Chapter 381: [Darkness] and [Chaos] go hand in hand in the worst way
As the sphere of darkness enveloped the monsters and the shadow leaders, the former group of warriors disengages from their current opponents and gathered up in order to figure out their next course of action.
The four shadow leaders were used to fighting in such a deep darkness, fighting high ranking warriors and beasts before, but this was the first time they had to fight “demons”.
In order to minimize the chances of these inhuman beings eavesdropping, the four of them proceeded to use aether to privately send their voices.
‘Balos, Fili, Dane. Thanks for answering the call.’
‘Tis no issue, Ogrim. The creed of shadows demand full aid when the call is made, especially when the opponent is so…strange!’
‘Are these monsters truly demons? Like the ones in the old stories?’
‘I’m more worried about that child. What kind of monster is able to reach Grand Master at such a young age? Especially one that can take out one of our own in a single hit?’
‘One possessed by a monster similar to those other ones, actually.’
‘Disgusting.’
‘So what’s the plan here? We group up and take them out one at a time then?’
‘No need for that. Once the formation is set, we can just take them out on our leisure. From how they were fighting, the lot of them are the type of fighters that rely on brute force and reactiveness. They’ll be sitting ducks in there once the true darkness settles in and they’re denied their senses. Plus with how “bright” their aether is, we won’t even have to try as hard to find them in order to snuff them out,’ Ogrim explained.
The sphere of darkness was about to be finished with forming at this point, so the four shadow leaders prepared themselves for battle once more.
‘Good hunting gentlemen, let the best shadow win.’
‘Aye.’
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[What the hell is this?!]
[I… don’t know…]
[Everybody! Group up, now!]
The kaijin were caught completely off guard as soon as this weird formation took into effect and enveloped them in complete darkness.
Once the darkness had settled in, they could feel that their senses have become dulled. It wasn’t too bad since they could still communicate with one another via their soul link…but then things started getting…weird.
[Whoa it’s dark in here! Can someone turn on a light?,] Hurricroak quipped, [for real though, what were they planning with this? I’m pretty sure most of us can still use our aether to…uhhhhh….why does my head feel funny?]
[Huh? What are you on about?]
[I’m not…feeling…too hot…either…,] Frosttusk added.
[Me too…what the hell is going on?,] Nepherage reiterated.
[Uh, guys? Y’all okay?,] Razor Maiden asked.
Whatever was happening in this moment seemed to be only affecting the “completed” kaijin, i.e., those with a solidified [Core of Desire].
Razor Maiden was still a proto-kaijin, so she could sense but not necessarily see what was happening to the others…it wasn’t…good.
[I’m feeling….{nOOO… IM FEELING GOOD.}
{I CONCUR.}
{I SENSE INTRUDERS IN OUR SPACE.}
{LETS SHOW THEM HELL THEN…WELL…WHATEVER THEY CONSIDER HELL.}
{HAHAHAHA! LETS!}
[What the fuck?!]
It was hard for her to describe what the hell she was sensing exactly, but it was like the others were getting super charged and growing bigger as a result, but not in a straightforward gigantification manner, more like…they were diffusing with the surrounding darkness and becoming something…more.
{INTRUDERS APPROACHING. PREPARING SPACE.}
{SUMMONING ZAKO.}
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=Calm down, it’s not too bad…=
‘What the fuck do you mean “unknown”?! Is that why my head feels like it’s about to explode?!’
=Oh thank Chaos, he is still conscious. Milord, were about to info dump what’s going on into your head. As a precursor, remember when you got blasted with those sound based arts and started acting up? This is a similar situation to that, but…worst.=
‘Worst how?!’
‘Wow! Surprisingly the pain of the other thing is overriding this one! Let’s go!’
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[Chaos].
While being a predominantly unknown type of energy to the rest of the world, it is actually relatively well-known to the people of the Umbral Spider continent…well, sorta.
In various parts of the continent of literal darkness, there are several spots that many people consider cursed.
Now some of those are actually cursed by the angry spirit of damned cultivators from once upon a time, but others aren’t necessarily cursed, more like…curse-adjacent.
