Chapter 445: Back to Back Brawling
[Wait…isn’t it unfair that we’re going three against one?,] Razorstella pointed out, [I can’t help but feel like we’re the bad guys in this situation.]
[Bad guys?,] Hurricroak replied in a confused tone, [this guy threw the first punch and we’re just responding in kind. Besides, those warriors in color coordinated spandex fight five to one on the regular, why not us?]
[Okay sure, but…]
[If…you…want…we…can…fight…in…rounds…,] Frosttusk suggested.
[Ooh we could, especially since the maestro wants this one alive. I do wish we could do a combo attack finisher someday…well, outside of training at least.]
[The round thing works for me,] Razorstella agreed, [but who goes first? Also how do we know when to switch?]
[Timer…three…minutes…me…first!]
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“GRRRRR…RAH!”
Marlancer let out a loud roar as he forcefully stopped his flight and corrected his orientation in the air.
This was the second time he had been sent flying, with the first being that unexpected tackle by Zhen Liu and his cohort of kaijin.
He was damn sure not gonna let this happen to him a third time.
“Twice I had been indignantly knocked around and that is two times too many!,” the swordfish kaijin shouted at Zhen Liu, “I will not let this happen a third time, why don’t you face me like a true warrior?!”
“Wish…granted…[Hailstone…Drop]!”
As the slowest of the kaijin, when cold at least, Frosttusk had to learn how to make use of two truths in regards to his existence in order to fight.
First, he had a body tougher than steel, meaning he could take a lot of hits and payback tenfold.
[Ameonna’s Lament: Heavy rain!]
In an attempt to interrupt the falling mammoth kaijin’s attack, Marlancer began to unleash a flurry of harpoon strikes, only for the attack to harmlessly bounce of his skin.
“Shit!”
The second, he was really fucking heavy.
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[Oh shit, isn’t that the move he uses to catch you off guard?,] Razorstella asked.
[Yuuuup,] Hurricroak confirmed, [I honestly keep forgetting that he is a dense motherfucker, such a simple trick to. Fly up…]
[…fall down,] Razorstella finished.
[Exactly.]
[…looks like he’s got about a minute left.]
[Rock paper scissors to determine who goes next?]
[Hell yeah.]
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Frosttusk’s plan was to either fall on Marlancer like a ton of bricks, or if he missed, used the resulting wave he would inevitably cause to sweep Marlancer up and freeze him.
Luckily, he was using an art that could facilitate both results.
As Frosttusk fell downwards, ready to elbow drop Marlancer, his form began to get coated in layers upon layers of ice aether.
At first it was a thin layer of frost, but as he got closer to Marlancer, the amount of ice on his body effectively caused the kaijin’s size to double as a silhouette of his form made of ice encased him whole.
“Accursed giant!”
Sensing that colliding head on would be a bad idea, Marlancer decided it’d be wiser to avoid the attack by flying sideways or dropping into the water below…but true glory came from overcoming insane and dangerous odds!
“I will not back down you titanic cretin! {Not again!}”
Marlancer ready his harpooned once more and charged straight up towards the falling ice giant.
[Scalding Geyser Strike!]
A diagram that radiated both Ignati and Aquarii aether quickly manifested beneath Marlancer as he declared the name of this attack.
A second later, the diagram roared to life as he was launched upward, boiling hot water enveloping him and his trusty [harpoon/lance]!
“Melt for me!”
As the two attacks collided with another, ice and boiling water exploded upon contact into a cloud of blinding white steam.
“Hah! Take that you icy bastard!,” Marlancer gloated, feeling vindicated that charging at the ice giant was a good idea.
However, he failed to comprehend that such an event was very fortunate for his opponent.
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[Ahhhh, refreshing!,] Frosttusk exclaimed as he felt his body warmed up, [I didn’t expect this marlin guy to provide such high quality heat! Now I can really get this fight go-!]
[Time!,] Razorstella suddenly announced, [Frosttusk, tag out. Let someone else take the stage.]
[Aw, what? It was just about to get to the good part!]
[No buts, we all agreed on the timer.]
[Ugh, fine… who’s next anyways?]
[That’d be me, amigo. It’s party time!]
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“Strange…,” Marlancer gurgled, “why does it feel like my opponent’s aura has undergone a sudden and abrupt transformation?”
