Chapter 680: Interrupting the Moment
[Wait a minute. Ring master, why are you acting as if Jin Fang is revealing some shocking news? Didn’t Logos and Pathos literally tell you what is going on not even a few seconds ago?,] Spring Brawler asked.
‘Wait a minute, where are you guys? I saw the elders were where we needed them but you and Razorstella didn’t show up.’
[We found a hiding spot on the arena’s perimeter,] Razorstella answered. [Figured it’d be smarter for us to hang out here in case anyone tried to run.]
‘Mildly a moot point because of the spatial shit going on, but good job.’
[Thank you.]
[Back to the original question,] Spring Brawler interjected, [why aren’t you telling Jin Fang you know what’s happening to her? To use some terminology that you like to use, wouldn’t she find it comforting if someone explained what kind of bullshit she’s going through right now?]
[Oh my dear sweet springy boi,] Hurricroak interjected in Zhen Liu’s stead, [this particular moment is what we call a “chance to listen”. The foundation of many healthy relationships rely on being able to listen to your significant other’s woes and giving them room to complain and vent. Most people need an ear and shoulder to lean on, not an answer.]
[Really?]
[Really.]
[That sounded a bit like a back handed comment, but thank you.]
=Heads up, the Fallen are being a bunch of petty assholes.=
[Fuck.]
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[Acidic Divider!]
“Look out!”
“Ah!”
*SPLASH!*
“Gah!”
“Xiao Liu!”
Just as Jin Fang was about to tell Zhen Liu about what the two kaijin spirits had just asked her to do, the matriarch of the Fallen, Gao Shen Yuan, attacked!
She had launched a slashing attack made of caustic acid that threatened to melt and burn Jin Fang into two pieces. Luckily(?), Zhen Liu managed to intercept the attack in time by grabbing Jin Fang and turning his back towards the attack.
As the acid slash made impact with Zhen Liu’s back, he felt a painful, burning sensation irritating his back.
Normally, most attacks would bounce off or be straight up ignored by Zhen Liu due to his unusual physique. If he wasn’t in full [Regalia], the injury would’ve been much more severe.
Another consequence of this attack though was the instantaneous dismissal of the kaijin spirits of Ikairo and Grand Blue. While the attack hadn’t injured their forms, the sudden influx of aether did distort their surroundings and made the two of them disappear.
Both Zhen Xun Tian and Gao Ao Long were now left laying on the floor, thankfully far enough from each other that Gao Shen Yuan was more concerned with evacuating the latter than she was in killing the former.
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While the War Elder of the Fallen was in the process of healing, Gao Shen Yuan directed her focus towards Zhen Liu and Jin Fang, staring hateful daggers at the both of them. A rather odd sight given the age gap and power difference between them and her.
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[As you wish!]
[Shocking reversals are my forte!]
[Mind if we jump in?!]
Not wanting to deal with an obvious bait for a cliffhanger, Zhen Liu immediately summoned Nepherage and Hurricroak to go and interrupt whatever escape method was implied in the Fallen Clan’s matriarch’s words. On top of that, Spring Brawler, Razorstella, Archanidame and Lacerage, had decided to join and provide a helping hand in ending this bitch.
The number of people that could survive a normal six on one surprise attack was abysmally low, getting ganged up on by six kaijin was essentially a death sentence followed by an afterlife of misery.
*Pop.*
[What the fuck?]
[Oi, where’d she go?]
[I’m not sensing her anywhere, the hell?!]
“FUCKING SPATIAL TREASURE TELEPORTATION BULLSHIT!”
Unfortunately, before any of the kaijin could get in close enough to at least give Gao Shen Yuan a goodbye kick to the groin, she and Gao Ao Long had both disappeared in an instant like bubbles.
Zhen Liu was very tempted to curse right now and say something along the lines of, “at least this battle can finally end”, when something (un)expected occured.
*Pop!*
“Of fucking course they’re that petty…”
An orb shaped aether treasure covered in runes appeared out of nowhere, right in the middle of where the kaijin were standing.
The six or so active kaijin at this time stared at the strange treasure, confused as to what it could be. That being said, Zhen Liu had a pretty decent idea on what it was.
[What…what am I staring at here?]
[It looks like an orb, but I don’t recognize the runes covering it…]
[Anybody else feel that weird bubbling feeling in the air right now?]
[Wait a minute…OH FUCK, IT’S A BOMB!]
[SHIT!]
Seconds after coming to this realization, the kaijin, Zhen Liu and Jin Fang all began to notice a sudden, increased disturbance in the surrounding aether, a clear indicator that this aether treasure bomb was set to explode any minute now.
The kaijin knew that they’d probably be fine in handling the blast from such a thing given their unusual builds, but everybody else in the arena and possibly outside it weren’t as…robust, to say the least.
They could feel Zhen Liu’s desire to dismantle this thing, or at least send it far away to another place, and it was their duty to handle it.
Not that they had any idea on how to do so in the first place. Thankfully, they knew two know-it-alls who knew what to do…mostly.
Granted, Zhen Liu was already handling that information exchanging bit.
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‘Logos, Pathos, do you two know what this thing is? Or at least, you know what the payload is going to be?’
=It appears to be a [Ghost Flame Sphere]. That’s a relatively powerful, mid tier aether treasure that functions a bit like napalm, but with [Ghost Flames] as opposed to normal ones.=
‘Why do I get the feeling [Ghost Flames] are a very bad thing to be dealing with?’
‘Of fucking course.’
=If it helps, the bomb needs to be detonated by someone in at least five hundred foot radius, so you could just find that guy and get rid of him to prevent the blast.=
‘I honestly don’t think I have time for that. What about sending this thing to the library? I saw how our receiving rooms look, they could contain a blast or six, right?’
<=Normally we'd say yes, but there's no way you can draw a door quicker than that thing can explode.=>
‘Fuck.’
[Wait…,] Frosttusk interjected, [ghost…flames…can…they…be…extinguished
..or…not?]
[Any…of…those…records…suggest…sapping…the…heat…from…these…flames?]
=Uh…huh…no. No they do not.=
[Then…I…have…idea…]
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[Did y’all catch that entire conversation?,] Hurricroak asked.
[Creepy sphere is actually a napalm of the body and soul like some kind punishment from the depths of the underworld? Kind of hard not to,] Lacerage replied.
[Well there goes plan, “send it flying upward to prevent the blast from killing people on the ground”. If this works like napalm, that would just spread the damage even more,] Arachnidame observed.
[But it appears Frosttusk has this handled, so I think we’re good,] Nepherage pointed out.
[Agreed.]
[Hold up…didn’t they say this Ghost Flame stuff hurts the soul? Aren’t…aren’t we mostly made of soul?,] Spring Brawler asked the group.
Altogether they simply shared a single thought,[Uh…maybe?]
Once again, the kaijin were placed into a situation where they had to question their own mortality and existence…this was starting to be a trend.
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‘Alright, I’m fairly certain the reason why I need to be here had disappeared at this point because I was slow or Zhen Liu already handled it…so why do I feel like I need to be here still?,” Zhen Hai thought to himself as he kept running down the arena halls.
‘Seriously, why am I-huh?’
However, just as Zhen Hai was about to give up on running, he stumbled upon a most peculiar sight.
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‘Who the fuck…’
