Chapter 1041: Formal Greetings before Brutal Beatings
[Wait a minute…are we sure they’re all members of the Fallen?,] Spring Brawler asked his fellow kaijin.
[Pretty sure.]
[Yeah, why?]
[Because those three look like they have similar faces and uniforms,] Spring Brawler stated pointing towards the old man and the two young men in similar uniforms.
[But those two are definitely neither Fallen Clan members or even from Roaring Tide.]
The two Spring Brawler was referring to was the winged warrior wreathed in a rainbow of light, and a young, emaciated woman that seemed to have crystal clear skin…minus the crystalline growths coming out of her chest.
On top of those obvious physical traits though, Spring Brawler had noticed that the former had soft features characteristic of Radiant Feather, while the latter had sharp features characteristic of those from Umbral Spider.
Regardless, having this detail brought to their attention didn’t exactly quell the rage coursing through the kaijins’ bodies as they stared at these thieves…but it did temper them enough to ask.
[Wait, why are you bringing this up now?]
[Maybe we can get them to turn on each other?]
[Ah.]
…
[So which one of us is going to-]
[Hey!]
[Huh?]
While the Grafted discussed amongst themselves about who was going to fight which kaijin, Hurricroak had taken the rather bold move of flying upward until she was eye level with the aforementioned bastards.
She had wanted to take this moment to just [BLOW OUT THEIR EAR DRUMS AS LIGHTING WRACKED THEIR BODIES INTO CHARRED HUSKS], but had learned from the maestro that sometimes diplomacy was the better part of valor.
Answers before annihilation, as it were.
Besides, the fact that these [THIEVING ASSHOLES] had yet to attack her, indicated that theybwwre curious about her actions as well. That or they wanted answers too.
[I know you guys can understand the words coming out of mouth, so consider this the formula version of a greeting.]
[Greeting?]
[Not warning?]
[Y’all already started this shit when you launched those attacks, this right here is just a formality of identification. I’m going to take a wild guess and y’all already know I’m a kaijin, so I have to ask…who or what the fuck are you guys? Because you’re clearly no longer human now that you got kaijin parts installed.]
[…]
[So I reiterate, who or what the fuck are you guys?,] Hurricroak asked in simpler terms. [Or would you rather get knocked out of the air and be remembered as nothing more than footnote?]
At the mention of the word, “footnote”, Hurricroak could feel a sudden pulse of aggression.
‘Oh? Now that’s interesting…’
The Grafted exchanged looks with one another before the winged young man decided to fly forward.
Off to the side, Hurricroak noticed how the oldest of the bunch, a Fallen elder with a third eye, was about to step forward as well, but got pulled back by the two younger Fallen warriors.
Whether this was to establish a united front or because this winged guy happened to be particularly powerful was unclear. That stated, out of all of these weird warriors, the winged one’s aura alone was enough to make the hairs on the back of Hurricroak’s neck stand on end. And she only had hair some of the time.
[Kaijin of the current era,] the winged warrior began to say in a tone of voice that Hurricroak recognized as being quite similar to the way she heard Princess Bellona and Princess Jinju Ren talk. [You have the honor of facing the Grafted. Warriors who have been graced with the power of your predecessors. Inheritors of their might, as you will.]
[“Inheritor” is definitely doing a lot of heavy lifting there,] Hurricroak muttered to herself.
[As for our individual identities…you have the honor of facing Alain, the Uncrowned King of Gallito.]
As Alain introduced himself, he made a sweeping bow using both his arms and wings at the same time.
‘What the fuck…’
Over the course of this entire introduction, Hurricroak had been subtly scanning Alain’s aura for any weaknesses or flaws.
When Zhen Liu and the rest of kaijin faced Grub, and the Fallen War Elder to a lesser extent, they sensed that there was this strange disunity in their aether.
Logos and Pathos explained that this was due to aether incompatibility, a condition that only occurs when someone is insane enough to try and replace their limbs and organs with those of people they have defeated or aether beasts without the proper precautions. Needless to say, this condition was even worse when applied to kaijin and humans who weren’t in the know.
