Chapter 639: Surprising(?) Reve[rs]al
[So…have we at all determined how the fuck this guy is summoning all of these…I’m assuming dragon spirits but I don’t think that’s the case…,]Spring Brawler asked his fellow kaijin.
[Really? You’re asking this now while in the middle of an attack? Focus man, focus!,] Nepherage chided.
[Oh come on, we have the ability to communicate with one another telepathically at the literal speed of thought, I think we can get a little wiggle room in regards to-]
[Incoming…counter!,] Frosttusk interjected.
[Dammit!]
[I want to say this counts as karma or jinxing yourself…but I don’t think either is very accurate!]
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Ren Jin Yan had the biggest smile one their face as they saw the encroaching combination attack.
From their right, a giant mammoth-man puppet was swinging a vicious war hammer made of ice directly into their side, ready to crush whatever limb or bone that had the unfortune luck of being in its path.
From above, a heavy hunk of metal, vaguely shaped like an oversized foot, was coming down on Ren Jin Yan’s position like the blade of an executioner. Instead of lopping off heads in a somewhat painless manner though, this particular swing was meant to cave in skulls in a most excruciatingly painful way.
Despite neither of these attacks being formal aether arts, Ren Jin Yan could sense that both of these puppets had powers equivalent to that of an Aether Grandmaster. This meant that for all intents and purposes, this moment was like being double teamed by Aether Grandmasters.
The prospect of having to face one of these attack was daunting enough, facing two even more so. Most warriors in this particular position would either panic to think of a way to escape the situation, or try to figure out some meager form of defense that could delay the inevitable. And yet, despite understanding the sheer danger of this situation, Ren Jin Yan couldn’t help but smile.
Because for the first time in a very, very long time, they finally found someone who they could consider an “equal”.
‘Finally…fucking finally!,’ they thought to themselves as they gripped their sword even tighter. As they did, the recently added yellow gemstone that was embedded into the hilt of the sword began to glow with power while small arcs of lightning began to manifest and jump from the gem and into Ren Jin Yan’s arm.
[Thunderscale Otter Dance!]
“Wait, what the fuck?!”
Just as the coordinated hammer strikes were about to make contact, Ren Jin Yan swung their sword once more, releasing an apparition of lightning that looked incredibly similar to the Thunderscale Dragon Otter that Zhen Liu and his family had faced just several days prior, that proceeded to swirl around Ren Jin Yan like she guarding the young warrior.
The appearance of the beast was sudden and the force of the strike was quite powerful, as it repelled both the mammoth-man puppet and the foot that was attached to the strange spring puppet. However, Ren Jin Yan wasn’t done yet.
“I’m gonna steal a line from you now,” Ren Jin Yan shouted at Zhen Liu, “dodge or block?! [Thunderscale Otter Rush!]”
Once the lightning otter had successfully deflected the coordinated assault, Ren Jin Yan swung their blade forward and launched it at Zhen Liu directly, causing it to split into several, smaller lightning otters that flew through the air as if they were swimming and getting ready to pounce on a particular juicy prey animal.
Of course, their target wasn’t exactly someone who could labeled as “prey”.
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‘Oh shit,’ Zhen Liu cursed as he saw the approaching otter-shaped lightning bolts.
In this moment, Zhen Liu knew he was more or less screwed.
Due to how this battle was a constant mix of movement and knock-backs, all of Zhen Liu’s active kaijin had been scattered about the arena in a rather haphazard fashion. This in turn, meant that Zhen Liu was more or less isolated as the gang of otter-shaped lightning bolts came barreling towards him.
He had thought of making use of this funky bone club aether treasure again to try and deflect the attack, but there were way too many of them for him to reliably hit. He didn’t even dare to entertain the thought of trying to tank the hit since, he wasn’t invulnerable against dragon force either.
Zhen Liu did still have Hurricroak on hand, but he was a bit hesitant on calling on her after what had happened the last time they had gone up against the Thunderscale Dragon Otter. He didn’t want her getting hurt again.