That’s due to the minute presence of [Chaos] in these dark areas becoming significantly freeform.
The thing about [Chaos] is that it thrives in either absolute mayhem or in absolute mystery.
The former is not easy to find, but still relatively visible and known, due to the aforementioned mayhem being anything ranging from natural disasters to wars and riots.
[Chaos] in this context is energetic, motion, just plain disorderly, and most importantly, visible.
People can confirm that something is chaotic, because they just know it is.
Blizzards are cold, tornados blow things over and earthquakes destroy stuff.
It’s chaos, but it’s known chaos.
Now the latter is where things get…weird.
It is said that one of mankind’s greatest fears is that of the unknown, aka, fear of mysteries.
Whenever unusual or unexplainable phenomenon occur, people have a tendency to try and imagine an explanation to them with wildly different intentions.
This can range from saying it was the work of divine beings, to literal monsters from unknown origins hellbent on causing mayhem and destruction.
From the Wyld Hunt to yokai to gremlins to the Batibat, humanity has attributed many a frightening phenomenon to be the work of spirits, demons, monsters of all makes and shapes.
But what does that have to do with [Chaos] and darkness?
Simply put, the presence of [Chaos] in a dark environment, one where it cannot be observed but can be felt, leads to it becoming incredibly energetic as it plays off of the fear of the unknown and becomes everything and nothing at once…at least visually.
[Chaos] in actuality isn’t just enhanced by darkness, but also by silence, numbness and weirdly enough, odor and taste.
The more unknowns [Chaos] is given, the more volatile it seems to become.
In “true” darkness, it thrives.
Now, apply this phenomenon to the kaijin, beings made of [Chaos] that need anchors, proof that they “exist” in a certain state or form to be that state or form.
Take them, and place them in a world of “true” darkness, where there is no light to confirm how they look, no air to convey the sounds they could make, no touch to feel how their bodies are shaped, no scent to smell or well…taste is weird, but you get the point.
Kaijins are beings meant to be “confirmed” [Chaos], not unknown [Chaos].
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=As of this moment, the kaijin are stuck inside of a [Five Shadow Kings] formation, meaning they’re literally in the worst possible place for the [Unknowing] phenomenon to occur.=
‘So my head feels like it’s bursting because even though I made the kaijin and know how they look, the fact that they’re all “unknown” at this point in time is causing them to go haywire?!’
<=Got it in one.=>
‘Then why can I feel Razor Maiden, not doing that?’
=She’s proto-kaijin. They have a luxury of having a form before being made, so they’re not as affected by the [Unknowing] phenomenon.=
‘Okay, cool, loophole, HOW DO I FIX THIS?!’
‘Huh…of course an exploding headache makes me forget the most obvious fucking solution. Lacerage, Arachnidame, I need y’all at the-.’
[No need to make the call milord, Lacerage and I are already at the Library, waiting for transport,] Archanidame answered in a prepared tone, [and before you ask, the children have been put to bed and given the prerequisite bedtime snack, water and/or plushie.]
‘Uh…how and when the fuck?’
[The moment you started screaming about your brain oozing out of your eyes, and nostrils.]
‘Huh…okay then.’
=It’s a good thing you made these two before this occured, otherwise shit might have gotten messier way faster.=
‘Fucking how?!’
‘…starting to realize my powers have way more drawbacks than anticipated….time to go draw that gate…but where?’
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Under the pale light of the moon, in a little room in a lovely two story inn called the Pearl Swine’s Rest, Jin Fang was currently reading up on the history of the Pearl Scale Empire in a book provided by the magic library her boyfriend had access to.
She was just about to finish the chapter on how the Pearl Emperor defeated the Golden Scale Emperor circa seventeen hundred years ago when a random thought occured to her.
‘Why am I getting the promotion that Xiao Liu is about to do something stupid?’
*THWUMP!*
The sound of a body falling pass her window from above immediately provided an answer.
Jin Fang took a deep breath before closing her book, getting out of bed and putting on her clothes.
‘He better just be clutzy and not dying.’
