Chapter 1094: Drawing the Lines
“How about you do none of that and die to my light instead?!”
[Shining Barrage!]
“Oh boy.”
Before Zhen Liu could make a move, a sudden barrage of feathers made of light flew towards him and attempted to perforate him full of holes.
Normally, Zhen Liu would’ve just tanked such an attack thanks to the power of [Chaos].
Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that this time, because every single last feather was infused with the power of [Chaos].
If he had attempted to not actively block this time, he would’ve been riddled with holes.
Thankfully, he had not just one means of defending himself, but two.
‘Okay, there are a lot more light arrows than anticipated!’
[I got your back, Executor!]
‘Thanks!’
Using his twin hammers, Zhen Liu was able to intercept and smack away many of the light feathers before they managed to make contact with his skin. As for any that made it pass his defensive techniques, they were quickly burned away by Blazejudicator’s flames.
Granted, this wasn’t a perfect solution.
[Bah! These light arrows are ironically heavy! What kind of Kaijin can make attacks like these?!]
‘If I had to guess, that psuedo-angel that the others only briefly made contact with.’
[Impressive! So this is the Kaijin Lord actually fights.]
‘Case and motherfucking point.’
Once Zhen Liu and Blazejudicator blew away the last of the light barrage, the source of it came flying over and began to float in front of him like some kind of imperious judge.
From what Zhen Liu remembered, this young man that was about his age was named Alain, and the grafted bits to him were the giant ass angel wings attached to his back.
Technically seraphim wings since there were six of them, but still.
‘Huh…this feels like irony but I’m not entirely sure,’ Zhen Liu mused as he realized how cliche this situation looked from an outsider’s perspective.
On one side, a demonic looking black armored warrior wreathed in flames.
On the other, an angelic looking prince bathed in rainbow-colored lights.
In any other timeline, the former would be labelled as the obvious villain while the latter would labelled as the obvious protagonist.
But in this one, those roles were reversed.
[My name is Alain of the Light Wings. Is it safe to assume that you won’t be sharing your name with us?]
[Safe bet,] Zhen Liu retorted.[I’ll only share that bit of information when you’re on your deathbed.]
[Funny. I was thinking something similar. Although, it’s also gonna involve me taking that seal on your left hand.]
At that mention, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but to flinch.
And what Alain said next caused his blood to run cold.
[That’s right, I know exactly how you and your Kaijin operate, thanks to my friend, which got me thinking. If I don’t kill you, but take your seal and ring, does that mean your Kaijin will swear fealty to me? Or does that mean I have to start from a blank slate? Either way, I can’t help but wonder what my own retinue will look like. So please, make it a prize worth claiming.]
With this proclamation made, Alain manifested an array made of [Chaos] and conjured forth a dozen feathered blades made of light.
[Now, what say you?]
Before Zhen Liu gave his response, he took a deep breath…
…
‘Blazejudicator?’
[Yes, executor?]
‘[Stigma] enhancement, please.’
[Not Taboo?]
‘Call it a feeling.’
…
…before his armor exploded into a rainbow of flames that changed his look from a demonic knight to a judge from the darkest pits of the underworld. Even his twin hammers got caught up in the conflagration.
[…I’m gonna pluck your feathers like a chicken.]
[That’s the spirit!]
…
“Ah shit, looks like Xiao Liu got caught up by an opponent. Who’s the knock-off angel?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Focus!”
“Right.”
Despite Zhen Liu being locked in battle, Zhen Feng, Zhen Hai, Jin Fang and the Storm Knights were still making a beeline for the Darkshell Citadel.
Their goal was to tear the place up from the inside and take out the defensive array that was still blasting at the kaijin ship.
During the time it took Zhen Liu to lock into battle, that blasted array roared back to life with an entirely different payload.
Instead of blasts of pure [Chaos] energy, the blasts took on the shape of crystal shards before being fired.
This lowered their firing rate by a bit, but the kinetic force was more than enough to make up for it.
On the plus side though, they weren’t being pelted by these crystal shards.
