‘But seriously, how big of an explosion should I be expecting after Jin Fang and I are done tearing it to shreds?’
<Big enough for a possible plot device, not big enough to ruin your good deeds.>
‘Talk like that makes me not want to talk to you guys that much. I swear, I am this close to losing my marbles.’
<Would you rather I describe it with the sentence, if the explosion isn’t big enough, your Imperial fiancee is screwed?>
‘Wait, what? How and why?’
…Meanwhile…
“NOOOOO! YOU INSOLENT BRATS!”
“Hey! Focus on fighting me!”
“RAAAAAAGGHHH!”
“That’s more like it!”
As Zhen Liu and Jin Fang continued tearing through the [Shadow Sovereign], Jinju Ren was busying herself keeping the matriarch of the Fallen occupied.
Which turned out to be surprisingly easy and simple.
After Jin Fang was extracted from the battlefield by a magic bubble of light, Jinju Ren and Gao Shen Yuan got straight back to fighting…which is when the latter made a terrible mistake.
At some point in the battle, due to the need to conserve energy, Gao Shen Yuan ended up retracting the dragon force bubble that was protecting her from external forces,such as [Chaos].
The moment her shield drop, [Chaos] began to influence her thoughts and actions so that she relied less on careful thoughts and planning and more on instinct and emotion.
In other words, all Jinju Ren had to do to keep her occupied was to throw out powerful attacks alongside some key insults that riled her up like a boar in a cage made of spikes and truffles.
It didn’t take much to cause a reaction, and it took even less effort to keep distracting Gao Shen Yuan…up until the [Shadow Sovereign] began to explode.
When that started happening, Gao Shen Yuan found herself being inundated with a cascade of failures occurring inside of the [Darkshell Citadel] and beyond, all while still being harangued by the Imperial princess!
A classic case of things going from bad to absolutely fucking terrible.
[Matriarch! The destruction of the Shadow Sovereign is causing a feedback effect on the control array. It’s going haywire and-AH!]
[Black lighting is pouring out of the Shadow Sovereign and is tearing up the halls. Most of the progress we made restoring the citadel these past five years is being reduced to rubble!]
[Matriarch, the hostages we captured last month have all been freed! It was those fucking branch clan scions doing!]
[All of our Grafted warriors have disappeared, I repeat, all of our Grafted warriors have disappeared! That Radiant Feather brat just grabbed the slave girl and went AWOL!]
[The War Elder has been heavily wounded, is now missing an arm, AND IS GOING INSANE! Somebody, anybody-]
[Help!]
[Help!]
[HELP!]
“You hateful bitches…”
The amount of fury in Gao Shen Yuan’s heart at this moment could not be accurately measured by any scale, metaphorical or literal.
While she and her clan had managed to partially achieve a certain major goal, the cost of it was starting to make the whole thing not worth a damn.
Her Grafted warriors had been thoroughly defeated, captured or horribly injured.
Her clansmen had been thoroughly routed by the Zhen Clan.
And now her secret weapon, the [Shadow Sovereign], was in the process of being destroyed.
At this moment, Gao Shen Yuan’s heart and mind were in conflict with one another
Logically speaking, this should’ve been the moment that Gao Shen Yuan cut her losses and tell her clansmen to take the [Darkshell Citadel] somewhere that wasn’t this immediate area, as well as have some of the elders dismantle the [Shadow Sovereign] control array to help prevent further destruction.
On the flip side, her heart was telling her to give no quarter and take every single last one of her enemies with her to a watery grave that was starting to look more and more likely by the second, starting with the dragonic princess that had served to be massive pain in the ass.
This conflict raged in her mind until she ended up wanting to follow her heart due to the ambient [Chaos] affecting her mind.
However, by the time she came to this conclusion, it was too late.
“Alright you scaly cu-wait, what the fuck?”
“SEE YA LATER, ASSHOLE!”
Before Gao Shen Yuan could make a move, Jinju Ren flew away from her at breakneck speed towards Undertow.
The Fallen’s matriarch was about to rush after the Imperial princess for a suicidal strike…but then she noticed three little details that stopped her, dead in her tracks.
