The Path To Perfection

Chapter 44: Bow Before Me

Upon seeing the falling figure, Al'ravee laughed. "Ho! ho! ho! So be it then"

Al'ravee still wanted to save his energy for one last test. 'four percent.'

He rammed his fingers and toes into the concrete side of the skyscraper and launched himself upward.

*WHOOM, BADAM, BADAM, BADAM...*

His movements were similar to that of a mad gorilla rapidly climbing a cliff. His fingers and toes dug into the concrete and left holes and falling stones in their wake.

Unsurprisingly, Al'ravees' climbing speed didn't match Darius's falling speed but it wasn't far from it.

As they got close enough, Darius made a summersault midair and positioned his leg for a drop axe kick. He intended to send Al'ravee back down with force.

Al'ravee propelled himself upward one last time, covering a lot of distance, and positioned his fist for an upward super punch.

The punch and the kick met in the middle.

*BOOM!!!!!*

#############

The courtiers watched the exchange from the balcony with eyes open wide in shock. This was not a battle ordinary men could participate in.

"Wait. Where's lord Zummi?" General Victor suddenly voiced out. Everyone looked around but Lord Zummi was nowhere to be found.

"Ayaa! He went to the nuke bunker!" A Divera clan member shouted as he ran back into the building with fervor and fear in his eyes.

The others didn't need to think too much before running after him.

'Idiots!' Zummi thought as he picked one of the twenty elevators. The four remaining royal guards of before stood beside him.

'Just because I'm a capable leader doesn't mean I'd like to wait for a fight that could cost me my life'.

He entered the elevator and just as the doors were about to slide shut, he heard the sound of multiple rapid footsteps. Zummi felt cold sweat drench his back. Thankfully, the elevator closed and he started going down.

The anti-nuke shelter beneath the building wasn't a secret and there were already some people there right now. It had enough food supply to last everyone in the building for many months plus it had its own underground farm.

The problem is that there had been nearly three hundred people with Lord Zummi in total and there were only twenty elevators with each only able to contain about six people.

No one wanted to wait for the elevators to go down and come back up first before they could be safe.

What if Darius lost the fight and the founder started looking for them before the elevator got back up?

Seeing the closing elevator door, the courtiers, ministers, and clan members felt a shiver go through their spines. Only 19 elevators left.

And like that, a separate battle for survival commenced there and then.

#########

*BOOM!*

Al'ravee's punch and Darius's kick collided in the middle. The force of the collision caused some fragile glass windows to crack, shatter and fall off.

Al'ravee was sent down but quickly latched onto the side of the skyscraper to stop himself, he immediately chased after Darius.

Darius had it worse, the punch had sent him up faster than he had fallen. Due to his weight, he didn't go too far. The leg part of the armor was undamaged but his leg ached with unimaginable pain.

The jet thrusters on his back were still working to keep him in the air.

He aimed his way more deadly arm blaster at Al'ravee and started firing like a madman. From that exchange, it was clear that Al'ravee was stronger than him.

Al'ravee jumped from side to side like a monkey on steroids 'That's enough eight percent!'

*BAM!*

With the increase in power, he directly ran with his two legs only on the side of the skyscraper. His arms were spread apart to keep his balance as his feet left cracks on the walls.

Darius did not have time to react. The distance between them hadn't been much at first so all he saw was Al'ravee's figure rapidly moving towards him before he felt a strong hand clamp onto his armored neck.

*CRASH*

Al'ravee smashed his descendant ruthlessly into the building before jumping through the hole himself.

"Darius is it? You know, for my descendant, you're quite disrespectful. Aren't you happy to see me?" Al'ravee asked, folding his arm with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Lord Ravee, please stop this madness!" Darius stood up from the damaged tiled ground.

'Pleading again?' Al'ravee wondered. He decided to be sarcastic for once. It's been long

"The time for the people of this planet has come to an end. Only one mortal will be selected to survive this calamity."

