Chapter 1088: Tidal Wave of the Past
Tick…tock…
{Hello there.}
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{Who am I? Well, I can’t say anything about that yet. As for where the other two are, don’t worry, they’re simply on break.}
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{Why am I here, then? Well it’s because for this particular moment, it was deemed necessary for me to do so.}
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{Well, simply put, it’s to help illustrate something.}
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{How legend and fact can intertwine with one another. As for what legend… you’re smart reader. You can guess from the current context, no? But enough about me, it’s time to begin the story once again. I do hope you enjoy it.}
Tick…tock…
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Once upon a time, the people who now called [Undertow] their home were once slaves.
Due to the circumstances of when they were born, who they were born to or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they were all forced into their chains.
Day in, day out, until their bodies and spirits broke, the enslaved had no choice but to listen to their masters until death took them to sleep below the waves forever.
That is, until a particular day occured.
On that day, a woman as fierce as a hurricane but as beautiful as a sky blue horizon at sea, appeared like a celestial messenger while accompanied by a legion of demonic warriors known as the Storm Knights, that numbered twelve in total.
With their immense power, they took down the cruel and heartless masters that abused the slaves, freed them from their bondage and then led them to a sanctuary hidden in an ocean of darkness, [Undertow].
For a rather long time, [Undertow] was safe from all sorts of enemies, be they hostile nations, bandits or wild beasts, thanks to the meticulous work of the Storm Knights.
But then, like a cruel bolt of lightning, disaster struck.
One of the Storm Queen’s enemies, the Floating Khan, a cruel and mericless warlord, had managed to find [Undertow] and brought with him a weapon.
A weapon that was so powerful and terrible that it threatened to not only sink [Undertow] and all of its inhabitants into the darkest depths, but also irreversibly change the entire landscape of Valresta as a consequence.
Faced with this terrible weapon, all but two of the Storm Knights had sacrificed their lives to prevent the attack from making impact, while the Storm Queen had to sacrifice herself in order to destroy both the weapon and the Floating Khan.
A terrible price was paid, but in return, [Undertow] was saved.
And now, under the protection of Tortallion and Marlancer, Undertow was allowed to continue to exist as a haven fot the lost and weary of Roaring Tide.
…
{Isn’t that a beautiful to hear? A sanctuary hidden in the darkness, a story of bravery and sacrifice that can be shared with future generations for untold eons…but alas…it’s incomplete. For it only tells an abridgement of that dark day and as only a mention.}
{To fully understand the pain and sorrow of this moment, one must relive that day.}
{Which is why, here at this moment, in a moment that may never be brought to life again, are the last moments of the Storm Knights.}
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“Come on, Mia. Come on! You can’t just die right-”
Pow!
“Ouch!”
“Quit crying over me! I’m poisoned, not dead!,” Miavora growled as she sat back up.”Oh, that’s not good.”
Looking over herself, the wound she took to the chest already appeared to be festering with dragon poison. That said, this wasn’t the first time she had to go up against this kind of crap, so she was able to suppress the pain to a degree.
Still hurt like hell though.
“Fuck it! I still gotta fight.”
Despite the fact that every movement felt like she was getting stabbed with a million, tiny, barbed needles, Miavora managed to get back to her feet and focus her mind long enough to make contact with her kaijin.
Evidently, things weren’t looking great.
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[Accursed bastards! How many of you fuckers are there?!,] Grand Fang roared in frustration as he decapitated yet another enemy Aether Grandmaster.
[Are you finally getting tired, you bloodthirsty brute?,] Clobstar called out while crushing an incoming projectile with her claws.
[Hardly! I’m just getting annoyed!]
All over the airspace of Undertow, an intense battle between a majority of the Storm Knights and the Floating Khan’s forces.
Normally, the former would be able to take out the latter with contemptuous ease, especially when they combined forces with the Storm Queen’s zakos, but this time was different.
