Omega Wars Chronicles

Chapter 56: Avenged

   As the wind blew in the Court, Pit and the audience stared at Sting (who happened to be gazing at the ground with a detached expression) waiting for an answer to come from him.
    "Well?" Pit asked with a raised brow.
    "I've made up my mind." Sting said.
    "I am advancing to the next round to fight Karma." Sting said as he lifts his head.
    "I see." Pit said, "Thank you for standing on your decision but i'm not going to withdraw from mine, either"
    "I apologise for standing in the way of your revenge but i have my own case to settle with Karma." Sting said with a smile.
    "Your own case? Did she do something to you?" Pit asked.
    "She challenged me to face her in this tournament." Sting replied while smiling with his eyes closed, "That's the reason i'm here."
    In that time, Pit and many other students eyes widened in shock and horror.
    "What...?" Yulin said.
    "Oh no." Raen said.
    "She's after you...?" Pit said, "You're the prey she talked about in her fight with Dam."
      "Well, I'm not the only one, she is after Cloud as well." Sting said while smiling and scratching the back of his head.
       Hearing this, the feeling of shock increased with Pit and many others familiar with Cloud, as well.
     "No..." Reyla said.
     "Cloud?" Chief Tenya asked within herself with widened eyes.
     "This has got to be some kind of joke." Kein said.
     "This isn't good for the whitehead." Izaiya said.
     "What on earth...?" Hyle said.
     "Cloud of all people?" Idjra asked.
      "So she is after Sting and Cloud?" Reiv asked, "This is truly bad news."
      Beside Ziron, sat two Tenplar nigh identical female twins, one bearing a black hair while the other bearing a pale yellow hair but carrying the same Y shaped braided hair style as the other that extends to their chest.
      "I can't believe that lunatic is after the both of them, Uil." The black haired Tenplar twin said with a deadpan expression.
      "I can't believe it myself, Somalia." Uil said with an expression filled with disbelief, "I thought she had stopped with that madness of hers."
     Among the students, a blonde female Tenplar with a ponytail (the one that started the 'Cloud of the Stormwind' chant in chapter 8) was sitting beside a Kenar female with a messy red hair and blue eyes who happened to be crossing her arms with the look of disdain.
     "So those two are now her targets." The ponytail Tenplar said to the redhead Kenar, "I can't believe she is still doing this prey thing, Sonia."
     "I can't believe it as well, Rizel." Sonia replied, "But i am more worried about Cloud than Sting. That Dreygar doesn't know when to stop."
    Just as the other students were murmuring, Rish and Govo's eyes moves towards Cloud. Meanwhile at the field, as Pit's upper face was overshadowed by her hair, Sting noted Pit's hands to be shaking.
   "Uh, Pit-"
   "You've seen what she does to her preys with your own eyes, and yet you still came?" Pit cuts in.
   "Hey, come on now." Sting said while smiling with closed eyes, "Let's-"
    Sting quickly evades a punch from Pit and appears behind her.
    "Woah. Calm down." Sting said.
    "You've just given me another reason not to let you win." Pit said as her eyes moves back at Sting, "You've seen what she does and yet you still came?!"
     Pit charged towards Sting and started throwing a relentless series punches and kicks but Sting was evading every last one.
    "Hey, calm down!" Sting said while evading Pit's attacks.
    "Are you suicidal?!!" Pit asked while trying to hit Sting, "Do you think this is some kind of joke?!! Do you truly understand what you have gotten into?!! Every single one of Karma's victims...!!"
    Pit swiftly crouches and tries to trip Sting down with a leg sweep but Sting leaps in the air to avoid it, only for Pit to quickly balance on her hand and attack with a high back kick with both legs, though Sting vanishes from there and appears a bit far from her.
    "Every last one of them..." Pit said as she stood on her feet, "You really don't understand the effect that monster has on her victims. What she has taken from them."
     "Pit, i understand why you are highly bothered but i can take care of myself." Sting said.
     "You can take care of your...!" Pit said at the time she faced the ground while gritting her teeth, "That's what they all said. Every one of them, including me.
     I can pardon Cloud because he doesn't know much about her but you... You know what she is capable of doing to her victims and yet, you still chose to come. You... You..."
    "Moron!!!" Pit said as she launched towards Sting to punch him but Sting weaves it and steps back.
    "I won't let you do it!" Pit said, "I won't let you walk into that hell and i won't let Karma have another victim to break!"
