Chapter 186

Brenna

An End of An Era

BOOM!

A double strike, one where both combatants put everything they had into one final decisive blow. A blow that was meant to change the course of the battle. A blow so monumental, that each combatant was willing to sacrifice their own body just to land the strike.

Crraacckkllee.

A sound not unlike fine porcelain breaking could be heard, echoing throughout the countryside. With a start, Brenna felt the strength in her legs give out, as she could feel the pain Lykan was in. Brenna felt the world itself rumble and nearly rupture from the strike.

The world trembled in fear, a minor tremble coming from deep within the heart of the world. A world that had long ago been corrupted and slowly left to rot from the inside. A world that if left unchecked would slowly succumb to the withering state that it was now subject to. Worse, the world knew that its corruption was inevitable, too much time had passed.

Brenna felt this, she felt the world call out for more people to assist Lykan.

A call that even the gods felt the need to follow. For no sooner had the tremor of the world gone out, then bolts of mana infused lightning began to form and strike down from the heavens.

Thunderclap!

Bolts of lightning so thick that they were the size of and as bright as the sun burst through the sky, causing a momentary blur in Brenna’s enhanced vision. Even her eyes and senses were unable to keep up with the rapid changes.

Wham! Wham!

The only thing she knew for certain was that Lykan was losing. A few blows were exchanged, then finally Lykan’s broken body was hit so hard that it once again flew through the air.

Fortunately, Lykan still seemed to be in control of his faculties as he managed to catch himself, if only briefly. He was a blur of movement, but even with his constant zipping about, Brenna could see splotches of blood, signs of broken bones. The way even while floating his right arm hung limply at the side of his body.

Meanwhile, his opponent stood defiantly.

Cough.

The monster coughed again. The monster that looked almost human. A monster that could have been considered a long lost descendant, if not for the fact that he was slightly smaller in size and stature. A monster that had the ability to blend in with the inhabitants of this planet and forever go undetected. Such a monster would surely bring about uncontrolled changes to the world.

Realizing what could happen if just one such monster was allowed to exist in this world caused a shiver to run down Brenna’s back. Seeing that her Lykan was in desperate need of help she stood up and prepared to charge forward, only to be stopped by a calming hand placed on her shoulder.

“None of that now.” A comforting voice said. Hearing the voice, Brenna’s heart began to beat as she could tell that the voice contained a large measured source of power. As she turned to see the source of the voice, she saw an old man. A man who looked oddly familiar.

“Oh, you recognize me?” The old man said as a grandfatherly smile crested his lips. “Sorry, that this is our first, and likely our last meeting, but I couldn’t have you disturbing my grandchild. Well, technically he is my great-great-great-great-great grandchild, but whose counting.” The old man said as a twinkle filled his eyes.

Brenna paused at the words. “Wait you are…”

“I have gone by many names and titles over the years since I got here. At one point I went by Kelligan Vita, but I would prefer if you just called me father.” The old man said as he looked out over the countryside.

There was a slight pause, before the old man began speaking again.

“I have to say, that young boy makes me feel proud to call him my own.”

“Wait, are you really?” Brenna began asking, but then paused, not wanting to ask a question.

The old man just had a smile to his lips as he guessed her unspoken question. “Does it really matter if by choice or by blood? Family is family. Just as you are now part of my family, so too must I be part of yours.” He said, then he was gone.

He was there one second, then a slight blur, then completely missing.

Brenna blinked, as if she somehow imagined the whole encounter. She wanted to do something, to help, but before she could do anything.

KA-BOOM!

A ground shaking strike slammed into the alien.

A cloud of dust billowed up and out from the impact crater.

Silence.

Everyone was silent.

A hovering wounded Lykan watched on in muted horror as he waited for the dust to clear. Then Brenna could all but see and hear the look of shock come to him, as he saw the old man that had been by Brenna’s side a moment ago, now standing at the center of a crater.

“Dad?”

“Hello boy. I am so, so proud of you. I must say you have turned into a fine young man, and have chosen a beautiful woman for your wife. I couldn’t be prouder of you and the man you turned out to be.” Lykan’s father, Kelligan Vita, said.

Badump, badump.

Brenna watched on in awed fascination, as the father then turned to the alien human on the ground.

Cough, cough.

“Yeah, radiation sickness, it is a lot to take in. You likely would have survived, if given enough time to learn to cultivate under these conditions.” Mr. Vita said.

“You’re the real cultivator, aren’t you?” The alien asked as it slowly rose to its feet.

The old man just shook his head. “Sadly I don’t have half the talent as my grandson over there, but I can still show him a thing or two.”

“Like what old man. Even with that cheap shot of yours, you are no match for me.”

At that, Lykan’s father just shook his head before continuing, “come on then, let’s not drag this out any longer than it has to be.”

With that the two began fighting.

It was clear that the alien had speed on his side as he was easily faster than Lykan. But Lykan’s father was able to keep up, if just barely. Watching the two trade blows Brenna found herself watching on in awe and horror at what was unfolding before her.

The old man was not just a good fighter, but a great fighter, likely the best fighter that Brenna had ever seen. He moved with a finesse and grace that Brenna had never seen.

Cough, cough.

