Chapter 92

During his travels across the world, Kairi inevitably came into contact with many strange odds and ends, both magical and non-magical. Self-replicating Martyoshka dolls that grew larger, whales that could swim through creeks and streams, humans that lived with fungus growing all over their body, he had seen much, enough for several lifetimes. In some cases, he also received a souvenir, as payment, as spoils of war, sometimes as a token of remembrance as well. In most cases though, the souvenirs became part of his arsenal, and the lizard-like familiar currently facing Kirei was no different.

A deep tomb unearthed by Greek mages attracted his attention while he was in taking care of a Sealing Designation that had taken refuge in the Grecian countryside, and after a series of twists and turns while trying to apprehend the heretical mage alive, he ended up with several dragon teeth, escaping the tomb and its secret with his sanity and body intact. He had checked that the dragon teeth were the genuine artifact, and after it was confirmed, he set to work on a project that he had been contemplating ever since he had 'borrowed' some materials from a recently deceased magus.

The result was the abomination standing slightly taller than the priest, looking like a skinned lizard with some of it's bones and joints clearly in view. However, some parts were slightly off, with the mouth being the most prominent feature. The teeth were misaligned, disproportionate in some way that wasn't obvious, but still felt unsettling. It's head was grotesque to say the least, with three eyes set directly behind a large mouth, while a red, slimy liquid seemed to coat the top.

Kirei's eyes traveled over it's form, noting the dull color of the bones, the densely packed muscle fibers wrapped over them, the eyes that darted around every once in a while, and the thick, muscular tail lying limply on the ground, stretching past the tree trunk behind. If he were to give an estimate for it's length, he would put it at around two meters, give or take a few centimeters. Notable, bony protrusions poked out off the flesh on the tail, similar to a spine.

Six eyes blinked in unison, the head with rows of razor sharp teeth turning slightly to keep the priest in it's sight. A forked reptilian tongue slithered out, tasting the air, before it retreated back into its mouth. For a moment, both of them stood still.

Then the Black Keys disappeared from Kirei's hands, three on each side aimed at the head, torso and legs. At the same time, he himself shot forward, his brown hair ruffled by the wind as he appeared in front of the beast.

"HSHRARRR!"

With surprising agility and speed for its size, it swung it's claw tipped hands at Kirei, the right hand sweeping towards him with enough strength to crush steel. The finely sharpened bone met the slender blades of the Black Keys as they deflected the swipe downwards, its hand slashing the air just above his head. Without stopping, he prepared his elbow to strike the monster around where it's stomach would be. The Black Keys he had thrown earlier didn't seem to do much more than annoy it.

He dropped even further again, his whole body kissing the ground as the left claws stabbed the space where he had been standing, the wind whistling with it. Raising one leg, it stomped straight down on where he was crouched.

The tips of Black Keys poked out of the top of it's foot as it stepped on them while Kirei rolled out of the way, the Black Keys stabbed in it's foot barely deterring it from getting on all fours and chasing Kirei as he jumped out of the roll and proceeded to sidestep behind a tree as it bulldozed past him, the tail digging into the ground to slow it down and rotate its body to face him. Seeing the muscles in it's legs tense, the red meat bunching up, he prepared himself.

The tail slammed against the ground as it leapt forward, spinning it around as it swung its tail like a whip at Kirei. Jumping over it as it wrapped around the trunk, the lizard used the grip it had on the tree to pull itself closer, the tip of the tail coming around at the same time to smack Kirei in the shoulder.

"Hng."

His shoulder started bleeding, a hole from where the bony tip of the tail had pierced through the cassock. Still, it wasn't too deep, and his face remained impassive.

Right after the tail struck him, the lizard reached him, left arm swinging down viciously to tear his right arm straight out of the socket. Yet the beast was clumsy, telegraphing it's moves seconds before it actually moved, so even with speed that surpassed Kirei's, it was easy for him to dodge. Throwing a Black Key at the monster, it went right past it, striking it's long shadow on the ground.

Without paying any attention to it, the lizard pressed forward, bodily pinning Kirei to the tree, finely honed teeth developed for cutting and tearing poised to crush his head as the mouth opened wide, the tongue slithering in and out between the knife sized biscupids. It bit down.

*Krk*

The Command Spells glowed as their energy was siphoned, molded into practical energy for use in a way similar to Magic Crests. Mana flooded his muscles, the joints, bones, tensors, nerves and skin all felt a slight tingle, before they became Reinforced beyond what they were originally capable of.

Originally, there weren't really any grappling techniques in Bajiquan. It mostly relied on elbow and shoulder strikes that utilized the full rotation of the hips to bring out explosive power. But if an opponent had you in a full body lock, it became difficult to exercise the full might. However, Kirei had long since overcome such limitations, fully understanding the method of transmitting force with the body he had trained with since birth. If he was securely tied up against a tree, he would still be able to break it after several attempts.

In addition, there was also the martial art known as Piguaquan that was revered as the pair of Bajiquan that completed it's flaws. When the two were learnt simultaneously and incorporated with each other, one could be said to be undefeatable under the heavens. Indeed, the famed martial artist Heroic Spirit Li Shuwen was one such person, who learnt and mastered both forms to become a true legend, revered long after his death as 'God of Spear'.

"I do not know what it's like to hit a man twice."

Though Kirei had yet to approach such territory, one could say he was on his way to understanding the concept underlying it.

His palms smoothly flowed against the flesh attached to its arms, reaching the desired position for maximum leverage. Subtly shifting his waist against the tail and the lizard's body pinning him, he Reinforced his entire body with the Command Seals. The two legs planted securely on the ground like two tree trunks exerted strength, force flowing from the ground, through his legs and into his body.

Then he twisted.

Both his palms centered on the same points of the arm, albeit on opposite sides, rotated, in fact his entire arm spun. At the same time, his waist moved as well, generating torque. The arms, the waist and the legs combined their power to produce a devastating amount of force, the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

The lizard's arm was ripped off like it was trapped in a washing machine spinning at the speed of sound, the flesh tearing out of the socket like a papier mache. His posture also brought him lower as his elbow pushed away the lizard slightly at the chest, allowing him to shove the arm into its mouth to delay its mouth from closing on his head. The bone in the arm cracked as it bit down, no pain from it's arm registering at all.

Spinning out of its deadly embrace, he proceeded to target the rest of the vulnerable and exposed joints with deadly force, handchops, palm strikes and grappling twists were all executed in less than half a minute, utterly dismantling the beast. By the time he was done, only the tail was left.

Of course, the beast didn't remain idle, but found it's tail encountering heavy resistance as it tried to unwrap it from around the tree, like something was pinning it in place.

A stomp from his foot broke off the base of the tail, and he retrieved the Black Key stabbed into the shadow.

With his two arms, thick and muscled like iron barrels, he lifted it's limbless body into the air, placing one arm under its jaw, and another on top of it's head, being careful to not place his arms near the constantly snapping jaw. After securing a proper handhold, his muscles bulged on his back, the veins standing out on his arms.

*sshhLRRRKK*

The wet sound of flesh ripping and liquid spurting from the wound preceded the bones cracking and creaking under the stress, before they broke completely under the pressure. With a thud, the limp body fell to the ground, while he held the still active head in his hands, but it was obviously steadily losing energy as the jaws movements slowed down.

Kairi looked behind him, cursing when he saw the monster fall to Kirei.

"Fuck, I hoped it would stall him for a few more minutes, but it died in just five."

The failed dragon/undead hybrid familiar he had tried to create was somewhat lacking in brains, but it was definitely deadly fast and strong, yet it had been unable to stall the man of the church for more than a few minutes.

Maybe I should have bolted straight from behind the tree before he got preoccupied…

Still, he was almost at the bike, if he could just get on it, he was sure he could lose the Master and the Servant as well, with a bit of luck. Running around the thick foliage, he froze when he reached the bushes where he had hidden it.

His blood ran cold when he saw the horse pawing in front of him, the armored figure clutching a spiked lance turning towards him when it sensed his arrival.

"Ah."

Lancer had been called to intercept him while Kirei was busy fighting the lizard, and after looking at his path of running, she deduced that the place he was trying to reach was somewhere around here, so she had dematerialized and snuck over. When he had slowed down, she reappeared.

"I may have missed the first time, but the second one won't."