Kaida stood still. She didn't want to make the first move, nor did she feel like moving at all. But seeing the one talking to her getting angrier and angrier, while Kaida herself didn't respond, she found no reason to either. Though she heard a sudden movement, she blinked, and the Astral Formation appeared in front of her. A single punch sent her flying, hitting a tree and crashing to the ground, slowing her down.
Kaida healed quickly, her body able to withstand such damage, although her high pain tolerance allowed her to get up and move around. "He's not going to hold back, and I'll have a hard time killing him since his soul..." She found no other option but to find and kill him. Though she could ask Cinder to access her set of abilities, ones she had before coming here. Though it was less than ideal to use it.
"Cinder, are you able to hear me or not?"
["What is it, Ma'am?"]
Kaida stepped to the side as the Astral Formation flew over to send a kick right at Kaida's head. Its force was enough to shatter her bones, had it not been for the Qi coating her arm. Pushing back, Kaida absorbed the energy, converting her kinetic energy into potential and storing it within herself.
"Haven't used this since I met Ryuken. I probably should've." Kaida pushed back, grabbed the leg, and sent a kick up, hitting right at the chin. Even if he had pulled back, she released Qi from her leg, flying right into his head, breaking through the skull and piercing where the brain should've been.
"WH- AGHHH!!?!" The man screamed, pulling back as his body healed. He hadn't expected her to be this ruthless, even if she knew he could handle it. Usually, people didn't do it. But it seemed like Kaida was different. "...I'll have to take her seriously or I might get hur-"
Kaida launched herself, not giving him time to react, and punched him again, full force, in the face, absorbing half of the kinetic energy once again, and turning it into potential. She had enough that if she were in her own world, she could've sunk an entire country from the output. Her hand was humming from suppressed force.
"...What is that?" The man spoke. "You're not ordinary, and you're definitely not supposed to be Core Formation." He was suspicious of her, already at odds with her, but seeing how experienced she was made him even more confused. "You're... Not from here are you. There's no way someone from this world has discovered that, let alone even thought of using it." His face contorted before returning. "I have to tell the Elders, she's a variable we didn't account for. Or I could just kill her right now."
Kaida didn't speak. She only stood there, ready for an attack, but she didn't expect the other person from the Underworld to reach them. Seeing him behind her, she moved, twisting her body barely as she moved her hands to grasp the Spear he held. The golden edge and white central spearhead showed it wasn't of bad quality. But it still was made of a metal she could break.
Yet instead, she moved, pulling it and throwing it into a tree behind her. Moving and holding the guy, she folded space and teleported out while holding, yet instead she let go right before the other one could fully get out, having practically cut the younger follower's body in half.
"I don't need to hold back, I can already tell you both are dying to kill me," Kaida spoke deadpan. She didn't like to talk; her face showed calm, yet her eyes could only tell that she wanted them dead as well.
The Astral Formation spoke loudly, shouting at the top of his lungs, running over to the younger one. "ASIER!" Clearly distraught, he moved, lifting Asier and letting him heal his lower half, though still shaken by the experience.
She didn't provoke. Nor did she interfere; even if she was in a life-or-death situation, she would let them deal with their mental state. "Did you not expect me to do that?"
"NO! No one does that! Not even u-" He shouted, desperate while letting Asier stay behind him.
"Cut the crap, you kidnap people yet you don't kill? Bullshit." Kaida didn't buy it, especially since she remembered the skeletons and the kids in the cells where she fought Alaric.
Unseen by her, stronger eyes lingered—white hair, dark blue, and in the void above, a woman watching like a judge behind her veil of stars.
This lady is not like others... But so ruthless, she's not ladylike in the slightest." The woman thought to herself, covering her face with her own hand.
Kaida moved back, the Astral Formation person whom Asier called 'Caesar'. Rushed over, his hand flying at speeds she couldn't react to, hitting her right in the face, sending her flying back, and causing her neck bone to crack. Only because she had Qi protecting her body at all times. She regenerated and landed on her feet once more, albeit with some damage.
["Ma'am, why are you trying to take that out? You can't, No- Well, You can but you shouldn't!"]
"I don't care. He's coming to kill me, and I'll do the same." Kaida responded to Cinder in her mind, her hand absorbing Qi that she had transformed into potential energy. Draining at most about 30% of her Qi. She looked ahead, her hand pulled back.
"You think I'm gonna just jump into that? You think I'm stupid?" Caesar scoffed at the thought, standing ready for what she would do.
In a swift moment, Kaida flew ahead, her hand punching right at his solar plexus with sheer force, converting all the potential energy into kinetic energy. Due to her Qi multiplying the already existing Potential Energy, her punch released a shockwave strong enough to split the ground, not simply that, but separate both sides of the landmasses, shifting it and creating a whole different Island.
