Page 96 of The Wind Dancer
The spikes popped out of the soles of my shoes again, and I kicked up at him. They tore through his calf muscles, and hefell. I rolled and got back on my feet; the hooks on my gloves also locked into place.
The battle raged on the platform. The Chancellery forces were killing creatures, cultists, and mercenaries indiscriminately. They were following orders. And in this chaos, Mei Lin fought like hell.
“In the name of the five dragons! Death! Death! Death!” The battle cry of the troopers rang out over and over.
Fouche slowly stood up. I could see his wounds starting to heal.
He twisted like an insect emerging from its shell. His veins began to pulse with distorted essence. I could feel it, because it was pulsing in my veins, too.
“You can’t stop this, Feng Lao,” he growled. “Even if you kill me, the Mother has already cast her gaze here.
“Die.” I launched into a frenzied attack. The spikes on my hands and feet flashed like lightning. The bastard’s black blood sprayed everywhere. The next instant, I was sent flying and crashed into the stone pillar.
Fouche howled in ecstasy. His body was covered in deep wounds, which were already healing into pulsating demonic flesh.
“Behold the true gift of the Mother of Change, fool!” he barked, raising his hands. Golden chains tore free from the ground, lashing out like whips. But they were too slow.
I rushed forward, and the wind, my old ally, accelerated me and made me almost weightless. Fouche lashed out with the golden chains, but I was already beside him.
Slashing at lightning speed with the glove hooks, I ripped open his abdomen and rib cage. The ribs snapped like rotten twigs. With a spin, I kicked him in the head, knocking him into the pillar. The stone groaned as if alive.
“Are you dead?” Unfortunately, the bastard was too resilient. He stood up.
His bones creaked and cracked as they straightened. Black tentacles slithered out of his broken ribs, and spikes burst out of his back, coiling like snakes. His eyes, which had stared at me with madness and rage a moment ago, were now gone. His eye sockets were filled with flickering golden light.
“Yes!” His voice hit me like a hammer. “MORE!”
Not only was he alive, he was growing stronger.
I grinned.
“Alright,” I whispered to the wind. “Let’s finish this.”
If he wanted more, I would give it to him — the full force of a storm.
The world froze for a moment... and then sped up drastically. The wind laughed along with me. And I attacked again and again.
Every step was a thunderclap. Each spin was like a gust of wind scattering the fog. I was once again Tian Fengbao, the Heavenly Storm that cleansed the world of Distortion.
Fouche struck with his tentacles, spikes, and distorted energy all at once.
But the wind led me. Nothing would hold me back. I weaved between his attacks, which now seemed sluggish. My body sparked with lightning, dancing along with me.
I struck. My gloves broke through his ribs and tore the bastard’s rotten heart to pieces. I dodged. With a twist, my other hand ripped out his throat. With a spin, I was behind him. Blades that could shatter stone punched through the back of his head.
I was tearing the freak apart like a wild beast. Like a sandstorm strips the flesh from bone. I didn’t stop until all that was left of him was a quivering mass of flesh and filth.
And even then, Fouche wheezed, his bloody grin reforming:
“You’re too late... She’s already here... your old man couldn’t stop us... Neither can you...”
“In your name, mentor.”
The pain of loss clouded my mind again, and I don’t know how, but I used all my remaining essence with the single desire to destroy the bastard.
And Heaven answered me. A branching lightning bolt struck from the overcast skies like a spear. Everything went blindingly white. Followed by a deafening roar of thunder, as if the sky had crashed into the ground. There was no sound. And then the shock wave came.
The stone slabs flew from the tower. The chains collapsed. And the unholy statue fell, finally severing the connection with the Distortion. A familiar voice sounded in my head:
