Omega Wars Chronicles

Chapter 31 Episode 30: Black.

At the arena as Meeno was clutching his belly and breathing while Dam was still staring at the ground, the audience began to murmur among themselves.
"Man. No matter how much that boy tries, his older brother always seems to be one step ahead."
"Yeah, and the worst part is that his older brother doesn't even seem to be trying."
A flashback occurs as Meeno and Dam were staring at each other from afar.
"Alright, big bro! Shall we begin?!" Meeno asked with a smirk.
Dam ignores his younger brother and resumes staring at the ground.
"You really have changed, haven't you, big bro?" Meeno asked while smiling, "Alright, if that's the case..."
"Then let us begin." Meeno said while emitting a red aura.
"Begin!" Trengal said.
Wasting no time, Meeno steps on the ground and a flood of red ice rushed towards Dam but Dam easily disperses the attack with one effortless swipe of his arm.
"Red ice technique: Sharpshooter!" Meeno said as he stretched forth both of his arms and began to send forth countless spikes made of red ice towards Dam.
However, all the red spikes seemed to be vanishing before making full contact with Dam as he stood nonchalantly while facing the ground.
"Tch! I'm not done yet!" Meeno said as he slams his palms on the ground, "Red ice technique: Red field!"
  In an instant, multiple red flowers sprung out from the ground and covered many parts of the ground in the arena, surrounding Dam in the act.
"Explode." Meeno said.
  All the red flowers suddenly gave off a red explosion that created a strong gust of wind and froze up most parts of the walls in the arena with red ice along with Dam's entire body as well, leaving the audience amazed.
"Impressive! Absolutely impressive!!" Trengal said, "Meeno is putting out a fine display of his talent in this match! Is Dam able to match this awesome display?!!"
"How is Trengal still in the arena?!" Yulin asked out of annoyance.
"Calm down, Yulin." Idjra said stoically while staring down the arena with her arms crossed, "I knew that wasn't the real Trengal."
"Red ice?" Chief Miza asked while staring down at the arena.
"Ah, yes." Chief Akuro replied, "A kan ability gotten from the 'Red bane' Lady Yagura of the Kenar tribe, the first wife of the former Chief Dai of the Kenar tribe."
"First wife?" Chief Tenya asked as her rolls towards Chief Akuro.
"Problem?" Chief Akuro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, just wondering how he could have a two wives despite knowing how Kan works when it comes to things like this." Chief Tenya said.
"Oh... I understand." Chief Akuro said, "Yes, we all know how Kan works when it comes to 'Interrelationship'. When kan users decide to mate with each other, their kan energy undergoes a fusion and creates a powerful bond between the two.
If after mating, the other decides to mate with another, the Kan energy within them becomes less stable and more sensitive due to it being forced to undergo another fusion; any more of that would result to the destruction of many."
"It's even far more dangerous when it comes to different tribes due to the elemental difference in kan energy." Chief Miza said while still facing the arena.
"Indeed." Chief Akuro said, " Though intertribal marriage isn't impossible as it has been performed severally by our people but this one of the reasons why parents tend to betroth their children till they are of age and also why the warrior oath of chastity is necessary.
Now, Meeno and Dam may be brothers but they are foster brothers."
"Foster... brothers?" Chief Tenya asked in confusion.
"Yes. Dam is the adopted son of Chief Dai." Chief Akuro said, "When Chief Dai married lady Yagura, they were unable to have a child and because of that, they both agreed that they should adopt one, so that's when Chief Dai decided to-"
"What in the...?!!!" Trengal's voice echoed.
Chief Tenya and Akuro quickly turned to look at the arena and Tenya became shocked as she witnessed Meeno's red ice that had covered Dam's entire body along with the other red ice in the arena turning black.
"What's going on?" Chief Tenya asked with a wide-eyed expression, "Why is Meeno's ice...?"
"That was what i was about to explain to you." Chief Akuro said.