But right now, as this winged warrior bowed before her, she couldn’t sense a single thing wrong with the man’s aura.
From the top of this dude’s soft hair, down to the tis of his clearly stolen rainbow feathered wings, Hurricroak couldn’t sense anything wrong with his movements or aether.
For all intents and purposes, Alain and the wings seemed to be natural parts to each other.
If Hurricroak didn’t know the reality of the situation, she would’ve assumed the man was born with those wings.
‘Its just like the maestro ‘s matriarch but…wait a minute…’
[As for the rest of my companions…I believe I will leave them the honor of introducing themselves to them. After all, it’s only right for warriors to introduce themselves before fighting, right?]
Immediately after posing this question, one of the younger Fallen warriors, one with a weird throat no less, had suddenly rushed forward at the speed of sound with their palm outstretched.
[Much obliged light prince! Sonic Palm!]
Hurricroak, however, managed to get her defenses up in time. Moments before the palm made contact, Hurricroak coated her arms with thick crab-like armor and blocked the attack.
[OH, GAME ON!]
Strangely enough, no sound was released as the two warriors engaged in combat. Then again, that was by design.
[Sonic Palm] was a Corporeal aether art meant to shock and rattle an opponent’s body with the power of sound. While Hurricroak’s defense hinged on countering this sound component.
That said, this impact still forced Hurricroak and the Fallen warrior with the weird throat several steps back.
Luckily they were in the air, otherwise there would’ve been significantly more property damage and civilian casualties.
[Damn girl! I see your arms are tougher than anticipated,] the Fallen warrior taunted. [I figured the sonic boom alone would’ve cause your kaijin skin to burst!]
[You call that being loud?!,] Hurricroak retorted while charging aether into her own throat. [This is how you make some noise!]
While in the air, Hurricroak kicked a leg straight up to force a disengagement and launch herself upward with the momentum. Once she was above her opponent’s head, she opened her mouth.
[Bellowing Croak!]
GERO!
[OOF!]
A concussive blast of sound impacted the warrior and sent him flying into the pavement below, kicking up a lot of dust in the process. Hurricroak, however, didn’t relax in the slightest at the sight. Instead, she prepared to defend herself again.
‘Three…two…”
[Tiger’s Bellow!]
GAO!
‘There it is.’
From the cloud of dust, a blast of sound energy in the shape of a roaring tiger’s maw flew up towards Hurricroak and attempted to swallow her whole. Instead, Hurricroak used one of her crab-like arms to cut right through it…revealing an awaiting Fallen warrior with a maniacal grin directly behind it.
[Ooooh, looks like the others were right! If I beat you, then Buzza can graft your organs into me and make me even louder! The name’s Gao Su, the Shouter. I’m going to make your voice all mine!]
[Oh, we’re doing names now? Well, call me Hurricroak the Storm Diva, and I’ll drown out your voice first!]
…
[And it looks like Hurricroak’s picked her battle,] Spring Brawler commented to Frosttusk. [Perhaps we should-]
[INCOMING! FREEZING FIST!]
KA-POW!
[Ouch, that’s cold!]
Just as Spring Brawler and Frosttusk were about to determine their next course of action, a literal giant foot almost crushed them like ants in a single stomp. Fortunately, Frosttusk managed to react in time and punched a fist full of ice aether upwards, knocking the foot away.
He was aiming to trip the giant bastard up entirely and force him to fall backwards. Unfortunately, he only managed to make him stumble.
[That’s a lot of power for a puny pachyderm!,] the giant praised after resettling his feet. [I think your coldness is enough to get me to the next level.]
While this was happening, the other Grafted warriors scattered in random directions, much to the chagrin of Spring Brawler and Frosttusk.
[Oh, that’s not good.]
[You go and assist where needed,] Frosttusk told Spring Brawler as he began to walk towards the taunting giant. [Leave him to me.]
[Uh…sure thing, big guy.]
As Spring Brawler jumped away, Frosttusk began to suck in the heat around him, causing the area around to become covered in bright white frost.
[I am Frosttusk, the Giant of Trumpeting Ice.]
[Very good! My name’s Gao Kan, the Gigant! Now let’s see who’s stronger!]