“Oh…”
First, the sound of the [Shadow Sovereign] getting torn to pieces suddenly stopped.
“…fucking…”
Second, the energy in her surroundings became unusually calm.
“…shit.”
Third, and most importantly, she was close enough to the [Shadow Sovereign] to notice that it was about to explode…and that she and the [Darkshell Citadel] were about to get caught in the blast.
‘I have got to-‘
BOOM!
… Meanwhile, the instigators of the blast…
“On my signal, pull up!”
“Got it!”
“Three…two…PULL!”
“Coral, go!”
[Aye, aye!]
After ripping through the [Shadow Sovereign], Zhen Liu and Jin Fang were on a crash course for the literal ocean of life draining [Shadow Water]. However, moments before they made impact, the two of them simultaneously pulled up via the power of their respective [Chaos] companions.
GRAAAARRGGH!
KEEEEENN!
Mimicking their movements, their respective monstrous water constructs pulled up before making impact with the water as well.
The sight of two monstrous sea beasts simultaneously tearing apart a giant foe and then gracefully floating side-by-side was a sight to behold…but also mildly worrying.
Whenever an aether warrior finishes using their technique, especially powerful ones, they would normally dismiss any effects that came with it. So the fact neither Jin Fang nor Zhen Liu dismissed theirs was…mildly worrying.
Granted, the reason for this lack of dismissal wasn’t unfounded.
“Xiao Liu.”
“Yes?”
“Why do we still have our respective…[Chaos] constructs, still out? Shouldn’t we dismiss them to conserve energy?”
“Normally, I’d agree with you. But in this particular situation…not yet.”
“Not yet? Why?”
“You see how that mechanical monster we just destroyed is currently twitching, and how Tortallion is still holding on to it despite being utterly wrecked?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s about to explode.”
“How do you-”
BOOM!
“HOLY-!”
“Called it.”
Shortly after the two sea monsters and their controllers settled themselves, the [Shadow Sovereign] exploded in a brilliant bright blue explosion that illuminated the [Abyssal Lands] for the first time in its entire history.
Many creatures that lived in the [Shadow Water] that composed the [Abyssal Lands] couldn’t help but become stunned and shocked at this sudden introduction of light in a world that was otherwise dark.
“And that right there, is why we kept the constructs out,” Zhen Liu told Jin Fang with a mildly smug face. “Now help me repel the sharpnel!”
An explosion of this caliber would normally be powerful enough to not only level the entirety of Undertow, but everything around it as well.
However, that wasn’t the case.
Instead, thanks to the power of Tortallion’s current gigantic form and the protective reactions being performed by Zhen Liu and Jin Fang, most of the destructive force was dampened or repelled.
This resulted in the only fallout effecting Undertow being nothing more than gentle waves.
As for the directions opposite of the city…it wasn’t good.
Opposite of the city of Undertow was the [Darkshell Citadel], an imposing living fortress that has once been controlled by an infamous pirate and then converted into the roaming home for a pair of clans that merged into being known as the Fallen.
Once the [Shadow Sovereign] exploded, the [Darkshell Citadel] wasn’t there anymore.
In a sharp contrast to the gentle waves of victory that was washing Undertow’s shore, a giant tsunami of death had been sent towards the [Darkshell Citadel]’s direction.
Normally, this sort of disaster wouldn’t affect the giant fortress, as it could simply weather it through sheer force or dive under the water to stay safe.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t do that this time around.
All of the rampaging energies of various and the fact that it got assaulted both internally and externally by Zhen Liu’s cousins and Kaijin, has rendered the [Darkshell Citadel] significantly more vulnerable than before.
As such, when the tsunami made impact against the fortress-like shelled creature, it had no other choice but to be swept away by the wave and sent to parts unknown in the [Abyssal Lands].
Whether or not the Fallen clansmen living inside the fortress had a chance to survive was now up to fate.
Of course…there was an opportunity for someone with an army at his beck and call to interfere…if he felt like it.
…
‘On the one hand, they’re mortal blood enemies that I should leave to drown for their sins and karma…on the other, I could intervene and allow others to inflict that aformentioned retribution. Decisions, decisions…’
