Chapter 238: Chapter 215 : A Bloody Conclusion

*Step*

Rachel moved across the Academy grounds with hurried steps, her long white coat flapping in the wind. Impatience coloured her aged visage, as it always did whenever someone was in need. This impatience manifested into reality seconds later; a golden aura escaped from her figure and squiggled around like an amoeba.

“Relax, Rae.”

The tension in Rachel’s face faltered at the voice. It belonged to Mei Gon, her bodyguard/medical disciple.

“Yeah, relax. You’re always too serious. The injury this time is just a broken arm.”

Following the first, her second bodyguard/medical disciple, Rui Gon, Mei Gon’s twin sister followed up.

“No, now's no time for that," Rachel emphasised with a head shake. "Every second I waste is a second they could be in pain. Let's make haste."

Convinced by her own words, the Ascendant ceased using her limbs. Wrapping herself up in Psi, she took flight and headed for the Academy’s main hospital.

The twins shared a small smile at their master’s behaviour before taking flight and joining Rachel's side.

One might find it odd for an Ascendant to have bodyguards. It was definitely a strange sight. Still, the twins, both Rank 9 Telekinetics, wouldn’t have it any other way.

In a border dispute conflict between Xinian states some two decades ago, a much younger Rachel Norton could be found. She had rushed into the chaotic battlefield without a shred of concern for her own safety, only others.

She wasn’t an Ascendant back then and combat-wise, she was weaker than your average unenhanced norin male. Still, where she lacked in physical brawn or psionic might, she made up for in spirit and determination.

Fueled by the desire to save lives, she braved hell after hell without batting an eye, all to save as many lives as she could. This tendency had earned her now-legendary title, Nightingale.

During that border dispute conflict, the twins’ father was just one of the hundreds of people she saved from death’s clutches. To Rachel, it was just the natural thing to do, as taught to her by her parents, who lost their lives as combat medics during her teenage years.

She didn’t expect compensation or gratitude...or anything in return for her actions, so was taken aback when later meeting the twins and hearing their request to serve her as lifelong bodyguards.

She denied them at first and second and third…but the twins’ persistence eventually won out. Now, the trio assumed this arrangement, never being too far away from each other. Having served Rachel for a decade, the twins had also learned her medical techniques and become skilled medics in their own right. At the same time, they acted as sources of comfort and brakes for Nightingale.

The days of boldly rushing into every battlefield were behind Rachel at this point in her life. It wasn’t like the desire had left her - no, even now, sporting silvery hairs, said desire remained rooted in her being, and like a tree, it had grown with age. But age brought wisdom. She came to understand that there were more effective means to save as many lives as possible.

She became a nominal Hunter and used the Pillar factions' resources to increase the quantity and quality of medical institutions across all of Inis. Her selfless deeds had done much for her reputation; to the world, she was a paragon of virtue, an ideal to strive for, with many even referring to her as the Ravenless Raven out of reverence.

The trio arrived at the hospital in no time. Not a minute later, they were before the patient’s room door. Rachel opened the sliding door and what she found was…surprising to say the least. Instead of agony or the lethargy that came from taking a painless potion, she found agitation radiating from the young man.

“Holy shit, this is insane, damn, almost…whoa,” the patient muttered with an awed look on his face, mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

Rachel’s bafflement cleared up as she spotted the telepathic link attached to the young man.

“Oh, watching something interesting?” she started in a friendly tone.

“Ah, oh, yes, more than interesting. It’s amazing, I’ve never seen a fight like this.”

“A fight?” Mei jumped at the topic, being a battle maniac herself. “From which show?” she followed up.

“Aha, no show, this is a real fight. It’s happening right now, I’m surprised you don’t know about it, everyone’s watching it.”

“Huh, really? Who's fighting who? Someone famous?”

"Very," Beno emphasised with a smile. "Silver from the Silver Path has been fighting the Martial Grandmaster Lamar Dey for some ten minutes now," he said, causing the trio's eyes to flicker in recognition. "The fight looks to be nearing its end any time now - ah, oh, whew, that was close, Silver almost got knocked out," the youth spoke excitedly as he made sure to keep the better part of his attention on the footage. “And speaking of them, win or lose, those two will have to see you as well...so bloody.”

Rachel couldn’t ignore the comment and had her telepathic Psi connect to a nearby Telepath to see the fight in question. As soon as the clash registered in her mind, her heart couldn’t help but skip a beat, not out of love but concern. Her hands clenched up at once. The sight of their battered forms stirred up her innate nature in no small way.

