The Almighty Ring

“I need to fix my body first!”

The decision was made hastily as his consciousness was out of his body then. He started weaving in psychic energy to fix his body’s planck strings.

From the start, Kaa’lna had been scared. Even after Bargh was somehow, unconfirmed, annihilated, she could not shake the fear in her heart, not as long as she was still drifting in this unknown void. While Jiang Fei was spending all his concentration on fixing his body, Kaa’lna stood there, mesmerized by literally everything. It was safe to say that as a fighter at over 8,600,000 combat level, she had been to places and seen things. However, as experienced as she was, she had never seen such a place where a person’s mind and body could be separated. The next thing she knew, her master and the enemy fought each other with an unorthodox method. One side used dark energy that had corrupting properties while the other had the ability to change the molecular structure of others.

“Come on… Faster!” Jiang Fei scolded himself. He was incredibly nervous. He had no idea what the black goo was but he did not want to wait and find out when it touched his physical body.

“My lord! The thing… It’s coming!” Kaa’lna got more afraid as she saw her master panicking.

“F*ck it! I can only do this much. Gotta move! Now!”

His body was not entirely mended but he had little to no time left. The black goo was just a stone’s throw away. It was a critical moment in time and Jiang Fei was forced to move his body away. The web-like cracks across his body were no longer visible and his body was “whole” in a way. What mattered now was getting his body away from that thing and he could worry about the aftereffects later.

As Jiang Fei was controlling the surrounding to create a moving current in an attempt to move his body away from the black goo, Kaa’lna’s voice rang in his mind.

“Watch out! Behind you!”

Of all the clumps of corrupted psychic energy, the one of which hadn’t been corrupted, one that was still 100% Bargh’s own psychic energy, started to jitter and move.

It took shape of a humanoid form and it came zooming at Jiang Fei’s ethereal form. Although he did not have hairs in his ethereal form, his entire being had goosebumps when an eerie, higher-register, seductive voice was heard. A voice he hadn’t heard in a long while but would never forget.

“My sweet loving master! It has been too long! Do you still remember me?”

“Akatziris…”

Her voice, like a recurring nightmare, rang in his mind and wouldn’t let go. Meeting Akatziris again was the last thing he had expected to do.

“I made a promise. If you won’t love me forever, I shall have you hate me instead! I am a woman of my word!”

What Jiang Fei did not know was after the destruction of Akatziris’ supreme Android body, her mind, her consciousness remained, drifting in the void of the 10th Dimension.

So mysterious was the 10th Dimension. It was a place that one’s conscience could be separated from one’s body. Hence, even though Akatziris no longer had a physical body to return to, Jiang Fei’s mastery and understanding of the 10th Dimension only provided Akatziris a perfect chance to hide.

During her hiding period, Jiang Fei had returned and left the 10th Dimension many times. To hide herself well, Akatziris would always suppress her own presence. She knew about Jiang Fei’s Core of Will, and how it had fused with another, granting him unparalleled psychic power. Akatziris, in her current form, could not grow stronger. She would be destroyed if Jiang Fei were to find out about her.

She had been waiting for so long. Waiting so patiently for the day she could get her revenge. At long last came the day when Jiang Fei was incredibly weakened when he came into the 10th Dimension with another being that was superior to him. He was weakened from the start and was further enfeebled after the defeat of the unknown being. His attention was later divided again when he needed to save his physical body from the unknown black goo.

This was her golden chance.

Bargh’s physical body was completely corrupted by the unknown black energy and Jiang Fei was completely preoccupied. She could not take her chance with the black energy as Jiang Fei had his eyes on them. The only way for her to strike was to find herself more psychic energy. As luck was on her side, a portion of Bargh’s psychic energy was left available to take since Bargh was no longer “alive”.

Kaa’lna could have noticed Akatziris since her powers, psychic energy included, was stronger than hers. Perhaps she noticed, but since she was in the realm of the unknown, the presence she sensed was quickly ignored. It was also because she too was too focused on Jiang Fei.

The dominos were set in place and Akatziris’ one in a billion chance to return was granted.

…

“Dammit!”

Jiang Fei groaned. He was busy controlling his body and had neither the time nor the attention to spare. The psychic energy that Akatziris was using reeked of malice. If she came for him, and she will, Jiang Fei would be in for a “treat”. He would not be able to ignore her even if he really needed to pay attention to his own body.

“My lord! Allow me!” Kaa’la barked as she manifested herself to defend the incoming attack.

Kaa’lna was conflicted. If anything happened to Jiang Fei, there would be no one around to deal with the unknown enemy. It was certain that the unknown enemy would not be letting her go. However, if Jiang Fei survived, she would still face the threat of being silenced. That being said, if she could protect Jiang Fei, she would only be building a foundation of trust that she hoped would be sufficient in getting Jiang Fei to spare her life in exchange for her cooperation in keeping his secret. She knew Jiang Fei well enough to know that if she risked her life to protect him, he would grow soft on her. Although she had no confidence in dealing with the unknown enemy, she had to try it.

Bolts of psychic energy were thrown out and only after three strikes, Kaa’lna was showing signs of fatigue.

Akatziris was not a master in psychic energy but she had the bulk that once belonged to Bargh to spare. Not to mention she had the power of malice she was borrowing. Kaa’lna was not handling the threat well.

“My lord… if you would please help… I’m… I can’t hold it…”

“Hold on! Hold on just a little longer!” Jiang Fei was frantic.

He was doing his very best to get his body as far away from the goo. As long as he had enough distance, he could then deal with Akatziris.

“Oh my sweet master, you have not changed! No matter where you go, females of all species will still flock to your side! Pity… My little sister is still on Earth, waiting for your return… What would she think if you were to return with another harem? Mhmmm?”

Akatziris taunted Jiang Fei as she continued to attack Kaa’lna.

To be honest, Jiang Fei was completely inattentive to what Akatziris was saying.

“Gyahh!”

Kaa’lna shrieked as a part of her psychic extension was suddenly corrupted by the power of malice. It spread fast and even though she managed to cut off the extension, she was gravely injured.