Chapter 159: Pincer Attack

Howard couldn't sleep, and neither could Inla in the strange moonlight gently entering into the cavern they were nested together in.

He grabbed one of her blonde pigtails and rolled it around his palm while gently pulling her beautiful shimmering countenance towards his head. She smiled and gently put all her love into his lips while another girl snored by Howard's side. He'd been so anxious, he couldn't sleep and ended up just smothering himself in the warmth of Inla's and Inla's sister's lips - her brunette haired sister finally ended up falling asleep after he finally let her out of his grasp. 

At the same time, he kept activating his Dream Ki to scout the surroundings. He was certain that sometime soon the Arthraku might attack. If he was them, he'd attack in the middle of the night, and he'd probably also attack when they were at their weakest. Right now, he was holding a vulnerable girl in his arms that only wanted to appease him, but couldn't stop thinking about all the people he loved in the Furance that might get hurt if he fails.

Looking forward into Inla's beautiful large and brown eyes blinking in suspense for him to swoop down and kiss her, he noticed a small droplet of blood on her lip. He immediately realized when he activated his Dream Ki he accidentally bit down. However, Inla didn't seem upset, and it really bothered him!

"Hehe, a little bit rough, but I'm still hanging in there for another round," Inla closed her eyes and licked the blood off her lips before embracing Howard. "I-I'm here for you Howard! Now tell me what's wrong? My brothers are watching the area. Why do you seem so afraid?"

"It's because I don't know enough about the Arthraku," Howard said seriously. "I feel like if I just had three extra months with your brothers to train, I'd have been able to beat Oclen. However, it's only been two weeks and I can tell he's going to attack soon! It's like every bone in my body is telling me something bad is about to happen, and now I can't even kiss you normally!"

"Relax!" Inla grabbed Howard's hand and put it against her face. "You have me. I promise if any man tries to attack you, I'll attack him with all my strength. Hmph, my brothers may be strong, but don't think I'm a pushover! In fact, if I wanted to, I could beat you up right now."

"Hmmm?" Howard smiled and watched her pin him down onto the floor and start kissing him. "Heh, I guess your right. Your brothers are watching, hehe." Howard laughed while she kissed him against the forehead and then once against the lips. Her white shirt sort of drooped down and he could see her hips almost calling him to grab her. Pulling her into his embrace, he smiled and hugged her with all his might.

"Ugh, I better get some sleep. Just wake me in an hour okay?" Howard began to feel strangely tired, and gently placed Inla against his head. "I promise. I promise no matter what happens I'll protect you, okay? Even if I have to die, I'll do it so you can live."

###

Howard awoke a few hours later with a piece of Inla's blonde hair wrapped around his wrist.

However, unlike the last few days, a strange mist was in the air and Inla seemed to be missing. He looked at her sister still sleeping and noticed her skin seemed to have paled. Gently brushing back her brunette hair, he noticed a small cut forming on her neck near her lungs. Was she having trouble breathing?

'What the hell is happening with the air quality? Why do I feel so weak?" Howard got up and looked forward towards the river. A few nearby trees seemed to be wilting and pointing in the direction of the top of the mountain peak. Stepping off his back foot, he leaped to the top of the mountain in order to try and ascertain what had happened. 

To his surprise, Bracston and Warklin seemed to be laying on the ground asleep while weazing for air. As far as he knew, the four brothers never went to sleep. It was extremely odd, but not as odd as the feeling of powerlessness all around him.

"I guess I should do what I did on the surface and grow my Horns," Howard cracked his neck and tried to dig deep into the primal force of Fire Ki inside of his body. This had been one of the things Howard had been practicing in order to make due with not having any Ki Hearts yet. He had a feeling in three or so months, he'd be able to shatter the door to the S rank, but he couldn't yet. However, he did have one ability no one else had as far as he knew, the ability to control his horns.

Though this seemed minute compared to other abilities like Ki Transformation, one must remember that horns were used to sense frequencies! Suddenly, Howard's horns began to glow and slightly extend on top of his head while the ground began to shake from the surging Ki gathering around him. His teeth also began to grow longer and sharper in his mouth while his eyes slightly darkened. With his black hair waving in the wind, he looked like a demon king coming to life on top of the mountain!

"Heh, beneath you!" 

Boom!

Howard looked down and felt a strange sensation approaching him. The ground beneath him instantly shattered before a strange claw shot upwards towards his face. 

He could feel the sharpness from the fingers on the fist, but it was simply too slow to catch him. Activating his Dream Ki, he jumped into the air to dodge the fist. However, to his side, he noticed three powerful Ki's approaching him. 

'Shit, it's a pincer attack! What are you doing Howard? You literally just walked into a trap!'

Howard's body split in six directions from him activating his Dream Ki to dodge the fists. He flipped and landed on the ground on top of the ridge while Oclen appeared from behind a rock. He scoffed and looked at Howard's horns with disdain. How many abilities did this little Demon King candidate have! Neither Monica nor Annibell mentioned anything about him growing his horns!"