Still despite his proficiency, the young alien was winning. Slowly, exchange after exchange, the old man gave ground. The old man held his harms defensively inward, a sign he was nursing wounds. As time went on, it was clear that the battle was going more and more towards the side of the alien.

CRACK!

Finally, after one devastating exchange of blows, the alien infused his fists with a tremendous amount of qi that even Brenna could feel from her perch high above the mountains. Just the shockwave was enough to cause a tremor of energy to ripple through her. She also knew from the sound that not only had the strike struck true, but something of the old man’s had broken.

Focusing, Brenna looked to see that the old man’s previously uninjured left arm now hung loosely at his side.

Panting.

The alien began panting violently, as it was clear he had put a lot into that blow. A blow that landed with ruthless efficiency.

“You’re done old man.”

“Aye, I could say the very same for yourself.” The old man said, as he coughed up a bit of blood.

“What do you mean. You will die here, and I defeat your whole family before going on to heal myself.”

At that Kelligan Vita, the old man just shook his head in a regretful way.

“No, I am afraid this is where both of our journeys end. You no doubt already feel the burning sensations going through your meridians, burning you out from the inside.” Kelligan said.

At that the alien cultivator paused for a moment, as he looked at his arms, then at the rest of his body. “What did you do old man?”

At that, the old man just smiled weakly. “I? I did nothing. Well nothing more than get you to spiral the poisoned mana throughout your body so quickly that your body would have no hope of healing every place it touched.” Kelligan said.

“What?”

At that Kelligan turned a proud glance towards Lykan who was still floating in the air. “My boy killed you. I am merely here to serve as a sacrifice so that he doesn’t have to do anything stupid, before you finally combust.”

A slight pause.

“This way, you just take down an old man. An old man who never truly belonged here.” Kelligan said, with a faint note of acceptance filling his old voice.

“You are going to sacrifice yourself for them?” The alien asked angrily. A note of derision and scorn in his voice. A note that caused him to cough once again.

“Yes, when I first arrived here I was much like you.”

“Can it old man!” The alien said as he began striking at Kelligan. Kelligan for his part just began moving with a speed and fluidity that he lacked previously. Had it all been for show? Or was it just now that the began truly pushing himself beyond his limits? Honestly Brenna didn’t know, but in this moment, a moment when everything seemed to be of the utmost importance, that was when Kelligan was at his best.

Panting.

This time after a few more strikes were given and dismissed, did the alien begin to pause.

He stopped swinging and began violently clutching at his chest.

“He’s going to blow!” Kelligan shouted, then with two broken arms, he ran forward and began hugging the alien.

Then in her mind Brenna felt the mind of Kelligan speak to her. “Tell my boy that I am proud of him. Of who he will be come, and most importantly, look after my next grandchild as well. They will have to grow up in a world that is far harsher than what Lykan did.”

BBBOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

A burst of white light engulfed the world, as it looked like a miniature volcano erupted from the ground. The sky flashed nova bright for a moment, then Brenna felt her body falling as the world rumbled and shook around her.

Waves of energy cascaded outward.

“NO!” Lykan shouted as he desperately fought to fly towards the center of the blast, in an attempt to save his father. Not his biological father, but the man who raised him all the same, the man who likely sired the children who eventually began him.

Even as he moved, Brenna knew it was no use. For even now, she felt her mental connection to the old man fading. Suddenly she realized why she had been able to understand the conversation between Kelligan and the alien invader. The hand grip on her shoulder, that was not just meant as a way to comfort her, but it was also meant as a way to establish a mental connection to her. This was the way he used to make it so Brenna knew what was being said.

With a gasp, Brenna knew why he had done so. He had gone in knowing that he was going to die, that he was going to sacrifice himself so that Lykan didn’t have to. A final act of love.

Realizing that, a tear came to Brenna’s eye as she realized that he sacrificed himself for family. He sacrificed himself, so that they would have a better future. So that his great great grandchild would have a future worth fighting for.

Finally the burst of energy ended and Brenna was able to look at the massive crater on the ground. There Lykan found two corpses that had the flesh and muscles burnt away to ash.

Seeing the bodies, Brenna could only do one thing. She quickly made her way over to her husband, and she consoled him the best she could.

“What was he thinking?” Lykan asked, as grief-stricken tears flooded his eyes.

“He was thinking that you were worth sacrificing himself for, that we were worth sacrificing himself for.” Brenna said this last part, gesturing towards her stomach.

Lykan paused at that, then looked up to lock eyes with Brenna. “So it is true, you are…” Lykan began but then couldn’t quite get the words out.

At that Brenna just nodded.

Lykan lunged forward and hugged Brenna tightly. “Thank you.”

That was all Lykan said, as he hugged his love, the women of his dreams tightly.

“So you finally told him?” Pentra’s voice rang out. At her words, the two lovers turned as one to glare at Pentra for a moment, before pausing long enough for Brenna to gesture for Pentra to come over and join in their hug as well.

There was a lot to unravel from what happened today, many questions were answered, such as what was Lykan’s father’s actual role to Lykan. But with that answer came so many more questions, such as where did he come from originally? How could he cultivate? The fact that he was a cultivator was unquestioned, but the how’s and whys would have to be answered another day. For today, the three just focused on the fact that they all somehow managed to survive the encounter.