Because they were going to be hit with something worse.
“Okay, so far so-why am I sensing an absurd amount of aether coming towards our-”
[Twisting Viper Strike!]
“INCOMING!”
“WHOA!”
The group was forced to disperse as a cyclone made of Caligos aether and shaped into the form of a serpent came coiling towards them.
“Woo! That was-”
“Zhen Feng, behind you!”
“Huh?!”
Shortly after scattering though, Zhen Feng found that the source of the attack, a very angry looking Gao Shen Yuan, was right behind him.
And was about to run him through like a pig being hunted.
“Let’s start with you, fatty!”
“Oh fuck!”
“Don’t think so!”*2
CLANG!
“Seriously?!”
But before she could so though, Jin Fang and a recently arrived Jinju Ren intercepted her attack.
“Go now!”
“We got this!”
“R-right!”
This in turn, gave the Zhen Clan scions and the Storm Knights a chance to bypass them and go for the Citadel.
The latter had initially offered to assist, but Jin Fang had refused. This was a personal matter to her, after all.
“Nice outfit. It appears to be made with [Chaos]…gift from darling?”
“Pathos, technically. Allows me to cultivate [Chaos].”
“Ah…so I definitely can’t use it.”
“Probably not.”
“Well then, time to let loose those frustrations on this bitch.”
“Agreed.”
…Elsewhere…
‘Hmmm. On the one hand, thizzz izzz the mozzzt effort I’ve put into azzzizzting a client…on the other, thizzz izzz a golden opportunity.’
Despite being only a guest of the Fallen, Buzza had also gotten the orders to go to the front lines…not that he minded.
This just meant that he had a second chance at capturing the current Kaijin Lord for his own machinations, and all he had to do was hang out in the back and wait for an opportunity to-
[Chrono Wheel Cutter!]
[Hmm?!]
Before he could get into position, Buzza found himself having to dodge out of the way of a buzzsaw of aether that was shaped like the face of a clock.
From what he could sense, that clock was absolutely loaded with incredibly rare time-attributed aether.
Familiar feeling time aether, no less.
[Wait a minute…]
Quickly after readjusting himself in the air, Buzza found himself staring into the face of an angry young man who had this vaguely familiar looking face.
It took a few seconds for Buzza to put it together, but once he did, he couldn’t help but to laugh.
[Oh ho ho! It’zzz you! I nearly forgot about you,] Buzza laughed. [Although, you’re looking much younger than when I last saw you. Tell me, did you ever get over the fact that your drunken tongue led to the fall of the Storm Queen?]
[So sayeth the asshole that orchestrated that entire series of events,] Cornilues retorted in perfect [Chaos] tongue. [It took me awhile to realize it was your doing, several other lifetimes in fact, but I eventually settled on the idea that I wouldn’t be able to find you again.]
[And yet, here you are,] Buzza pointed out. [Bringing another Kaijin Lord to their death, no lezzz.]
[See, you say that, but from what I’m seeing, he is currently kicking the ass of your benefactor there. And here, he’s given me a chance to make up for my mistakes.]
Shortly after declaring this, Cornileus began to circulate his aether to such an extreme degree, that the faint shadow of a strange timeless giant began to form behind him. Oddly enough though, this giant appeared to be an even older version of Cornileus.
“[Regalia], manifest.”
DING-DONG!
The aformentioned began to collapse in on Cornileus as soon as he said these words, turning into a suit of copper colored armor with a clear clock motif. Although, there were some elements that were clearly anachronistic in its construction.
[And I suggest you stop talking tough, because I know my aether is one of the few things that can break you down into dust.]
To add a bit more weight to hai threat, Cornileus began to concentrate even more time aether in the palms of his hands.
[Zezeze,] Buzza laughed again before entering a fighting pose. [Very well, I suppose I might as well get serious.]
After preparing himself, Buzza began to circulate his [Chaos], causing the air around him to buzz.
Unlike the other kaijin though, he didn’t immediately go on the attack after circulating his power.
Instead, he waited.
[Ready.]