"Macran, after we kill him, we're going to talk about why you didn't figure out he had that ability! Now all three of you, attack him with all you got! Deactivate Ki Drain, he's stronger than us in this environment."

"Ki Drain? Is that why it feels like there is no Ki in the air?" Howard flexed his fist and cracked his neck. "Heh, you guys gave me quite the advantage. Normally, I'd have trouble matching your insane amount of Ki, but you accidentally made a grave mistake! By decreasing the Ki, you also decreased the differences between our overall power! Take this! Dark Oblivion!"

Boom!

Howard surged forward and activated his Dream Ki and Dark Ki at the same time. Because he was pulling in so much energy from the environment thanks to his horns, he was able to just be strong enough to utilize the two types of Ki for 10 seconds without switching.

Improvements came in different forms, and this was a major improvement! In fact, his punches packed two times as much power. 

He swarmed towards Oclen while his body instantly grew large and swelled outwards. The eighteen eyes of the Eighteen Eyed Juggernaut manifested while its big silver body grew out in front of him. However, Howard wasn't scared of him this time! A ki barrier manifested around his skin before he attacked with all his might!

His fist turned in the air right towards Oclen's face while he somewhat struggled to lift his arm to defend! This was perfect! He had him right where he wanted him.

'Come on! Die!'

Howard's fist burst with an extremely powerful Dark Ki flame that instantly swelled to almost 10 times its size. It burst into Oclen's body almost instantly while his eyes slightly twitched.

Boom!

Oclen shot back three steps, but almost instantly Howard's Dark Ki disappeared. Looking behind him, Howard only felt an extremely fierce gale before something slammed into his back. He felt like his world just broke into three pieces before an extremely formidable energy shot him off the mountain.

Unable to stop himself, he could only hold out his hands before he burst into the ground and a large cloud of dust shot into the air.

"Heh, Ki Drain Reversal complete," Oclen sighed and shook his hand. "Ow, that little monster almost killed me! I had to sacrifice one of my eighteen eyes to stop that attack! I won't be able to see normally for a few weeks in this form!"

"Heh, not surprised," Macron cracked his neck. "The Eighteen Eyed Juggernauts best ability is sacrificing its own eyes to increase its strength, but anyways. It's over already. Warletz and Horkel hit him in their Great Lament Lizard Forms. The poison is probably already making it difficult for him to breath, let alone escape!"

"We will see." Oclen turned and looked at Howard scrambling from the rubble. "We have three minutes to kill him before his little friends wake up! Macran, use your ultimate form and don't hold back! Exactly like we practiced!"

###

Howard pushed aside the rubble off his body and looked down at the claw marks that had torn through his already damaged t-shirt. 

He hadn't been able to change his white t-shirt for 15 days because he'd been training so hard, and had to rely on Inla to keep it together. She even hemmed the broken fabric for him and washed it down by the river when he was training. Seeing some green fluid coated against it, he instantly smiled.

"Heh, thank god I'm still wearing Barabin's silver armor,' Howard pushed himself off the floor, and suddenly noticed that he could hardly see straight. He could feel something was rushing through his veins and could almost feel his Ki Cells screaming while they tried to stop it. "Wait, what-what's happening? I-I made sure their attacks hit the armor! I should be fine!"

"Heh, you thought your armor would protect you?" Maclan shook his head. "As long as the claws of a Great Lament Lizard get within an inch of your skin, it's effective. Sorry, but we're going to kill you now. Unless a miracle happens, you're dead."

"Screw it. Fire King's Last Stand! 3rd level activate!" Howards energy instantly soared. "Even if I die, I'm taking you all down with me!" Howard had no choice but to activate Fire King's Last stand at this moment. For one, it should make his Ki Cells strong enough to completely destroy the poison temporarily, and two it was that or death! He also tried to activate the fourth level of Fire King's Last Stand but couldn't! 

'Damn it! Why now? Even when I'm about to die I can't activate the fourth let alone the eighth level? Did someone put in a fail safe switch or something?'

"Hmmm, another strange ability. I think we're going to enjoy killing you," Oclen shook his head and started to grow a few inches taller in his Eighteen Eyed Juggernaut form. "Well, out of respect, I'll tell you that you're the strongest youth we ever faced from another nation. Perhaps if you lived, one day you would've been there to finally cause the Arthraku to fall. However, not today. Today will be the day we live and tell the tale to our children! About how we outsmarted the legendary Howard and stopped him before he destroyed the order in the Furnace."

"You are so confident, but you're about to die," Howard smiled while a silver flame traveled up his fist and into the palm of his hand. "I'm guessing I can use this silver flame for 1 minute before it kills me! It should be more than enough to make sure all four of you disappear!"

Howard rushed forward with three Ki Flames merging around his body into his fist! It was now or never! 

Turning his fist at Oclen's massive eighteen eyed form, the flames on his hand seemed to sharpen into what appeared to be a scythe made out of flames. 

"Now, here's your fate. In my hand! Take this, Reaping Fist!"