Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai] - Chapter 102: Marvelous

Quinn looked back at Nimea, taking a small step away from the golden mist that was slowly spreading across the ground.

“Nimea, can’t we–”

“I gave you an order!” Nimea snarled. “Are you arguing with me?”

Energy sparked at Nimea’s wrist and Quinn hissed in pain. She staggered forward, then hunched her shoulders and shuddered. Chance’s jaw clenched.

“Did you just attack your own friend?” Chance asked, his hand tightening around the hilt of his urumi.

“No more talking. Quinn, I’m not going to ask again. We’ll be visiting the Sect Elder after this to have you tuned up, you ungrateful–”

Chance’s urumi screamed through the air. Nimea dropped to the ground and it slammed into the rock wall behind her, biting deep into the stone. It sent rubble raining down on top of her as Chance ripped it free and it snaked back into his hand.

Quinn groaned as another wave of energy rocked her body. She dropped to all fours and stone gathered at her feet. She launched herself forward, using it like a springboard. All around her, the rock erupted like an ocean wave.

Chance vaulted backward, spinning out of the way as spikes of rock jabbed out from the churning mass surrounding Quinn. He bobbed and swayed between them, always just a step ahead of her no matter how hard she tried.

He wasn’t even paying attention to Quinn. Chance’s full attention was on Nimea, who had gone back to watching the fight at the back of the room with a smug expression, her arms crossed.

A flicker of anger sparked in Chance’s chest, but his Essence swallowed it before it could bloom. Anger would only make his technique worse. He did not need to be angry. There was no need for it.

All he needed was Karma.

The ground beneath Chance ripped itself open. He rolled to the side, springing to his feet and jumping over a jagged blade of stone that whistled beneath him, barely missing. Chance didn’t have any desire to fight Quinn considering it didn’t look like she had much choice in the matter, but she wasn’t an incompetent fighter.

It was all Chance could do to stay ahead of her attacks. If he didn’t start fighting back, he wasn’t going to get an opportunity to go after Nimea. All of that flickered through his head in an instant, then faded away.

A small laugh slipped from between his lips as more Essence poured out of his Gate, and a wide smile stretched over his face. He brought his urumi whistling toward Quinn. The rock surged, forming a wall before her.

As soon as she couldn’t see Chance, he launched himself forward. He vaulted over the stone barrier, sailing above Quinn’s head, and landed lightly on the floor behind her. Chance broke in to a dead sprint toward Nimea.

Nimea called out for help, jumping back and narrowly avoiding Chance’s glowing third fist. It smashed into the stone, sending a large cloud of dust up into the air around them. Nimea swung her vine weapon at Chance, but he leaned back and let it pass harmlessly by his nose.

Quinn flew through the air and a pillar of rock rose from the ground before her. She grabbed onto it, spinning and launching herself straight at Chance. He spun, striking her in the back with the hilt of his urumi as she passed by.

Grunting in pain, Quinn hit the ground in a roll and launched back to her feet.

“Quinn,” Nimea yelled. “No more playing around! Do it. Now!”

Fear swallowed Quinn’s features. She immediately jumped away from Chance, landing beside Nimea. Red energy swirled around Nimea’s fingers, crackling and sparking like electricity. She reached for Quinn’s back.

Chance’s urumi carved through the air. Nimea’s eyes widened and she grabbed Quinn, shoving her before herself like a human shield. The action was so outrageous that Chance nearly lost control of the urumi in surprise.

Rock surged to try and block the blow, but the blade scraped past them and carved along Quinn’s shoulder. She cried out in pain. A moment later, blood bloomed from the wound and matted her fur. It wasn’t fatal, but it was deep.

“Stop moving!” Nimea screamed. She lunged to grab Quinn, the energy still arcing across her hand. Chance whipped his urumi forward again, this time sending it slithering just barely above the floor.

Nimea spotted it coming and lunged away. Quinn formed a stone shield before herself, but Chance wasn’t aiming for her. The urumi split through a strand of Karma hanging from Nimea.

He hadn’t gotten a moment to see who it belonged to, but Chance didn’t care. Energy flooded into his body and he felt his muscles tighten with Essence. As Nimea reached out for Quinn again, Chance blurred forward.

His foot slammed against the stone once before he shot toward Nimea, closing the distant in an instant. Her eyes widened as Chance’s fist crashed into her jaw, lifting her into the air. The glowing hand of Karmic energy grabbed Nimea as she flew, rearing back and launching her into the wall with enough force to crack the stone.

Nimea fell to the ground with a pained, gasping choke. She spat blood onto the ground and pushed herself upright, trying to stand. Chance walked toward her, golden essence storming violently around him. His urumi scraped across the stone as it retracted, snapping back into place one ominous snick at a time.

Trembling, Nimea raised her eyes to meet his.

All that was within them was terror.

***

Yamish smiled.

With every step that Chance took, he could feel the Karma around him trembling in anticipation. Two paths stretched out before Yamish’s eyes, each one covered with a million branching threads.

Infinite actions. Some of them were just the barest flickers of a thought, while others were a complete and utter change in life. Each one shot off in its own little way, carrying with it the potential for its own future.

