The Almighty Ring

“Boy, you have forced me to resort to my strongest move. I, Bison, offer you my respect!” said Bison as he closed his fist together and bowed ever so slightly. The change in Bison’s perspective was not odd seeing as how he was a Decronian. They were a race that only respected the strong. Bison may have hated Jiang Fei to the core, but right then, knowing full well that Jiang Fei was just as strong, if not stronger than him, he developed a sort of friendly rivalry with Jiang Fei. It was the kind of respect only a professional would have for another even when they were mortal enemies.

“It’s too soon to say. One may not deserve it!” Jiang Fei scoffed. He held his fist tight, and with a glint of silver light in his eyes, he vanished.

Jiang Fei had sustained too much damage to his body, and he knew that there was no way he could survive if he received another explosive punch. Even though he knew Theon was there to save him at the last minute, he could not place his hope in others, knowing that the fight was his, to begin with. In the end, Jiang Fei had to resort to using the power of the 10th Dimension, not to fight, but to heal himself.

In the midst of absolute nothingness, Jiang Fei drifted alone in the dark empty space of the 10th Dimension. There, Jiang Fei could finally have a breather. In a space where even time ceased to move, Jiang Fei could begin mending his wounds as his body had literally frozen in time.

“What can I do…” Jiang Fei thought. While he was in the 10th Dimension where it was safe and sound, he still had his soldiers to think about. If he did not return soon enough, they would not be able to fend off the other four leaders and their armies.

Healing was one thing. Most people healed on their own with aid from supplements as well as medication, but since time and basically everything else did not flow in the 10th Dimension, wounds did not deteriorate or heal. Medication did not work either.

“Come on… think! Think!”

The only aspect that worked in the 10th Dimension was consciousness. One could do anything provided that one had a strong enough mental power. Henceforth, if Jiang Fei wanted to save himself, he needed to concentrate his thoughts on affecting the Planck-length strings to affect his body’s healing properties.

“F*ck me… I should have mastered quantum physics… Like I even could…” Jiang Fei mumbled. He had only remembered some of the strings’ properties and how different frequencies generated different particles. Most of the things he remembered were related to destroying stuff, not changing or fixing them.

“Dammit, looks like I have to learn on the fly! Trial and error! Trial and error!”

While Jiang Fei was trying to learn how to heal himself in the 10th Dimension, events were transpiring out in the world.

“Where did he go?” Bison asked when he noticed that Jiang Fei had… just vanished. The spatial dimension around the spot where Jiang Fei used to be was not affected in any way, at least not in the way a teleportation would affect it.

“Sir Jiang Fei!”

“He’s gone!”

“It’s over! It’s all over!”

No one noticed Bison when they were all focused on Jiang Fei’s sudden disappearance. Despite having no evidence of Jiang Fei’s death, his sudden disappearance could only be treated as such.

“Fei! Nooo! This cannot be!” Sarila howled. Compared with the sudden panic that befell Jiang Fei’s soldier, Sarila had it worse. Jiang Fei was already seen as the chosen one, the only partner she would ever have, and his death meant the end of the world for her. It was the same for any other member of Cait Sith; the male partner was their everything. Although Jiang Fei may not have verbally or even symbolically accepted Sarila as his partner, Sarila thought otherwise. Jiang Fei’s death only made the world go dark. Nothing would ever save her from such abyssal despair.

“No! Fei! No…” Sarila continued to wail, and when Kaa’lna came to comfort her, she stood up.

“I’ll have your head!” Sarila howled with madness and charged toward the battlefield with daggers in her hands, ready to slice. Her spirit was admirable, but she was colossally weaker in terms of strength. Her speed was even far slower than the speed of sound. The way Boris saw it, she moved like a slug. She was so weak that she could not even match the surging field of energy that Bison was releasing involuntarily.

The impact of her collision with the raging storm around Bison was severe. The muscles around both her arms were torn to shreds as she tried to slice her way closer to Bison. Even so, she got up to her feet and struggled to reach the one who killed her Jiang Fei.

“Begone! Due to the respect I had for Jiang Fei, I shall let you live.” Bison hummed coldly. He could not help but sympathize with Sarila because he had developed some form of relationship with Jiang Fei earlier.

“Are you alright… Come, get up,” Kaa’lna said as she helped Sarila up.

“Fei…” Sarila sobbed away, ignoring Kaa’lna’s efforts to console the despaired little kitten.

“It is done. Your master is gone. Surrender all of your Ultralisk meat and I promise not to attack you,” Bison said, still maintaining a stoic demeanor. The effects of the potion he drank earlier were fading and causing his combat level to drop to its original value. However, the aftermath of the potion was severe enough to make him suffer for a few days. Nevertheless, despite his feeble state, no one from Jiang Fei’s side could even come close to him, let alone fight him.

“Congratulations! Such a spectacular fight from the great Lord Bison!”

Before the solemn atmosphere dispersed, the three leaders from the other planets approached Bison.

“As expected, the vultures are here to pick on me in my weakened state.” Bison snorted.

“Now, now, that’s no way to speak. We are here only to propose a business transaction!” T’syai said, laughing like a hyena.

“We are selling you a means to live. Perhaps you would like to purchase it with whatever you have?” Abel joined in, laughing as he proposed his sinister offer.

Ignoring the catgirls behind him, Bison paced slowly toward the other three leaders, crossing his arms with such defiance that it exuded strength.

“What if I offer one your heads instead,” Bison scoffed. While he fought with Jiang Fei, Bison had already thought about the betrayal of the other three scumbags. If they showed any signs of hostility, which they did, Bison would retort with a threat to fight until the end. He knew that they would not take the risk since Judgement Day was drawing close, and they could not afford to chance anything. As for himself, he had already chosen an honorable death when he drank the potion. He would not give up a fight, not when he had already paid the price. Dying in battle would always be better than dying by the hands of any creature.

T’syai flinched when Bison showed his defiance. It was obvious that Bison was not going to surrender without a fight. As smart as he was, he was still trying to win over one of the three leaders to even the scales.

He may have been in a weakened state, but Bison was still a member of the fearsome Decronian. The fear he inflicted on all three of them was genuine, and if they were not firmly united, they would never defeat him.

“Should we get a move on?” Rufus asked.

“Screw it. If we don’t defeat him now, none of us will be safe later on!” T’syai spat.

“That’s true. Once he recovers, he will come for us all! The man never forgives and never forgets! That is certain!” Abel chimed in.

“So be it! Lord Bison has stated his offer and we shall take none of it,” Rufus said in his deep husky voice before breaking into a menacing smile.