Chapter 436: Boarding Party
‘Kaijin, status report. How many enemies are trying to board the ship?’
[One, two, three, uh…a lot, there’s a whole fucking lot of them just crawling up the side of this ship,] Hurricroak reported, [and they’re all radiating the same vibes as the zako, just… significantly more crude.]
‘Figured that much when they first got into range, any ideas on where the source is?’
[Unsure…minn jarl…too…much…interference…too many…zakos,] Frosttusk explained forthright.
[We gotta chop these extras down to size before we can locate whomever created them,] Razorstella added.
‘But the aforementioned extras are locked in combat with the rest of my family and the crew… can’t risk exposing myself or the kaijin, but I’m not even sure if anybody below Aether Master can even leave a dent in these guys because of the minute amounts of [Chaos]…wait, somebody remind me. Does the clan know about everybody’s mortal forms here, yes or no.’
[Last I checked…no?,] Nepherage answered, [I mean, they might have seen us when we are given permission to walk around Stone Claw City but otherwise…no.]
‘Good enough for me, okay! Listen up y’all because here is the plan and it’s going to get weird…maybe.’
[Weird…how?,] Spring Brawler asked with a worried tone. He kind of had enough of having to fake stuff today, having learn how exhausting conversations could be earlier that afternoon with Patriarch Zhen Shi.
‘Weird in the sense that we may have to gaslight the existence of an entire sect…maybe,’ Zhen Liu answered, ‘don’t worry, I’ll do the talking.’
[Oh thank the gods.]
‘You guys just have to wait for my signal, I’ll make sure to keep an eye from above on when it’s time.’
[Yes, milord!]
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The blaring of the ship’s horn reverberated through the halls and forcefully shook the sleeping crewmen and guests alike into consciousness.
The reactions ranged from annoyance to alarm, but the feelings of everybody onboard all eventually coalesced into alarm when they saw what was attacking them in the middle of the night.
“Uggghhh, what the fuck was that? Sun’s not even out yet…”
“Didn’t you hear the announcement? The ship’s under attack!”
“Seriously? By what? Who’s crazy enough to attack a ship with an Aether Lord and like five Grandmasters onboard?”
“Coral monsters.”
“The fuck?”
*CRASH!*
“ROOAAARRR!”
“HOLY FUCK!”
Crawling up the sides of the ship like ants swarming a corpse, were strange humanoid monsters with bodies made of coral and sea shells.
It should be noted that the people on board the PS Nimona were not unfamiliar with fighting monsters, at least half of the people onboard made it their business in butchering monsters in the first place, but this was everyone’s first time fighting creatures that were anything like these coral monsters.
Not only did all of these coral monsters looked like they crawl out of the ocean floor, but they also looked liked they crawled out of the very bottom of the uncanny valley. A rather interesting phenomenon to achieve given that all of their facial features were made of seashells.
“What the hell are these things and where did they come from?!,” a Zhen clansman called out while kicking a coral monster overboard.
“Don’t know, don’t care, and their faces are freaking me out for some reason,” a sailor of the PS Nimona replied while using an oar as a makeshift polearm.
“The jerky movements aren’t helping much either!”
“D…dRoooWWWnnnNNN…,” a coral monster cried out in a voice that sounded like a mix between an echo, a dolphin cry and the sound of two massive boulders grinding each other into dust.
The voice made everyone who heard it instinctually flinch in fear, as they all felt that something was undoubtedly incorrect about the sound. It sounded suspiciously close to being human, but also was just inhuman enough to make their skin crawl.
The worst part about these monsters though wasn’t their unsettling cries nor their uncanny looks, but a particular quirk that occured whenever the warriors attempted to use serious attacks against them.
Namely, the attacks would do little to nothing.
“Uh guys? My [Lightning Fist] didn’t do anything.”
“Same with my [Cyclone Wheel] attack! What the hell is going on?!”
“Wait, but I made contact with my [Landslide Hammer], how is this thing still standing with nothing more than a crack on its head?!”
