Chapter 650: One Man’s (Transform/revel)ation
[Magma Ram]
Mimicking the times he saw Nepherage use this attack, Zhen Liu brought his arms together and wove fire and earth aether into the shape of a ram headed shield.
Once the shield was complete, Zhen Liu rushed at Gao Lin, ready to smash the bronze statue of a man into the nearby wall and maybe into a crumpled piece of metal.
Much to his surprise though, Gao Lin had managed to regain control of his aether art, [Oni’s Fist], after it had been deflected.
A massive bronze gauntlet made of aether and shaped into an ogre’s face, had been brought forth to smash both man and shield alike. Unfortunately z that involved going through the shield first.
The sound of metal and lava rock grinding against each other, echoed throughout the area as Gao Lin and Zhen Liu’s attack collided with one another.
A moment such as this is normally determined by power vs power, and surprisingly, Zhen Liu and Gao Lin were equal in that regard.
A shocking revelation given the differences in age and the ring amount between the two warriors.
Then again, technically, one of those warriors was a two for one situation, and because of that, they weren’t exactly concentrating on this battle at one hundred percent.
Note that the following is occuring at the exact same time as the attacks colliding with one another.
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‘Hmmm. I’m confused now.’
[Milord, what’s wrong? Did you want to punch this guy in the face instead? If we drop the shield, pump aether in our feet, we could vault over the man and-]
‘No no, not that, although, we’re probably going to do that next…or pump [Chaos] into the shield in order to break the man’s fist… anyways, no! I’m actually confused about why our two combination transformations are so stinking different from one another.’
[Really? I mean,they both let us combine our powers so I don’t think there’s a difference.]
‘Well yeah, but when I do the “Maoh” mode with you involved, we turn into what I think is a male version of you, while when we do the combination thing in this form, we look like a tokusatsu hero form change…not that I’m complaining, this is fulfilling a very old childhood fantasy. Although, I am more used to squad transformations…either way, I’m trying to figure out if the difference in transformation is because Pathos helped me figure out how to make my [Regalia] or if this is just…is how it is.’
[Huh….okay, milord. But are you sure it’s fine to think about this in a middle of a battle? Distractions are deadly after all. I’ve heard you yell that multiple times.]
‘That…is correct, but I think the fact that we can have conversation while in battle is a testament to the power difference between us and our opponent. A pity, because he looks cool.’
[Really?]
‘He reminds me of a comic I read in my past life. F*ng Sh*n Ji, good shit. Anyways, yeah, let’s just kick his ass in so we can move on and probably rescue my distant relatives from this weird ass mist. That or we find the source of the damn thing.’
[At once, milord. Wait, what about your immediate family and your lovers, milord?]
‘I think they’ll be fine since y’all infused them with the power of-wait…right, fuck, let’s end this quick so I can send you and the others to empower and possibly protect, but that would also mean I’d be short on…or maybe…Lacerage, Archanidame, you two busy right now? I need y’all to tag in for a mission.’
[We can be at the library in ten,] Arachnidame answered.
[Make it five,] Lacerage interjected, [this is the one time I’ll give you a lift since this an emergency.]
[Well isn’t that thoughtful.]
‘In that case, I’ll end this quickly so I can find a door for you guys to use.’
[Of course.]
‘I really, really hope everyone’s okay…huh. I wonder what their faces will look like once they see the [Regalia]…’
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Meanwhile, at the exact same time as Zhen Liu’s battle with Gao Lin…
[Scorching Slash!]
[Tornado Seal!]
*FWOOSH!*
*BANG!*
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“Oh! Can I say it?”
“All yours, Rianna.”
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In one of the many hallways of this massive arena, Jin Fang and Rianna were in the middle of fighting off several warriors of the Fallen Clan who had conceived the notion that it was a good idea to kidnap the two of them alongside the contestants, despite not knowing who they were.