    At the major Chiefs center, Chief Miza's eyes took notice of Chief Ezgord's face that seemed unmoved by the situation.
    "Chief Ezgord, shouldn't you be worried about this?" Chief Miza asked, "About the path your son is taking?"
     "Am i supposed to be?" Chief Ezgord asked, "Sting is strong. It's highly unlikely that he'll lose to someone like that Dreygar."
     "I know it is not my place to say this concerning a father and son matter but aren't you being too confident in your son?" Chief Akuro asked, "We've seen how dangerous the girl is and if Pit is making a big deal out of this prey thing, then doesn't that speak volumes about the danger your son is in?"
      "It seems you don't understand Sting." Chief Ezgord replied, "He may seem odd but his power especially when he decides not to hold back, makes him one of the most dangerous among his peers. The only time he'll lose is when he chooses to do so."
     "I hope you are right." Chief Miza said.
     "Cloud..." Chief Tenya said inwardly with a worried expression as she sights him from afar.
    At the audience center, Cloud watches as Pit makes several endeavors to hit Sting but Sting keeps evading them.
    "I don't understand why she and everyone else seems so angry about this prey thing." Cloud said, "Is it really that bad?"
    "You have no idea." Rish replied, "Before you came, Karma used to go on a rampage, hunting and challenging any candidate that supposedly stood out, viewing them as her preys, and each and every one of those preys Karma went after weren't just defeated, a side of them was either taken or broken.
    Example, Tan'r of the Graundar tribe was a student that showed great prospect, excelled in trainings, tasks and was even friendly. When Karma viewed him as her prey and challenged him to a fight... It wasn't pretty."
    A flashback occurs in a forest as many students stared in shock and horror as a Graundar boy with a bushy hair and shaved sides of his head, laid on the ground with his shins destroyed and blood flowing from his belly and his head and as this happened, the students began to murmur among themselves concerning what they are witnessing.
    "Impossible. Karma did this to Tanr?"
     "He should never have accepted her challenge."
     "Even if, that is a human being she did this to!"
      "What the heck is wrong with her?!"
      "My-my legs...my-my body...i can...still fight..." Tanr said while crawling and coughing.
      At the time Tan'r was crawling, Karma walks in front of him and squats to look him in the eye.
    "Is this all the great Tan'r can do? How disappointing." Karma said as she was stroking his blood soaked head, "I guess i expected too much from you."
    After stroking Tanr's head, Karma stood up and slightly raised her foot above Tan'r's head.
    "Remember this: You lost to me, because you are weak... Lesser."
     Karma swiftly drove her foot down to the skull of Tanr, and the sound of Tanr's skull cracking could be heard from afar.
    "Tan'r survived somehow but after that humiliation, he wasn't himself anymore." Rish said after remembering that incident, "Tan'r was constantly having headaches from remembering that fight which happened most of the time, his hands were constantly shaking and he found himself becoming a liability. No matter how hard he tried to focus and gain himself back, it always ended up the same."
     "I view him surviving his fight as it not being his time to die." Govo said, "Likewise Van."
     "Van?" Cloud asked with a raised brow, "What did she-?"
      "I said it before, anyone that seemed to stand out would become Karma's prey." Rish cuts in, "Van was one of those that people talked about in the academy and because of that, he became a target of Karma. Van's friends-"
     "Former friends." Govo corrected.
     "Whatever." Rish replied, "His former friends would convince him not to face her but eventually they fought and it didn't end well. That was the first time anyone has ever seen Van receive a one-sided beating but even after beating him, she didn't stop there..."
      Another recollection takes place as Karma lifts Van up and slams his back on her knee, making blood to spill out from  Van's mouth and diaphragm at once.
     After learning this from Rish, Cloud was left dismayed.
     "Holy crap. I thought Van was a psycho but this... This is too much." Cloud said.
     "Sonia of the Kenar tribe was part of the students that stood out and when she fought Karma, Karma didn't just beat her, she left her bare naked and tied her to a tree." Govo said.
    "What the hell...?" Cloud said.
    "Kein of the Tenplar tribe was angered by this and he went after Karma but he didn't know that he was her prey as well." Rish said.
     "Where were the teachers in all this?" Cloud asked, "Why didn't they put an end to her madness?"
    "They did." Rish replied, "Zotek got tired of Karma's prey nonsense and gave her a warning. Initially she ignored it and went after Onak until Zotek made himself very clear with her, then she stopped."
     "Honestly, ever since headmaster Yorall lost his mind, the academy went downhill and it didn't help matters when Zera made most of the teachers to resign." Govo said.