It wasn’t that she abhorred fighting as a whole, she didn't, but any fighting that resulted in injuries was something she found to be barbaric and unsightly. Still, she didn’t avert her gaze from reality. People fought for all sorts of reasons; she wouldn't take it upon herself to change humanity's nature, that was a fool’s errand. No, her duty was to save lives, as many as possible.

After suppressing the urge to rush over to the platform and stop the fight, she shared the link with her bodyguards, who had requested her to, and chose to focus on her current patient. Catching sight of Sigurd reassured Rachel that, at the very least, neither of the two would die, and as long they didn’t, she could heal whatever injuries they may sustain.

After releasing a sigh, she moved to the young man’s side. Beno opened his eyes for the first time and cast his gaze on his broken right arm. While he was interested in the fight’s outcome, getting healed by THE Nightingale was also something he was greatly interested in. He strained his senses to capture her Unique power in action. He expected something flashy and magical...but this didn't happen.

'Ah, that's it?' he thought in disappointment.

From his point of view, there was nothing to see. Rachel's golden aura saw two spikes, the second one larger than the first, and that was it. One moment his arm was broken and by the next, it was fixed.

“That should do it,” Rachel said after examining Beno's now-pristine right arm with her Psi Scan.

“Ah, amazing, it’s back to new,” the young man said after reclaiming his expectations. He waved his arm about, feeling none of the discomfort from before. “Thank you so much, Lady Nightingale, I won’t forget this deed.”

“No need for that, it is my duty as a medic. Instead of remembering that, remember to be more careful during practice,” Rachel returned, bearing her usual warm smile.

“I will and thank you again.”

Rachel received the young man’s gratitude, more for his sake than her own, before making her exit.

“There’s no need to go there, we might even ruin the match. Let’s just wait here for them,” Mei Gon suggested.

Rachel’s face flickered with a troubled look but she saw sense in her bodyguard’s words. The trio decided to wait in an empty hospital room while watching the bout in the meantime. They wouldn't have to wait long for it to end, just a minute more.

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***

Silver and Lamar punched and kicked up a whirlwind, each strike accompanied by screaming winds and the roar of the crowd. Speckles of blood, dirt, sweat and stone fragments flew every which way, swept up by the man-made storm that continued to rage in the ring.

Silver’s punches punctured holes in the air...and only the air, as Lamar slipped past them all. Not only did the Natural go untouched during the flurry, but he also managed to land three solid hits on his opponent. Avoiding another punch, the Martial Grandmaster pulled back before sending a whipping left kick to his opponent’s head.

Silver angled his elbow to receive the attack, hoping to pierce the shin, but Lamar’s leg snaked at the last moment, sneaking through Silver’s guard and striking his chest. The switch-up robbed most of the oomph of the kick but Lamar didn’t mind. His left leg flashed back down and then with a quick turn and slight advance, he fired off a powerful horizontal kick with his right leg.

Silver threw himself into a backwards lean, becoming horizontal himself as he let his opponent’s kick sail over him. At the same time, his right arm wrapped around his opponent’s extended leg while his right foot thrust out toward Lamar’s left leg’s joint. He found it and then pulled and pushed with his arm and leg respectively.

Both fighters’ postures collapsed at the act, but only for a moment. Silver’s left hand dug into a tile's groove and gripping tightly, he moved to spin both him and Lamar clockwise to transition into the finishing sequence that decided his first sparing match against Jeff.

A vision of him on top of Lamar’s thigh, about to twist his ankle played across his mind. However, this future came undone by Lamar’s next actions. Using both hands, he did the same thing as Silver, but span his body in the opposite direction. The fighters came apart and after a pair of inelegant rolls, they sprang to their feet and reengaged each other.

Thirty seconds had passed since the match’s restart. It was as enthralling as before, more so even. The bar had somehow been raised again, the pair seemingly pushing past their limits, especially Lamar.

The Martial Grandmaster had shifted into a higher gear entirely, leaving his opponent in the dust and dirt, literally. Where the crowd was unsure of who was winning before, they weren't now.

Lamar had taken the gloves off as well as his white wristwear, making his already hard-to-follow punches even harder to follow. Silver was put on the back foot and within the last half-minute, had met with several close shaves.

The crowd saw the direction of the match, but nonetheless, kept their wits about them, in the back of their minds, remembering Silver's earlier words. Perhaps he could turn it around somehow, many people thought, holding their breaths in anticipation. They waited for the other shoe to drop. But as the seconds passed, doubts set in; the fused being was barefooted, after all.

Lamar didn't drop his guard. There were no doubts in his mind that Silver would try something, anything. That said, the Martial Grandmaster knew not to chase shadows or fight ghosts. He maintained a high vigilance for any trick that may come but didn't allow himself to fixate on Silver's plans.

