The day after my magnificent duel against the young shaman, where I proved myself to be at a much higher Cultivation Realm than my unfortunate opponent, I find myself once again standing in an arena surrounded by a crowd of mostly irrelevant mobs.
I have waited for today's match for a long time — if one were to consider twenty-four hours a long time, which may be true for the younger members of the audience, who can't seem to understand the concept of patience due to their overdependence on dopamine, something quite typical in the age of technology —. I am about to face an individual who could be considered second only to a MC.
-The bloodline of the one who is said to equal the heavens, the rising star that reminds us of the dangers of fighting a Touki user at close range, is here to eat some chicken.-
This is the first time that I hear the crowd cheering with such enthusiasm despite it being my third time in this arena, but I have no time to feel offended by their complete lack of common sense and good taste.
The brown-haired young man jumps into the arena and slams the floor with his staff, causing the audience to explode in cheers, for they recognize that weapon as the one owned by the first Monkey King, even though it just happens to be a decent replica.
For the first time in my whole life, I'm going to fight a fellow Young Master.
-And his opponent, the dancing beauty, is ready to try his best. Will he be able to stand against the might of a true Senjutsu user despite being a mere devil? -
There is no time for me to feel righteous and well-deserved anger toward the announcer who will be visiting the hospital once this tournament is over. The booing and insults from the audience fell into deaf ears as I focused my full attention on the young Monkey King standing in from of me with that irksome confident smirk of his.
"Bikou, it would be foolish of me to try to deny your prowess as a dastardly Young Master," I admit, giving those words the solemnity they deserve. "But even if your background is more respected than mine in these lands, be prepared to meet defeat at the hands of a superior Young Master. This Senior Brother will give you some face before slapping you in front of everyone."
My defiance must have caught him by surprise for I see the bewildered written on his face. A Young Master like him surely isn't used to people outright challenging him with such bluntness.
It only takes him a few seconds to recover, which isn't much of a surprise since Young Masters are supposed to be thick-skinned.
"You must be courting death," he replies with a vicious grin. "Do you know who my family is?"
"I know, yet I dare, for I am matchless against those in the same Cultivation Realm."
My opponent starts to tremble in what I can only assume to be great anger because of the audacity of my words.
"Oh boy, this will be hilarious," Bikou clears his throat and points at me in a threatening way using his staff. "I mean, you are but a devil dog lusting for glory that isn't meant for you. My immortal ancestor was once called the Sage Equal to Heavens."
I can only shake my head at the weak provocation.
"As a Phoenix meant to soar above the heavens, why should I fear a fight against those who are merely equal to them?"
Instead of arguing, Bikou simply nods and adopts an aggressive, but stable, low stance, pointing his staff at me once again, only that this time he is completely serious. I take a fighting stance as well and prepare for what will be a battle between equals who respect each other.
"This has already made my day," he stifles a laugh. "After you, dancing beauty."
...Actually, fuck showing respect to my fellow Young Master.
I am going to kick his ass and then laugh at his well-deserved pain.
.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~.
Yasaka's POV
Everyone knows that it isn't proper for a faction leader to be drinking alcohol in the middle of a somewhat important event, so 'Kaguya' is currently pouring the sake in unnecessarily expensive teacups so the audience won't notice a thing. It isn't even time for lunch yet, and she has already drunk three barrels worth of sake while watching the terrible consequences of her overconfidence and poor planning.
"Kick that monkey in the balls," At least her daughter is having fun, even if she is cheering on the devil, who everyone in the audience wants to see dead or close enough to death.
After a rough start, Riser Phenex seems to be adapting to Bikou's fighting style quite quickly, which is more than probably anyone expected from the devil. It is no easy task to measure the distance between one and his opponent when said opponent has a weapon that can change its size and length at astounding speeds, and yet the blond boy is starting to see through his opponent's feints and punish them.
This isn't how this match is supposed to go.
This isn't even a case of everything that could go wrong, going wrong anymore; this is an everything that should go right, going wrong kind of situation.