The two young women were initially part of the group of branch clan members that were doing their best to escape this hellish situation, but had become separated after passing by a particular battle that ended with a very literal explosive conclusion.
Due to a combination of rubble and smoke, the branch clan members were scattered about, but mostly unharmed.
Despite being scattered, they all agreed to meet outside of the arena, and proceeded to disperse. It was around this time that Jin Fang and Rianna had ran into some members of the Fallen, who upon seeing the two young women in foreign dress, made a lewd comment that suggested that even if they couldn’t ransom the two of them, they could figure out something else to do with them.
Needless to say, Jin Fang and Rianna didn’t appreciate being appraised like pieces of meat and started beating the shit out of the Fallen Warriors.
They had initially stumbled upon a group of two Aether Masters and four Acolytes, the only ones left standing were the Aether Masters after Rianna swept through them with a swing of her saber.
Evidently, the saber didn’t appreciate it’s owner being appraised as good slave material either, as reflected by the fact that it was burning with a dark red flame that seemed to radiate pure rage.
A rage that Rianna used to great advantage.
“Eat this, you bastards! [Inferno Spider Dance!]”
“[Black Hurricane Kick!]”
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In a coordinated manner, Jin Fang and Rianna took out the remaining two Aether Masters with a pair of finishing moves they had been working on with Zhen Liu and the kaijin over the course of several weeks.
They had already perfected the moves in practice, but it was an entirely different matter when such things are used for real.
The two of them didn’t take too long to bask in the glory of the moment, right now they had other business to attend to.
“So what’s the plan, Jin Fang? Do we get out of here now or do we check on the others?”
“Well…while we did tell the others that we’d meet them outside, we just didn’t tell them what route we would take,” Jin Fang answered. “We can take a long one to make sure the young masters and the young mistress are okay. Also, it’ll give me an opportunity to check on Xiao Liu.”
“Check on him? Why? Aren’t he and the kaijin like, crazy strong?,” Rianna asked while being honestly confident in Zhen Liu’s ability to fight and take a hit. She had once tested out Zhen Liu’s invulnerability herself, and she was flabbergasted how someone so small was so tough. Either way, she was certain Zhen Liu was okay, one way or the other.
“Oh he is, but I also know that he is currently sharing an arena floor with an Imperial Dragon princess and I want to be there to give him shit for it.”
“Uh…why?”
“I find it cute when he squirms and stutters.”
“Ah…”
“That and I sensed he just activated his [Regalia] for the first time.”
“Oh.”
In that moment, Rianna had to re-evaluate her assessment of Jin Fang once again.
“Now, let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
~~~~~~~
“Hey! Hands off my cousin, you creepy Fallen assholes!”
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*BAM!*
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Zhen Guo, Zhen Feng and Zhen Tai had just arrived to the medical room of the Zhen Clan arena, in order to rescue their unconcious eldest cousin from the possibility of being kidnapped by the Fallen Clan.
When they arrived to the room, however, they had found that a group of about three Acolytes and two Master were in the middle of kidnapping not only Zhen Hai, but his opponent, Alvis de Howlite.
The three scions of the branch clan didn’t exactly have any love for the cousin of the Wolfe family, but they weren’t heartless monsters. That and they realized that this was a good way to make sure the Howlites won’t try and get revenge on them for a newer reason.
As such, the three of them sprang into action to not only save their oldest cousin, but a guy who they hoped would be the start of an alliance between the Zhen and the Howlites.
Sometimes the best deterrent for a blood feud is being friends with the enemy’s family.
While the three were fighting the Fallen Clan warriors though, the three of them sensed a weirdly familiar ripple of aether, which should’ve been impossible given the chaos around them, but they felt it nonetheless.
During a lull in the battle, they exchanged a simple sentiment.
“Was…was that Zhen Liu’s aether spiking? Like a Grandmaster?”
“Yes, yes he was.
“…we gotta catch up.”
“YUP!”