They weren’t sure how, but the Floating Khan had managed to arm the entirety of his forces with Dragon Force infused weapons that managed to pierce the usual impervious defenses of the kaijin with great ease, and destroy the zakos with a single hit.
As such, the battle that would’ve normally ended in a one sided slaughter, became a deadly dance on the edge of a knife.
One wrong move on any of their parts would end in devastation.
Hell, things were getting so bad that even the injured among them had to fight.
[Lady Shockheel, are you sure you’re willing to fight? I just patched you up not too long ago and if you exacerbated your wounds any further…]
[Viceshell, these assholes used children as live bait and weapons for the sole purpose of trying to kill us and our wards,] Shockheel’s replied while using her chains to choke out and electrocute an enemy into a charred corpse. [If I don’t at least bury a hundred of them in these waters by the end of this day, I will be very upset.]
[Fair enough.]
Despite the bravado of their words, the wounds they were receiving were starting to stack up, making it progressively harder and harder for them to fight back against the attacking forces of the Khan.
But the biggest blows came in a back to back fashion.
First, a sharp pain rocked through all the cores of the Storm Knights at the exact same time.
[Bah!]
[What the fuck?!]
[This feeling-?!]
[It…it can’t be!]
[THE QUEEN!]
Due to their connection, all of the kaijin could feel that the Storn Queen, their progenitor, had suffered from a mortal wound that was slowly becoming fatal.
[We gotta get to her side, now!]
[But what about the citizens?!]
[Right. Marlancer! Go and check on the Queen to see what she needs!]
[On it!]
KEEEEEEERYUUUU!
[What the fuck is that?!]
The second blow came in the form of an oppressive aura that pressed down on them like several tons of bricks.
[This-this feeling!]
[It feels…too strong!]
[Whar the fuck kidn ]
At this point in time, the energies floating over Undertow was a mess.
Aether, Dragon Force, Anima and [Chaos] had been released and manipulated in a myriad of ways that caused the atmosphere to prickle and sting upon the skins of every warrior present, regardless of their cultivation level.
That said, this prickling came to an abrupt end once this new aura appeared.
To mortal warriors, this aura was merely oppressive and powerful, like a force of nature.
To the kaijin though, it was the worst fucking feeling in the world.
That was because this new aura was the heaviest Dragon Force that they have ever felt before.
And that was including the fucking Pearl Scale Emperor.
[What the fuck kind of being has an aura like that?!]
…
[My queen! Are you-]
“Marlancer! You’re here, good.”
Soon after the swiftest of the Storm Knights had arrived, Miavora had shocked Cornileus and her child into his arms.
“Take the two of them to the evacuation boat, now. But keep your cool. I don’t want the people to panic or think something’s wrong.”
[But my queen, you’re-]
“Hey! That’s an order from your Kaijin Lord! Do you dare to disobey?!]
[O-of course not!]
“Good! Then go!”
[As…as you wish.]
Despite their misgivings, Cornilues and Marlancer did as Miavora commanded.
The former because he knew what she was like, the latter because he had no choice.
Once the two of them was gone, Miavora let out a deep sigh as she readied her trident.
She had a suspicion that this was going to be her last sortie…but she be damned if she didn’t go out swinging
As was the kaijin way.
‘Ebb, Flow. Is the library ready for evac?’
<=It is.=>
‘Well then…I suppose it’s time for my last orders…KAIJIN OF THE STORM QUEEN, HEED MY CALL! DEFEND UNDERTOW WITH YOUR BEING AND CLEAR MY WAY!’
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{Now wasn’t that a tragedy? Unable to fully stop the attack because of a missing friend…one can’t help but wonder, just how would this story pan out if they were all there…}
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“Matriarch! The charging is complete. We can fire the weapon at any time. We just need to rise above the waterline first.”
“Excellent. I look forward to seeing the looks of despair on the faces of those bastards…huh. Do I sound particularly more vindictive than usual?”
“I wasn’t going to say anything ma’am, but…”
“Strange…”
