Akashi looked at Vatuu as it unleashed its giant form, standing at a height longer than the tallest building in Republic City.
When a human stands in front of a large animal, it's their natural instinct to feel afraid.
Akashi may have had his share of time being around large animals during his hunts,
but Vaatu was in another league of its own, powerful enough to destroy the world.
"So all of that poison and chicken shit were for nothing," Akashi clicked his tongue.
This scenario wasn't part of his plan—Plan A, anyway.
Korra closed her eyes, calling upon the experience of the previous Avatars.
"Let me get rid of the most annoying one first." Vatuu looked at Akashi. "You gave me some trouble for a while and almost ended me whenever I focused on Raava."
By Raava, he meant Korra.
Feeling the anger in Vatuu's voice, Akashi forced a smile.
"Come on, me and Uncle-in-law are good friends. I was just joking with him. Korra, on the other hand, wants to kill you. You should focus on her," Akashi said.
"I'm the one who made something called deception. You think it would work on me?" Vaatu howled as he lifted his giant foot and stomped on Akashi. The latter flew quickly; a massive shockwave spread across the ground.
Akashi waved his hands, bending the wave that spread in the air. He pulled it toward his arm and compressed it. He then thrust both of his arms toward Vatuu and amplified it. A massive force hit Vatuu, but its giant body moved only a few meters backward.
Korra opened her eyes. "Akashi, move away."
And just as she said that, Akashi flew as high as he could.
Korra opened her mouth and screamed.
Soundbending.
The scream was anything but human.
The ground broke from the power of the scream. Even at the height Akashi reached, his eardrums threatened to burst.
Luckily, he could bend the sound wave away.
The giant called the Dark Avatar fell to one knee, cracks appearing in the darkness.
In the middle of the cracks, Akashi could see Unalaq's half body.
Vatuu fused with Unalaq. One dies, the other does. The same logic that applies for Korra would apply to him. After this battle, Vatuu will try to do the most damage before deactivating the Avatar State, and he'll reincarnate. I need to kill him while he's in this state.
Akashi clapped his hands, creating a sound wave with a different frequency. The cracks repaired instantly with dark spiritual energy. Unalaq's main body was unharmed.
I need to find the right frequency. Meanwhile, Korra, don't kill him before I do.
Korra waved her hands, cracks appearing on the earth, a massive amount of lava surging. It gathered into the shape of a massive lance that headed toward Vatuu. The latter scoffed, pointed his hands forward, and shot a dark beam.
Akashi thought, analyzed, and concluded that he needed two things to succeed here:
more mastery and more wisdom.
[Wavesbending up to level 21]
[Wisdom up to 31]
[Two new perks have been unlocked]
[Solid Mind: A mind unaffected by corruption, fatigue, or illusion]
[True Insight: Read through all. See the truth beyond illusion, disguise, and deception, and more.]
In a matter of split seconds, Akashi's view of the world changed.
His mastery over wavesbending allowed him to sense more. He could see through the waves now—where Korra was standing, and what was behind her. From the echo of her heartbeat, he could know every detail of her internal system.
He doubted that this was the effect of an increased level,
because his insight with airbending increased as well.
Wisdom stats and perks did something to him, and it wasn't dirty.
By observing Korra bending, he could sense Chi moving through the air, causing her to bend elements,
Vatuu's dark aura in the air, and how it vibrated.
What is this? A whole new world is in front of me. If I didn't get Solid Mind, I would have fallen from the shock. I guess the perks have a logical order.
Now, let's analyze this.
Unalaq, despite his body being in a bad state, was still human.
Even Avatars can't survive with poison in them, even in the Avatar State. And definitely, they wouldn't survive without oxygen.
Akashi slammed his forehead, feeling dumb all of a sudden.
Korra dodged a beam and sent a massive, sharp air vacuum blade toward Vatuu, which hit, forcing him to step back.
Akashi slammed his head again.
Korra gave Akashi a quick glance. She felt concerned for him for a second. He was acting weird, even for Akashi.
"Fuck it. I've been wondering what the right frequency was all this time, and the answer was in front of me."
Akashi looked at the sky above him, frustrated.
Such a thing was so obvious that he didn't need to raise his wisdom stats to realize it.
If air was getting through the spiritual barrier—air, not wind—then the right frequency to penetrate Vatuu's spiritual armor was the same frequency as air.
Though sound with the same frequency as air wouldn't do harm, since it would just pass through the body and not damage internal organs.
Yet, sound waves weren't the only thing he could manipulate.
The last time he checked, he could get some Chi out of his body and bend it.
Currently, he could sense Korra's Chi transmitting through the air in waves and affecting matter.
Okay. Create a Chi wave, change the frequency to the same as air, and release it.
"Akashi, if you're going to act like a homeless nut in the wrong place, why don't you fly away?" Korra urged.
"Forget it," Akashi shook his head.
By this time, Vatuu ignored him and no longer considered him a threat. All his focus was on killing the Avatar.
I don't have much Chi left, so I'll put most of it into this attack. Akashi took a few deep breaths to recover some energy. Then, he stretched his hands forward before slowly drawing them toward his wrists. This movement, despite its simplicity, created a pathway for Chi energy to move. Akashi could feel it forming a wave, but instead of allowing that wave to affect air, he bent the air to contain the Chi wave, manipulated it, and changed its frequency.
Reality started to distort at some point. As he used the energy meant to bend nature and played with it, it created a strange phenomenon—hot, glowing, radiant, and affecting everything around it. All of Akashi's spiritual energy was in this.
Vatuu had to stop for a second and looked up, seeing Akashi gathering some sort of beam in his hand.
From his shiny red eyes, two beams attacked him.
Akashi thrust his hand, releasing a beam of his own.
And as the frequency of his beam was different, it went through the beam Vatuu released, heading straight toward Unalaq's body.
But at the same time, Vatuu's dark beam headed toward Akashi.