In a flash, all of the blackened ice exploded, creating a powerful gust of wind that threw Meeno back and left the audience in disbelief.
"What in blue mother springs just happened?!!" Trengal asked, "Meeno's red ice just looked like it got corrupted before it was destroyed!! What the heck is going on?!!"
"I never thought I'd see it again." A Tenplar man said.
"Me too." A Ripar woman said, "The last time i saw something like this was when i was a child. The ice of the accursed..."
"The black ice...!" The Ripar woman said as Dam was facing the ground while emitting a fearsome black aura.
Meeno stood on his feet but suddenly felt pain on his belly as it had been frozen with black ice and was slightly growing.
After recalling that moment, some of the audience resumed murmuring among themselves.
"So the rumors are true!"
"If that is truly the ice of the accursed then i don't see how that boy can win."
"To think that the accursed ice user would still be alive..."
"Black ice...?" Chief Tenya asked while facing the arena.
"Yes." Chief Akuro replied while facing the arena, "The legendary ice of the Kenar tribe which we consider as the ice of evil. This is the power of the adopted son of Chief Dai.
The ice capable of devouring fire and ice and with that ice it has devoured, it grows stronger; not to mention it's even far stronger than the average Kenar ice.
There are rumors that a black ice user is capable of manipulating things of darkness and devouring them to grow stronger as well."
"With all these, what makes a black ice user evil?" Chief Tenya asked, "We've seen warriors whose kan abilities has something to do with darkness but they aren't really evil."
"Kan deepens as we get older but for a black ice user, it goes beyond their power." Chief Akuro said, "As they get older, their heart becomes darker and they become more inhumane.
Three predecessors of black ice users have shown it; the founder of the Kenar tribe included."
Chief Tenya became dumbfounded with Chief Akuro's answer and resumes staring down at the arena.
Back at the arena as Meeno was still staring at Dam from afar, Meeno noted the frozen part of his belly fading away.
"It only faded away because it wasn't something that Dam deliberately did." Meeno said within himself while smiling, "So this is how strong big brother Dam has gotten since he left. Man, he's gotten so strong."
"So, i guess I've got to bring a better fight, huh?!" Meeno asked as he raised his head while grinning with his irises glowing, "Red ice technique: Frost prison!"
Meeno slams his palms against each other and in an instant, Dam's body was completely covered by an enormous an orb made of red ice.
"Now for the-"
Meeno halts and stared in disbelief as his frost prison became corrupted with Dam's black ice and suddenly exploded, leaving some of the audience stunned.
As the smoke had cleared, Dam was still standing and staring at the ground.
"He's not even trying at all." Trengal said within himself, "And to make things worse, he doesn't even bother to look his opponent in the eye.
Still, what's this dark feeling I'm receiving from him? I can feel it reaching the inner parts of my body even in the state I'm in."
At the audience center as Rish and Karma were observing the action at the arena, Cloud and Sting walked towards their side and sat back on their seats.
"Welcome back, you two." Rish said while still staring down at the stage.
"Thanks." Sting said while smiling, "What did we miss?"
"Not much. Just Dam being nonchalant in his fight against his younger brother." Rish replied.
"Dam versus Meeno..." Cloud said while placing his hand on his chin, "I've seen what Meeno can do because he was among my teammates during task 457 but I've heard about what Dam can do and it makes me feel..."
"That there is no hope for him?" Rish asked as his eyes rolls towards Cloud.
  Hearing this, Cloud and Sting glanced at Rish.
"What?" Rish asked, "It's only common sense. If you know how superior the black ice is along with the rankings of these two then you'd understand that this is a lost battle."
"I thought you would have learnt by now that ranks don't really play much in a battle." Sting said while smiling, "Killer bee is an A- but when she decided to let loose, her skills were powerful enough to rival an A+. Xorian is an A- but he was able to corner  and defeat Jagami who was an A+. Oh! And let's not forget about me; I'm a B+ but i was able to beat Gorn who is an A+."
