabed before casting Mirror Dimension around themselves. No wonder we couldn't pick up their presence. Tch!'

Kai, the Contestant with Ensui, and the Ninja, all shared a wary glance, nodded and came to a mutual understanding.

As the four Marines rushed at the three of them, Kai lunged at the Elite Commander with the Atlantean Energy Sword in his hand. Ensui's user brandished the water sword and swam toward Shinken Blue, whose sword's disc was already letting out a dense blue glow. The Ninja and his summoned Bakugan, Balista, rushed toward the two Standard Armored Contestants, who were carrying Hydro-Pulse Rifles.

The edge of the Energy Sword's blade sizzled red and blue as Ionized Plasma coursed through it, using the plasma gauntlets of the Elite armor and the pommel of the sword. This was a fatal combination of Items, Kai knew. It didn't mean he feared it.

The Elite Armored Contestant's boots fired a blast of plasma, making him come at Kai like a missile.

Blood Demon hacked at the same time.

Boom!

A vacuum seemed to have appeared as the swords kissed, and as the water imploded and erupted back, it sent Kai and the other Contestant flying backward.

The moment their momentum vanished, they both lunged at each other again.

Another clash, and then once again. Metal rang against metal, and both of them looked like blurs under the dwindling sunlight that had penetrated the depths of the sea.

But this fight was already becoming disadvantageous for pirates.

Ensui helped its user to last long underwater, but not breathe. Even the Ninja was showing signs of fatigue.

Golduck-Kai could last far longer underwater and enjoyed much flexibility, but it also impaired Kai by not letting him use the Selfless Breathing Style to its full extent. If it was before, then this wouldn't have mattered much.

These Atlantean Armors were different from the main storyline ones. Such armors were restructured to do the opposite of their intended purpose, letting ordinary Contestants breathe underwater. So, if the fight were to last longer than expected, then they would definitely capture the pirates.

Now, Kai couldn't have that, could he?

As the Elite Armored Contestant charged toward Kai again, he saw something that left him dumbfounded. Not only him, even other Contestants got forced to pause for a moment at the shocking sight.

Kai let go of Afro's Tachi and sat down mid-water in a meditative posture, his fists touching each other, resting in front of his dantian region. Then he closed his eyes.

It had been a long time since Kai had figured out the path to his Advance Telekinesis Ability. He had theorized that, if he had gotten Elementary, he could manipulate small to mid-sized solid objects in a radius of 10 meters around him. This manipulation was also limited by the number of objects manipulated at a time.

In light of this, Kai believed that with the Advance version, his manipulation of solid objects, their numbers, and their weights should enhance. Not only that, but he could also manipulate small globules of liquid with time.

And this case had already come true. Though, the time he had taken to achieve these results was a different matter, what with him getting an Advance Telekinesis from the get-go, and not its Elementary version.

Even if Kai couldn't truly call himself a manipulator of water, he could still bring out a devastating power if he were to just focus on manipulating it, forgetting everything else.

Kai could, and would, never attempt such things while fighting a 6th-floor Contestant. But these were only from the 5th floor, and the strongest among them was only a top-level Contestant.

When would Kai get a better chance of testing out his abilities?

Then there was the fact that he needed to be with Mullroy soon enough. Jack Sparrow could reach the dock where the HMS Interceptor was anchored any time now, hoping to commandeer a ship. And all Kai's plans would come to nothing if Murtogg wouldn't even be there to welcome the famous captain.

He needed to deal with these Contestants fast, and he needed to do that now.

The Hydro-Pulse Rifles fired short plasma blasts. Shinken Blue's sword transformed to become a blue bow, Water Arrow, firing short arrows made of water and full of Mana. And the Energized sword in the Elite Armored Contestant's hand thrummed.

As these things happened, a water sprout originated from the joint between Kai's tail and his back. It elongated like a giant tentacle and grabbed Afro's Tachi, before flicking it, cutting the seawater. This wasn't the end, though.

One more water tentacle materialized, and an Easy-grade sword appeared at its end. Easy grades Sword couldn't do shit to Contestants from the 5th floor, but this was only true to their numbers, and the person who used them.

Another water tentacle appeared, and then they kept appearing until their number became 8.

All tentacles, except the original which had Afro's Tachi, were holding an Easy-Grade Sword.

