Chapter 681: Insider Traitor
Zhen Hai wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but he could recognize something was amiss when he saw it.
‘No way…’
But before he could act, he needed to confirm his suspicions, otherwise he would get into more trouble than what it was worth. Though, it should be noted that this particular line of thinking was due to recent training session and its aftereffects, otherwise he’d be immediately going for the jugular…with his actual teeth.
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Hidden behind a nearby pillar, Zhen Hai kept himself as quiet as possible, all so that he could watch what appeared to be a Fallen Clan warrior fiddling with some strange looking mechanism that looked a bit like one of those “pens” he would see being sold by the merchants from the Dozing Salamander continent. Albeit, this particular pen-like tool was radiating a sickeningly evil aether that made Zhen Hai’s skin crawl. Then again, that could’ve been coming from the guy holding the mechanism.
<
Up until this moment, Zhen Hai had seen Fallen warrior after Fallen warrior get whisked away like dust in the wind. He had no idea where they were going or why, but there was one thing that was consistent about this teleportation: health status didn’t matter.
<
Dead, alive, somewhere in between, it didn’t matter, as long as that person appeared to be a member of the Fallen Clan, they were instantly teleported away. This was one of the reasons why Zhen Hai was suspicious of this guy, but there was another less factual reason why. The man looked too at ease.
<
As strange as it sounded, Zhen Hai couldn’t help but to notice that the way this Fallen warrior was carrying himself was remarkably similar to the way one acts when they’re in a environment they were familiar with.
Perhaps this man just read a detailed blueprint of this building, perhaps the man was just naturally this easy going, but…Zhen Hai couldn’t shake the possibility that this Fallen warrior acting so casually may very well have been a traitor to the Zhen Clan. After all, Zhen Hai and his family had to deal with a traitor not too long ago, albeit, under very different circumstances.
Regardless, as Zhen Hai watched on and saw that the man had essentially dropped his guard due to what the former could only prescribe to boredom, Zhen Hai saw his opportunity to attack.
‘Alright, do I try to be sneaky and get up as close possible before-oh you know what, fuck it!’
Unfortunately, he was about as stealthy as a carnivorous elephant and knew it, so he decided to do one thing that always worked for him in the past: bum rush like a crazy person.
Knowing better than to call out to the Fallen Warrior and alert him to his presence, Zhen Hai immediately began to circulate his aether and just go for it.
Aquarii and lighting aether began to swirl around one of his hands, forming into a shark-shaped gauntlet of water that crackled with electric fury.
[Thunder Shark Palm!]
<
With a quick enhancement of aether to his legs, Zhen Hai surged forward and launched his palm attack directly into the side of this (possible) traitor.
Unfortunately, two events occurred at this moment that signaled to him that things didn’t go as he planned.
First, while his attack did hit, Zhen Hai could tell that the man had somehow mitigated the damage to be surface level at most. That could’ve been due to the armor he had seen get revealed after destroying part of the Fallen warrior’s robes, or it could’ve been due to his natural physique, Zhen Hai didn’t know.
Second, and more importantly though, Zhen Hai heard a clicking sound as he attacked the man. That clicking sound was a clear indicator that, perhaps out of shock, the Fallen warrior had activated whatever he was waiting the moment he was attacked.
Zhen Hai had no idea what to expect from this sudden clicking…until…
“OH COME THE HELL ON!”
‘Wait…Zhen Liu?!’
Apparently whatever he just dealt with, Zhen Liu was now dealing with the aftermath of his choices.
‘On the one hand, I should probably be worried for him…on the other, the man is a one man army with an army of puppets, I think he’ll be fine…probably…’
_____________________________________________
Around the same time the previous scene was happening…
The plan Zhen Liu and Frosttusk had come up with to deal with the [Ghost Flames Sphere] was a bit…brutish, but it had merits to working.
The long and short of it was that Frosttusk was going to encased the sphere in a thick layer of ice, not to contain the blast, but to funnel it towards…himself. At which point, Frosttusk would use his innate coldness and ability to absorb heat to extinguish.
At least, that was the initial plan.
Before they actually went about doing that, Spring Brawler had brought up the point that the aforementioned ghost flame might be detrimental to the kaijin due to their nature of being, technically, unrefined soul stuff and that if this stuff actually does affect the soul, there was a non-zero chance that they could end up mutated or dead when exposed to the stuff.
Thankfully, it was brought up that Zhen Liu could serve as a literal buffer for Frosttusk, but combining with the latter via [Possession], [Bestowal], or their recently acquired ability of [Weaponize]. Either way, they had options on how to handle this.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to think about which one would be the most effective.
Due to, well…
“Okay, I guess I’ll stay inside my [Regalia] and…”
“Xiao Liu? What the fuck is that weird sphere thing doing?”
“Oh gods dammit.”
Zhen Liu wasn’t sure what had happened but at some point the sphere had been activated and was getting ready to blow. At least, that’s what he assumed when he saw that the aforementioned sphere started glowing with a sickly green light that was steadily becoming brighter and hotter by the second.
Evidently, Spring Brawler was right about this ghost flame being detrimental, because the kaijin started getting nervous and stepping away from the ghost flame.
[Oh, I do not like how this thing is feeling right now…]
[Ah hell, I knew being next to this thing was a bad idea!]
[Yeah, I’m fairly certain that we won’t be able to tank this kind of damage, and I think it might disfigure us.]
[No, my beautiful face!]
‘All of you, haul ass now and get Jin Fang and the tattooed lady to safety! Frosttusk, with me!’
[Aye…minn…jarl…]
[As you wish!]
“Wait, Xiao Liu!”
|Howling Giant, set!|
Heeding the words of their lord, Nepherage, Hurricroak, Lacerage, Archanidame, Spring Brawler and Razorstella proceeded to clear away from the blast zone. As they left, they made sure to grab Jin Fang and Zhen Xun Tian, who had passed out due to Ikairo being summoned out of nowhere, while Zhen Liu combined with Frosttusk.
The faint image of giant mammoth man made of mist and ice formed over Zhen Liu for a moment before combining with his [Regalia].
Zhen Liu was still using the “Maou” version of his [Regalia], due to having come straight here from dismantling another crisis from earlier, so when he combined with Frosttusk, it didn’t look like a normal armor enhancement.
Instead, Zhen Liu went from looking like a jet-black demon lord clad in armor, to becoming what looked a jotun chieftain straight out of comics and Norse mythology, complete with mammoth themed armor and helmet.
Thankfully there wasn’t a trunk.
‘Huh… you’re not as heavy feeling as I thought you’d be when equipped like this. Interesting.’
[Thank…you…?]
‘Yeah…let’s get to work!’
“FREEZE!”
Now fully clad in his enhanced [Regalia], Zhen Liu immediately used Frosttusk’s ability to absorb heat to freeze the area around the [Ghost Flames Sphere], stomping the ground hard and causing the ground to get covered in a thick layer of ice.
Warm air began to gather into specialized chambers in his body before rapidly cooling due to the thermoacoustic designs of them.
Once the air was sufficient cooled, Zhen Liu/Frosttusk exhaled an icy breath that encased the [Ghost Flames Sphere into a funnel shaped prison.
The opening of the funnel was pointing directly at Zhen Liu/Frosttusk’s face.
‘Huh…I just remembered something.’
[Yes…?]
‘Didn’t I get something weird inscribed into my soul around the time I created you that helps with the absorption of fire aether and stuff?’
