Surviving the Death Hunt-Chapter 69: Incarnation of Will

The Kugo clan was rooted in martial arts alone. The body was all they needed. Train it hard enough, push it far enough, and there was nothing it couldn’t accomplish.

They had no use for spirituality, and the Inheritances that others treated as power and identity meant little to them. Strength came from training. That was the beginning and end of it. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Despite everything, Julien’s position had grown uncomfortably tight. He was fighting with the Enhancement technique, his threatening presence stretched as wide and heavy as he could make it.

All of it was designed to crack something in Mike, to find even a sliver of fear. The boy wasn’t budging. None of it was landing.

The Enhancement technique did what it was supposed to. Julien was faster, and his attacks carried more force than anything Mike was putting out.

On paper, the advantage was his. But paper and reality had a way of disagreeing, and somewhere in the middle of it, Julien arrived at an uncomfortable truth. Speed and force alone weren’t going to be enough.

Mike fought aggressively, but that wasn’t what unsettled Julien. Mike’s swordsmanship was sharp and practiced, his agility fluid in a way that didn’t belong to someone his age.

Experience ran through all of it, visible and undeniable. Julien, for the first time in a while, felt like someone who was still learning.

Tsk.

’At this rate, he’ll kill me before I even know it. My threats don’t even faze him. What is he?’

Out of desperation, Julien forced himself to study the kid’s movements.

Mike was almost too agile to track, and for a moment, Julien genuinely believed there was nothing he could do to tilt the balance... until he caught it. The tiniest weakness.

Mike had put serious effort into training his less dominant side. But no amount of training fully closed every gap, and there it was: a fractional pause, a subtle difficulty each time the strike came from the left.

It was small. Almost nothing. Julien saw it and felt the first real wave of relief he’d had since the fight began.

Julien loaded the swing with as much strength as he could concentrate and let it go. Mike blocked it, the block was clean, but the force wasn’t something a block alone could absorb. It tilted him left and sent him skidding backward.

The moment the gap opened, Julien smirked. Mike was swinging from the left. That was exactly what he wanted.

<< Flash Step >>

Julien took a single step and instantly closed the distance, appearing at Mike’s side while Mike was still swinging. A savage smirk crossed his face, barely capturing his cruel excitement, as he struck with his spear.

But at that moment, his eyes widened in terror.

It happened too fast to process. But the evidence was unmistakable: wounds across his chest, steel in his body, blood pouring down, and that warm liquid seeping internally, leaving him feeling hollow. He understood.

"It—it was a trap."

The words left him hoarse.

Mike had feigned invulnerability, making Julien believe he had an opening. The instant Julien thought he’d won, Mike counterattacked with two brutal strikes that shredded Julien’s chest and impaled him.

Mike remained standing, his face contorted with horror, as Julien dropped to his knees, blood flowing from his mouth.

"You fools. Trapped in that pathetic academy... and you actually think you stand a chance against real warriors?"

Mike grabbed his sword with obvious annoyance. Julien wanted to beg him to leave it. He felt certain the blade was the only thing preventing him from dying instantly.

But luck only went so far. Julien couldn’t form the words, and even if he had, Mike likely wouldn’t have listened. Mike pulled the sword out without hesitation.

Julien crumpled to the floor, aware only of his heart’s weak, stuttering rhythm. So much blood... he was going pale, his body felt ethereal, and forming coherent thoughts grew harder with each passing second.

He wielded Blood of Zion, could theoretically pull his blood back inside, but he lacked the strength. And even if he somehow managed it, the blood would only leak out again through his wounds.

"Still alive? Impressive... though you should’ve known better than to think you could win. It wouldn’t have changed anything. I was always going to kill you."

Mike reached over, grabbed a fistful of Julien’s uniform, and wiped his blade down with it.

"I’ve only lost three fights in my life. One to the invincible nun, Amber Rover... one to my brother Haste... and the last to our master. Consider it an honor that you faced me."

Julien didn’t hear him. He wept internally, tearless. It was all he had the strength for. His breathing deteriorated to desperate gasps. Death waited just ahead.

