Chapter 448: A Knightly Farewell
=Well, I’ll be damned…nerves thought I’d see something like that.=
=No, seen that play out quite a few times.=
=An abomination remembering.=
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[Harmonize Double: Max!]
Zhen Liu’s aura exploded in this moment, as the faint forms of a burning valkyrie and a armored giant of frost shimmered behind him, visible streams of [Chaos], fire aether and ice aether radiating off him like a cataclysmic force. At the same time, the belt on his hip started blaring distorted metal music, the kind that most people normally associate with demons.
“Very well, warrior of the deep!,” Zhen Liu shouted as the energies flowed into him and the shadows behind him, “consider this my send-off!”
Marlancer was initially stunned when he saw the young man before him suddenly explode with all of this power, but quickly got over it when he realized the reason why.
‘Just like when she was around,’ Marlancer thought to himself, remembering the times when his creator would combine her power with him and his comrades.
Of course, the memories of such events were hazy at best to him.
“Thank you, kaijin lord,” Marlancer whispered, “allow this old fish to show you my respect in turn.”
Marlancer took a deep breath as he concentrated every last bit of aether and [Chaos] in his being and concentrated it all into one final attack.
His energy began to condense and mold around him, taking the form of a monstrous swordfish made of water and armored by strange energy.
Seconds passed as the two warriors charged up their attacks, one charging up what would be the finishing move while the other charging up their final move.
Eventually though, neither side could hold back any longer and they pulled the metaphorical trigger.
[Grand Marlin Rush!]
[Final Voyage: Ginnungagap!]
With a roar, Marlancer and Zhen Liu charged at one another, each wreathed in a profound power that was wholy their own.
Harpoon in hand, Marlancer had transformed from a swordfish kaijin into a titanic monstrosity made of water and fury, who threatened to cause tidal waves with a mere flip of its tail. Appropriate for such a beast, the swordfish of energy simply rushed forward, a spiral of power swirling around it’s namesake nose.
On the other side, the charging shadows of the blazing valkyrie and armored frost giant had merged into an even greater being that took elements of both and stitched them into an even more powerful warrior who had fire for blood and flesh was ice. As the gestaltic shadow of a warrior charged towards the encroaching fish, it pulled back a massive fist, mimicking the real warrior that was the true source of this titan’s power.
No more words were said.
No more emotions were shared.
The only thing left for these warriors was the clash of power, and frankly out, neither reside disappointed.
“BREAK FOR ME!”
Impatience coursing through his veins, Marlancer increased the speed of his attack in order to try and gut this encroaching giant, hoping to impale Zhen Liu in the process.
Unfortunately, the giant shadow’s fist made first contact with the watery swordfish construct.
A groaning, thunderous noise echoed throughout the sea as fist and fin collided against one another.
When such collisions of aether arts occur, normally the art of the stronger warrior would overpower the weaker one in no short order.
In essence, Marlancer who was at the peak of Aether Grandmaster should have been able to overpower Zhen Liu, who had only recently became a Grandmaster, rather quickly.
However, this particular clash had several factors going for it that made the rule essentially useless.
First, was the usage of [Chaos].
[Chaos] has this nasty little effect of causing aether, especially the aether used in arts, to suddenly destabilize and weaken. Meaning warriors who are of the same rank or weaker than the warrior using [Chaos] will have an absolutely miserable time. However, if a warrior has enough aether and is strong enough, they could overpower the effects. This also applies to [Chaos], so keep this in mind for later.
Second, was elemental affinity.
Water would normally extinguish fire, as is the rules of nature and aether reaction, but the usage of ice aether in this instance made that reaction not occur.
As the ice aether of the giant’s fist made contact with the water construct, it began to freeze it in various places and creating several passageways inside it that would allow the fire aether to snake on through without getting extinguished.
Meaning for all intents and purposes, Marlancer made it very easy for himself to get scorched alive by being stuck in the middle of his watery construct.
Finally, and most importantly since it also affects the first factor, this was collision was technically an unfair fight.
Zhen Liu was technically three fighters in one, fighting just the one.
“ALTOGETHER NOW! BREAK!”
[BREAK!]
[BREAK!]
