Chapter 707: …for Another’s Gain
<=...did you get all that?=>
‘Huh…that…is significantly more creative than my original plan.’
‘Yeah…’
=Normally I’d say yes, but you’re not at the level to turn cursed aether treasures into kaijin yet.=
‘Dare I ask, which level?’
‘Fun…do you guys have a time dilation chamber or something?’
<=We used to.=>
_____________________________________________
“Aight, this smokescreen isn’t going to last too long, but I think it’ll last long enough to keep our possessed cousins occupied. That way we have time to set up for phase two.”
“Phase two?”
“We’re going to jump his ass so I can perform an exorcism.”
“Jump…him?”
“What’s an exorcism?”
“Don’t worry about it, just follow my lead.”
_____________________________________________
“Damn that’s a lot of smoke!”
“I can’t see them anywhere! Can you guys sense them?”
“Yeah, but barely.”
When Zhen Liu did his smokescreen trick, he only warned Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue that he was about to do so. As such, the other four scions of the Zhen Clan were effectively blinded as their field of vision was filled with aether enhanced smoke. On the plus side, at least three of those four scions didn’t have a stake in this fight and were fine with being blinded. As for the fourth…he wasn’t taking it too well.
“WheRe’D tHEy GoO?,” Zhen Guo growled in an inhuman tone that didn’t match his pretty boy face.
Annoyed by the appearance of this sudden cloud of smoke, Zhen Guo began to slash at it with his blade made of blood and aether, changing the size and shape of the blade every now and again. His reasoning being that there must’ve been some structure of a blade that could throw clouds of smoke…right?
“SooOOoo FrUsTraTinG. WheeeRReee’Sss My MatRErialzz?”
In situation such as these, it was normal for warriors to make use of their aether to try and pick up things that their normal five sense weren’t able to pick up due to interference. However, Zhen Guo wasn’t a normal warrior at the moment.
Due to the influence of the cursed blacksmith hammer in his hand, Zhen Guo’s strength, stamina and general creativity had received a massive increase in ability. (Un)fortunately, this came with a trade off of his rationality and general self-control being greatly reduced. In other words, if Zhen Guo wasn’t being actively possessed by a demonic blacksmithing hammer, he’d be able to locate Zhen Liu, Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue rather easily by relying on his aether detection skills instead of his five senses. In other words, he was prime target for a sneak attack.
“wHeRe’d they-”
“NOW!”
“HuH?!”
Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue rose from the smoke cloud with near perfect coordination with each other, both armed and ready to bring the pain. That being said, Zhen Guo’s possessed mind went into overdrive in an attempt to find the best way to get out of this situation, checking every direction for a possible escape route.
‘nEEd to FlEe…’
To his right, Zhen Hai came flying in with his shark teeth covered club raised above his head, a clear indication that he was going to bring it down directly into his head. The angle of the club made it so that if he tried to escape by flying upwards, the club’s teeth would definitely snag his clothes at best and rip through his torso at worst. This made going to the right impossible, as well as going upward.
To his left, Zhen Yue had begun to channel more of her animal totems through her new belt, causing her to develop even more powerful aura projections. Unfortunately for Zhen Guo, this meant that he was about to receive a kick to the gut with all the leg strength a rabbit can normally muster and then some. In other words, one solid kick to his arm would break it into pieces while one solid kick to the sternum would make his ribcage collapse into his lungs and spine.
Zhen Guo was stuck between a rock and a hard place, or to be more precise, he was stuck between a murderous shark and a murderous rabbit.
‘sHiT! nU ChoICE!’
Sensing that going either direction was going to be hazardous to his health, Zhen Guo simply decided to drop downwards, directly into the smoke cloud.
“Whoa!”
“Sorry!”
“Ha!”
Zhen Guo managed to avoid both of his elder cousins’ attacks in time, forcing the two of them to stop their own movements midswing.