The devil, who somehow reached the semifinals of a Senjutsu Tournament designed for Youkai, is now enduring a flurry of blows delivered by a blunt weapon enhanced by natural energy using his own Touki. That combined with his natural regeneration allows him to survive the assault long enough Bikou to grow too impatient and stop thrusting the long ranged weapon that gives him an edge in this exchange to deliver a powerful kick that connects with the devil's face. This of course proves to be a mistake very soon when the blonde chatches the offending limb and burn it with his flames.
"Bikou isn't letting Riser Phenex disengage, so he still has the advantage," Yasaka sighs in relief when this generation's Monkey King lands quite a nasty blow to the devil's ribs by using his clones as a distraction.
"Although parlor tricks will do nothing against someone on his level of power," Kuroka impassively watches the blonde destroying the clones by summoning a powerful gale that blows them away. "Common sense dictates that unless Riser can get some distance from the more experienced Touki user, he will lose."
"Do you believe that?"
Disappointingly, the nekoshou shakes her head.
"Despite what some may think, Riser isn't someone that goes against common sense. It is more like he convinces reality to follow his own common sense from time to time."
So the girl is fully confident in her lover. It is such a shame that Yasaka isn't in the mood to tease her over that. Truly, a tragedy of the highest order.
Another cup of 'tea' is soon emptied with a groan.
It isn't like she dislikes the devil or anything like that. On the contrary, she really appreciates the way he is genuinely helping Kunou with her Senjutsu every time her daughter invites herself into his room — and now she is too aware about how that last sentence sounds like without context—. It is simply that the boy winning the tournament promises to be an absolute disaster involving arrogant devils, Youkai wanting to prove something, and the bunch of opportunists who will smell weakness from their respective factions. And she is the one who willl have to work overtime handling the fallout.
"Can I learn to do that?" Kunou asks after watching Riser Phenex block an attack with a tree trunk that he creates by stomping the ground.
There are no words capable of describing how she feels while watching dozens of giant burning roots crushing Bikou's clones one by one.
That is not something that someone who has trained in Senjutsu for merely two years should be able to do. The only other person with as much raw talent at the Senjutsu Arts as this devil that Yasaka has ever seen is the disguised nekoshou pouring her sake, and the latter at least makes some sense since her whole species is supposed to be tailor-made for Senjutsu.
Credit where it's due, Kuroka definitely found herself a very impressive boytoy. The fight below is one that won't be forgotten anytime soon.
"Crawl between my legs one thousand times, and I swear on the Heavens to be somewhat merciful!"
"You dare to court death like that?! I fear you have eyes and yet cannot see Mount Tai. "
...For a multitude of reasons.
"That devil will become a monster in the future."
"He's already one." The disguised nekoshou huffs as if offended by the idea. "How else do you describe someone who trains almost fifteen hours a day? And I mean that literally! He doesn't sleep; he cultivates."
A hardworking genius is certainly a fearsome concept, and yet, the world is already filled with talented individuals willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of their goals and whims. Bikou is another one of those geniuses.
When Yasaka first heard the rumors about a young monkey Youkai with the potential to surpass the legendary Sage Equal to Heavens, she almost immediately dismissed them as cheap propaganda from a Youkai Clan way past their old days of glory, but now she sees that the rumors undersell the boy's skills. Bikou's Touki mastery already surpasses what most experts can hope to achieve, being capable of infusing natural energy into his body and weaponry as easily as breathing, and his skill on basic Senjutsu is nothing to scoff at either.
There is little doubt he is the most likely candidate to win the whole tournament, which would also happen to be the best possible result since it would be the only one the Youkai as a whole would accept.
All the teenager needs to do in order to finish the fight is to land one last blow with his staff on his already exhausted opponent...And the devil just breaks Bikou's arm with a well-timed burning inverted armlock after momentarily disappearing from the arena using one very odd technique.
And now the devil is literally giving the Youkai the middle finger for booing him after his victory.
It seems like the finals of a Senjutsu tournament made for Youkai will be between a human and a devil, what a joy!
At least there is a lot of high-quality sake left.