Chapter 227: An (un)even match up
‘This…this is what happens when I shove a kaijin into someone?!,’ Zhen Liu asked Logos and Pathos after seeing his grandfather touch down to the ground.
Patriarch Zhen Shi, on the average, was around five foot eight, whose [Aether Armor] could best be described as sleek, organic and aquatically inclined.
After Zhen Liu “bestowed” Frosttusk onto him, Zhen Shi was now about six foot five, was built like a goddamn tank and his armor looked decidedly more…viking-like. It had significantly more fur, tusks and runes carved into it.
=Consider this moment a preview of what you can expect when you reach that level of power, milord. Although, there will be an additional factor to consider, but nothing to worry about…yet.=
‘I…okay.’
‘It is a dead a horse at this point, I am leaving it be.’
=Fair point, plus it’s better to watch this, as Pathos puts it, monumental ass whooping.=
‘Yup, wait does this technically count as being two on one?’
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‘Alright, so the [Leviathan Pounders] are my Armanent, the proof of an Aether Lord, but why am I suddenly a lot bigger?,’ Zhen Shi asked himself as he stared down Harold Wolfe. He was going to ask this question out loud, but realized it would probably kill the mood if he did.
[He’s about to attack and to your left. Block it or dodge.]
‘Huh? Wait, giant, is that you?’
[Desert Step!]
Harold’s aether surged for a moment before disappearing altogether as he himself turned into a gust of wind and sand, before reappearing on Zhen Shi’s left.
Harold swung down his sword in an attempt to slash as Zhen Shi’s neck, but was summarily blocked by Zhen Shi’s gauntlets
“What the-?!”
“Outta here!”
The chains built into the gauntlets shot out and wrapped themselves around Harold and his greatsword, making it impossible for him to let go and escape. With this opponent firmly locked in place, Zhen Shi proceeded to punch Harold in his faceplate and send him flying, the chain connecting the two of them extending as the latter flew.
Once the chain was long enough, Zhen Shi grabbed it to stop its forward momentum and swung it around to slam Harold into the ground. However, before he could so, the chain suddenly went slack as Harold quickly dismissed his armor and armament in order to break the hold.
Harold was sent tumbling backwards for a brief moment, before getting back up, recalling his armor and armament during the roll.
After regaining his footing, Harold rushed forward as his body began to waver like a mirage before turning into three distinct copies of himself.
[Mirage Barrage!]
Two of the clone proceeded to flank Zhen Shi from the left and right, swinging their swords in a wide arc, while the third leaped upward in order to bring down his blade in an overhead chop.
Zhen Shi was all set to step backward and avoid the attacks, but was stopped when the giant spoke up in his head again.
[Numerous entities detected, dodging inadvisable. Circular area of effect aether art advised.]
‘Circular aether art? I don’t have any of those.’
[I do. Uploading, now.]
‘What the-gah!’
In a split second, the knowledge of a circular AoE aether art suddenly began to “upload” into Zhen Shi’s brain. It took him by surprise at first, but Zhen Shi was an old warrior, and knew how to roll with the proverbial punches as it were.
When the clones of Harold Wolfe were just about to make contact with him, Zhen Shi quickly put his new art into action, circulating aether into his leg before lifting it up.
[Frost Flower Burst]
BOOM!
“ACK!”
Zhen Shi stomped on the ground as hard as he could, causing razor sharp petals made of ice to manifest from the ground and skewer the encroaching clones.
Surprisingly, the three that were obviously in front of Zhen Shi all disappeared the moment the ice flower had pierced them, because it turned out that Harold had used them as a distraction in an attempt to attack from behind.
The man had managed to block the frost flower before it had a chance to stab him as well.
“How the hell are you doing this?!,” Harold asked in an exasperated yell,” you were never the perceptive type and you just broke through, how are you able to match me so quickly?!”
“Because…”
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[Wait, tell him “Because fuck you that’s why”.]
‘What? Why?’
[Because it’ll frustrate him even more, and cause him to attack in a straightforward manner, which you have an advantage in.]
‘Oh…fair enough.
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“Because fuck you, that’s why!”
“Raaagggghh!”
[Told you.]
Done with being clever, Harold just rushed forward and proceeded to unleash a flurry of blows in an attempt to slash through Zhen Shi’s armor, sever limb, cut a tendon, anything at this point.
Unfortunately, he didn’t factor in that Zhen Shi’s gauntlets we’re surprisingly hard as hell to cut through, and that the man’s chains were acting like makeshift chainmail.
Everytime Harold attempted to slash at a limb, Zhen Shi would manipulate the chains to wrap around that part and deflect the blow.
This frustrating exchange of blows kept going for a solid two minutes before Harold managed to get enough sense in his brain to try something clever again. Namely, using a feint.
Harold swung his blade in an obviously horizontal manner, making it clear that he was aiming to slash through Zhen Shi’s neck. Going by instinct, Zhen Shi lifted up an arm in an attempt to block the attack, but failed to catch anything as Harold had dismissed the weapon midswing.
Following his own momentum, Harold managed to complete a full three-sixty degree turn before resummoning [Wasteland Executioner] and thrusting it forward towards Zhen Shi’s abdomen.
“I got you now!,” Harold gloated as he saw that Zhen Shi didn’t have time to block the thrust with his chains, let alone his gauntlets.
However, Harold did not expect that when his sword made contact with Zhen Shi’s abdomen, it would feel like hitting a stick against a block of steel….well…a block of tungsten, but he didn’t know what that was…
The force of the thrust forced the two warriors to separate from one another, as Harold had put a lot of strength into that attack.
On the surface, both warriors looked fine, but that one exchange actually tipped things even further into Zhen Shi’s favor. He might have felt as if he got punched in the gut by a battering ram, Harold’s arm felt as he attempted rips his flesh from his bones.
Zhen Shi and Harold both stood in their respective corners, still and silent as stones, before Harold decided to break it.
“You know what? Fuck it. I am done playing around, I am done trying to minimize the damage.I can just rebuild this entire place after I kill your ass right here now,” Harold said in a slightly unhinged tone.
With this declaration made, Harold placed his sword upon his shoulder and took on a stance.
At which point, stream of visible aether began to flow out of the ground and into him.
“Get ready you fucking piss drinker, because I’m about to annihilate you!”