Zhen Guo’s possessed mind thought that he was being clever with how he dropped down into the smoke cloud, taking a direction that none them thought about. As it would turn out though, this was the worst choice the possessed scion could’ve possibly made in the moment.
…
‘Good luck, Zhen Liu.’
‘I sincerely hope you know what you’re doing.’
…
If Zhen Guo was smart, he would’ve noticed that Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue were using significantly more aether than what was needed to empower their attacks, as if they were aiming to hiding something…or someone.
‘MUsT uSe this time to ReCoveR. alSO need to-‘
“Surprise, bitch!”
“DAmmIT! [Cursed-]”
[Nope.]
“wHAt?! Gah!”
Surrounded by black smoke and unable to detect where anyone was at this moment, Zhen Guo found himself the target of Zhen Liu’s sneak attack from within the smoke cloud itself. He had managed to react in time, preparing himself to fire off an aether art in order to repel and punish Zhen Liu for his deceit. However, Zhen Guo didn’t expect to find that Zhen Liu had summoned Nepherage and have her hide in a spot directly behind himself.
When the realization came though, it was already too late.
Before Zhen Guo could fire off his next attack, Nepherage grabbed the man and put him in a Nelson hold, making it impossible for Zhen Guo to do anything, let alone move his arms. The man might’ve been able to match Zhen Liu in terms of brute strength, but he couldn’t match a kaijin, especially when they made use of a hold that prevented such activities. Granted, this didn’t stop Zhen Guo from trying to escape…nor stop him from insulting captor.
“lET mE GoO! YOU pEBBle of a woMan!”
[Hmmm. On the one hand, I could easily snap your neck one right for insulting me in such a manner. But I also know that you’re probably being forced to say that by the funky little hammer in your hands. That and my lord wouldn’t approve of me doing that to their family members.]
‘Yes, I wouldn’t and hold him stil so I can try and do…whatever the fuck this is.’
[Yes, milord.]
In the brief moments after he had created the smokescreen and before this sneak attack plan was put into action, Logos and Pathos had taught him a rather haphazarous method of using [Chaos] to remove a curse from someone.
‘Okay, so I first need to concentrate [Chaos] into my right hand…’
“oNCe I GeT oUt oF thIS I’ll-wait…ThIS FeEling…”
He had been taught in that quick moment that cursed aether treasures weren’t made in the same manner that most other aether treasures were made, rather, they were made in a manner very similar to [desire cores].
‘..then I create an [opening] and a [path] to my head…’
“WhAT, wHAt, whAT aRe YoU doING?! STaY back!”
When a cultivator becomes so consumed by a singular desire, usually centered on a desire many would consider negative like [Rage], [Despair], [Greed] and [Envy], their aether becomes so unusually twisted that it has a habit of distorting the surrounding aether so badly that it has an effect on the environment, with the greatest effect on objects and places that has sentimental value to the cultivator in question.
“No, nO, NO! NEeeeD to FlEe!,” Zhen Guo shouted before trying to let go of the blacksmith hammer. Unfortunately for him(it), Nepherage prevented the hammer’s release by simply using her own hand to lock his hand into place.
[Nuh-uh].
‘Thank you, Nepherage. Now please hold that bastard steady as I do…well, what I can only describe as in-depth therapy.’
This sentimentality attracts distorted aether like flies to honey or iron sand to a magnet. Positive to negative, as it were.
As more and more of this distorted aether becomes concentrated, it can mutate objects into becoming what are known as cursed aether treasures, while it can change locations into what most people consider to be…haunted.
It’s no coincidence that a majority of cursed aether treasures are found in places where a great tragedy had taken place.
At this point in time, Zhen Liu was just about to grasp the hand Zhen Guo was using to hold the hammer, and the latter was panicking even more than he was before. After all, nobody ever wants to confront their origins if they could help it.
‘A wise man once said that a curse is merely an unfulfilled desire gone haywire…well then, might as well see how they stack up against someone like me!’
<=Initializating Kaijin Lord Protocol: [Your Dreams are Mine].=>
