CHAPTER 31: THE RESULT!
At that exact moment, Woli whispered quietly. His voice was almost like a breath.
"Cosmic Flame."
An energy flame began forming around his sword. Crimson, gold, and white colors intertwined. It was as if the blade had absorbed the essence of the sun itself. Woli sent his sword forward horizontally.
SWISH…
The moment the blade touched Bumb, his upper body separated from his torso. But there was no blood. Nothing at all. It wasn't just that the blade had severed the body—the area the blade cut through had been completely erased. As if nothing had ever been there.
Bumb spoke his final words in agony. His voice was now deep, hoarse, and broken.
"Ahhh… Wh-what kind of technique is this…"
And Bumb breathed his last. He collapsed to the ground in two pieces. His Djinn form slowly began to dissolve—his yellow hair faded, his body turned to ash.
Woli planted his foot on the ground and spoke. His voice was calm, but there was a weight to it.
"This technique… cuts through reality itself."
Meanwhile, Raimen's Flame Geyser technique was still ongoing. The flames that had reached the sky finally began to spread in all directions, and the heat was enough to destroy everything it touched. Trees were catching fire, the earth was melting, even the air seemed to tremble.
Raimen grinned.
"You're done for now!"
Master Rambeel immediately shouted.
"Kids! Create a technique to protect yourselves right now, immediately!"
Kaito's voice was filled with panic.
"B-but we don't have a technique like that!"
Ren was in the same state.
"I've never created a technique to protect myself before."
Aiko's green eyes filled with fear.
"M-me neither."
Rambeel's voice was determined.
"In tough situations, sometimes you just have to improvise."
The moment Rambeel said this, Kaito was deeply affected by those words. Something stirred inside him. His hand moved involuntarily, as if guided by something. As if Soul was guiding him.
Kaito shouted at that moment.
"SPIRIT WALL!"
Suddenly, a transparent Spirit wall formed around Kaito, surrounding him. White, bright, protective. The flames couldn't reach him.
Ren tried to use Zan. His blue hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat.
"LIGHTNING ZAN!"
A shield of blue sparks formed around him. He was struggling, but he stayed on his feet.
"Aiko, you use your Zan too!"
Aiko nodded.
"O-okay! ZAN!"
A green shield formed, but it was weak. Aiko didn't want to just stay on the defensive. She had to do something.
She used another technique.
"MIND POWER! Stop the technique!"
Raimen's eyes turned green for a very brief moment. The Flame Geyser paused for an instant.
Seizing this opportunity, Rambeel wanted to attack immediately, but Raimen's technique was still active. Aiko stubbornly tried to maintain the technique.
"This is an order! Stop the technique!"
Raimen was still motionless, but the technique hadn't been canceled.
Rambeel shook his head.
"Aiko, don't push yourself. You're not at the level to take over his mind yet. You need to get much stronger."
Seizing the moment of Raimen's hesitation, Kaito immediately deactivated his Spirit Wall and attacked.
"SPIRIT STEP!"
Kaito had given a name to the technique he had just used. "Spirit Step!" — A speed technique using spirit energy.
Kaito suddenly appeared right in front of Raimen. And he shouted.
"SPIRIT PO!"
Just as he was about to bring his fist down on Raimen, Raimen came to his senses and immediately stepped back. Kaito's punch missed.
Raimen immediately counterattacked.
"FLAME FIST!"
BAMM!
The flame-coated fist landed squarely on Kaito's chin. And Kaito tumbled and crashed to the ground. Blood was coming from his mouth.
Raimen spoke with a smirk.
"You still don't understand, do you? Your Ren level is far lower than mine. I can read what you're going to do."
The moment Raimen said this, his head suddenly turned to the side. And he was shocked by what he saw.
Bumb lay on the ground, split in two. His Djinn form had dissolved, his body had turned to ash. Woli stood there, sword lowered, as if nothing had happened.
Seeing Raimen's shock, the team also looked in the direction he was staring—and they too were shocked.
Bumb lay split in two on the ground. Woli was untouched.
Seeing this, Raimen immediately retreated and began to flee. His flames died down, he lost his speed. But he was still running.
Woli moved to chase him. But when he saw the team's condition—they were in no shape to fight—he stopped. And he said one word.
"We'll meet again!"
Raimen replied. His voice came from the distance, from the darkness.
"You took your revenge. Now it's my turn."
As Raimen said this, he slowly disappeared into the forest.
Woli immediately came to the team's side.
"Hey kids, are you alright?"
Kaito struggled to his feet. His chin was bleeding, but he was smiling.
"We're fine, Master. No problem."
"What about you, Rambeel?"
Rambeel was holding his stomach but was on his feet.
"I'm fine too, Woli."
"Good. You look like you took a punch to the stomach."
"The bastard was strong."
Woli nodded.
"That doesn't matter anymore. We took our revenge on Nox. And we finished off one of their strong members. And Andre's blood didn't stay on the ground. Mission complete—we can return now."
Kaito pointed at Panc.
"What about that man?"
Woli looked in the direction Kaito was pointing. Panc was lying on the ground, still unconscious.
"Panc… So you still haven't woken up?"
He turned to Rambeel.
"Rambeel, drop him at the city gate ahead in the blink of an eye. They'll handle the rest."
"Got it."
Rambeel picked Panc up in his arms. At that exact moment, he vanished. And exactly five seconds later, he returned.
"Done."
"Then let's get moving. Speed up the horses again so we can get back home quickly, Rambeel."
At that moment, Kaito asked something curiously.
"Master, I want to ask something."
"Go ahead, Kaito."
Kaito asked curiously. His brown eyes were shining.
"How do you use different powers? For example, I use Spirit power. Ren uses Lightning power. But how do you use multiple different powers?"
Rambeel laughed.
"You haven't told them, have you?"
Woli replied with a slight smile.
"No. Then let me explain."
He took a deep breath.
"There's another type of Djinn besides the ones you know. And this one falls into the most special class. This class is called… Free Djinn."
Kaito asked in surprise.
"F-Free Djinn? What's that?"
"As you said, you can only use a single power theme. For example, only Spirit or Lightning powers. I, however, am a Free Djinn user. That means I can use multiple powers."
His voice grew heavier.
"There are only a few people in the world who possess a Free Djinn. I only know one—besides myself. That's how rare it is."
He paused for a moment.
"So rare that… even Morde didn't have a Free Djinn."
Aiko's eyes sparkled.
"So does that mean you're stronger than Morde? Ahahah!"
Rambeel burst out laughing.
"You really made me laugh, Aiko. No one in this world is as strong as Morde."
Woli turned around and walked toward the horses.
"Rambeel is right. Come on, let's not waste time—let's head back to the Capital. Chief Erwin is waiting for us. He has a nice reward for us."