With a roar the giant overpowered the monstrous swordish, causing it to shatter into pieces as it froze over and fire began to shatter and melt away the newly formed chunks of ice, exposing Marlancer in the middle.
A look of bewilderment first formed in Marlancer’s face as he saw his most powerful attack break apart under the weight of this giant’s fist…followed by satisfaction and a smile on his face.
‘Haha! Looks like I can finally see them again after all this time,’ Marlancer mused as he saw his encroaching demise, ‘hopefully this is loud enough for everyone on the other side to know to come and see me…Well then, I suppose there’s only one thing left to say.’
As the first finally reached in range to envelope Marlancer in a fiery frozen baptism, he shouted out one last thing.
“MARLANCER OF THE STORM KNIGHTS! FIANLLY RETREATING FROM THE FRONT LINES!”
After that cry, Marlancer was no more.
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[You know…no matter how many times we practiced that harmonize thing, I am still dumbstruck by how much destructive power it has,] Razorstella commented.
[Si,] Hurricroak agreed, [too bad we didn’t get a chance to flex our powers in doing so this time.]
[Eh, it’s not too bad. I always feel drained after doing these combination moves with our lord.]
[Fair.]
[Speaking of which, we should probably pluck up the director before he hits the water out of exhaustion, right?]
[Yeah, let’s not test out his invulnerability in regards to needing to breathe.]
[Agreed…wait…you go and grab him and the others. There’s something strange falling that I think the director would like to see.]
[Aight.]
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“Looks like…it’s over…,” Zhen Liu panted as he held his position, arm stretched out and legs apart, a proper punching form.
Exhausted by using so much aether, stamina and [Chaos] all at once, Zhen Liu could barely hold himself up in the air as the brief clash between him and Marlancer finally came to an end.
Of course, he wasn’t the only who was exhausted by this attack.
‘You guys…okay…?’
[Mostly…milord…why was this more tiring than practice?,] Nepherage groaned.
[Because…first…time…using…it…against…another…art…,] Frosttusk answered.
The two kaijin were so drained by the effort, that they were decidedly stuck in accessory mode…sort of.
They weren’t as drained as when they’re used in the Godoku cannon, but they were tired enough that they couldn’t fly in this moment.
‘Okay…cool…oh shit, the adrenaline’s worn off. Fuck.’
Zhen Liu began to fall from the sky like a rock as his stamina and aether finally began to gave out.
Luckily for him, he still had two other kaijin who could come to his rescue.
“Whoa there, maestro!,” Hurricroak exclaimed as he caught Zhen Liu from falling like he was in bridal carry, “I was little ticked off you didn’t let me do the harmonize thing like Nepherage and Frosttusk, but seeing you three like this…maybe it was for the best.”
“Thank you…Hurricroak. Wait a minute… where’s Razorstella?”
“Over here, director.”
“Ah, there you-wait…Razorstella, what are those?”
“Don’t know they felt important though.
As Hurricroak and Zhen Liu turned to face the voice of Razorstella, they saw that in her arms were two unusual yet familiar objects.
The first object was a harpoon that appeared to made of sea creature bones. However, the bones had a distinctly metallic look to them while also being shaped into the form of what appeared to be a swordfish.
“I figured you’d want to hold onto this,” Razorstella explained, “you do seem to have a perchance for bone weapons.”
“Oh haha.”
As for the second item, it was bit more….esoteric.
At an initial glance it appeared to be nothing more than a clear glass ball, pretty to be sure but not really useful unless one is playing with marbles.
However, as Zhen Liu stared at the ball, he noticed a very familiar aura radiating off of it.
One belonging to the kaijin he had just slain.
‘Hey…Logos, Pathos…what is that?’
=That milord is what happens when a kaijin dies in battle,= Logos answered first, =it’s a bit like an aether beast core, but a bit more… temperamental. But I suppose it’s bit like a corpse as well?=
‘Ah…okay.’
With the items now collected, Zhen Liu, Razorstella and Hurricroak began to make their way back to the ship.
‘Wait…we made sure to stay far enough from the ship to do what we did…right?,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself,’…ack, forget it. Worry about it later.’
Whatever consequences that may have occured from their battle, could be handled after they slept.
