64.) Uriyah and Nekros!

Nekros and Uriyah, two more members of the group once mentioned before by Jollister. Stand in the way of Hideaki and the others, retrieving a highly revered Spatial, Domain class study. The opponents looked simple at first glance, but… they both have what it takes to beat Curti and Hideaki. So the battles commenced, and the gauntlet was thrown down. 

Nekros: "GHUUUAAAARRR!!!" 

Hideaki: "What a monster. *FWIP* *FWIP* It's quite impressive that he's fighting in a coherent manner. No matter, *PRCH* he shall, nonetheless!" *PEW* 

Hideaki becomes a missle of darkness and death as he charges head first into Nekros. Nekros uses a sharp veil of darkness to try and alter Hideaki's trajectory, but it is all nulled out in an instant. 

"G-GHNN!?"An odd grunt was let out by the berserking Nekros. He was completely taken aback by the results of his efforts. Hideaki manages to blitz him in the wake of the moment. Piercing his torso slightly before causing an explosion of death particles to burst in Nekros' face. He ended up inhaling some as a result before being sent flying. 

"That was a direct hit, and he inhaled it as planned. Perfect!" Hideaki said to himself as he prepared to blitz Nekros yet again. He charges in on Nekros, who manages to block and intercept the attack. Knocking Hideaki back and immediately going for a counter, overhead right. He gets near Hideaki's face but has his hand and wrist forced into the other direction. The bones were nearly shattered while Hideaki ended up with a matching gash on his left cheek. 

Hideaki: "Tch, he got me!" 

Nekros: "Hctib a fo nos, YKCIRT!!!" *CRICK* *CRACK* 

Hideaki: "Hmph!" *FWIP* *Fwip*… *PRCH* 

Nekros goes into a quick frenzy while altering his own trajectory by slight 10-degree paces at a time. Hideaki manages to block most of the punches while taking minimum scratches and cuts as he is slowly pushed back. As each hit touches Hideaki, he slightly breaks the bones within Nekros' hands, at a pace that the adrenaline driven giant would not feel. Until it's too late.

Nekros ups the ante on his barrage while Hideaki carefully dismantles his hands and feet, with each blow grasping the limb and hitting a precise spot each and every time. Using small bursts of speed well beyond light to fool Nekros' eye and nerves. More than one thousand exchanges occurred within a second before Hideaki allowed Nekros' right fist to make full-blown contact with his own face. *BrrrrrCRACK*  

Nekros: "GHUAARRG!!!" 

His entire arm was broken after making contact with Hideaki's face shield of Armored Zenchi and birthright essence. Nekros didn't give in, though, and began wrapping a mass amount of Zenchi around his left fist and prepared for another strike. Hideaki does the same and wraps his left fist in Zenchi for a counter strike. 

Their fists clash head on and cause a massive burst of essence to come forth. Expanding for more than one billion miles outward, in all directions. Hideaki attempts to shoot another jolt of bone breaker essence into Nekros' arm, but Nekros is able to use his altering ability to change its path and direct it to Hideaki.

"Keh! That's impressive, but… it won't get you anywhere, my friend!" Hideaki yells right before sending a heavier, more dense amount of essence into the blow. Inevitably bursting the clash at the seams and breaking Nakros' left arm as well. The blow pushes Hideaki back as well, but he plants his foot down firmly and prepares for another big right! Nekros goes further into a berserker fit and swings his broken right arm back at Hideaki. 

Hideaki: "You're one crazy son of a bitch! *FWIP* GGRRAAUGH!!!" 

Hideaki reaches out and catches the broken right arm with his left hand. Then pulls Nekros in as he laucnhes a ridiculously, heavy right hook to Nekros' jaw. The blow sent an abundance of bone breaker essence into his left cheek and jaw, the entirety of the spine, neck and rib cage. The clavicles as well and even the shoulder blades were imbued with it. This caused each and every one of them to shatter as Nekros was sent flying and his arm, severed. 

