Divine Beast Ascension 108 Fleeing For Survival

Oli and the bandit went back and forth. Every punch from the gorilla would be deflected and dodged while the bandit's fluid movements were crudely blocked by Oli.
"You're not too bad. Just give up and we can stop this. I can guarantee we'll treat you right; with your abilities, everyone would," mentioned the bandit.
"Just shut up already and fight." Oli picked up the pace. "You're always dodging. I thought you were supposed to be a higher plane me?"
The bandit remained silent as he threw another flurry of blows. Gradually, he was denting the gorilla's defenses.
Netra watched from the side, unsure of what would happen. Her opponent was already dead but at the cost of one of her paws.
She understood Oli better than most people. She also cared about him more than most people. Without much thought, Netra allowed herself to sink into darkness and disappear from where she stood.
As the bandit kept charging and pus.h.i.+ng Olie back, suddenly, he sensed a threat behind.
While Oli was backpedaling away, the bandit turned to face the reappearing Netra with a smile. "I've already seen you use that, too bad."
The young fox led with her bad paw, giving the bandit an opening to grab it.
He did exactly that, covering her paw in piercing ice that tore apart her flesh. Then, the bandit reached for the fox's neck with the same frosty aura covering his other hand.
"Crack!"
Wincing in pain, the bandit noticed his right arm bending in from the elbow as a giant ape-like fist powered through it. Shockingly, it wasn't covered in earth essence but dark essence.
Since his one good hand was already busy holding the fox, all the bandit could do was try to step away and try to cover himself in essence at the last second. But he was unable to avoid the second punch.
Oli's second punch drove into the side of the bandit's rib cage. With the sounds of ribs fracturing and splintering, Oli drove his fist as far into the bandit's chest as he could.
Unable to withstand such pain the bandit released Netra as he coughed up blood and flew back a few krin.
The bandit shook and trembled as he struggled to breathe with his pierced lungs, now filling with blood. He fell into shock. With spasms and twitches, he tried to ignore the pain but couldn't.
Oli wasn't worried about him, only rus.h.i.+ng to Netra's side. "Are you insane?"
"No… You did exactly what I thought you would."
"You…"
Oli picked her up and hurried to the nearest tree. With one arm, the gorilla supported her over his shoulder while the other arm hurriedly climbed to the very top. Now completely covered and out of sight, he laid her on the thickest branch Oli could find.
Before he said anything, Oli turned and hopped down a branch.
"What are you doing?" questioned Netra. "If you use your dark essence, then we can both hide."
"Yeah, but if we both hide than everyone will be looking for the both of us. And with the evidence of our fight nearby it's only a matter of time till they find us here. But if I leave, then they'll come after me without even trying to look for you," reasoned Oli.

Netra glared at Oli with furious eyes. "But… You'd better come back alive… I won't let you leave if you don't promise me that."
The gorilla sighed, "Fine, then I promise to come back alive."
Not wasting another moment, Oli scurried down the tree and bolted to the north.
On the verge of tears, Netra was left without anything to say or anyone to speak to. She watched from above while concealing her presence.
After a few minutes pa.s.sed, three human figures arrived to inspect the now dead bandit. They only searched him for a moment before das.h.i.+ng to the north, following Oli's trail.
*****
Oli knew that he was being chased and that they were gaining on him. He also knew that they were nearing the very edge of the jungle and would soon reach the gra.s.slands where he had nowhere to hide.
With that in mind, Oli picked up the pace and did his best to keep distance between them.
While two of the bandits in pursuit weren't struggling to keep up, the third chuckled to himself. Then, he suddenly increased his speed and took off like a bolt of lightning.
In a few moments, Oli was forced to stop by that man appearing in front of him.
"You're quite a slippery one for an ape. Not bad," mentioned the man.
Oli did his best to sense his opponent's strength but couldn't feel a thing. There was no essence released from him or any aura at all. It was impossible for Oli to recognize the man's plane.
"Don't worry about me, you should worry about yourself. I'm not going to touch you. I will just let the others do it," laughed the man.
Just then the other two bandits caught up and surrounded the gorilla in a triangular formation.
"He's all yours," stated the confident man. "Considering what happened to the last guy, you should probably tag team him."
The two bandits grunted but didn't disagree. Both released fire essence and ran at Oli with fists ablaze.
Refocusing on the two incoming attackers Oli put up his best defenses. But Oli quickly understood that fire essence was far stronger and more explosive than the water essence the previous bandit wielded.
His defenses were torn apart by the fiery fists. Both of his arms were singed and he could feel his joints ache from taking the blows.
In response, Oli spun while creating two earthen hammers. With momentum on his side, the gorilla swung a hammer at each of his opponents.
One stepped back and fled from the blow while the other tried his best to defend and test the gorilla's strength. However, he quickly regretted that decision.
The hammer smashed and destroyed his arms while forcing them back into a tree. He coughed up blood and let his broken arms dangle at his side. The bandit was happy to be alive but he knew he couldn't keep attacking.
Being more cautious, the second bandit charged again.
Oli swung both hammers again with spinning momentum. Though this bandit was more prepared for the blow, Oli's attack still broke through the bandit's defenses.
But as the second bandit was thrown into the ground the gorilla felt a burning sensation in his arm. A hole had been burned through his flesh, proving that the second bandit didn't take Oli's. .h.i.t for no reason.
"Splendid!" The confident man started to clap and applaud Oli. "There's no doubt you're his son."
"You… Who are you talking about?"
"Who else other than Dioro?"
As the man cackled the other two bandits looked at him in confusion. But that look didn't last long as two knives were thrown and lodged in their throats.
Baffled, Oli stared at the remaining bandit.
"Don't give me that look. I'm just guaranteeing their silence," explained the bandit. "It's too bad your old man isn't alive though. I even came personally in order to bring him in…"
"So you're working with that dragon, Brak?!"
"Not exactly… But that doesn't matter since Dioro is already dead. At least I can bring you in. Knowing the Lord's temper, I'm sure I'll get something for bringing in Dioro's son."
At that moment Oli released all the essence he had, both earth and dark.
"Oh… I didn't expect that… I think I'd rather make you my subordinate," reasoned the man. "Yes, that would be much better than just giving you away."
"There's no way I'd willingly go with you!" Oli barreled toward the man, ready to give him all he had.
"All right, then I'll give you three free hits. If you can manage to even injure me, then I'll leave without a second thought," chuckled the man.
Oli immediately drilled his first fist into the man's open chest but was surprised that it had no effect. In desperation he launched a second punch into the man's side. Yet, he still did nothing.
"That makes two hits. One more and then you come with me willingly."
"Shut up!"
Suddenly, a new type of energy started to pulsate and cover Oli as his third and final fist drove up into the man's chin.
When the man's head was thrown up from the blow, Oli smiled. But that smile vanished as the man looked back at him, only rubbing his chin in thought.
"So young, yet you already know soul arts… There's no doubt about it, you'll be one of my greatest subordinates!" A billowing laugh filled the area as the man looked at Oli with curious eyes.
Though it was only a burst of spiritual energy, Oli was already feeling the backlash. His steps were shaky and his vision started to blur. The toll of exhaustion from that attack left Oli on the verge of unconsciousness.
"While you're still awake and on your feet allow me to reveal one of my surprises since you've shown me so many of yours."
The man reached down and casually gripped a ring on his hand.
As he slipped it off, an overwhelming pressure forced itself upon Oli, speeding up his drift toward unconsciousness. Just as he pa.s.sed out, Oli heard the man introduce himself.
"My name is Krasc. And I'm proud to have you as my newest subordinate."