Darius naturally knew of the happenings of the other continents. In one week, the world peace that had lasted for a long time was gone. It won't be long before the nuclear winter kicks in because of the nuclear warfare. By then the people would truly be doomed globally.

It would be a lie if he said he was confident to survive the next five years.

Al'ravee stretched his hand to his descendant like some divine savior "Come, join me, serve me and you shall not only survive but also gain powers beyond your wildest dreams".

The god couldn't see Darius' face but he could guess the shock on his face. Imagine if some powerful entity suddenly arrived and promised only you supernatural powers while destroying your home world.

Exactly, it most likely would never happen. It's just too good, or bad, to be true.

Al'ravee seemed to have consciously unlocked his inner narcissist. "Everything you thought you knew has all been a lie, Darius. I am the supreme god of all and also your ancestor. I have chosen you to become my heral..."

"SHUT UP!" Darius rushed at Al'ravee with a punch powered by a rocket elbow. All he wanted right now was to stall, giving Lord Zummi enough time to escape.

*DAM*

Al'ravee caught the punch with a very scary frown. When was the last time he had been interrupted when he was talking? "You unfilial child, how rude."

Like he was trying to get rid of a bug, he flung Darius away. Darius himself smashed through multiple walls before coming to a stop.

"If you had agreed outrightly, I would've still killed you. But you seem like a worthy servant. You WILL serve me"

*PEW*

The laser bolt hit Al'ravee right in his face which only increased his irritation. Ever since he arrived, his emotions have been unstable. First, it was his feeling of guilt, then his feeling of genuine sadness, then that unhealthy urge to fight again, and then pride.

Now, Al'ravees' body and soul were stronger than before and so were his emotions. It took a great deal of self-control to suppress himself from doing something stupid.

"Why do you fight your destiny child?" He started walking towards Darius as the latter got up from the rubble. "You're making me sound like the villain here."

Darius shook his head, hiding the pain he was feeling in his back. "You're just a mere man with too much power, a power that no man should possess. If you were a god, you wouldn't need me."

Al'ravee stopped in his tracks. He didn't care about what Darius said, most people who have lived under the system that encouraged mediocrity and passiveness for a long time would react the same way. Al'ravee should know because he created that very system.

Al'ravee realized that Darius was intentionally saying nonsense and was stalling. "*Sigh*, your loyalty is in the wrong place kid. It now belongs to me. Lemme help you with that."

*SWOOSH*

Al'ravee appeared in front of Darius, grabbed the latter's shoulder, then gave him a terrible headbutt.

*BAM*

Darius burst through the floor and crashed through four more floors. Darius would have died if not for the super suit. Of course, Al'ravee had taken all that into account. The helmet was broken, revealing half of his injured face.

At this point, Darius was having a hard time controlling the suit.

Arcs of electricity crawled out of the hole in the ceiling. Al'ravee floated down from the hole with the help of two tile pieces beneath his feet.

Electricity crackled around his body and his eyes turned mirror-like. "BOW BEFORE ME, THAT I MAY SHOW YOU THE WAY!" Al'ravee spoke in a dignified voice, intentionally trying to sound ancient and wise.

Darius was seriously intimidated by this but as a royal guard, he had been trained to be ready to die at any time for the throne.

He got the armor system online and tried to stand up. The next thing he knew, he was smashing through more walls.

"SUBMIT!" *BAM*

The chest part of the suit was ripped apart allowing the well-toned muscles to receive the fresh air.

Darius felt pain everywhere, his body was working on the precoded phases of brainwash therapy now. He stood up, took a boxing stance, and faced his ancestor. He may have been the founder of a continental empire but he was now a threat to the throne, the very throne he had set up.

Al'ravee was impressed. 'They probably gave him a different set of training since he was supposed to be the leader. Ai, such a bother' This only made Al'ravee more determined to break him.

"As you wish." Al'ravee dashed towards Al'ravee.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Minutes later, the only thing heard was Darius' cry of agony.