While their engagement hadn’t been long, the exchange had been enough for Marlancer to memorize the mammoth kaijin’s aura, which has the same vibes as a glacier.
However, once the steam explosion occured, Marlancer could no longer sense this glacial vibe, instead, he detected something akin to a roaring thunderstorm.
“Because you’re fighting someone else entirely!,” a feminine shouted and croaked.
[Roar of the Storm!]
“Wherefore?! Agh!”
From off to his side, the roar of a tiger accompanied by a deafening blast of sound buffeted him like waves against a cliff.
“So…loud!”
It took a bit of effort, but Marlancer managed to power through the assault of sound long enough to charge up his harpoon for a counterattack, {and remember a trick from an old comrade}.
[Siren’s Song: Sonar Guard!]
The image of a comely woman with fish and avian features, manifested behind Marlancer for a brief moment before the latter thrusted his harpoon forward, as if to direct the former.
The siren image then released a high pitch note that cancelled out the roar before disappearing.
Marlancer readied himself for a counterattack coming from off to the same side as where the sonic blast came from…
[Cacophonous Hammer!]
“Shit!”
…only to have to use his weapon as a means to block an incoming attack from above in the form of a frog woman with an oversized crab claw.
The fishman’s harpoon began to hum as a wild barrage of discordant sound aether rocked through it.
If the attack had hit his flesh, the results would have been…messy.
“Impresionante!,” Hurricroak praised as he claw grinded against Marlancer’s harpoon, “I’m surprised an old codfish like you could keep up with me.”
“Tsk! Save me your praise, amphibian!,” Marlancer said with a click of his tongue, “who are you and where is that mammoth?!”
“In order: the name’s Hurricroak, your opponent for the next two minutes, and as for the mammoth, Frosttusk, he tagged out for the time being so that I could have a go. Don’t worry, you just have to survive me and the next kaijin until you can fight him again~”
Marlancer looked bewildered as he heard Hurricroak’s explaination.
“Two minutes? Rotation? Next?!”
Seeing how her initial combo failed, Hurricroak quickly disengaged from the power struggle and flipped in the air until she landed in a crouch directly at Marlancer’s feet.
A weird sight to see, given that they were floating midair.
As she flipped though, Hurricroak swapped out her crab claw for a surprisingly bushy fox tail that seemed a touch more dangerous than meets the eye.
“Well, one minute and now twenty-five seconds, but I think that’s long enough for me to do this. [Thundering Tail Hammer!]”
Hurricroak’s tail sudden took on a hue and texture akin to copper metal as arcs of electricity jumped across its surface.
With a massive swing of her tail she knocked Marlancer’s side much faster than he could muster a block and, for the third time this evening, he was sent flying.
This made it a perfect opportunity for his opponent to follow up.
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[Dammit, I went to knock him off feet, not knock him away. At the rate he’s flying, I’m going to have give up my turn before I can even catch him!]
[Well then, it’s a good thing I can move that fast, or at least, I know where to cut in to intercept our projectiled friend.]
[Please either finish him or knock him this way. I can already…feel myself…slowing down.]
[Of course.]
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“Dammit!,” Marlancer cursed as he began his attempts to stop his projectile flight.
“I said I wouldn’t let this happen a third time!”
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing that it’s about to happen a fourth time!,” a sharp voice called out from above him.
“Another change?!”
[Starfall Guillotine!]
Similar to Frosttusk, this attack came from above Marlancer.
Dissimilar to Frosttusk though, this attack fell a lot fucking faster.
It fell so fast in fact that Razorstella failed to hit Marlancer directly in the stomach with her sword legs as she planned, but instead, knocked Marlancer on the top of his head and send him spinning away.
Not one to be deterred though, Razorstella cancelled her attack with a pirouette and proceeded to ascend upward towards the spinning Marlancer.
“You now have the honor to dance with Razorstella. Be sure to keep an eye on yours truly, or else the consequences could be fatal.”
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‘Hold the fuck up, are they seriously torturing the fishman abomination like this is some kind of team fight arc? What the hell?’
[To be fair milord, it’s very rare for us to fight warriors that are on the same level as us, who aren’t each other.]
‘Hmmm. That’s either a sign I need to pick more fights or give you guys a touch more autonomy…’
[Either works for us, milord.]
‘Hmmm.’
