Chapter 1065: …Ruins the song…
Anyone tangentially familiar with [Chaos] knows that it is an incredibly powerful type of energy that can render most aether based offenses and defenses absolutely useless. They would also know that it is rendered equally useless when dealing with Dragon Force, aka, the energy of “perfect” [Order].
However, aside from this obvious weakness, there was one other thing that [Chaos] users, more specifically Zhen Liu and his kaijn, was weak to: music.
Logos and Pathos explained that since kaijin, and by extension Zhen Liu, were being empowered by [Desire], human emotion really, that something that had the ability to sway such feelings was either a powerful tonic or a deadly poison.
The weird part was it wasn’t all types of music, just music-based aether arts.
Which is why, despite not taking any same substantial damage, despite having his [Stigma] fully intact and despite Buzza not even really using any actual attacks, Zhen Liu and Blazejudicator were on the floor screaming in simultaneous pain while their heads felt as if they were being actively split open by a heavy axe.
A blunt, heavy axe.
“[GAAAAAAAAAARRGGGHHHHHH!!!]”
[Oh thizzz izzz much more effective than I anticipated.]
All because Buzza started buzzing at a specific frequency.
[Executor…my…everything…it hurts!]
‘I know…Blaze…just…try…to…keep it together!’
Making matter worse though, was that they weren’t the only ones affected by this hellish sound. After all, a Kaijin Lord was the main hub in which all of his kaijin are connected to on a spiritual level.
So…what do you think happens if the hub gets injured?
Better yet, if Zhen Liu could feel whenever the kaijin get injured, wouldn’t it make sense for the opposite to be true as well?
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Back at Stone Claw City…
As the evening stars and moon took the place of the sun, many of its residents were winding down their activities.
Children had to sleep in order to grow, adults had to relax in preparation for work the next day and even the mighty aether warriors needed time to meditate and solidify and improvements they made that day.
However, some people were still up and about at these wee hours of the night, working on things that couldn’t be postponed.
This was especially true for larger organizations, like the Zhen Clan.
[Lacerage, you mind grabbing those scrolls for me?]
[Which ones?]
[They have the seal of the Garlita Family on them.]
[Ah. Got it.]
At this point in time, Lacerage and Archanidame, while disguised as humans, were doing their jobs as secretaries for the Zhen Clan and dealing with some paperwork that the elders hadn’t be able to address due to the upcoming Beast Tide invasion.
It was tedious work but rewarding all the-
HELLISH BUZZ THAT RIPS APART THE SOUL!
[BAH! WHAT THE FUCK?!]
[WHY IS MY FLESH BUZZING IN MY CARAPACE?!]
While in the middle of their work, Archanidame and Lacerage suddenly began to convulse and seize as a horrible, soul piercing sound, ripped through them from the inside out. This sound was so painful, that they even reverted back to their kaijin forms in the process.
Their only saving grace was that no one was around to see them in this state.
Mostly.
…
“What the hells? They’re not mortal?”
…
As the pain became more and more intense, as their bodies began to twitch and practically tear themselves apart, one thing became clear to the duo.
[Something…bad is happening!]
[Young Master’s…is in trouble!]
And it was only gonna get worse.
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In the streets of Undertow…
“Young Masters! The area has been secured and the Fallen have been driven out. We’re going to go ahead and evacuate the citizens.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you for service.”
Not every war was won by champions and powerful cultivators. The actions and movements of soldiers were just as important in conflict, as they determined whether the result at the end was a true victory or simply pyrrhic.
As such, Zhen Hai and Zhen Feng, despite not being used to commanding soldiers in such a large scale, had taken it upon themselves to try and make sure that the ones fighting those Grafted weirdos, could do so without worrying about the well-being of-
BUZZ BUZZ MOTHERFUCKER!
“Bah! What the-WHOA!”
“Ulp!”
Just as Zhen Hai and Zhen Feng were about to go and catch up with the rest of the soldiers, both of them were suddenly knocked with waves of nausea and cold sweat.
“What…what the fuck?”