Lamar's battle plan was simple, to overwhelm his opponent through unrelenting attacks. He would attack without pause until either he was down or Silver was. He was curious about what ploy Silver had thought up, but not so curious that he would hold back.

'Best pull your card out soon, Silver, I can't see you lasting another twenty seconds.'

Silver read these thoughts in Lamar's golden eyes but didn't rush to act. He let his opponent and the restless crowd wait. His brilliant tactic required precision. Failing to follow an exact sequence of moves would result in his certain defeat, so failure wasn’t an option.

Finally, at the forty-second mark, Silver made his move, starting the tactic’s first step. No one noticed this first step, all too dazzled by Silver's stream of spinning kicks.

The Martial Grandmaster bore the kicks and then retaliated with a barrage of punches and palm strikes, the latter transitioning into grabbing attacks.

'Almost,' Silver thought, eyeing Lamar's closed hand just inches away and the strands of golden hair that he had been robbed of.

He dodged another grab while lunging backwards. Lamar moved in hot pursuit, first dropping low and then jumping with a twist to deliver a flying high kick. Silver ducked under Lamar while turning and then from a ‘get set’ posture, launched himself toward the landing Lamar. The Martial Grandmaster saw his opponent's charge and thought nothing of it. Upon touching the ground, he fell into a firm stance and readied himself for the incoming tackle.

Silver crashed into his opponent's raised guard and rushed to envelop Lamar in his embrace, his hands closing tightly around the Gi. The Martial Grandmaster's preparations proved sufficient; he tanked the momentum without issue. His arms spread outwards to break Silver’s grab while at the same time, his right leg filled with tension as he readied an upwards knee strike.

But it was here where things took an unexpected turn.

'Huh, what is he...ah?!'

Silver didn’t push forward or persist to cling onto his figure. The tackle was just to get in close. After the initial impact, he suddenly pulled back

and then, with their faces just inches away, he parted his red-stained lips to release a jet stream of blood toward Lamar’s widened eyes.

It was quick and no different from a paintbrush, going right to left across the Martial Grandmaster’s baffled face. Silver wished to paint both eyes but Lamar’s sudden jerk away prevented this. Frazzled by the unexpected attack, the Natural’s fight or flight instinct was activated, and he immediately took flight. With no trace of elegance, he hurled himself back. He needed a second to mentally adjust.

Silver wasn’t having this though. He bolted into action, he had to. He was racing against the clock. The blood loss had turned his thoughts sluggish. Still, even in this fuzzy state of mind, he never lost sight of the path before him, for it led to victory.

Silver didn’t move directly toward his opponent and instead darted rightward into Lamar’s new blindspot. The Natural panicked at his opponent’s disappearance and snapped his head leftward with more force than needed, an inaccuracy in the position. When he captured Silver again, the young man was before him, low to the ground, right arm cocked back, set to unleash a devastating punch.

The Martial Grandmaster was unbalanced in every sense of the word but that didn't stop him from reacting. He raised his arms to guard his head. In his mind, he'd be in for a few powerful blows but the match would continue. Just recover and victory's mine, the thought passed through his head in the passing moments. Resolve turning firm, his stance moved to do the same but...

‘Ah?!’

It was simple but effective. Lamar’s thoughts blanked as the rug was pulled from under him - no, not rug but stone tile. Silver’s left hand which had been scrapping across the floor found the groove, dug in, at the expense of a cracked nail, and lifted the tile under Lamar’s right foot.

The fused being's right fist was meant to distract...and it did just that. After hooking his fingers in, Silver flipped the tile using both strength and momentum. The ground was a natural fulcrum and Lamar was sent toppling back.

Breaking his opponent’s posture, Silver moved to deliver the finishing blow. He knew he only had one opportunity to do so and moved to seize it, to rightfully claim his victory.

Lamar didn’t give up though. His arms rushed up once again. He would survive this and win, was the only notion circulating his head as he stumbled backwards.

Time seemed to slow down in these passing moments, for all those present. This was the moment of truth; could Silver pull off the unthinkable?

The answer:..yes.

Howling winds cheered on his speedy advance; Silver closed in, moving somewhat rightward before doing a wide-swinging right hook. Lamar, with his blood-stained left eye, saw none of this. The punch slipped past his radar and landed cleanly on the Martial Grandmaster’s jaw.

*Bam*

The Natural's eyes and expression instantly went blank as his consciousness momentarily saw itself out. Without a pilot present, Lamar’s body wobbled a bit before crashing down knees-first on the solid stone. The unpleasant squelch and crack sounded amidst silence, a silence that didn’t last long. Three seconds later, a thunderous roar erupted throughout the Academy.

The epic contest had concluded; the winner...Silver.

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