It was over. No vengeance for his parents. Eight years of suffering: abuse, relentless training, hunger, homelessness, begging strangers for food, and for what? To die before ever confronting Quagmire, Clown of the Living, the creature that had stolen everything.

If pain could make a person explode, he’d already be reduced to a smear on the ground.

He watched Mike glance back and wave, saying something, probably gloating. He was dying, yet the casual dismissal cut deep into his pride. In that moment, all he wanted was strength, the burning desire not to die here. Not to disappear.

Using what life he had left, he tried to stand. If he managed it, he’d at least knock that arrogant kid down. But he dropped back to the ground instantly. Then, in that moment, something within him transformed.

His heart had changed entirely. What had been shallow and quiet moments ago was thundering now, loud and relentless, like something that had decided it needed to make up for lost time.

His eyes bulged at an alarming rate. Then the blood moved, all of it, every drop, crawling across the floor toward him like it had been called.

It climbed his body and covered him entirely, turning him into something that looked less like a person and more like a living mass of red.

He found his feet somehow, standing when he had no right to be. Something felt wrong and refreshing. The strength in him went beyond tier-7 or tier-6.

And then, like something that had been waiting for exactly this moment, the memories came. Some memories about his Inheritance, Blood of Zeus, rushed back into his mind at once.

He immediately understood what had happened to him.

Mike read the situation and moved without hesitation. He charged hard, blade already in motion, aiming to tear through the blood covering Julien and take his head before whatever was happening finished happening.

Before Mike nears him, Julien spoke:

"Emotional State, second form, crimson halo."

The blood moved before Mike could reach him, dispersing from Julien’s body and reforming in an instant.

It reformed into a halo around Mike mid-charge, wrapping around him with a firmness that stopped him cold. Spikes erupted from the halo and buried themselves deep into the ground, locking him in place.

Julien felt the sudden urge to laugh but settled for a soft smile instead. He glanced down at his body and found every wound had healed.

He let out a long breath, the relief of not dying settling through him quietly. Then he turned his attention to Mike.

"You’re troublesome, boy. I don’t want to kill you... but leaving you alive would only invite another attack."

Mike sneered.

"How honorable... but don’t mistake me for someone who fears death. Without your petty tricks, you would already be dead."

Julien motioned positively.

"You’re right. If you hadn’t been so cocky... if you hadn’t left me there to bleed out... I would never have awakened my Emotional State and Protector State. Perhaps I should thank you."

He walked toward Mike and patted him on the head.

"My Protector and Emotional States have many abilities. I’d love to show them to you... after all, you helped awaken them. But right now, this halo is all I can use. Anything more would exhaust me. Probably kill me."

Gritting his teeth, Mike spat on Julien.

"Let’s make this a fair fight. I’ve fought Moon Killers before... and some had far better control of their states."

Julien calmly shrugged.

"I’m not stupid, boy. You nearly killed me a moment ago. Anyone capable of that is still dangerous. I won’t give you another chance. And when the Four Wings come for revenge... I’ll show them exactly what my states can do. In your honor."

Mike made another attempt at words, stubborn even now, as though talking his way out was still a possibility. Julien had already moved on from that. One gesture and spikes erupted from the halo, driving deep into Mike.

The spikes had done considerable damage. They were thick and long. One drove from Mike’s inside all the way into his skull.

By any measure, it was enough. Julien didn’t trust any measure. He reached forward and severed the head, making sure the way he always made sure.

Julien watched Mike lying lifeless on the floor and let himself drop. His legs gave out more than anything else.

Two tiers. He had dropped two tiers in a single fight, and no matter how many times he turned that over in his mind, it didn’t get any easier to believe.

It was the kind of thing that could only be called a miracle. It was rare, almost impossible, and it had earned him something. Moon Killer.

The title sat there waiting to be acknowledged. But perhaps coming that close to dying had shifted something in him, because the title could wait.

Everything could wait. He just wanted to leave the warehouse and sleep.

"If anyone sees this torn uniform, I’m done. I need to get onto campus unnoticed."

He exhaled.

"I can’t wait to tell Scar about this... what will it feel like, though? Hmph. First, he has to survive Adisa."