Hideaki: "Hah! *FWOOSH* *He threw the severed arm* I'm not finished just yet *CLAP* Bone Summoning: Celestial CLAP!!!" 

Two gigantic, skeletal hands come forth and clasp together with Nekros in the middle. They were each big enough to house three earths in their palms. It seemed the battle wouldn't last much longer. Meanwhile… within the confines of the temple. Uriyah was preparing to do battle with Curti, Vashjai and Ebon. The reveal of his identity had them all taken aback. It would seem they all knew one another. 

Vashjai: "Uriyah… Bach. You're the second son of Thermias Bach II. Thermias' older brother, what the hell are you doing here!?" 

Ebon: "Does Thermias know of your treachery?" 

Uriyah: "Tuh! Of course not, he nor the rest of my family even know of my whereabouts. I've gained some interesting allies and I've gotta say. This journey is a little too thrilling to pass up on." 

Curti: "That's all I needed to hear. Just means we've gotta kick your ass now and take you back to Thermias, half broken." 

Uriyah: "Let's see you try!" 

Curti: "Hmph!" *PEW* 

Curti dashes in on Uriyah while Vashjai and Ebon play back up. Curti dashes in with a handful of Dark matter and attempts to attack Uriyah's molecular structure. Uriyah uses his reversal technique to counterattack but only half the attack was reversed. 

(What!?), Uriyah thought to himself. But then he began to sense what caused this. Vashjai used a very condensed and pinpointed blast of famine. It depleted more than half the amount of essence required to completely reverse the oncoming attack. As a last second resort, he brings forth his control of the space around them and disperse the attack with a wave of pure force. Knocking off all of the essence imbued on his fist. 

"Goddammit all!" Curti said as he was blown back a bit by the force. Uriyah wastes no time and counters with all four of his right fist. Each imbued with a large level of Physical Zenchi. Curti notices and reads the route of each punch then rapidly clashes head on with all four, one by one. His left fist being imbued with Zenchi and dark matter. *PRCH* *POOF* *PRHO* *PPOOWW* 

Ebon: "Woaaah!" 

Vashjai: "Nice going, Curti!" 

Uriyah: (He caused all four of my arms to burst from the fist to the elbow. Impressive!) *FIIWIIISHHK* "Heh!!" 

Curti: "Now, for the follow up!" 

Uriyah: "As if! Inorganic Reanimation!" 

Ebon: "Shit! Dodge!!!" 

Vashjai: "Daah!!" *FWIP* *Fwip* 

The walls, ground and ceiling began to protrude spikes from all directions. They were sent flying at Vashjai and the others, who were busy dodging each and every single one. 

"How do you fools like this!" , asked Uriyah while aiming the stalagmites at the vitals rather than aimlessly firing. Curti goes in a quick moment of defense and focuses heavily on dodging every attack. Three stalagmites go for his face, and he weaves out of the way with ease. A fourth goes for his legs immediately after and he manages to jump over it. Uriyah thought he'd have an opening in the air while Curti was still curled up.  But Curti uses his feet to propel himself off of the air itself. Resulting in the stalagmite missing him as he dives back to the ground. 

"I'm still not done yet!" , yelled Uriyah as he crosses his arms across his chest, causing 5 more stalagmites to shoot out. Curti is well aware and stands on his hands while twisting, with his legs extended outward. He brought forth Physical Zenchi and was able to crush all the oncoming stalagmites completely. He then hops back to his feet and dashes forward. Vashjai and Ebon follow suit and they all screen across the room in a fork formation. Vashjai and Ebon went to the sides of Uriyah while Curti headed up the middle. 

Vashjai: "Famine's Gluttony!!!"

Ebon: *FWIP* "Conqueror's QUAZAAR!!!"

Curti: "Dark Matter +… APPRAISAL!!!" 

Uriyah: (Appraisal!?) *He gets serious and the entirety of his tone and being… FLIP* 

All three: "What!?" 

Uriyah: "Spatial Park + Reversal: Reversal's Domain!" *V-V-V-VwiiimMP*

Curti: "Damn!" 

Vashjai: "Shit!"

