Chapter 1193: Kai vs. Cash - Defeat In One Move?!

Wearing a long, white trench coat over white pants and white shoes, Kai blinked into existence among the ruins of Nurmengard Castle.

For a moment, he took in the scene, clasping his hands behind his back.

Ekrizdis had disappeared, leaving behind a trail of blood and flesh down the mountain.

Lord Black Phoenix still lay among the debris, refusing to shed his bloodless, husk-like form.

Kai still did not know if the anger he had felt from Death was real or fake.

It was impossible for Him not to consider the possibility at least once in all these centuries that Zelretch had fused Ancient Magical Script with the Root.

Then why react like this only now?

Why hadn’t He acted against the two Half-Deep Ones and the Order of the Immortal Lotus much earlier?

Kai wasn’t a fool, but he did lack knowledge when it came to conspiring against Deep Ones.

He was important to Death the Artificer and the Mirror Timeline for undeniable reasons.

Still, to think Death acted exactly when he needed him to...

No.

The probability of such an event happening was less than one percent.

Not zero, because Black had been keeping an eye on the happenings within the Immortal Lotus’s unbreakable trap ever since he had lost contact with his Echoes within Ekrizdis and Meg.

The Order must have designed the trap specifically to target these Echoes, as Herpo the Foul knew of their nature.

Part of the reason Kai exercised restraint while planting an Echo inside a Character within the Harry Potter Bubble was related to Herpo the Foul, because he didn’t want the High King to search for these Echoes more enthusiastically.

Still, Kai had never considered himself a one-trick pony.

Black was Death the Artificer’s Artifact, just as the Cloak of Disguise was.

The Immortal Lotus’s Bounded Field could cut him off from his Echoes, but it had failed to hinder a Deep One’s authority that connected these Artifacts.

Even if Meg hadn’t had the Cloak of Disguise, Black could have easily contacted Ekrizdis, the puppet of Death — a contact method he preferred when dealing with the Lord of Azkaban anyway.

Presently, Kai looked at Meg, lying listlessly on the ground.

For a moment, his hazel, slitted eyes, ringed with purple around the pupils, narrowed.

Kai had planned to use Cash ever since King Purple Mist revealed her secrets related to the Bit-Beast sealed inside her and her odd infatuation with Mang Jian.

Purple Mist had told him that it was Durga — the Leader of the Flowers of Doom — who had personally revealed these secrets, hoping the Five-Crowned Prince would consider it a show of good faith even if Cash herself remained clueless about it.

Kai didn’t know about good faith.

He did know about benefits and risks.

A gust of wind blew against his short, white hair.

In the next moment, both Red Sun and Cash, in their base forms, appeared around him.

Red Sun, wearing a white tank top over blue shorts, couldn’t even remain standing and fell, instantly landing on his knees. "Forgive me, Your Majesty," he said, barely able to keep his eyes open. "I think I have fallen in lov..."

BOOM!

Once Kai had buried Red Sun ten feet underground using Telekinesis, he looked back toward Meg, ignoring Cash altogether.

The Echo he had implanted in Meg’s mindscape was no ordinary Echo.

It was programmed to detonate the moment Kira used Lady Aphrodite’s Mystery of Lust.

Kai knew exactly how Meg would react to such a forced and irresistible urge to have sex — by using all her power to attack Kira.

Meg was a mere 9th Floor Contestant.

She couldn’t have drawn a drop of blood from the three 12th Floor Contestants as long as they didn’t want her to.

It wouldn’t have mattered, though.

Meg was just too proud not to even try.

And that was something Kai took extreme pride in — enough to let Red Sun live, despite his fuck-up regarding Darth Kars, because he had been about to act against Pillar Voldemort as well.

But Meg acting that way would have gone against Kai’s plans.

He wanted her to succumb to Lust.

He wanted Kira to approach Meg, thinking that the Temple of Hastur had discarded her completely.

Because that was the only way Kai could afford ruining Lady Aphrodite’s game without actually offending her.

None knew the Horror Meg still hid in her mind.

Darth Kars did, but he was too much of a fool to share it with others.

Still, Kai had never imagined Kira would end up exploding to death, shocking him thoroughly.

To kill a 12th Floor Contestant just with her face card... Kai looked at Meg and smiled, remembering their first encounter in the Pokemon Timeline.

Strength was strength.

It didn’t matter how one gained it.

It also didn’t matter if that strength didn’t actually belong to oneself.

The only thing that mattered was whether one could use that strength.

Meg, as she was, couldn’t.

But Kai could.

"Oi, asshole!" Cash, who had reverted to her featureless, burnt upper-torso form, cursed. "I am talking to you. Where is he?"

Kai slowly looked away from Meg, turned around, and faced Cash, his eyes landing on her stomach.

The power she held within her — Dragoon — made even his skin crawl.

"You are not Mang Jian’s match," Kai said, turning around and walking toward Meg. "Take Dumbledore to Hogwarts. We need to plan."

Anger distorted the space around Cash.

She took a heavy step toward Kai — heavy enough to sink the entire mountain, a tremor running down the planet’s spine.

"Do not..." Cash said, grinding her unseen teeth. "... test me... insect."

One thought.

That was all it would take for her to obliterate him.

It would happen so fast that not even the Timeline could stop it.

Compared to her, Kai indeed felt utterly insignificant — less than even an insect.

But forget about turning around, he didn’t even stop walking.

All Kai did was pull out a card from his Inventory.

Cash’s Observation Haki did the rest...

... the terror of instant death making her take a million steps back.

*************

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