As Joshua struggled to break free from the grip of the eels, Gaki snapped his fingers, producing a sound that warped Joshua's vision and hearing. Disoriented, he couldn't concentrate, leaving him vulnerable as Zero fired another water bullet aimed straight for his heart.
Even in his dazed state, Joshua sensed the water bullet hurtling toward him. Summoning every ounce of his light energy, he forced his right hand free and, with sheer precision and strength, caught the bullet barehanded.
The effort cost him. Pain shot through his body, but he didn't stop. With a roar, he tore himself from the eels' grip, ripping through their writhing forms with his hands, leaving them shredded and twitching on the ground.
Korra: [BLACK: FOREST EMERGENCE, THORNS]
Without giving him a moment to breathe, Lorra activated her Shadow Technique, "Forest Emergence." Thorned vines erupted from her shadow, shooting toward Joshua like jagged spears, aiming to pierce him from every angle.
At the same time, Zero, Lokk, and Jokita surged through the lake's shallow waters, their attacks a relentless flurry of strikes. Joshua's mind was scrambled, his senses battered, but he countered most of the blows with precise timing and sheer instinct.
But a few managed to graze him, cutting through his focus.
And through it all, Gaki's sound manipulation never stopped piercing, disorienting, and relentless, leaving Joshua struggling to maintain control over his body and mind.
Joshua: [WHITE: SPINNING VORTEX]
Summoning his light energy, Joshua ripped the wind around him into a violent, spinning vortex. The force hurled Zero, Lokk, and Jokita backward, giving him precious moments to regroup.
He focused on the thorns Lorra had embedded in his body, carefully pulling them free, then channeled Harmonic Restoration to mend the wounds. For a brief moment, he drew a deep breath, his body recovering, his mind racing with plans for the next strike.
Lokk: Damn… he's healing from all that damage we just inflicted.
Desmond: Harmonic Restoration… that's one hell of a technique, huh?
Joshua: (to himself) What… What is going on? My mind… it's all over the place. I can't think straight. Can't see straight. And it's all because of him.
He glances toward Gaki.
Joshua: His technique… it must be some kind of sound loop. But why am I the only one hearing it?
He scanned the others and quickly noticed that everyone had their ears blocked with pods.
Joshua: I get it. Their plan… keep attacking me while my mind is mush. As long as I keep hearing that damn tune from his left hand, I'll stay disoriented.
His gaze drops to the thorns Korra had stabbed him with. A wild, painful idea suddenly sparked in his mind.
Zero and the others tensed, ready to strike, thinking Joshua was still disoriented.
Then he did the unthinkable.
Joshua snatched two of the thorn bullets Lorra had fired at him earlier. Without hesitation, he drove them into his own ears.
A sickening crunch echoed in the air. His eardrums tore. Pain shot through his head like wildfire. The Kaimi Daja froze, stunned by the sheer audacity of the move. Joshua's face twisted with agony, but in that instant, the sound loop that had been controlling his mind was gone.
He gritted his teeth, ready to turn his suffering into a weapon.
Desmond: Huh??
Korra: (to herself) He destroyed his own ears to block out Gaki's sound technique?
Zero: (to himself) I didn't think you'd go that far, Joshua. But that means…
Joshua: [WHITE: CRESCENT AURA]
Joshua Egoshin's light technique, "Divergent Moon," was a wind-style ability that let him manipulate air currents, enhancing every swing of his katana. Though he'd honed it against Shadow monsters, he rarely used it on people as he feared crossing the line into killing again.
Crescent Aura, a skill embedded within Divergent Moon, cloaked his body in whirling wind and light energy, making his movements near-impossible to track.
Zero watched him, assuming Joshua's plan was to take out Gaki first before turning on the rest. In a rush to stop him, Zero fired another water bullet, hoping to interrupt Joshua's advance.
But he misread the situation entirely.
The moment the bullet left his hand, Joshua instantly closed the distance in a heartbeat.
Zero: (to himself) Shit! I totally misread his intentions! I have to activate the Ghost Technique before—
Before he could finish, Joshua's hand shot forward, landing squarely on Zero's stomach.
Joshua: [WHITE: STRIKING PALM]
The strike slammed into Zero with explosive force, sending him flying across the lake. But Lorra was quick to react, intercepting him mid-flight and preventing him from going too far.
Zero coughed out blood and this troubled a worried Korra.
Korra: ZERO!!!!!
Joshua's eyes flicked to the remaining opponents, his stance steady, wind swirling around him like a living aura.
In a surge of anger, Korra lashed out, attempting to pin Joshua down with her writhing plant vines. At the same time, Lokk, Jokita, and Desmond lunged in from different angles, aiming to overwhelm him.
But Joshua, still cloaked in CRESCENT AURA, moved like a blur. His hands became whirling conduits of wind and lighter energy, and with his STRIKING PALM technique, he struck all three attackers in rapid succession. They flew back, crashing into the lake's shallow waters before they could react.
Without hesitation, Joshua turned to Korra, delivering the same devastating strike. She was sent sprawling, her plants snapping harmlessly as she hit the ground.
Across the lake, Gaki watched, a mix of awe and terror etched on his face.
Gaki: He… knocked them down in an instant.
Striking Palm, another skill from the Divergent Moon technique, focused a concentrated surge of rotating wind and lighter energy into the user's hand. When the strike landed, the wind around the target reacted violently to the energy in Joshua's palm, amplifying the impact and sending opponents flying while inflicting severe damage.
Gaki's eyes widened. He knew he couldn't outrun Joshua. As the hunter advanced, he activated Harmonic Mantle Essence, bracing himself. At least this way, the blow wouldn't shatter him completely.
A flawed plan.
As Joshua closed the distance, Gaki's plan crumbled. He had assumed Joshua would strike him with Striking Palm like he had with the others. But instead, the hunter drew his katana.
Joshua: [WHITE: CRESCENT MOON SLASH]
In a single, fluid motion, Joshua slashed across Gaki's chest, severing his left hand at the same time.
Gaki's left hand had been the source of the sound manipulating Joshua's mind and vision. With it gone, the disruptive noise vanished instantly. Joshua immediately channeled Harmonic Restoration, repairing the damage to his own ears and regaining full hearing.
Gaki fell to the ground, collapsing into the shallow waters of the lake.
The rest of the Kaimi Daja scrambled to regain their footing. Zero and Korra, familiar with Harmonic Restoration, quickly helped heal the others. But their eyes remained locked on Joshua, wide with disbelief at what he had just done.
Lokk: GAKI!! Is he…?
Jokita: He's still alive. I can feel it. But that slash… it should've killed him. Why didn't it?
Desmond: Why?
Shock rippled through them as they watched Joshua stabilize Gaki with Harmonic Restoration, stopping the bleeding and keeping him alive.
Korra: I don't think he wants to kill any of us. He's trying to incapacitate us… to capture us.
Lokk: For real??
Zero: Seems that way. He won't kill us, but he won't hesitate to hurt us until we can't fight anymore. The only way we have a chance to beat him is…
Meanwhile, Joshua stood over Gaki's unconscious body, eyes catching the dark streaks of blood splattered across his face and glasses. He quickly removed his glasses and wiped the blood away.
The sight brought a sharp pang of memory of the day he had killed a child's family because they were Shadows.
He glanced down at his sword, now stained with Gaki's blood. Kneeling, he dipped the blade into the water beneath them, washing the crimson away.
Joshua: Damn it… not again.