Ebon: "Mhm… DIMINUTION-" *FWISSK* 

All three of their attacks were blown back in their faces. The resulting explosion was actually enough to break the domain itself, causing extensive damage to the temple as it raged out. Hideaki and Nekros could both see the huge burst of energy during the climax of their own battle. 

What intense essence levels they just emitted!" Hideaki spouted as he dodged an oncoming attack. The light from within the temple faded and the dust cleared. Uriyah could be seen standing in the center of the grand chamber with all but two arms being retracted. Curti and the others were seamlessly blasted into the walls. 

Uriyah: "You seem to have spouted out "Appraisal" just now. That must mean, you're my younger brother's birthright twin!" 

Curti: "N-Ngh! Yeah, and… so what if I am!" 

Uriyah: "Hmph!" *Step* *step* *STOMP* 

The ground rumbled and quaked as it split from underneath them. Tearing the temple apart even further than it was before. Uriyah planted his foot firmly and leaned forward. Got his mind and the situation at hand to a complete level of focus. Then he dashed off right towards Curti, who was barely getting up after that last attack. 

Vashjai: "Shit! EBON!!!" 

Ebon: "Tch!! Let's gooo!!!" 

Both hop out of the holes their crashing bodies left in them and go for Uriyah. Both were able to flank his sides and force him to slow down for combat's sake. Uriyah blocks a flying dragon kick from Ebon and throws him to the side. After landing on the ground once more, he turns around to face Vashjai immediately after. Vashjai leaps into the air and boosts his speed to maximum in an instant. He wraps his right fist in Famine, elemental essence and blitzes Uriyah. 

"Tch!" Uriyah smacks his lips and wraps his arms in Zenchi, and leaps forward while crossing his arms. They clash and the both of them go sliding. Vashjai turns around a little on the slow side and is blitzed by Uriyah with a handful of Physical and Armored Zenchi. Just before the hit could land, Uriyah is tackled by Curti and both go flying across the room. They begin to roll on the floor and just as Uriyah is about to counter, he's surprised by a flying knee from Ebon. 

Uriyah: "GAAAH!!!" 

Ebon: "Vashjai!" 

Vashjai: "Right!" *CLAP* 

They clasp hands and Ebon swings Vashjai into Uriyah as he is flying back. Vashjai lands a heavy, right kick to his chest and as that blow lands, Curti releases Uriyah as to not get sent flying with him. Uriyah crashes into the ground and bounces on the floor twice before rebounding and gaining his footing once more. All three fighters blitz him once again but fail to realize his activation of Mental Zenchi. *SPLAAIICKIH* 

All three were shocked from what they saw, their fists went right through Uriyah with little to no resistance. He was made of water in that instant and had a good grip on all three of the fighters. 

Uriyah: "Liquid Transmutation: Liquid Density!!!" 

Curti: "NGh!! (He's heavy as hell all of a sudden!) 

Uriyah: "You're all caught now." *he sprouts a third arm* 

Ebon: "Damn! I can't break free!" 

Vashjai: "NGH N-NNGHH!!! *He pulled twice as hard as he could* No good over here!" 

Uriyah: "HMM!!!" 

Curti: "What!?" *PRCH* 

*PRCH* *PCH* Uriyah was able to smack all three with literal ease and released them as they all flew back into the same exact holes as before. Only this time, the walls shattered and fell atop all three. 

Uriyah: "Hmph! (The temple is falling apart and the domain has been disrupted. I'm usually a whopping 30 on the scale but fighting all those guards proved to be quite draining after all. I'm equal to Nekros now and that's no good here.) Sucks but I'll have to retreat for sure." *FWIP* 

Vashjai dashes at him once more but has his blow intercepted and blocked. The force from Uriyah's block tosses Vashjai back a bit and leaves room for a counter. *SMASH* a hard, left kick hits Vashjai in the stomach and sends him flying through yet another crumbling wall. Ebon attempts to use Presence Zenchi with his element infused, but has it countered and reversed back on himself. Uriyah's Presence Zenchi was far too superior. Plus the added toll for infusing an element is killer on the mental and eyes. 