     "They could have at least thrown Karma out if they were serious." Cloud said.
      "The teachers don't have such power, only the headmaster does." Rish replied, "What Zera wanted to do to you was her overstepping her boundaries and i doubt the others would have let her go on with it.
     I found it funny how Zera admired Karma of all people."
    "Zera only admired her for her strength but then again, it is Zera we are talking about here." Govo said, "Honestly, Cloud, you're lucky. I hate to say it but Zera was right; if you had arrived at the first month, you may not have survived. With the intense trainings, tasks and brawls, you would have been a dead man."
     "Cloud, Karma sees you as her prey." Rish said, "She would have gone after Grei, Gorn, Dam, Jagami and even you Govo, if Zotek didn't put a stop to her, but this time, she is using this tournament as an excuse to continue her sadistic madness.
     As we've mentioned earlier, Karma goes after those that seem to stand out and you Cloud have made yourself well known; a minor who managed to succeed in dangerous positions despite being powerless; one who for some reasons survived the unknown slaughter and is determined to bring honor to his deceased tribe by becoming a pilgrim. You've really gotten Karma's attention.
     However, the main question is, can you do it? Are you able to succeed in this tournament and become what you've dreamt of; to be the first minor that became a pilgrim? Your friend said something about 'having to' and 'being able to' and he is correct.
      You have witnessed the contenders power and you've learnt more about Karma, so tell us, what will you do? The second half is almost done and semi finals will soon start, so the decision is in your hands."
     Just as Rish had finished talking, Cloud stared at his right palm for a while and clenched it. Down at the fields as Pit was still trying to punch Sting (who was easily evading by stepping back), Izaiya took notice of how Pit was behaving during her fight.
    "She's slowing down." Izaiya said inwardly, "She's not even as fast as she used to be. Exhaustion, maybe?"
    As Pit was still throwing punches that Sting was easily weaving, Pit felt a sudden shake in her head that caused her to fall on her knees while using her hand to support herself, leaving Sting and many others confused. The whole place started spinning in Pit's head and Pit's body completely drops on the ground.
      "Huh? What's going?" Lizira asked.
      "Hey, what's happening?" Kein asked, "Why did Pit fall like that when Sting did nothing to her?"
     "It has finally kicked in." Izaiya said.
     "What has finally kicked in?" Obaru asked.
    "Grei's Niyei armour." Izaiya replied, "Remember when i mentioned severe dizziness as one of the side effects of Grei's Niyei technique? Pit is starting to feel it. She was getting slower when she kept trying to hit Sting. At first i thought it was because she was tired, but now it is clear why.
    When Grei created this technique, he understood the consequences of it, that's why he never for once used it recklessly but Pit never knew them because they were copied. In trying to get Sting's soul exposed to her eyes, she ended up dooming herself in this match."
     "So Sting is right. Pit is too reliant on those eyes of hers." Reiv said, "That is her main weakness."
     "This fight is over."
     At the arena as Sting was staring down at the unconscious Pit, Sting sighed.
      "It's over. Rest well."
     At the moment Sting turned his back to walk away, he felt something holding his ankle which turned out to be a weakned Pit.
     "Please, don't go." Pit feebly said, "Don't fight her. I can't..."
     "Have it on my conscience... that Karma... Has destroyed another person..." Pit said as tears were flowing out of her eyes, "Please... Don't..."
     After staring at Pit for a while, Sting smiled at her and squats to gently hold her hand.
     "It's ok." Sting said, "It's going to be alright. I promise to be careful and i promise to avenge you and everyone else she has destroyed. You can count on that."
    Sting stood back and smiles with his eyes shut.
     "Thanks for watching out for me." Sting said, "I appreciate it."
      As Sting turned his back to walk away, Pit tries to lift her hand higher but was unable to do so.
      "No... Please..." Pit said within herself in a weak manner.
     During the time Pit was still struggling, Pit loses consciousness and her head falls flat to the ground.
      "Pit is down! Sting the dark reaper wins!!" Lizira said.
     The audience gave out a massive cheer for Sting and at that time Ezgord smirked while Vaniva stared down at Sting as he was walking away with a deadpan expression.
     "Even though you won again, you're still not smiling as you should." Vaniva said inwardly, "Sting, please be careful."
      "Pit, Sonia, Tan'r and everyone Karma has preyed on, please wait." Sting said within himself, "If i had a reason to face her before, i now have two and i promise you, you will all be avenged."