“Huh, this sensation…?” The sinister vulture who was currently engaged in battle with 5 crows became distracted by a sudden surge of Krowqui that he sensed coming from behind him afield.

“That direction is where Ugo and his Pigatroll are situated. That powerful energy that I’m sensing isn’t theirs then who could it belong to…?”

“Twin Morning Stars!” Neji attacked Wallis from his blind spot while he was temporarily distracted. However, Wallis wasn’t caught off guard. He easily evaded Neji’s twin mace strike, moreover, shattered it with a brutal step.

“My Morning Star!” Neji was veritably upset to witness his loving weapon shattering to pieces.

Wallis, on the other hand, was damn well pleased. He grabbed Neji by the neck, next, he gave him a wild head butt that sent him crashing through various leaf heaps.

“Haven’t you had enough yet, little crow?” Wallis taunted Neji by wiping off his residual feathers from his forehead.

Neji stood up unrelentingly. Later, he withdrew a dark katana from his wings and retorted to Wallis, “Not yet.”

“Oh, really? Then get ready to join your friends.” Taking a quick gander behind him, Wallis gazed at 4 individuals who he had already incapacitated. Agumi, Doolbs, Marrigo and Retskeir were completely unconscious.

“I won’t be going down without a proper fight!” Neji disposed of his other mace to gain more leverage on his sword. He pointed it at Wallis for a few seconds before dashing ahead.

“I’m going to cut you down to size!” Neji was viciously slashing away at the very tall vulture who was easily and adroitly dodging his every strike.

“Too weak.” Wallis used his long skinny legs to sweep off Neji’s feet. While he was still suspended, Wallis blasted him with a mini Krowqui Bomb.

“Scatter!” Neji quickly separated his feathers to prevent himself from succumbing to the brunt force of Wallis’s Krowqui Bomb. Reaching a safe distance, his feathers that were still scattered around Wallis began transforming into multiple dark swords.

“Hmm, this technique…?” Wallis seemed as if he recognized Neji’s ability so he asked, “Are you somewhat related to that infamous Bankai Family?”

“Shut up and die!” What Wallis asked agitated Neji’s complex. He became more impulsive in his attacking patterns.

“Foolish crow.” Wallis released a pulse of energy that blasted away the surrounding swords. He quickly dashed in front of Neji and grabbed his skinny neck.

“You’re too weak to defeat me. Have some Gatling Punches to cheer you up.”

Wallis started punching Neji’s face repeatedly. His barrage of punches continued for almost a minute. Feeling as if he had suffered enough, Wallis tossed him onto the ground where his teammates were unconscious.

“Ugh! Ugh!” Neji bolstered all his strength to stand to his feet. It was a miracle that he managed to stay balanced with his overly injured constitution.

Wallis was surprised by Neji’s resolve. “Still standing I see. Then I’ll just have to obliterate you completely!”

Wallis gained some distance way from Neji where he could increase his twisting momentum to its utmost potential. “Raging Twister Krowqui Bomb!”

“Huh, that deadly ability again?” Neji was frightened upon perceiving Wallis charging directly at him with the massive Krowqui Bomb pushing forwards, moreover, boosted by his tornado driven body.

“You’re dead meat crow!”

Just as the Krowqui Bomb was about to obliterate Neji’s complex, Agumi got up from the leafy surface and dashed ahead of him in a protective fashion.

“Yin Yang Array, Full Impact!”

“Agumi!” Neji was surprised to see Agumi struggling to absorb Wallis's destructive technique. “What are you doing? It’s too much for you to absorb.”

Agumi responded, “I’ll handle this… no matter what! AAAHH!” He was screaming as he tried his best to absorb the twirling Krowqui Bomb into his circular Yin Yang Array now reformed at his back.

Wallis recognized the portly obstacle. “You again? You idiots never learn, do you? Let me make you aware of just how outmatched you are. Krowqui Booster!”

Wallis discharged more force into his Raging Twister Krowqui Bomb attack which made it much bigger.

“Ugh! It has become more powerful than the last one.” Agumi started feeling the intense pressure of Wallis’s attack. He was even being pushed back while sinking further into the earth. His Yin Yang Array was vibrating madly as if about to crack.

“I’ll help you.” Neji went behind Agumi to help brace him up.

“Stay strong Agumi you can do this!” Retskeir also got up and offered his assistance in keeping Agumi steady.

“Don’t give up! We’re in this together.” From the back of the line, Marrigo was pushing Retskeir ahead to prevent Agumi from getting blasted away.

“Push forwards!” Doolbs joined the struggle against Wallis’s assault.

Receiving help from his teammates made Agumi started feeling motivated. “Thanks for your support guys. Together we can pull this off and defeat the vulture!” Though he acted empowered, Agumi’s arms were slowly getting scorched; even his protective gauntlets were of no more use.

This made Wallis very excited. “Ha-ha-ha-ha! You idiots! You’ll be blown into oblivion if you keep up this futile resistance!”

“That is a chance that I’m willing to take!” Agumi was still going at it. His Yin Yang Array couldn’t endure the strain of absorption any longer; the 2 conflicting tomoe were vibrating at capacity.

“Father give me strength!” As he struggled to stand firm, Agumi remembered the training taught to him by his dad.

