Chapter 37: From Black…

Addictions were self-inflicted crimes.

Perhaps it might not lead to self-harm, but the inner mind of an addict knew they needed help.

A hand that could stop them from trudging a darkening path where they lost all form of control.

It was this reliance on others that was a strength.

No one existed alone in a vacuum. Bonds and close connections were important for one's recovery.

Especially when they had no fortitude to better themselves. When they yearned to be 'fixed'.

A blurry memory started to pop up…

A blonde girl and Cat Beastkin was holding him down from each side, with a ice queen keeping his body locked in place. Her rapier Mystic Tool acting as a wand that manifested the effects of Ice DUST.

A red-hooded girl holding the bottle she'd taken away from him. Not letting him take a single sip.

"G-give it back to me…! I'm… hurting… It feels so bad. I quit…! I can't do it!" Simon cried to her bitterly. He could practically taste the snot and tears that had been dripping down to his chin.

The withdrawal symptoms hit harder than anything.

Anxiety and depression started to settle in an hour after he'd sobered up. It was far too excruciating!

He couldn't move his body from the feeling of nausea and imbalance. His body was trembling.

However, they kept their stance.

"We're sorry, Teach'… We're sorry. You were the one who told us not to give in even if you begged."

"I've changed… my mind."

"Please, we only want what's best for you."

"Do you… even know what 'addiction' is…?"

"We're just-"

"Shut up!" He struggled, but they managed to hold him down. That was… until he started to feel lost.

'Why are they doing this to me…?!' After having forgotten his own conviction to get better from his addiction for his disciples, he blamed them for his pain… despite being the one who asked for this.

Reality and hallucinations started to meld once again. Simon saw his disciples in each of them.

He'd also remembered what he'd done that day…

"Stop him!" Velma reacted first by slapping away the tough Black Cigar in his mouth with her blade.

Perhaps it was thanks to the experience she'd racked up recently, but her senses sharpened.

She sensed how he was naturally using 'Conduit Physicality' to charge himself with ice energy.

If Nyaura knew the specifics of this technique, it might have been possible to interrupt this process.

But that was just a 'What if'…

The reality was that while Hyuk and Sebastian were holding him down, a layer of frost covered them.

They turned into ice statues momentarily…

Enough time for the old drunkard to breath in the secondhand smoke and 'Red Bull' energy spilt out.

He used it to completely stabilise his body while lifting his hands to backhand them into oblivion.

*Crash!*

The frozen ice sculptures shattered upon impact.

Two heads were uncontrollably launched to the ground by a sharp snap of their waist and backs.

As their feet flew into the air while falling, Simon slammed his foot into the floor and stretched out.

While in the stance of letting loose a One Inch Punch from the move records of Jeet Kune Do, he let the ice energy flow into his arm. The signature attack he'd already taught to Shane was executed:

'Extreme Inch Spear Thrust'!

Not so less an Internal Art as if was external. This technique's name meant more than an arm thrust.

The sound of high tightly wrapped muscles made the sound of a loaded gun ready to fire a shot.

*Kachik!*

And his fist slightly moved forward. The movement so subtle that one probably wouldn't have noticed.

The moment his arm thrusted, a spearhead of ice energy was shot out of his arm like a railgun bullet.

Instantly piercing the cat woman's body and making a flower of ice bloom from her back.

Her pupils turned upwards as she was knocked out, which caused the bunny girl to scream:

"Nyaura!" 

Three of them were knocked out, leaving only one person left. Velma took a stance with her chokutō.

She was ready to use everything she had to properly slice him up instead of shaking his power.

It wouldn't have worked anyway…

Simon had regained his broken, sieve-like physique that leaked out energy… only with a spike of power.

The Moonslice Energy seemed to have infused into his adrenaline to dope his body like a superhuman.

The dark energy he'd consumed also turned into black tattoos that covered his reddened skin.

They looked tattered and disorderly… like a child had drew lines all over him with a black marker.

Shading in his body into a skeletal appearance.

Like 3D body art that made him look bonier and skinnier than he actually was to everyone else.

His clothes being the only thing breaking that illusion and bringing her right back to reality.

No, he wasn't an undead…

'If not, then I can hurt him.' Velma thought while factoring in that he remembered his techniques.

He was now the antithesis of all types of fighters…

…whether they be magic users or genuine fighters.

However, she was the nemesis of fighters herself.

It wasn't like she'd lose just because of this factor.

She knew the synergy between Simon's five secret techniques would improve his power as a multiplier.

'Sleuth Sleight' would act as a glue joining them…

This would create a style she couldn't imagine.

However, regardless of his ability to counteract magic, he couldn't do anything to her weapon.

Though her blade was a manifestation of magical energy, it wasn't totally made up of Qi or Mana.

Hard-Light DUST that was 'shaped' into her chokutō didn't completely lose its form as DUST.

This made it so her weapon couldn't be considered the type of 'raw energy' Conduit Physicality could use. As it was classed as a material entity rather than a projected weapon, he couldn't absorb it.

That's why she fearlessly stood her ground.

Her face darkening considerably… She looked at the drunkard that hurt the person closest to her.

His body stumbling around while jittering:

"Give me… Give me…"

Her rabbit ears perked up as she looked closer at him, but her vision blurred the closer she looked.

…What was this sensation?

Was she affected by magic? But Simon shouldn't be able to utilise magic in the condition he was in!

So what was happening…?

"Give me… my booze!" Simon tumbled and swayed in her direction. It made Velma look at him 'deeper'.

Her Photographic Eyes of Self Evolution still having the ability to comprehend what she was seeing.

