Chapter 132: Kai vs [VOID] (1)
[VOID] lunged first.
No transition from the smile. He closed the ten-meter distance in two steps — faster than a body his size should move. The corruption in the ground responding to the movement, propelling him.
Right fist to Kai’s chest.
Kai dodged to the side.
The fist passed his shoulder and the air where Kai’s face had been turned solid for a second. As if [VOID] weren’t attacking with just the fist — with the space around the fist as well.
Kai counterattacked with an elbow to the side.
The elbow landed.
[VOID]’s side gave way as it should.
And returned the impact.
Kai went three meters back.
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[DraconicLegacy]: THE SIDE RETURNED THE IMPACT
[Stephen_Summers]: he hit him AND got hit back. corruption absorbs and redirects.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the air turning solid behind the fist. [VOID] fights with the space ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Kai attacked normally. corruption used Kai’s attack against Kai.
[Bangsund]: so the harder he hits the harder he gets hit back.
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund exactly. that complicates everything. he can’t use Deep Resonant Impact.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the Qi shield still active. the three protected. Kai calculating in real time. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Kai got up off the ground.
’The corruption returns energy. Every blow I land feeds it.’
’Resonant Impact isn’t going to work. Internal transmission is exactly what he wants me to send him.’
’I need something that doesn’t enter him.’
[VOID] was advancing again.
The ground beneath [VOID]’s feet moved with him — the black stains propelling him, redirecting his weight, giving him speed his body shouldn’t have. The ground beneath Kai’s feet also responded. But in reverse — more resistance, more viscosity, each step costing more than normal.
Kai activated Field Priority.
The entire field as a threat — not just [VOID]. The ground. The air. The corrupted trees on the perimeter. Each element with its own movement pattern and potential.
Too much information.
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[DraconicLegacy]: Field Priority saturated. the whole forest is hostile.
[Stephen_Summers]: the ground slows Kai down and accelerates [VOID]. that’s absolute home field advantage.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ too much information. Kai at an informational disadvantage for the first time in the arc. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Kai’s system reads threats. when everything is a threat the system doesn’t help.
[Bangsund]: and the shield for the three consumes Qi too. he’s spending on two fronts.
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund that. that’s the real problem. if Kai lowers the shield the three get hit by the corruption.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Serah watching this too. calculating when to intervene. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
[VOID] arrived.
Combination — left fist, knee, right palm.
Kai blocked the first with his forearm. The forearm absorbed the impact and [VOID] smiled because the forearm also absorbed the corruption from the contact. The skin on Kai’s arm at the point of the block turned slightly black.
Kai felt it — not pain. Cold. Something entering.
He moved resonance Qi to the forearm.
The stain went away.
But it went away slowly.
The knee reached his side. Kai turned with the blow but the right palm was already coming at the angle of his turn.
The palm reached his chest.
Kai went five meters back. His feet found ground at the edge of the clearing where the black soil met the corrupted forest.
He landed on his feet.
His chest processing the impact. His ribs registering a vibration that wasn’t normal — not impact damage, something that had passed the bone and was inside.
Kai breathed short twice.
Qi to the interior. The black thing went away.
But when it went away, the shield around the three dropped to twelve meters.
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[DraconicLegacy]: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ the shield dropped three meters
[Stephen_Summers]: the Qi he spends cleaning himself from the inside is subtracted from the shield.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Kai is spending Qi to avoid being corrupted and to protect the three. two fronts. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: the palm reached his chest. if Kai drops his hands completely [VOID] puts it inside without a block.
[Bangsund]: 12 meters is still wide. but it’s dropping.
[Drakeking]: every blow from [VOID] is a double attack. physical and internal corruption. Kai has to process both.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Serah took a step forward. markings active. she’s going to intervene. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Serah entered the fight.
Not with structural ice — with primordial aura at 100%, the pressure field that made creatures with prey instinct stop.
[VOID] felt her.
He turned toward her.
The prey instinct did nothing to him. But the physical pressure of the aura did — he stepped back half a pace, processing it.
Serah launched structural ice to the clearing floor between [VOID] and her.
The ice spread.
The corruption in the ground absorbed the ice in two seconds.
And the ice came out of the ground as black spikes toward Serah.
Serah dodged them with an SSS lateral step.
Three spikes grazed her. The markings absorbed but dropped four points.
"The ice doesn’t work," Serah said.
"Nothing area-based works," Kai said. "He absorbs and redirects."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: THE ICE TURNED INTO BLACK SPIKES. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
[Stephen_Summers]: Serah dropped to 96%. three spikes grazing her. that’s the cost of intervening wrong.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "nothing area-based works." Kai classifying the problem in real time. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: primordial aura worked on a physical level. the ice didn’t. Serah now knows what to use and what not to.