[Flashback Starts] - The sun was at its peak. Young Agumi was standing on a concrete stage present in his lush backyard. His drunken father was there lying on a comfy wooden chair with a bottle in his hand and a newspaper covering his face. Young Agumi was trying to absorb the Krowqui from a small transparent globular container placed before him but was finding it very challenging. Thus he asked his father for advice.

“Dad why is it so difficult for me to absorb this small amount of Krowqui when I can endure more dangerous physical attacks? Father are you still awake? Please answer me!”

His father took the newspaper from his face and reluctantly told him, “The reason you’re unable to breeze through it is because you’re forcing it. You can’t just cram every force inside your Yin Yang Array and expect it to absorb it. Listen up son, the more eager you are to catch a Cloud Butterfly you will find it to be challenging, it might even fly away, but if you remain calm and bide your time then it will surely come to you.”

“What does that mean?” Young Agumi didn’t understand what his father meant.

“Am I to explain everything to you? Figure it out yourself then you will truly learn how to apply your Yin Yang Array effectively. Now stop bothering me so that I can sleep in peace.” He placed back the newspaper over his head and invite the darkness to easier fall asleep.

[Flashback Ends]

“Dad I finally figure out what you were saying back then.” Agumi now had a calmer expression on his countenance. “All I have to do is let go and don’t force it and eventually the Cloud Butterfly will come to me.”

Releasing his sense of struggle, Agumi stretched his arms wide apart in complete surrender. He placed all his trust into his shimmering Yin Yang Array poised above him at his rear. “Come, Full Impact!”

“What?” Wallis was surprised to feel his internal energies being absorbed along with his massive Krowqui Bomb that was gradually shrinking. “Impossible! That stinking fledgling is absorbing all of it???”

While Wallis was busy trying to recalibrate his power, Agumi was scheming something diabolical with his teammates.

“Guys now!” Shouted Agumi. Several seconds after his outburst, the massive Krowqui Bomb was completely absorbed by him. He shifted to his right allowing Neji to throw forth a sword at Wallis.

“Tricky bastards!” Wallis became aware of the sword rushing towards him. He quickly reversed the flow of his twisting impetus, moreover, caught the sword with both hands before it could impale his stomach. “Ha-ha-ha-ha! It’s useless!”

“Huh?” Wallis observed Neji shifting to the side and saw Retskeir with his gun aimed at him.

“Gunslinger, Quadruple Magnum!” The many bullets that shot ahead collided with the durable hilt of Neji’s sword; causing the tip to pierce the vulture’s tummy.

“Kyah!” Wallis screamed in pain. He was trying his best to prevent the bullets from knocking the sword any further inside of him.

Retskeir shifted to the side, now it was Marrigo’s turn to act. “Six Fingers, Snake Tracer!” He used his ability to entangle Wallis; preventing him from flying away.

Marrigo scooted to the side enabling Wallis to witness Doolbs standing while manipulating his dark Krowqui Circles. Multiple geometric patterns were soon produced, moreover, tossed out. They transformed into several dark portals that poured out many of Doolbs’s Shadow Doubles. They combined to form a slingshot with Agumi loaded in the catapult.

“Shadow Doubles Slingshot. Ready to fire!”

“Here I come!” Agumi was propelled toward Wallis, specifically where Neji's sword was positioned.

“No, wait!” Wallis tried to beg Agumi not to do what he thought he was about to do. However, his plea fell on deaf ears.

Pushing forth his right hand, Agumi channelled all of his absorbed energies inside. “Terminal Backfire!”

“Boom!”

Agumi punched the hilt of Neji’s sword with energies of destructive proportion. Immediately, the entirety of the sword flew straight through Wallis’s midriff. The impact he suffered was so great that it caused his body to be split asunder.

“HOW COULD THIS BEEEEE…!” These were the last words uttered by the dying vulture before his severed head fell into a leaf heap.

Affirming that the vulture was down for the count this time, the small group of crows began their victorious celebration. “Yeah, we did it! We finally defeated that overpowered vulture!”

“Yes, we did.” Doolbs was the only one not joining the festivities seriously. He was situated at the rear with a sinister expression hidden behind his mask while the others kept on celebrating. His multiple Shadow Doubles were also still active. He secretly gave them a command to capture his carefree peers.

“Hey, what is the meaning of this, Doolbs?” They were startled to find themselves suddenly ensnared in the grips of many Shadow Doubles.

“Doolbs you bastard what are you planning to do?” Retskeir was enraged.

“Don’t look so surprised. What did you expect was going to happen after we defeated that vulture? This is a competition after all and those ribbons are all mine.”

“Why you…!” Neji was preparing to attack but Doolbs had the upper hand.

“Clutch!” He commanded his Shadow Doubles to snap their necks which quickly put them all to sleep. Later, one of his Shadow Doubles retrieved the scattered ribbons and handed them to him.

“Very compliant.” He said to his minions. “I’m off now. You guys stay close behind me.” He dashed off into the dense forest.

Looking at Doolbs’s fading figure, his Shadow Double said in a manner of annoyance, “Damn, the Original is so bossy.”

Another Shadow Double agreed. “Yeah, he makes us do all the heavy lifting.”

“Let’s just go.” Some of them vanished through portals while the others flew after Doolbs’s fading figure.