Rising Sun

Chapter 8 - Zoldyck vs Zoldyck

Back into the fight with Illumi.
Stay thrilled.
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Killua was breathing heavily and staring at the ground, kneeling somewhere on the roof where his fight with Illumi had begun. His clothes were soaked from the downpour he had caused; the cotton of his shirt was clinging to his body, rising and falling with his chest and tattered from the process of the battle. Killua's eyes were shining like sapphires, reflecting the arcs of light dancing wildly around his body. Blue crackle snapped, sliced and broke the air around him. Blood ran from Killua's mouth where Illumi had landed a hard blow. Killua could taste the blood as it mixed with the rain water, a warm and salty flavour, not entirely unpleasant.

The rain was useful, Killua had realized some time ago. When he had first discovered he could use his Nen to summon a storm and utilize that power with his body acting like a lightning rod, the rain that came with it seemed to be an objectionable side effect. As it turns out, you can't ask the sky for thunder and lightning without getting a little rain; and in Killua's case, he was typically quite demanding of the sky which resulted in a lot of rain. But then he realized he could add current to the droplets of rain sending down a hail of electricity on unsuspecting foes. Killua could also charge pools of water that gathered on the ground, creating a battlefield full of electric land mines. There were endless possibilities of how he could meld the water with charge and use it as a weapon, he knew he was only scratching the surface of what he might someday be able to accomplish. The only downside was, he would always get very, very wet. It's a fair price to pay, Killua figured.

But Illumi had shrugged off the electric hail and had been simply tickled by the electrified water on the ground, giggling a little as he walked through a large puddle. So these two techniques weren't helping Killua at all in this fight. He was just now witnessing the true depth of his brothers skill and power.

Killua looked up, he could see Illumi standing a fair distance away, hand still outstretched from his most recent attack, a constellation of Nen needles that Killua had barely managed to dodge with his Godspeed. Illumi's pitch black hair was blowing wildly in the wind; even though it must have been thoroughly drenched from the torrential rains it somehow maintained a graceful weightlessness. Killua found it remarkable that even though he was using his Godspeed, Illumi was almost able to keep up at every turn. Killua had known he would not be able to match Illumi in the area of raw strength, but he assumed that he would definitely have a great advantage when it came to speed. The fact was, he no longer had a time limit on his Godspeed and could now maintain it for long periods of time; the lightning in the sky providing an unlimited charge, so long as Killua's body could handle it. But he was coming to the realization that his speed advantage was only very slight and practically made irrelevant by Illumi's cunning battle experience. It was a realization that had likely come too late.

"You are simply delaying the inevitable," Illumi shouted through the rain, retracting his hand from the throwing position it had lingered in and leaving it by his side. "Come to me, Killua, give up. You cannot defeat me, I will end you quickly and without pain," Illumi's flat emotionless voice had returned for the moment. He immediately leaped into the air, one knee up by his chest as he threw a hand forward in a sweeping arc releasing another barrage of Nen needles charged like bullets.

Killua barely had time to react, leaping sideways to dodge the needles and then backwards just in time as Illumi followed up with a secondary attack; dropping his raised knee to the ground, shattering concrete where Killua had been just a fraction of a second ago. Illumi stood up calmly, debris falling from the knee he had just hauled from the indent in the roof, completely unscathed.

"Is that all you can do, Killua? Run away? I thought you had learned to overcome your fear of opponents who were stronger than you," Illumi said, his voice carrying a hint of sarcasm.