[Bangsund]: [VOID] stepped back half a pace from the aura’s physical pressure. that’s information.
[Drakeking]: corruption absorbs AREA magic. physical pressure isn’t magic. it’s force.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara heard "nothing area-based works." she’s reconfiguring her approach. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Mara moved.
Without the gray aura — she had deactivated it the moment Serah said what she said about the ice. Fists forward. Pure force, no layer for the corruption to process.
She reached [VOID]’s flank while [VOID] was turned toward Serah.
Right fist to the side.
No corruption responding — because there was no energy to absorb, only mass and speed.
[VOID] received the impact.
He went two meters toward the edge of the clearing.
Mara the first thing today that moved him more than a step.
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[DraconicLegacy]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA WITHOUT AURA MOVED [VOID] TWO METERS ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Stephen_Summers]: pure force without energy. the corruption didn’t know what to do with that.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA MARA MARA ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Mara deactivated her aura knowing the aura would make her vulnerable. she took a risk for effectiveness.
[Bangsund]: so Mara without aura is the only one of the three who can hit him without giving him ammunition.
[Drakeking]: and Serah with physical claws too. Lira with blood magic can’t. it’s area magic.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ two effective combatants. Kai and Mara. Serah with physical claws. Lira in trouble. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
[VOID] got up off the ground.
He brushed off the white sleeve where the black ground had touched it.
The sleeve went back to being white instantly.
He looked at Mara.
"Interesting." He smiled with the same tooth. "The Orc without a system. Pure force. No layer to corrupt."
"Yes."
"But no defense against direct corruption either."
Mara looked at him.
[VOID] extended his hand.
Not toward Mara — toward the clearing floor between them.
The ground rose. A column of corrupt material shooting upward and then toward Mara. Not physical force. Not mass. Pure corruption — the kind that had entered the forest creatures.
Mara saw it coming.
She couldn’t dodge it without withdrawing from the angle where she was hitting [VOID].
Kai activated the focused shield.
Two meters of the shield concentrated into a strip toward Mara.
The corruption crashed against the strip.
And the other three — Serah, Lira, and the remaining radius — were left unprotected for two seconds.
---
The two seconds were enough for [VOID] to look at Kai’s chat.
Directly. As if he saw exactly where Kai’s viewers were.
"You," he said. "The ones from Kai Reno’s stream."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: HE’S LOOKING AT US. HE’S LOOKING AT US.
[Stephen_Summers]: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ that shouldn’t be possible.
[Warwolf]: IS HE SEEING ME??
[Martijn_Wiersma]: how does he know where another stream’s viewers are?
[Bangsund]: someone turn him off. DON’T LOOK AT ME.
[Drakeking]: [VOID] has access to Kai’s stream. how. HOW.
[Zerox]: A_D_M gives the access. that has to be it.
---
"Kai Reno shouldn’t be in Aethon."
The fight stopped while he spoke. Kai with his hand extended holding the focused shield. Mara evading the corrupt column. Serah and Lira repositioning.
[VOID] not moving. Speaking to the chat.
"His name isn’t in A_D_M’s records. He never committed a crime. There’s no reason for him to be here."
Pause.
"A_D_M knows it. A_D_M is going to erase him. It’s a matter of time."
Pause.
"And you know it too. You all know it. And you keep giving him gifts. You keep watching. Knowing you’re watching something that shouldn’t exist."
He smiled.
"I admire you."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: DON’T ADMIRE US.
[Stephen_Summers]: he’s addressing Kai’s chat directly. shit.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ A_D_M IS NOT GOING TO ERASE HIM SHUT YOUR MOUTH ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: he’s using the negotiation moment. no. no. he’s not negotiating. he’s sowing doubt.
[Bangsund]: I got to the stream at Chapter 94. I don’t regret it. I’M NOT GOING TO STOP WATCHING.
[Drakeking]: does A_D_M know? probably yes. are they going to erase him? not if we keep being here.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ [VOID]’s chat with 48 million also hearing this. he’s not just talking to us. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Kai looked at [VOID].
"You finished."
"For now." He went back to Kai. He smiled again. "Let’s continue."
The ground between them moved.
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[DraconicLegacy]: LET’S CONTINUE.
[Stephen_Summers]: [VOID] recovered the fight’s rhythm exactly where he left it. that was calculated down to the second.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Kai in the same spot. Kai firm. he gave nothing to [VOID]’s chat. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: part 2 begins with Kai knowing [VOID] can pause to talk to chat whenever he wants. that’s a tactical factor.
[Bangsund]: we keep giving gifts. we keep watching. screw you [VOID].
[Drakeking]: the fight wasn’t resolved. the conversation wasn’t resolved. everything pending for part 2.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the shield dropped to 12 meters during the speech. Kai has less margin now. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
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