With deliberate movements, Yamish let his hand run along the path connected to Nimea. It trembled at his touch. The universe craved its Karmic dues. Many of the strands had rotted and turned black.

As Yamish’s finger trailed along them, they withered and fell away. It wasn’t her that Yamish was interested in, though. He watched Chance with trepidation.

“Which one will it be, my apprentice?” Yamish mused. “Not all in this universe are meant to live. Some are a stain on this world. A cancer that can only be removed by blade. It is our duty. We are the executioners. There is no greater authority, no matter what you may believe Karma to be. Good must balance with evil. In killing, there is life.”

Chance stopped before Nimea. He raised his sword.

Yamish’s smile expanded, stretching across his face until it went from one ear to the other, splitting it in a perfect, seamless half.

“This is the truth of Karma. It is a tool. We are the wielder, chosen by the universe to rule. We decide who lives and dies, so long as balance is maintained,” Yamish breathed, leaning forward in anticipation. “Take the step.”

Chance brought the urumi down. Nimea screamed, raising her hand fruitlessly. The blade slammed into the wall above Nimea’s head, raining stone down on her. She flinched, staring up at Chance with terrified eyes.

Yamish’s smile vanished as Chance grabbed Nimea by her collar and lifted her into the air.

“What’s your problem?” Chance demanded. “How could you treat your own ally like that?”

“She’s not my ally,” Nimea stammered, futilely grasping at Chance’s hand, but his grip was like iron. “She’s my servant. This is her purpose. I – I’m sorry. I’ll leave. You can have the treasure.”

Chance’s hand trembled with anger. He ground his teeth and his fingers twitched at his side. Invisible to all of them, Yamish’s fists clenched.

“Destroy her,” Yamish hissed.

“The treasure was never yours to give,” Chance snapped. “But human lives aren’t toys. You treat your companions with respect. They aren’t tools.”

Nimea slapped Chance’s hand away and fell to the ground, gasping in pain. She scrambled away from him and rose to her feet.

“You can have her, you crazy psychopath. Forget this!” Nimea said, her eyes crazed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wooden token. A manic smile pulled across her lips. “Do one last favor for your master, Quinn. Distract him.”

Quinn lurched forward, bands of red energy searing against her wrists and forcing her into action. Chance swayed out of the way as Quinn staggered past, his eyes not leaving Nimea as she snapped the token.

Essence swirled around her, and runes rapidly appeared on the ground at her feet. Yamish extended a hand, dragging his finger through the runes. They shattered at his touch, going up in smoke and leaving Nimea standing there, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“I – I don’t understand,” Nimea said, taking a step back. “How?”

Quinn lunged at Chance again, forming a stone axe in her hands. He stepped back, whipping his leg out and intertwining it between Quinn’s. She stumbled, falling to the ground before him with a grunt. The axe flew from her grip, clattering across the ground.

“Does it matter?” Chance asked. “She’s fighting while you do nothing, and it’s by choice rather than necessity. What kind of terrible teammate are you?”

“I already told you. She’s just a servant. I have dozens of them,” Nimea spat. “Take one step toward me and my father’s sect will crush you like a bug. You have no idea who I am.”

Chance winced. “Ouch. That line was really, really pathetic. Do you even hear yourself? Don’t you have a single spec of anything redeemable in you? Do you even know why you aren’t dead yet?”

“Because you’re not stupid,” Nimea said with a panicked laugh. “You know. Yes, you know who my father is. That’s why. I–”

“You aren’t a threat,” Chance said flatly. “Killing you would be wrong because you couldn’t defend yourself from me, even if you wanted to. It would be a stain on my Karma.”

“What are you talking about?” Nimea edged toward the hole in the wall she’d made earlier. “You’re insane.”

“You’re nothing,” Chance said, shaking his head. “You don’t even realize. Everyone has the potential to be something, and you’re actively choosing to be nothing. Leave. I won’t kill you. You aren’t worth the stain on my blade.”

Nimea spun to sprint out of the room. She screamed in terror as the blades of Chance’s urumi whipped past her head, just barely missing her.

“One last thing,” Chance said, retracting the urumi and stalking toward Nimea. He nodded at Quinn, who was still lying on the floor. “How are you controlling her?”

Nimea swallowed heavily. “I – it’s my Essence. The Essence of Binding.”

“I didn’t ask what you were using. I asked how you were doing it.”

“You said I could leave.”

Chace’s stare burned into Nimea’s face. She swallowed again.

“I can bind parts of my body to my servants. It lets me make them follow my commands – but I didn’t even do the binding! I’m not strong enough. My father–”

“What part?” Chance’s words were measured.

Nimea raised a trembling hand. “My left pinky.”

Chance’s urumi flashed. Nimea’s hand thudded to the ground. She screamed in pain, clutching the stump of her hand to her chest as blood poured out of it. Chance reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of medicinal pills. He threw one to the ground before Nimea.

“Leave.”

Nimea grabbed the pill, gasping and wheezing in pain as she staggered out of the room. Yamish watched her leave, his fury turned pensive.

“Interesting. Very interesting, my apprentice. Not the path I would have chosen, no. But a path. One that I can work with. You continue to fascinate me. Indeed, a marvelous find.”

And then he was gone, leaving not a single trace of his passing.