Chapter 1075: New Bloods
{Through my fury, I forge your body.}
{Through my wisdom, I forge your mind.}
{And through my will, I pull your souls from the seas of [Chaos].}
{Now rise and swear your fealty to the Maelstrom}.
{Inheritance Protocol Completion at ninety percent. Chambers to new Kaijin will now be opening, and connections to the current Kaijin Lord and inheritor will be established. Please clear the area. Please clear the area.}
…
In the time it took for the Fallen and Buzza to begin desecrating the Storm Queen’s tomb, Zhen Liu and skin Fang had already finished their preparations for the counterattack.
Granted, their preparations pertained to the two of them biting each other’s tongue while kissing and infusing the tiny mouthful of blood with [Chaos].
As to why they would do such a thing…well, let’s just say Zhen Liu was getting a pretty high feeling of deja vu.
‘Alright, here’s goes something.’
“PTOOIE!”
“Huh?”
It took about a second for the mouthful of blood to hit the floor of the Storm Queen’s tomb.
It then took about another second or two for the Fallen to realize what Zhen Liu had done…and then immediately dismiss it. They had taken hostages before, and having someone spit at them in rage was such a painfully common practice that they learned to ignore it.
As for Buzza, he could sense that there was a tiny trace of [Chaos] in the blood spit…but chose not to do anything about it. Because he wanted to see why Zhen Liu did such a strange little action.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Well, except for the Fallen mocking Zhen Liu for his actions.
“You know, I figured someone known as the Kaijin Lord would carry themselves with more dignity and wouldn’t actively spit in someone else’s tomb.”
“To be fair, Matriarch, we are currently robbing that aformentioned tomb.”
“That’s true.”
But then, seconds after they made these comments, the room began to shake.
“Huh?”
Initially, Gao Shen Yuan and Gao Dau assumed that it was just a random shockwave caused by all the fighting outside. One of the Grafted probably got too close to this location and did something stupid.
However, once the shaking started persisting for longer than a couple of seconds and got even stronger over time, that’s when they finally realized something was wrong.
…
‘Well, I can’t tell if that rumbling is a good sign or a bad sign, but hopefully whatever comes out of this tomb will-‘
{Inheritance Protocol at ninety-nine percent. Connection to current Kaijin Lord and Inheritor can now be established. Addendum, connecting both entities together.}
‘Wait a minute, what the-AH MY BRAIN!’
‘Why does it feel like I’m hearing more voices in my head?’
‘Wait a minute, Jin Fang?! I can hear your thoughts!’
‘Eh? Eh?! Did one of us develop anima power?’
‘I don’t know,but I think it’s the tomb.’
‘Wait a minute…why do I feel like there are three more connections I’m not seeing?’
‘Welcome to my world, again.’
{Inheritance Protocol complete. Finalizing connections between kaijin, Inheritor and Kaijin Lord…now.}
‘Get ready for the skull tingles.’
‘The wha-GAH MY BRAIN IS TINGLY!’
‘There it is.’
‘WHY IS IT-oh hey, that’s actually a really clever plan.’
…
Evidently, they were so spooked by this sudden turn of events, that Gao Shen Yuan had forcibly pull Zhen Liu over to where they were so that they could get the answers out of him.
Needless to say, Zhen Liu wasn’t going to tell them shit.
“Kaijin Lord, what the fuck did you do?!,” Gao Shane Yuan cursed at the man, reminding him that he had never actually shared his real name with them yet. Hell, he hadn’t even dismissed his [Taboo] yet either.
In response to her yelling though, Zhen Liu simply smirked underneath his masked face and chuckled to make it obvious that he was disrespecting her.
“Really? You’re gonna blame me for this?Not the fact that you just kicked open the Storm Queen’s tomb like it was a box full of garbage?,” Zhen Liu shot back with a modulated voice.”I wonder if that’s why your known as the Fallen across the Empire. An inability to take responsibility for your actions.”
“You-!”
At this comment, Gao Shen Yuan raised her hand in preparation to smack Zhen Liu across the face. However, she stopped herself as she recalled that this opponent of hers was painfully durable. In all likelihood, she was going to hurt hand more than she was going to hurt him.
His companion on the other hand…probably wasn’t as durable.
