The Almighty Ring

The Evol. Rabbit was defeated. As Jiang Fei jerked and pried out his sword from its back, the giant beast writhed and struggled to breathe. Blood was pouring out, along with ruptured internals from the opening on its back. Knowing fully well that it was going to die, Jiang Fei put his sword away.

“Who started the rumor about Level 5 Metahumans being immortals? I would like to drag him or her out here and let that person have a taste of real mortality!” Jiang Fei groaned.

Before the eye-opening trip into deep space, Jiang Fei had firmly believed that besides Godblades, nothing could kill a Level 5 Metahuman. It was only after he had trained in the Valsalry Training Academy that he realized that all the Level 5s on Earth were nothing but weaklings at only 80,000 or less combat level. They were too weak to even kill each other. That was the reason why no Level 5 had died, which would explain the rumor. Now, Jiang Fei had learned the truth. Level 5s were just as vulnerable to death. Even Alexis, a Valsalrian commander, could be killed.

As he stepped away from the defeated rabbit, Jiang Fei heard it breathe again all of the sudden. Its breath started slow but picked up a pace faster. One breath after the other, it felt as if the rabbit was going to get up and fight again! Jiang Fei turned around, frantic, and saw its eyes glowing red. Instead of blasting out heat rays, it merely glowed, but with resentment, hatred, amongst other assortment of emotions.

“F*ck.”

Jiang Fei started to panic, thinking that it might actually get back to its feet and fight. However, what caught his attention was the increasing size of the rabbit’s body. It was inflating… like a balloon.

“Is he going to explode… Oh f*ck! He is!” Jiang Fei barked. The expansion was too quick for him to react as the rabbit, even on its dying breath, was not going to let Jiang Fei run. The towering rabbit, expanding faster than airbags of a car, exploded with so much power that it rivaled even a hydrogen bomb that nuked the two Japanese cities, and Jiang Fei was caught right in the center of it.

The flatland where the battle had taken place had now been rendered barren. Green grass that were dyed red got blown away, leaving a vast dried up, blood-soaked desert. The forest where Jiang Fei first landed were striped of all its trees. The shockwave of the explosion had even made the skies above split apart. If Ottogackt was watching, he could see the powerful explosion from space even.

After the first shockwave, a powerful vacuum was created, pulling everything back before sending them upward to the heavens. Now, besides blood and dust, there was a huge crater. Underground water was spewing from the deep, filling it up as Jiang Fei remained still, floating as the water level rose.

“… Cap.. Captain… Captain…” 0541 tried to wake Jiang Fei up repeatedly.

Cough…

When he came to, Jiang Fei could not move. The uniform he was wearing was completely ruined. Compared to the refugees of wars, even they would be glad that they weren’t as broken as Jiang Fei was then.

Jiang Fei tried to stand but after a feeble attempt, he fell back down to his knees.

0541 was constantly trying to talk but Jiang Fei was too tired to even think of a reply. The damage he received was too great and if not for the Bio-Armor and 0541’s emergency barrier erection that consumed all the Energy Crystals in the ring, Jiang Fei would have been vaporized.

“I’ve learned my lesson. No mercy for the enemy next time,” Jiang Fei mumbled, remembering what Ottogackt was trying to convey.

To be fair, Jiang Fei did not know whether it was his kindness or carelessness that compelled him to spare the rabbit. He should have killed the rabbit and not let it continue to breathe. As a result, the rabbit was still able to do something even on its death bed. It was a mistake, a lesson that Jiang Fei would never repeat.

The worst was over. He took his time and slowly, he was able to crawl out of the muddied pool and out of the crater. Clouds were rolling in and the light from the orbiting star was starting to fade out. Jiang Fei did not bother to move or find proper shelter. Every fiber of his being ached. There wasn’t a single part of his body that did not hurt. His bones, especially his arms and legs, were still ringing from the shock of the explosion. However, even without immediately medical treatment, Jiang Fei’s body was still able to heal rapidly.

The Evolved Poppy had been killed. The rest of the little critters were nowhere to be seen anymore. Jiang Fei laid motionless for the entire evening and throughout the night, without anything or anyone disturbing him. Rabbits aside, no other lifeform dared to approach him. The lingering smell of blood was so saturated that no beast, no matter how vicious they may be, dared to approach Jiang Fei.

It was not until the next day, when the sun was high up in the sky, that Ottogackt descended next to the crater and looked down on the motionless Jiang Fei.

“Do you know your mistake?” Ottogackt asked as he kicked Jiang Fei slightly at his ribs.

“Ugh…” Jiang Fei groaned from the pain before answering, “Yeah…”

“You best remember that,” said Ottogackt. He turned to the ship, to the ship’s crew and said, “Bring him to the infirmary.”

Even though the ship was small, it had a small one-man sized infirmary. After a few hours, Jiang Fei’s wounds and injuries were healed. A day later, Jiang Fei’s own healing factor came into play, restoring his strength and vitality, granting him enough strength to walk without assistance.

Inside the infirmary, Jiang Fei glanced through the side window into the void of space that was illuminated by light spectrum. He thought about the fight, about how he naive he had been. Now, he repented and realized his mistakes of the past. On Earth, his naivety was still justified as all of Earth’s fighters were weak! Even the strongest fighter wouldn’t be any stronger than Jiang Fei himself. Now that he was sailing amongst the stars, a single mistake could cost him his life. Even enemies that were severely weaker than he was could defeat him at a single opening.

After the trials in Cororan, Jiang Fei had achieved great results. He was now able to control his power to reach 1,900,000. He had gotten used to massacring his enemies. He understood his own naivety and would no longer show his enemies mercy. Compared to strength, the will to kill one’s enemy, the will to suppress one’s compassion, was far, far more important. Thus, Ottogackt’s lesson concluded.

Being the strongest, cruelest trainer on Redstone, he was dubbed the Mad Titan. The death rate of his own trainees exceeded the total number of deaths of those under other trainers combined. Even so, he was a maestro in training. He knew where and what a trainee needed, albeit the training administered was far, far too cruel.

Seven days was all it took for Jiang Fei to learn the most important lesson. Anything else that he had learned was considered a bonus. Even though Jiang Fei was still unable to directly kill his enemy with a single vicious attack, he was no longer the naive young boy that would hold himself back during a fight.

“Sir, where do you wish to go next?” the captain of the transport ship asked.

“Is Commander Alexis involved in any combat lately?” Ottogackt asked.

“The fleet is currently consolidating its men and is out of commission for now. However, there might be missions being taken on by small Special Ops team,” said the captain.

“Mhm. I’ll take that call. Set course for Sector Derdarth.”

The captain nodded and after inputting the coordinates of Derdarth into the computer, the ship made a warp jump to its destination.

Two days later, Jiang Fei came to the bridge to join Ottogackt. During the two days of rest, Jiang Fei was fully restored to his peak. He was ready for a new training.

“Sir, we have arrived at Sector Derdarth,” said the captain.

“Head to Planet Ipsilon and contact Domingo. Tell him I am here to meet him,” Ottogackt said.

“As you command,” said the captain. After handing the controls to the autopilot, the captain proceeded to make a few communication attempts to contact Domingo.

“Boy, come with me,” said Ottogackt as he gestured to Jiang Fei.