She realised that it was a few complicated factors that was fuelling this disorienting technique of his.

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The first was his mindset.

Similar to going 'BEAST MODE' or getting into 'The Zone', the Drunken Chaos he showed was rare.

Something that usually didn't have a trigger.

This state of mind was supposed to be a form of hysteria weaponised with the reason of the mind.

When the brain was callously used as a weapon.

She could tell that she couldn't ever hope to copy this state… As it wasn't exactly a 'technique'.

To get into Drunken Chaos, one wouldn't necessarily have to literally become drunk.

It was more like trying to 'act drunk'.

The state of mind was about getting drunk on your own miseries. Polluting your heart with impurities.

Then directing that 'impurity' on others…

Self-loathing, anger, regret, tarnished pride, envy, craving, hunger, etc… as well as one's addiction.

All of it turned into a danger to all around him.

Unlike how 'Inner Harmony' required peace of mind and purity towards how one saw themselves, it was a mindset that was the realisation of being at war with oneself. To want nothing but destruction.

Thus, being stained in hostility and darkness…

If to have Inner Harmony was to have an irrational enough sanity to face the past, future, and present… then Drunken Chaos was to disregard everything for the sake of ruining EVERYTHING.

They say inner peace leads to happiness, but…

Rather than harmoniously accepting the world and regaining joy, he had the sadness to ruin people.

Himself included…

A truly 'rational insanity' unlike being intoxicated by alcohol, which would actually dull one's senses.

But this wasn't why Velma was feeling nauseous…

'Ginga… Scream…?' She managed to derive the name of the technique he used in this situation.

Although it was a more 'normal' technique that was pure external martial arts, she didn't have the traits required to pull it off. The only replicable part was the 'Ginga' part Simon derived from Capoeira.

A dancing martial arts meaning to 'War Dance'.

While the 'Scream' part of the name meant having the emotions needed to fuel overwhelm others…

"Give… Give… Give… Booze… Me… Give..  Booze… Booze… Booze…" His voice was discomforting .

The uncomfortable feeling that was overwhelming her was similar to how people would feel their teeth hurt from an high pitch sound… or their body convulse from an extremely horrible sensation.

A contract to how a dance excited and inspired…

The fusion of Ginga (Sway) of Capoeira and the feigned intoxication of Drunken Fist was liberating.

It tore off the chains of a creature of the abyss…

Velma could only watch…

Strength drained from her body from the feeling of nausea chaining her down, restricting her balance.

That feeling started to wear off when she stopped looking at him, but his steps could still be heard.

Her back shivered from the reaper inching closer.

She felt her life hanging by a thread when she closed her eyes. It wasn't the time to feel scared.

If she used all that she had learnt, it was possible to counterattack the moment he stepped in range.

All she had to do was be patient…

Just calmly-

"Hello~" Perhaps thanks to her anxiety, she'd misread his speed enough for him to creep close.

Simon was close enough for his nose to touch her hair. A satanic smile plastered across his face.

Her heart jumped in fright, causing her to slash without thinking. The worst mistake for a fighter.

But the crazy geezer's reaction was even worst.

"Give me… my booze!" He roared before biting down at the blade swung at him like a freak.

"AAAAGGGHH!!!" Velma screamed in fear she'd killed him… and the whole irrationality of it all.

Why did he do that?!

Did he want to die?!

*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*

Her mouth gaped at the unforeseen occurrence.

'Dust Shroud' was used to destabilise her weapon momentarily, and Conduit Physicality followed up.

Allowing him to swallow the Hard-Light DUST…!

The cyan chokutō vanished. He gulped it all down like he was devouring a hard piece of rock candy.

She was frozen in horror as he did so.

"Ew… This isn't my booze!" He raged, grabbing her by the long bunny ears extending out of her head.

His mouth opened wide…

"S-stop!" She didn't want to die, but her screams fell on deaf ears. Simon clenched his fist strongly.

Black fluids bled from her the crushed bunny ears. 

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt one bit.

The Dust Shroud technique he used affected her body strangely, likely because of her physique.

Since her parents had passed down the 'Black Rabbit Divine Physique' to her, she'd always thought it was an intrinsic part of her body. Like how her normal ears were essentially part of 'her'.

However, the next scene changed her mindset.

She felt her Divine Physique vanishing as he drained her body of its deeply imbued dark power.

The remnant Black Steel Limit Ascension Compound in her body was drained out of her.

Velma collapsed, and the crazy geezer 'drank' the compound he'd extracted using his techniques.

The strength of them far surpassed her copies…

When he gulped it down his throat, he made a satisfied look as if he was satisfied with the taste.

"Now… die." Was his last words to the weak girl.

His hand reached out around her neck. His power and dexterity made her unable to resist further.

*Crack*

Her neck snapped crisply. The sound so clear that it was music to the ears of the deranged psycho.

Simon's murky eyes reflecting the figure of his red hooded disciple powerlessly losing her strength.

Her arms falling down to each side.

He dropped her body, then moved to finish off everyone else. His killing intent unfathomably high.

When Velma's eyes watched him move closer to Nyaura dangerously, the light in them invigorated.

However, she was still held back by her body.

The crushed windpipe was making it hard to get ant oxygen to her brain. Velma was truly dying…

…but she wasn't out of all options.

There was one trick she was meaning to try. It wouldn't have been possible to use 'that technique' before, but she should be able to use it now that she'd stolen a fraction of Simon's red energy.

The pellet inside her moved, and an elbow gently tapped the waist-holstered Superstar Secret.

It was time to start Round 2 of their struggle.

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