Feeling that he his back was up against the wall at this point, Zhen Liu mentally prepared himself to call forth the MY driver and reveal to the world one more secre-
[Do it.]
‘Huh?’
[Maestro, I am asking you for both our sakes,] Hurricroak elaborated, [summon me and let me redirect those blasts of dragon lightning. I know what happened last time, and this time I am more than ready to make sure I don’t fuck up this time for my revenge match. So please, let me do this.]
‘Hurricroak…’
Zhen Liu was about to cave in and let the kaijin do her thing, but stopped as an even better plan came to mind. One that he shared in a roundabout way.
‘Hurricroak, you know what could happen if I let you try and face those lightning bolts alone, right?’
[Si, maestro, but-]
‘Which is why you ain’t doing it alone.’
[Huh?]
‘Get in here, Hurricroak. We’re facing this storm, together!’
[…MAGNIFICO!]
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“I choose…NEITHER! BRING IT ON!”
As the otter-shaped lightning bolts got closer and closer, Zhen Liu suddenly ripped off his last accessory, a simple leather necklace that was looped around a strange purple ring and tossed it into the air.
However, unlike the last few times where the accessory in question exploded into an aether puppet, the ring this time suddenly exploded into an energy construct similar to Ren Jin Yan’s dragon apparitions, but Zhen Liu’s was in the shape of a strange looking frog woman made of purple lightning.
The construct appeared only for a moment before suddenly turning into wisps of purple energy that entered Zhen Liu’s body through whatever opening they could find.
Once the last of the energy had disappeared into Zhen Liu, the man’s entire demeanor changed as lighting seemed to now course in veins. Just in time too, as the lighting bolts were about to make contact.
“Alright, puta, get ready for a reversão!”
“Huh?! What language was-”
*BZZZT!*
“What?!”
Before Ren Jin Yan could ask anything, Zhen Liu had somehow caught one of the lighting otter bolts and was used it to collect the others before sending it right back at Ren Jin Yan.
“Eat this!”
*ZAP!*
“Gah!”
Correction, he made sure to enhance the gathered lighting with his own before launching it back like it was a fast ball.
The counterattack was so swift and brutal that Ren Jin Yan couldn’t even throw up a guard in time to block it.
An explosion occured as the attack made contact, covering the warrior in a thick cloud of smoke.
“Oh it’s about time someone actually landed a hit! But it kind of sucks that it was me.”
“Yeah, well-wait…why does that voice sound…no way…”
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=Kind of…I found one aether treasure that matches this thing, but…there’s no way in hell that’s possible.=
=Because the only thing that matches is something called the [Dragon Dominator Saber] and that particular treasure is only usable by those who are a direct descendant of the Sacred Dragon Emperor, aka, the father of all the Dragon Emperors on Valresta. So unless this Ren Jin Yan guy is actually an Imperial…hold up…am I sensing what I think I’m sensing?=
=Oh…I think someone just won the pool…=
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Zhen Xun Tian let out a low whistle as she continued to watch the battles play out below.
‘Daaaamn, what are they feeding these kids out in the frontier…and where I can get some for my own disciples?’
When Zhen Xun Tian initially proposed having the exiled one’s grandchildren participate in the Zhen Clan Competition, she didn’t have a lot of hope on them actually getting to far in this competition.
She had already measured them prior to the proposal and had assumed that only three out of seven of them would be worth a damn. While she would’ve made good with her promise on forgiving Zhen Shi for his crimes if any of his descendants made it to the end, she had assumed that only those three youngsters would even have a chance at performing such a task. But lo and behold, all seven of them had gone and made not only young stars of her own clan look dim, but even those from abroad.
It was already a showcase of how lucky these kids were, especially with how three of them managed to cinch their spots in the top eight through sheer luck of the round robin, but these remaining four were showing that they more than deserved their near flawless records.
Zhen Xun Tian was just about to praise her exiled clansman’s kin once more, but was suddenly interrupted by an outburst from the 24th Imperial Prince.
“XIAO REN, NO!”
“Xiao Ren?,” Zhen Hai asked incredulously, “But you’re sister isn’t-HOLD UP!”
