The World's Greatest Chain User (102)

Jasper walked out of the massive structure that was Nyx's palace. He was at the fifty foot tall gates that surrounded the building. He looked around him to make sure the perimeter was secure. Guards made their rounds on the outside of the iron gates in a uniform fashion.

"Perfect." Jasper said.

"Hm? What's perfect?"

Jasper quickly turned his gaze to the gate.

A man in a black hood was leaning against it. His facial features were hidden, but he had snow white skin, and the irises in his eyes were also white.

Jasper turned facing the mysterious man. "I didn't notice you. How'd you get inside?"

The man smirked. "I wouldn't notice me either."

Jasper's expression grew serious. "I'm in a good mood today. So I'll tell you this once. Leave this area. It's forbidden to outsiders."

A small laugh came out of the hooded man. "Was that supposed to be a threat? Watch yourself."

Jasper's eyebrows twitched. He stepped up to the man, stopping after three steps.

They glared at each other.

*"What's this pressure? It feels... ethereal."* Jasper thought.

The two men stared at each other.

The cloudy skies of Olympia began to split apart, creating a thin gap in the clouds. The sun beamed down on just the two of them like a spotlight.

The hooded man closed his eyes and smiled a little. "Don't get so serious over a little intimidation. You're not on my level."

Jasper frowned. "I am the strongest man on this planet. It's preposterous for you to assume such a thing."

The man looked up at him. "You? The strongest? That title belongs to me. Not you."

Jasper scowled. "How dare you..."

"It's true. I've traveled to many galaxies, fought a multitude of powerful warriors, and I just so happened to come back to a familiar star system. So I dropped by to visit just to see the planet being ruled by some uptight woman and her lackeys."

Almost immediately after the man's sentence ended, Jasper's Phantom Blade was completely out, pointing at his throat. "I should kill you right now."

The man sighed. "Fine. Go ahead."

With a twitch of his hand, Jasper made a clean cut to cut off the man's head. Blood spilled out as the dismembered skull fell to the ground.

"Don't speak ill of Nyx." Jasper said darkly.

"That was a good cut."

Jasper's eyes widened. Before his eyes, the corpse disappeared as if it never existed, and the hooded man was in the same place as before. The blood wasn't even on the ground.

"An illusion?" Jasper asked.

"No, it wasn't an illusion. I just switched places with myself. It's called Sho. A concept that you won't find on Earth."

Jasper clenched his teeth. *"He's dangerous. Too dangerous."* he thought.

He looked the man in his eye. "What do you want?"

The man shrugged. "From you? Nothing. I've already gained everything this world has to offer. Fame, power, wealth, women, knowledge, everything. I have no wants in my life. I'm just... observing."

Jasper put his sword back in its place. "I'll kill you someday."

The man chuckled. "Too bad. You won't be alive that long to make that come true."

And just like that he was gone.

Faster than an insect going faster than the speed of light could flap its wings once, as if the man was never even a thought.

--

Meanwhile, Akasan found himself already up against one of the King's Bloodhounds, Yukio, who appeared to be merely a child.

A solid green aura encased Yukio. Iron chains appeared wrapped around his hands.

Akasan turned on his Kamigen. "A chain user?"

Yukio smiled. "The best one."

*ching!*

Yukio swung one of his chains.

Akasan moved back to dodge. He flew towards him, readying a punch.

Yukio moved, vanishing, leaving a small dust cloud behind him. He reappeared in the air over Akasan, holding his hand out in front of him. Ten chains burst out from his sleeve, hitting Akasan in his back at a single point. "Ex Machina!!"

Akasan was shot into the ground with high force, breaking it apart.

Yukio's chains retreated back to his arm.

Akasan then flew out of the dust cloud with a sword. "Let's go, Kuroba!"

Yukio smiled. "Don't think you can stop my chains with a sword!" He started moving his fists, which had chains wound around them, apart.

The chains seemed to magically grow longer.

Akasan had a bright blue aura shrouding him. He quickly dashed forward.

Yukio stretched his arms out, then moved them in front of Akasan, creating a chain loop to attack.

Akasan hit it with his sword, moving the chains to the side. It created an opening for him to attack.

But then a new chain came out of Yukio's sleeve, which shut down any opportunity of that happening.

The chain curved to the side, aiming for Akasan's blind spot. There was a small triangular blade at the end of it.

Akasan moved the opposite way. He found himself caught between the two chains.

He hit the chain coming at his blind spot with an overhead strike, but it didn't budge. It continued to grind against the sword and pierce Akasan in the side. He let out a pained grunt.

Immediately, Akasan grabbed the chain with his right hand. He was being pushed at a high speed to the ground.

The chain was incredibly strong. He could barely move it with strength alone.

They were cold to the touch.

*"Real iron..."* Akasan thought. His right hand ignited on fire. "Crimson Fire: Torch!!"