As the warriors did their best to fend off these mindless beasts, using all sorts of aether arts at their disposal, they discovered that to their horror that many of their aether arts didn’t do anything to these coral monsters.
From what a few of the sharper warriors could detect, most of the coral monsters were at the high Novice, low Acolyte rank in terms of aether abilities, meaning that even the average crewman or Zhen Clan soldier should have been able to demolish these beasts with one good aether art.
But, when the warriors got into a certain range of the coral monsters with their attacks, the aether that empowered their arts would suddenly dissipate like steam in the wind.
None of the warriors present knew why this effect was occurring, but they could feel that there was a weird, unknown energy radiating from these monsters that made it significantly harder for them to condense aether and keep it together.
“So not only are these monsters looking like incredibly wrong versions of us, they’re somehow immune to aether arts? Great…”
“They’re not actually immune to our aether arts, they’re just somehow disrupting the energy from our attacks before they can even make an impact!”
“Distinction without a difference!”
“Gah! My hand!”
“And that’s why I bought gauntlets!”
Making matters worst, the weird, disruptive energy made it nearly impossible for the warriors to coat their limbs in aether.
This was a common practice among warriors in order to enhance their defensive and offensive abilities without relying on external pieces of equipment.
Due to this disruptive energy though, many warriors that were used to coating their fists in aether and slugging their opponents were now having their hands ripped to shreds as they punched rough and jagged bodies of coral without any form of protection.
Weapons worked a little better against these guys, but without the enhancement and protection provided by a good aether coating, many blades ended up chipping while many blunt instruments ended up breaking into pieces.
However, not everyone was facing the same difficulties when it came to dealing with these unusual attackers.
For example, at one part of the ship, the rotund Fourth Elder Zhen Xi was able to prevent the death of several people by fearlessly smashing himself into the attackers with great effect, either reducing the opponents into pieces or launching them overboard and away from the ship.
“Make way! [Rock Tusk Crusher!]”
At another part of the ship, First Young Master Zhen Hai was ripping through multiple enemies at once with nothing more than aether coated fists and the occasional blast of aether in the form of giant sharks.
“[Megalodon Smash!]”
Even the First Young Mistress Zhen Yue was getting rather violent in the moment, launching several razor sharp discs made of aether that sliced through the coral enemies like a burning knife through butter.
“[Lunar Hunter!]”
(Un)surprisingly, many of the warriors were shocked that only the guests from the Zhen Clan seemed to be able to make a dent on these abominable coral humanoids, but then they realized why they were the only ones that could do anything.
“Huh?! How come their attacks worked?”
“It’s because they’re Aether Masters like the captain! Back them up, we’re gonna have to rely on them in order to beat these guys!”
With the realization that anyone below Aether Master was essentially going to be baggae in this fight, the warriors quickly readjusted themselves in order to act as support for the main attackers.
Of course, it should go without saying that if the Aether Masters were able to defeat these strange monsters with ease, the Grandmasters and Lord onboard had an even easier time.
“Do we even need to use our [Aether Armor] for this?,” Zhen Yan asked his First and Third brothers, Zhen Long and Zhen Lao.
The three aforementioned Grandmasters were currently floating above the fray in order to get a better look at the invading monsters and determine where they should intervene. They were only three people after all and this was a fairly large ship.
“Probably not…but it would serve as excellent practice for when we actually do need to use it,” Zhen Lao answered, “what do you think, Elder Brother?”
Instead of answering, Zhen Long simply circulated his aether and began to condense his armor.
“I think we should try and end this quickly so nobody else gets hurt.”
“Alright, I can work with that.”
[Armor on!]
With their plan set, the three Grandmasters donned their respective armors and flew straight into the fray…unaware of the eyes watching them from above and below.
[One, two, three medium fish… where’s the big catch?]
‘Damn…it’s a good thing my armor is black in this mode, otherwise, they could have spotted me.’
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS
Mizako
Thinking of backtracking and changing all instances of “Aether Armor” to Regalia.
flows better.