Advance Telekinesis: Eight-tailed Water Demon!

A frown appeared on Kai's face as the conjuration of the ninth tail failed. It was then his eyes snapped open.

They were bloodshot.

The Elite Armored Contestant flinched, floating away apprehensively. Then he snorted. "Humph! Flashy, but nothing more than that. A scum will always remain a scum."

Kai said nothing. His meditative figure floated toward the Contestant, and the eight tentacles hacked at him murderously.

The Contestant brandished his energized sword in return.

3 Easy-grade Swords shattered instantaneously, 4 landed all over the armor, chunks of their blades broke off, and Afro's Tachi couldn't be seen anywhere.

When did one of the eight tentacles lost its sword during those flurry of attacks? Nobody knew.

"Ahhh!"

A shrill, watery scream reverberated across the sea.

The Ninja, who had been using Balista to fight off two Contestants with Hydro-Pulse Rifles, was now featuring four Sword cuts, blood seeping off them in four thin trails.

Afro's Tachi returned to Kai's tentacle, and three more Easy-grade Swords appeared around him.

No one could figure out what had just happened. The ninja eyed Kai with intense hate, but he was already having a difficult time dealing with his opponents.

On the other side, Ensui's user's face had become almost blue because of the lack of oxygen. The Contestant with Shinken Blue's powers was getting an upper hand over him with every passing moment. No one had the time to scrutinize Kai's maniacal actions.

But these very futile actions had not only enhanced Afro's Tachi base damage to 100 HP again, but they had also made the Elite Armored Contestant put up his guard, pressuring him even further.

Easy-grade Swords were still nothing to be mindful of, but a disappearing sword…

It was death.

Once again, Kai's eight water tentacles blurred, hacking at his opponent from unknown directions.

The red armor of the Contestant let out powerful plasma bursts from his boots and gauntlets as he sensed a great danger from these swords. He managed to parry five of the blows this time.

Among the remaining three blows, there was an Easy-Grade Sword, which landed on the back of the Contestant's neck, where the armor was thinnest. A dent appeared there before the sword shattered, an obvious mark of the power behind this blow.

Another was Afro's Tachi, which also landed in the same location. This one, however, packed a punch.

The moment Afro's Tachi kissed the red armor, a soul-shaking screeching noise echoed off in the surroundings, making all wince. The Common-grade Sword bit into the armor, creating an opening, but failed to injure the Contestant.

At last, came the third sword.

It also landed at the same location, entering the opening created by Afro's Tachi. And when it returned, the faintest touch of blood could be seen in the water.

The Elite Armored Contestant must have noticed the tiny damage inflicted by the last sword, for he remarked, "All this… just for 5 points of HP?"

This was the last thing he said. Ever.

Murasame blurred and returned to Kai's Inventory as silently it had appeared, replacing an Easy-grade Sword.

Behind the transparent cover of the armor's helmet, Kai could see the stiffened look of the Contestant, his face covered in dense runic marks. A smile surfaced on Kai's face seeing that look, and when combined with his bloodshot eyes, he truly looked like a demonic being.

One moment, Kai and the top-level 5th-floor Contestant were still fighting with each other. On the other, all saw the Elite Armored Contestant falling lifelessly on the seabed.

[You have killed 1 Order's Contestant]

The pirates had already seen Kai killing the butt-slapped female mysteriously. Coupled with this bizarre incident, a guess surfaced in their minds.

A 6th-floor Contestant!

Who else could kill mid and top-level 5th-floor Contestants so easily?

The ninja was the first one to break. A blue flash blinded his two opponents as he put the Bakugan Card away and almost fired himself in the distance like the Sharpedo.

The two Contestants with Standard Atlantean Armors didn't dare to come for their leader's body, either. They were the second to disappear.

Kai's meditating figure then shifted to look at the remaining pair of a pirate and a marine. Behind him, eight tentacles thrashed along with his tail, creating a massive vortex, blades flashing and disappearing within it like dwindling sunlight.

Kai's bloodshot eyes narrowed, giving a look that warned of death and destruction.

The Marine backed up, then, putting away his Shinkenmaru sword.

Only Kai and the Ensui's user remained, whose face had almost become purple. Suddenly, a glint flashed across Kai's eyes, and all his tentacles disappeared.

With a powerful dash, he rushed at the black-haired Contestant.