The part of the chain Akasan held on to started glowing bright orange from the heat. It quickly melted, breaking off the blade end.

Akasan hit the ground and rolled backwards on his feet. He grunted again to pull the remaining part of the chain out of his side.

Bright blue aura shrouded Akasan's sword. The aura became spiked, and started spinning around the blade's edge. "Creation Art: Kuroba Chainsaw!"

Yukio looked down from the sky. "You melted my chain... you're no fun."

In a sudden movement, Yukio bolted for the ground from the sky. He hit the ground head first, causing a loud crash and a large dust cloud to go up in the air.

Multiple chains shot out.

Ten of them formed a single point and charged at Akasan.

"Ex Machina!!" Yukio yelled.

The chains moved so fast that Akasan had no choice but to clash with them. His chainsaw blade hit the chains' point, keeping them from progressing.

Yukio jumped in the air as he came out of the dust cloud. There were twelve more chains around his body. They spread out around him, like dots on a clock. Yukio sent them after Akasan. "Volume Two!! Arc Shot!!"

Akasan now had twelve chains chasing him while he was occupied with the other ten. If he moved too slow, the Ex Machina attack would shoot straight through him.

Akasan waited for the other chains to get closer. He then jumped, bringing his right foot around as it ignited on fire. "Crimson Flare!!"

*woosh!!*

Akasan's foot went all the way around, hitting all twelve chains and knocking them off-course.

Now that he was above the Ex Machina, he removed his sword, letting the chains shoot forward and stabbing the ground.

Yukio was prepared for this. He grabbed both of Akasan's ankles with four chains and dragged him to the ground.

More chains came along and took a hold of his neck.

Akasan was then lifted in the air by his throat. He struggled as he couldn't breathe.

Yukio smiled. "I'll make this quick and easy. After all, I still need your head." He tugged at the chains, which made them instantly shut close.

*cling!!*

The chains tightened on each other.

Yukio's eyes widened. Akasan suddenly wasn't between the chains anymore. "What? How'd he get away?"

Akasan appeared behind Yukio. The heel of his right foot connected with Yukio's back. He used his crimson flames to create momentum to spin around in the air, creating a mass of spinning fire.

"Crimson Foot: Whirlwind!!"

Akasan used the spinning force to smash Yukio into the ground.

*boom!!*

Akasan jumped away to get a hold of his breathing. He waited to see if his opponent would get up.

After the dust cleared, Yukio stood up out of the crater. "So you used the Eye of Realms to escape huh? No fair. That's no fair!" he exclaimed, breathing hard.

Someone walked up a distance behind Yukio. He had spiky black hair on his head with the sides shaved, and dark red eyes and a wild, sharp toothed grin. "Hey, Yukio. You havin' trouble over here ehh?"

Yukio looked behind him. "Koji? Shut up!! I know what I'm doing!! Butt out!!"

Koji chuckled. "Well hurry up and kill him then, 'cause I want a crack at 'im." He cracked his knuckles.

Yukio focused back on Akasan while Koji watched from behind.

"I'll end it with this!" Yukio exclaimed. He held both of his arms out. "Deus Ex Machina!!"

A large amount of chains came from Yukio. Maybe a hundred or more. They surrounded Akasan on all sides, creating walls of chains. Even above him.

There was no escape by running or flying away. The chains were moving at an ultra-high speed.

Akasan tried to cut one with his chainsaw sword, but he immediately bounced off.

"They're moving too fast!!" Akasan said. But he noticed something else. The chains were outstretched past his limit distance of moving quickly with the Eye of Realms. About a one hundred foot radius.

Akasan looked at Yukio between all of the passing chains. "How did you..."

Yukio smirked. "Surprised? We fought that guy Jack some years back. His limit was about this wide. I know that you aren't better than him at using realms, so I used the same technique, just to be safe."

All of the chains around Akasan grew thousands of small metal knives on each chain link. He was going to get torn to shreds. Yukio pulled his hands back. "Lock!!"

Akasan quickly clapped his hands together. "Magic Art!!"

The sound of metal hitting each other echoed through the air.

Yukio smiled. "I'm an assassin. Don't underestimate me."

Then he was shocked. His chains never hit Akasan. There was something big and round underneath them all.

Akasan still had his hands together. "Giant Iron Ball!!"

There it was.

Akasan was protected safely inside of a large ball of iron.

Yukio's chains dissipated into misted green energy.

Akasan's iron spell also disintegrated.

Yukio was stunned at first, then he started laughing. "Ah, I give up. I'll never be able to catch you. You have too many abilities. Koji, you can have him."

Koji chuckled himself. "Don't beat yourself over it too bad Yukio. You're a chain user. There's only so much you can do in these situations. But now it's my turn. What was your name? Akasan right? I hope you're not tired yet, because I'm raring to go!!"

Akasan got into a fighting stance. "Yeah, I can still fight. Bring it on!!"