Chapter 111: Pay Back

"Have you trained?" Howard's body suffused a dark flame made of a Nefarious Ki. His white shirt flew out of his pants and rustled in the wind, his muscles bulged, while his black hair shot up above his head. "Because I have, I spent every day training just in case you came back!"

"I spent every day thinking, and planning," Nellon cracked his knuckles and slowly walked towards Howard. He had spent every every single day doing simulations of the best way to kill Howard. He had thought about his every attack, and the terror of his flames. "I think It will take me three minutes to crush you. Crush you into pulp beneath my feet!"

"You don't know what it was like for me. I'm one of the most talented Aresoul Students in generations. I made even my teacher scared of me in battle! However, you! You beat me when you were in the C rank! I've never been so upset in my life!"

"I spent every single minute thinking about how to kill you! Now come! Come and try and attack me with you Ki Projection! Try and use your flames only to be extinguished into shards of dust!"

"You're asking for it," Howard stepped off his back foot, and took a deep breath. 

Howard was getting closer to understanding Ki Resonance, one of the most powerful skills a Horned could learn in the A rank. It would make it possible for him to pull in energy from miles away to fuel his attacks.

Once he learned that, Barabin even told him he'd be close to his level! Unfortunately, the more he thought he knew about it, the harder it got to figure out. Still, with the little bit he knew, he could still draw in energy from the nearby vicinity. His leg muscles tensed, and he buckled and then fired himself forward!

Swoosh!

Howard seemed to cover 100 meters in an instant before a Ki Projection appeared in front of him and tossed him in the air!

Activating King Fire Sprint, Howard turned into a human missile while Nellon smiled and watched him come closer and closer to his position. 

He'd seen this happen in one of the many routes he imagined. Holding up his hand, five doorways appeared in front of him, coursing with Ki, before five long bursts of energy shot into existence and fused into a small spear. Nellon gently flicked his finger against it with a smile on his face. He'd spent weeks thinking of the perfect strategy for killing Howard. And he couldn't wait for him to die!

"Foolish mistake! Hahaha! Die!"

"Weak!" Howard had reached the B rank, and felt no fear of Nellon's attack. Carter had made him practice defending against projectiles a few times a day when he was running around the mountain. He could practically see its trajectory as it snaked towards him in the air. 

The white line of light instantly arrived in front of Howard only for two Ki Projections to appear on his left and right side. To Nellon's surprise, two of the attacks he'd sent forward shattered against the powerful armor that appeared in front of Howard

To be more precise, it looked like a man with flames had been birthed in front of Howard with its arms crossed with another on his left side. His attack, which he expected to shatter the armor, instantly disappeared into embers of smoke.

A second later, Howard increased his speed and turned to the side, before five flames spiraled out of body and shot into the distance. Rather than flying towards Nellon, however, they went in the opposite direction!

Nellon gasped in disbelief! He thought his plan had been full proof?

'When did he find the mirrors? I set them up yesterday!' Nellon jumped back and dodged a massive flame birthed from Howard. 'Damn it! At least I'm faster than him.'

Swoosh!

Nellon had spent all his time working on a technique known as the Darkness Steps. By putting Ki into his lower body, he could greatly increase his speed to well over 600 kilometers an hour. 

Before when he fought Howard, he'd barely been able to go 200 kilometers an hour. With three times the speed of before, he knew there should be no way Howard should be able to catch him. Appearing by a cliff face, a large dust cloud shot back behind him as his black cape swirled in the wind. 

Nine doorways opened around him before hundreds of needles shot into the air. 

Howard smiled and thrust back his hand before a Ki Projeion appeared floating in the air above him. Pushing it with his fist, the Ki Projection shot right into the needles.

Boom!

A large cloud of dust appeared in the air before Nellon looked in disbelief at the large flaming figure approaching him. Crossing his arms, he could only try his best to block the attack. He'd never expected in a 1000 years that Howard would've gained such a strange skill!

Boom!

Nellon felt his spine nearly shoot out of his back before he felt the weight of the world crash into him. The mountain beneath him instantly got shattered to pieces. They shot in various directions while Howard smiled and appeared by Nellon's side.

He reached through a cloud of flickering smoke, through falling rocks, and wrapped his hand around Nellon's neck. 

In just a second, Howard began to crack his neck with his fist as he hoisted him in the air. The anger he felt for Nellon hadn't dissipated, in fact, it had gone stronger! Monica had almost died because of Orel, and he'd almost lost Reece to his other two goons! He looked at his irises dilating and didn't hold back his massive strength.

Tssshhh! Tsssh!

"Uaahhh! Uahhhh! Get off me! I'll make you pay!"

"You already paid for your death!" Howard cranked back his hand and gathered all his strength. "This is paying you back with interest!"

Boom!