Chapter 670: Terrible Decision to make…not!
‘Seriously, where did he go?,’ Jin Fang asked herself as she continued searching the arena, avoiding the various bodies that were strewn on the ground as she did.
At this point in time, most of the uninvolved parties managed to get out of the arena and into safety. The only ones left at this point were either warriors of the Zhen Clan, the Fallen Clan, and a whole bunch of corpses.
Thankfully(?) for Jin Fang, she just had to deal with the latter and not the former two.
Honestly, it was a good thing that there were no other people in the area she was in right now because it gave her a clear shot to the main arena floor and she could walk straight forward and see if-
‘Wait a minute…what the fuck am I doing?,’ Jin Fang paused as she realized what she was thinking of doing was positively stupid/fatalistic.
It was common etiquette/a survival instinct, to stay as far away as possible from an area where Aether Kings or above were fighting. Wandering into such places while being weaker than that level was just asking to get killed via collateral splash damage.
Jin Fang was dealing with some inexplicably conflicting emotions at this moment, yet she had no idea why.
‘It’d be incredibly stupid for me to walk out into the open like that…so why do I feel so compelled to do so?,’ she asked herself.
The longer she thought about the consequences of walking into that obvious death trap, the more she managed to convince herself to just go find another route, despite what her legs wanted to do.
‘I have literally smacked Xiao Liu for doing something stupid like this before with a wok, so why am I-‘
However, just as she was about to leave in another direction, realizing the folly of her actions, the surrounding [Chaos] suddenly suddenly spiked in an (un)familiar way that caused Jin Fang to stop dead in her tracks. Her eyes went wide as she stared out the door.
‘That’s…a new feeling…’
This spike in [Chaos] didn’t feel like how when Zhen Liu does…whatever it is he does, nor did it feel like Rianna when she uses her saber. In fact, it didn’t even like any of the kaijin either.
The sources of these spikes were entirely foreign to her and yet somehow incredibly familiar.
It was as if she was hearing someone say the name of an object, but mispronounce in a way that made it feel wrong in the back of her head. She just couldn’t figure out the actual name though.
And this sensation caused Jin Fang to act just a touch more recklessly.
Why?
Because she wanted to figure out why there was a familiar feeling in the first place!
Compelled by the curiosity bubbling in her soul, Jin Fang began to walk towards the arena floor, in full exposure to the clashing Aether Emperors above her.
‘The first time I ever interacted with [Chaos] was when Xiao Liu came back from the dead, accompanied by Nepherage. So why do these two new ones feel even more familiar than him?,’ Jin Fang asked herself as she kept walking towards the active war zone in front of her.
The way she was walking with such conviction, it would take a miracle to stop her, let alone save her from the inevitable collateral.
(Un)fortunately for her, she would have to settle for someone who uses personified ambitions as a means to an end.
Granted, he was a bit too panicked right now to think straight.
_____________________________________________
‘Shit, shit, shit! What the fuck do I do now?,’ Zhen Liu cursed to himself as he focused shifted from one location to the next.
All within his field of view, things were not looking good for anybody.
In one section of the arena, Zhen Liu could see his grandfather playing what he could only describe as “hostage chicken” with someone who appeared to be the leader of the Fallen Clan and her entourage. He wasn’t entirely sure how or when his grandfather managed to do so, but the man had somehow managed to snake the chain that was his [Astra] around the necks of everyone in the aforementioned entourage but was now dealing with a sword being pointed at his own throat. They were essentially seeing who would back down first, or who’s plan of action would happen first.
Meanwhile, on the exact opposite side of this neck snapping game of chicken, Zhen Liu could see the captain of the guard for the Zhen Clan, had brought with him what appeared a pair of arm-shaped aether treasures and was trying to get it to the Zhen Clan matriarch, without being seen by the Fallen Clan’s Aether Emperor. While Zhen Liu had no idea how strong this weird looking treasure might’ve actually been, he could feel it in his gut that if he could get it to the matriarch, this battle would be over real fast. Which would be a good thing, because Zhen Liu could sense that both Zhen Xun Tian and Gao Ao Long were starting to get more and more serious as the seconds ticked by and the [Chaos] the two were generating was getting more and more turbulent. Zhen Liu knew from experience that when [Chaos] clashed with [Chaos] things got…messy. That and he could tell that of the two Emperors up there, the one he didn’t want to win this fight was holding back for something big.
Making this whole thing even worse though, Zhen Liu could see that his girlfriend, Jin Fang, was for some reason walking straight into the arena floor and about to get caught up in whatever would happen when the two Aether Emperor floating above her head finally decided to use actual aether arts instead of these light little punches. While Zhen Liu wasn’t entirely sure what the damage was actually going to be like, it didn’t take him much to imagine what could happen to Jin Fang the moment those two old bastards decided to go all out.
In essence, Zhen Liu had to make a terrible choice.
[Milord…]
He could go and help his grandfather, bailing him out of his quick necksnap event before he lost his head, but that meant abandoning Jin Fang to her fate of getting absolutely pasted by the resulting fallout that would occur from the emperors finally getting serious and the aether treasure that could help, getting exposed and possibly stolen.
[Minn jarl…]
Then again, he could assist the captain over there in delivering the aether treasure, assisting the matriarch and helping to end this conflict in an expedient manner.
He would be generating a lot of good will with the main clan, but that could also mean he ends up losing his grandfather and girlfriend in the process, which was just unacceptable.
Reputation was good, but at the cost of one’s loved ones… goodwill could go hang itself.
[Maestro…]
Finally, Zhen Liu could also be the dashing type and get his girlfriend out of the killzone as quickly as possible, but that would mean abandoning both his grandfather and the matriarch, and that would mean the loss of two important pillars for both the main clan and the branch clan.
Forsaking his family for the sake of love, like grandfather like grandson.
[Director…]
The weight of these choices pressed down on Zhen Liu’s mind like a ton of bricks and was causing him to have a bit of a panic attack.
[Ringmaster…]
Because he knew that depending on the choice he made right here and now, it would have drastic consequences for his future and how-
<=[MILORD!]=>
‘Huh? What?!’
[You do remember, that you have the assistance of not one, not two, but seven different kaijin that are meant to, you know, not force you to make a terrible decision?,] Hurricroak pointed out.
‘Oh…right.’
Once Zhen Liu remembered he wasn’t alone in this endeavor, he managed to regain a semblance of calm. However, now a new question popped into his head.
‘Wait…why is it that now I remember y’all can help me out with this exact type of scenario?’
=Honestly, it was because of the animosity and rage the kaijin were transmitting back to you that made it difficult for you and us to think. If it wasn’t for the fact you overpowered that rage with sheer worry and anxiety, we’d still wouldn’t be able to think straight.=
‘I, thanks?’
‘What was that?’
[Never mind them, milord,] Nepherage interjected. [What are your orders?]
‘Right! Right…okay, I just need to quickly survey on who is where and I can figure out the plan of action from there.’
[I meant to say this earlier, but I technically only count as half a kaijin I think,] Spring Brawler interjected. [Wait, I guess this means I have to leave these two elders behind somewhere…]
‘Its fine Spring Brawler, we’ll figure out how to get you to-wait a minute…what elders?’