On the other hand, Caesar was sent flying, hitting trees and even being thrown through a mountain; he finally landed, bruised and barely able to get up. He was fed up, getting ready to attack.
"Where is that Asier guy?" She looked to the side, noticing he was gone. Probably to inform the underworld elders. Kaida noticed where Caesar was. Her hand moved into a different space, one that wasn't even accessible to Cinder, and out came a spear. It looked old, normal, and unremarkable. Her hand moved, gripping it tightly, as balance shifted forward slightly from the center. At the correct angle, she had positioned herself. The Spear passed her ear.
"...It's been so long since I've ever used this. It feels surreal. Though it's a bit weaker." Kaida spoke to herself. Someone like Caesar, while still a person, someone with a family, someone with lovers or those close to him, was to bring her down, especially since if he had informed those elders of the Underworld. It would be disastrous for her.
On the other hand, she wished not to kill, not because she had a rule not to kill, not anything like that; it was merely that she thought of all the others who would know of his death and react, an event that could cascade outwards.
A second passed, and Kaida threw it at full force, with no coating of Qi and no buildup. As it flew, the shockwave shook the ground, its speed surpassing Kaida's own. An intense shockwave blew Kaida back as she skidded across the ground, increasing friction and causing her to come to a sudden stop.
Caesar, dusting himself off, noticed something approaching, which looked like a standard spear, so he assumed he could handle it, but his body reacted differently; it headed directly to his core, which surrounded his soul. Quickly responding, he formed ten layers of barriers, even if excessive, he didn't want to waste any chance.
And yet, A blink, the sky groaned as it flew, unaffected by its sheer speed, something even Caesar could barely react to, his eyes widened-
All Ten Barriers shattered, His chest torn through, his core smashed, and... he blinked, trying to move his soul, yet he looked back, shattered was his very soul. He couldn't register it.
How could he register it? It felt impossible; a Core Formation couldn't do something like this. It shouldn't have been possible. Yet even then, without the qi coating, he could withstand strikes from those of his own level, at the peak of Astral Formation.
Falling down, he had died. His chest pierced as the Spear plunged into the ground. It felt too abrupt. "No... No No No NO. I-I can't, what the hell..." A stream of tears from his eyes, as he thought to himself, his last thoughts in denial. Even after death, His soul lingered a moment, unwilling to leave. Then it snapped out, gone; had he been stronger, he might've come back.
A silence lingered as his soul disappeared; it was eerie to the point that even the sound of insects moving could be heard by Kaida. To which she had walked over to the location where he was standing, now lying down.
"He seems like a good ally. He isn't like Alaric, who doesn't seem to care for his allies..." Kaida spoke, her voice slower than before, even in her own mind.
"Maybe I should've negotiated first." Kaida wasn't sure if she had tried it and it failed; he would see her as weaker, even if Kaida didn't care - it would still sting for her.
Kaida walked over. Caesar's body had already collapsed without its soul. She grasped the Spear, and it vanished into the air. A calm expression lay on her face as she noticed a shadowy movement.
Kaida turned, seeing the one watching with dark blue hair disappear, leaving a trail of Qi. From the looks of it, Foundation Establishment. The Same realm as Ren and Wilhelm. She mentally noted this, but she didn't know what to do about it. Leaving them to their own devices, she would expect them to at least report back.
Kaida felt different; while now stronger, she felt somber, no longer treating the people here as if they were ready to betray her at any point. It was expected, she thought that way.
Kaida, finally done with what she needed, had run at full speed, not even close to the speed of the Spear, yet it mattered not; it was apparent that the Spear was stronger than she was.
"I need to get back and talk to Akari... The Underworld is growing more rampant." Kaida slowed, unease tightening her chest. Whatever was brewing in the Sect wasn't small—it felt immense.
Finally reaching the Sect's Entrance, she noticed a few people there, along with stronger security, as those in Astral Formation were at the entrance. Jumping up, Kaida went past the entrance and went inside. Skipping the guards altogether, as she found it to be a hassle.
Kaida took a breath and stretched. She'd done too much in a single day. She didn't need rest; she could go on and run at full speed without ever needing to stop. She glanced back. Guards had multiplied—hundreds, maybe thousands. Something was brewing. Even Disciples and those in realms she couldn't read.
Continuing to walk, she stopped, almost bumping into Isaac. "Oh. Hi." She spoke with calm, yet some unease, having nearly brushed past him.
"Kaida. Something is going on involving you. They said something about you being here to infiltrate." He spoke bluntly, but he didn't seem suspicious, probably able to see through lies he'd be able to tell if she could lie. Since he was also in Core Formation now.
"Oh. Yeah, I was supposed to, I don't really need to hide, but the Underworld expected me to help them after they kidnapped me when I was weaker." Kaida didn't think much of this.