“I feel icky…”
As aether warriors, things like illness were an incredibly foreign concept. Due to the reinforcing effects of aether, most warriors had constitutions that were ten to a hundred times stronger than the average mortal. When illnesses did occur though, it was usually a sign that something had gone horribly wrong with their aether channels.
That or they were poisoned.
“I think…I think I’m gonna vomit.”
“Same…”
Zhen Hai and Zhen Feng were about a second away from expelling their stomach’s contents, but then the reasons for their nausea expelled themselves and took the illness with them.
To be more precise, Razorstella’s and Screamira’s [Possession] came to an abrupt end, forcing the two kaijin to manifest directly in front of Zhen Feng and Zhen Hai respectively.
[AAAAAAAAHHHHH!]
[Make it stop! Make it stop!]
They weren’t in the greatest of states though.
“What the-I understand them?!”
“That’s what you’re focusing on?!”
The two kaijin were screaming and spasming in pain as their bodies were flickering in and out of reality. The worst part was that in the brief moments before they separated, Zhen Feng and Zhen Hai had the faint inkling as to why this was occurring, but they had no idea on how to help.
But life was funny, and they just so happened to be in the one of the few parts of the world that knew what a kaijin was.
“Hey! You two!”
“Huh?”
“Who’s there?”
The two scions had expelled their kaijn right in front of a shop that they assumed to be abandoned, so they were little shocked to see an old Aquarii man pop his head out to address them.
“Those two flickering on the floor, they’re kaijin right?”
“Uh…”
“Yes,” Zhen Hai said decisively.
“Figured as much. Bring them in, if they’re attacked while in this state, the consequences will be beyond dire.”
“Right.”
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Where the Ragnarockers were fighting…
[It’s three against one now, how the hell can we not land a hit on her?!]
[She’s too fast! I can’t crush her!]
[Quit getting in my firing lines!]
[Oh come on now! I thought you Grafted guys would be a bit tougher than this!]
After Hurricroak, Nepherage and Frosttusk literally combined their powers by having the latter two become the former’s [Taboo] and [Stigma], they had been rocking the absolute hell out of the Grafted warriors.
Literally and figuratively.
It didn’t matter how loud Gao Su was, Hurricroak’s songs were louder.
It didn’t matter how big and strong Gao Kan was, Frottusk was now tougher.
It didn’t matter how many crystal shards Sophita fired at them, Nepherage’s flames were now hot enough to burn them into cinders.
This battle had turned from one of attrition to a one-sided rock concert slaughter, and all the Ragnarockers had to do was-
BUZZING FEEDBACK!
[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!]
[What the fuck?!]
[Huh?]
Just as Hurricroak was about to release an incredibly devastating attack that would’ve taken out all three of the Grafted at once in a blaze of glory worthy of Valhalla, a hellish buzzing sound akin to feedback ripped through her like a swarm of angry hornets.
And she wasn’t the only one feeling it either.
[My…head… it’s so…loud!]
[Can’t…keep…cool…]
Both Nepherage and Frosttusk, quite literally the toughest and rock steady of Zhen Liu’s kaijins, were reeling in pain as this horrible, wretched noise made them feel as if their insides were turning into liquid.
Needless to say, the Grafted were quite confused at this sudden turn of events but welcomed it all the same. After all, most warriors would be ecstatic at seeing their opponents suddenly making themselves easier to kill.
And yet…they didn’t act upon this opportunity that presented itself.
Because they all felt that something was fundamentally wrong about this situation. Hell, they could feel it in the air.
[Hey…I’m not the greatest at detecting changes in surrounding energies, but is anyone else feeling like the surrounding Chaos seem even more turbulent before?]
[Yeah.]
[And those kaijin appear to be in the center of it.]
Hurricroak’s form began to flicker as the sound continued to rip through her existence, but that wasn’t the end of it.
Before the Grafted eyes, Hurricroak seemed to swap places with Nepherage, turning into a sword for the latter while Frottusk remained as armor.
But then, in that same moment, Frottusk swapped places with Nepherage for a moment, causing yet another change to occur.
This strange flickering and swapping happened over and over and over again, until finally, and without warning.
Three became one and one became three again.
[W-w-w-who am, am, am am I?]