Uriyah: "Enough of this- Tch! Curti!" 

Uriyah turns around and sees Curti coming from the ceiling as he crashes into Uriyah. They both go tumbling for at least ten meters and rebound. Both dash in and clash head on with Curti's left knee colliding with Uriyah's right elbow. Both have Zenchi essence wrapped around them. Curti continued his onslaught with four dark matter infused punches. Uriyah blocks all four by reversing the dark matter,  which Curti counters with more dark matter and they disperse. Uriyah withstands the base strength and power of the remaining punch. 

"Pretty damn good, Curti!" Uriyah says while blocking the final punch. He extends his right leg and attempts to trip Curti, but he jumps over the kick. Uriyah continues his offensive and twists to his left to build up momentum. He comes back around and tries to hit Curti with a backspinning, left hook kick. Curti is agile and dodges by bending his body slightly and gliding on the wind created from the force of the kick. Uriyah attempts another with higher precision and Curti blocks just in time. They both slide back a few feet and charge right back in. 

Curti: "PHYSICAL…" 

Uriyah: "ZENCHI!!!"

They clash head on once more with their right fists roaring! The temple quakes and falls apart completely as a dome appears and envelopes the temple. Then a flash of light came forth and the temple and Uriyah… were gone! Only Vashjai, Ebon and Curti remained with Hideaki standing over a nearly dead Nekros. He had his scythe out and was oozing with bloodlust. 

Hideaki: "Did you guys get the study!?" 

Curti: "Tch! *he gritted his teeth* No… the bastard absorbed it and got away just now. He was too clever." 

Vashjai: "Mhm!" 

Ebon: … 

Hideaki: "Alright. I'm at least taking his life before we go back!" 

Nekros: "U-Uhh…." *he could barely move a muscle* 

Hideaki brings out a death scythe and aims in on the midsection for Nekros' body. Hideaki was trying to cling his soul from his body, as punishment for his treachery. Just as Hideaki was preparing to end it… a voice spoke from a distance. 

???: "Why don't you stop there." 

Curti: "Tch ss! What's with this huge power scale rating!?" 

Vashjai: "As if things were bad enough!!"

Ebon: "It just had to be…" 

Hideaki: "Joelli!?!" 

Joelli stood behind Hideaki while gripping his scythe, near the blade. Hideaki couldn't pull any further and made a last ditch effort to knock Joelli away from his person. The kick was stopped with nothing more than a finger. Hideaki gritted his teeth and attempted to imbue death into his foot so that Joelli would have to release him. Joelli caught on and bombarded Hideaki with a flash of Presence Zenchi. Leaving him in complete tatters as a result.

Hideaki: "N-Ngh… y-you son of… a-a bitch." *Cough* *Choke* 

Vashjai: "Hideaki!!!" 

Ebon: "D-Damn!!!" 

Curti: (I-I can't find a single opening!) 

Joelli: "Uriyah!" 

Uriyah: *FWIP* "Yo!" 

Joelli: "Take Nekros and meet up with Jollister immediately." 

Uriyah: "Right! *Grasp* Hup! We'll see you there, Joelli!" *FWIP*

Joelli: "Mhm! Now why don't you guys take this back!" *SHWOOP*

He tosses Hideaki over to the others like a ragdoll. Vashjai catches Hideaki, but Hideaki's mind was temporarily shut down from the massive wave of Zenchi that impacted it. Without Hideaki, they were at a huge disadvantage.

Joelli: "Now then… My job is to stop you all. So prepare… to be beat halfway to death!" 

Vashjai: "Everyone…" 

Ebon: "Ngh!"

Curti: "Grr!" 

Hideaki: … 

Vashjai: "Prepare for the worst!!" 

The study for Spatial Domains had slipped through their fingers as fast as it came into their person. Now the enemies have escaped and their opponent, too mighty to confront. Their lives are on the balance as the race for the Key continues!

Next Chapter: Escape from Joelli!