With this mind, Gao Shen Yuan redirected her gaze towards Gao Dau and Jin Fang.
“Torture Elder. Would you mind demonstrating to our friend here precisely why you earned your position? Feel free to use the girl for your demonstration.”
“Of course, matriarch.”
…
‘Whoa! Xiao Liu, why the sudden surge or rage? I can feel it from here.’
‘They’re about to hurt you, that’s why.’
‘Awww, babe. Keep calm though, we don’t want to ruin the surprise.’
…
Unmitigated joy plain on his face, Gao Dau began to circulate his aether and [Chaos] in a way he remembered was able to inflict maximum damage on his victims without killing them.
“I used to use just aether for this, but since you use [Chaos] as well, it is like only make sense for me to do the same. I have no guarantees if this will hurt less or more…”
“Try me triclops!,” Jin Fang spat out with vitriol in her voice in Gao Dau’s face.
Gao Dau was initially surprised at Jin Fang’s reaction, given her current appearance making her more reminiscent of a sheltered maiden than a hardened warrior. Then again, she did use a variety of techniques that implied that she was trained for these sort of situations.
“Oh I just know it’ll be satisfying to make you scream.”
…
‘Yeah, I’m about to turn my teeth into zakos here, break out of this chain and-‘
‘Honey, I love the energy, but remember. Element of surprise.’
‘I know, but still!’
…
As this was happening, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but to keep watching…much to Gao Shen Yuan’s annoyance.
“Huh…I figured you’d be screaming or begging along the lines of not wanting him to hurt your girl.”
“Well, I could but…I don’t think I need to distract you any longer than I have to. Notice something weird?”
“Notice wha-wait a minute.”
It took Gao Shen Yuan a couple seconds to realize that while she was in the middle of trying to get Zhen Liu to explain himself, the rumbling throughout the tomb had actually come to a stop.
But that wasn’t the only change.
The atmosphere around Gao Shen Yuan became noticeably more hostile than before and there was this strange twinge to it that she was familiar with.
In fact, it was very familiar.
“This is just like when the War Elder faced off with Zhen Xun Tian…those two are nowhere near.”
[Morning Tide!]
Schwing!
“Whoa!”
Before she could finish her thought, a dark blue blur that vaguely resembled a hammerhead shark came rushing towards her and had almost bitten her hand clean off her arm. Thankfully, she managed to react faster than the shadow.
It was only after distancing herself that she realized it was actually a strange looking shark woman wielding a greatsword.
“Not bad,” the shark woman commented. “Although, perhaps you should’ve kept a closer eye on where I was swinging.”
“Huh?”
“Payback, bitch!”
[Ira Inferno!]
The reason why Gao Shen Yuan managed to avoid being struck at the last minute, was due to the simple fact that this new Kaijin wasn’t aiming for her. Rather, she was aiming for the chains that was holding Zhen Liu hostage.
Now that his arms were free, Zhen Liu got ready to counter the only way he knew how.
Violently.
As black flames began to wreath Zhen Liu’s fists, a feeling of dread began to grow in Gap Shen Yuan’s stomach.
“Buzza! Gao Dau!”
“We’re coming!”
“I zzzuppozzze.”
Gao Dau and Buzza both began to condense [Chaos] for their attacks, ready to take down Zhen Liu and this mysterious new kaijin before they could lay a hand on Gao Shen Yuan.
Unfortunately, they failed to realize something incredibly crucial.
The [Chaos] they were feeling was not something that could be attributed to one kaijin, but three.
[Psycho-]
[Hornet’s-]
“Not withstanding the harsh treatment of the princess, did your mothers fail to teach you to not interfere with a duel as well?! [Chaos Art: Shrimp Magnum!]”
“I like poison as much as the next guy, but I can’t have you do that. [Chaos Art:Mimic- Marlin Rush!]”
“OOF!”
[BAH!]
Before either of them could even get close enough to strike though, another pair of Kaijin entered the scene.
The one that intercepted Gao Dau had the visage of a mantis shrimp, complete with arms that appeared to be overloaded with power.
As for the one who intercepted Buzza, they appeared to be a humanoid blue dragon slug wielding a lance shaped like a swordfish.
Now with the distractions out of the way, Zhen Liu could finally deliver the one thing that he’s been wanting to this entire time.
A knuckle sandwich.