"First of all, Killer bee lost to Karma. She didn't even stand a chance." Rish said, "Second: Xorian barely beat Jagami and he won because the green light gave him some kind of power boost and Jagami never took him seriously. If Jagami had taken him seriously and fought him with her evolyed form, she would have won and finally, you were deliberately playing your strength and slacking off. If you weren't slacking off, you could have been an A+ or even an S.
Oh! And let's not forget how Van being an A rank was completely destroyed by Onak who was an A+."
"Cloud..." Karma called while facing the arena with her arms crossed, "Is there something you know about the black ice?"
"Not really." Cloud replied while facing the arena, "What i do know is how it seems to have originated."
"Which is?" Karma asked as her eyes rolls towards Cloud.
"The father of the Kenar tribe... Lobov." Cloud said.
The moment Cloud said this, Rish's eyes rolls towards Cloud along with his irises glowing.
"Many years ago before Agaroth was bulit, Lobov was one of those five founding warriors that were given the harshest training in order to free the human race of their oppressors." Cloud said, "Lobov, when he was at the age of 17, he killed a Keillax, the bird of ice and a relative to the Phoenix and went as far as bathing in its blood to acquire it's power.
  Lobov did acquire the abilities of a Keillax and when he gained kan, his powers massively increased which gave him the blue markings that the Kenar have on their bodies but what he didn't know is that in bathing in it's blood and gaining it's powers, he gained the dark side of the Keillax which is the black ice and the more he kept using it, the darker his heart was becoming."
"You really do know a lot about Agaroth, don't you?" Karma asked.
"Not really." Cloud replied, "I didn't know that Kan was capable of nullifying the weapons of the gods and i didn't know that Nurlok went to fight Amirath."
"But at least you still know something." Rish said while facing the arena, "For someone who is as weak and frail like you, you are quite knowledgeable."
"Yep! That's him!" Sting said as he playfully wrapped his arm round Cloud's neck while laughing and began to rub his fist on his head, "The knowledgeable weakling: Cloud of the Stormwind!"
"Stop it, Sting!" Cloud said.
"Eh! Why should i?!" Sting asked while Karma was stoically watching them with her arms crossed.
"Humph. Childish lessers." Karma said within herself.
Back at the arena as Meeno was still staring at Dam from afar with the look of disbelief.
"No matter what I do, it doesn't seem to affect him." Meeno said within himself, "And the worst part of this is that he doesn't even bother to look me in the eye. It's like this fight isn't worth his time.
My efforts right now seems futile against him. Should i continue or should i forfeit and stop wasting everyone's time?No, not yet. There is something i need to ask big brother Dam before i do such."
"Hey, Meeno!!" A female voice called.
This caught the attention of Meeno and the audience which happened to be a braided redhead Kenar woman.
"It's lady Yagura!"
"Lady Yagura?!"
"The red bane is here?!"
"Of course, it's her! That's her son down there!"
"Hey, Meeno, don't let him intimidate you! Show him no fear!" Yagura said while smiling with her eyes closed as she punched the air which created a strong wind pressure among the audience.
"Mother..." Meeno said softly.
Meeno suddenly smiles and turns to look at Dam.
"Alright, you've heard our mother! Let's bring it!!" Meeno said while grinning as his irises glowed.
Meeno began to charge a small red orb on his palm and smirks.
"Big brother, are you ready to-!"
Meeno was suddenly interrupted as numerous black spikes sprung out from different parts of his body at the same time which brought him to his knees and left the audience shocked.
"What the..?!" Trengal said within himself.
"What's wrong?" A masculine voice asked while Meeno was on his knees, bleeding and coughing out blood, "Didn't you say that you were going to fight me?"
Meeno lifts his head and sees Dam standing in front of him.
"Foolish little brother." Dam said while coldly staring down at Meeno with his irises glowing.