Chapter 795: Fire(s) in my soul
[Okay, so you’re moving a little faster than before,] Nepherage observed. [The last time this happened was when you and Zhen Liu worked together to absorbed that [Ghost Flame] bomb. Meaning that whatever is going on with our lord has to do with him trying to…wait a minute…my connection has gotten a lot weaker all of a sudden. Frosttusk, are you still connected?]
[Yes. If anything, it has gotten stronger than before and I’m starting to feel fast enough that I think I can outpace.]
[Uh oh…]
[Pardon my forwardness, but I’m going to have to give you a piggyback so we can hurry the fuck up.]
[What the fuck?]
___Back in the arena, just moments ago…__
=Temporary heat release has been added to your connection to Frosttusk, milord. Any excess heat generated by you attempting to absorb the [Violet Berserker Spring Flame] will now be rerouted to him.=.
‘Well, that’s good to hear. I can already feel my soul feeling a lot cooler than how it was before. Granted, it’s not as cool feeling as the last time I did something like this.’
∆To be fair, you’ve only absorbed weird aether flames one other time. The bonfire didn’t really count.∆
‘Fair.’
When Zhen Liu first absorbed the [Ghost Flame], he had to fuse with Frosttusk in order to maintain some level of coolness in both body and soul. If he hadn’t done it at the time, the [Ghost Flame] would’ve run rampant and not only turn him into an undead entity made of flames and spite, but also burn all of Willow Scale City to the ground.
This time around it wasn’t as dangerous, due to the flames being a significantly smaller amount than last time, but Zhen Liu maintained a level of skepticism in regards to the [Violet Berserker Spring Flame] since he had no idea if it was even possible for him to maintain two different type of flames that seemed to have a habit of cancelling-
‘Ow! What the fuck?’
∆Milord? What’s wrong?’
‘I-I don’t know. I tried speeding up my absorption of this purple flame and now it feels like I’m getting hotter to the point of burning myself…is my connection to Frosttusk still going strong?’
=It should be, I just…uh oh.=
‘Uh oh? Why…uh oh?,’ Zhen Liu attempted to ask as he felt like was about to have the worst fever he ever had in Thai lifetime or the next.
=It appears I have made a mistake in my calculations. Actually, make that two.=
‘A mistake?’
∆What kind of mistakes?∆
=Well, for starters, I didn’t factor in that the two types of aether flame would have an adverse reaction with one another internally, as well as externally. I had thought it was going to be an issue at first, but I had presumed that our lord’s [Chaos] power would be enough to handle them separately.=
‘Seriously?!’
∆Wait a minute, I made just ran the math on that myself, and my calculations matches yours. So why is this happening?∆
=Because you and I have made the exact same mistake.=
∆We did?∆
=Did you remember to factor in that our lord’s opponent is neither human, beast or bloodliner=
∆…FUCK!∆
‘Oh shit…’
=Milord, we’re going to have mute your connections to the other kaijin so we can use the freed up space to increase the amount of heat that can be transferred to Frosttusk. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about the psychological effects.=
‘Okay, su-wait, what psychological effects.’
∆=You’ll feel it soon.=∆
‘And here I hoped that only [Desire Cores] would do this sort of thing…thing…thing…kill?’
=And here we go…=
________________________________________
‘Well…that’s a new one,’ Olstenna thought to himself as he watched the Kaijin Lord swallow his attack with fascinated horror.
As a travelling warrior, Olstenna had seen a lot of crazy things and had attracted a lot of unwarranted attention due to his existence as an aetherii.
He had fought Ashen Banshees in battlefields where the bodies had long been burnt to nothingness while their weapons had been rendered into powder.
He once had to wipe out a pair of warring clans due to the sheer amount of collateral damage they had caused to their home city, at the request of their own scions no less.
He even had to dive into the heart of a volcano that flowed rainbow-colored lava, in order to secure the [Violet Berserker Spring Flame] that he now used as his go-to method for conflict.
Olstenna had fought all manner of opponents, all manner of monsters, all whole in the pursuit of a legend he once heard from a very old friend of his.
But…this was the first he ever fought anyone who tried to swallow one of his attacks!
Like any good cultivator worth their salt, Olstenna had heard about certain types of physiques, beasts and bloodlines that had the ability to absorb aether treasures that would normally require very stringent conditions otherwise.
However, this was the first he ever actually faced someone who had this ability.
“Fuu!”
The Kaijin Lord let out an audible sigh after he had swallowed Olstenna’s attack, the sound of which caused Olstenna to instinctively go on guard.
Evidently, this was going to be a smart move on his part.
For a few moments after the Kaijin Lord had swallowed Olstenna’s flames, nothing seemed to happen.
The warrior in black [Regalia] simply stood there with his bone ax in hand, looking a touch haggard. An understandable posture given that most people wouldn’t attempt to swallow aether fire on a regular basis.
But then, like a firework with an incredibly short fuse, the Kaijin Lord exploded with activity and literal fire.
[KILL!]
Purple and green flames erupted from the Kaijin Lord’s [Regalia], making his already vicious looking visage look significantly more demonic.
A shiver of fear and death seemed to creep up Olstenna’s spine at this moment, but it didn’t deter him in the slightest. If anything, it excited him.
[KILL!]
Seconds after this display of fury and power, the Kaijin Lord willed the flames wreathing his body to do something rather…absurd.
Running a mixture of pure rage and instinct, the Kaijin Lord proceeded to channel flames in such a manner that it caused him to spin like a tornado, with even more flames coming out of the ax itself.
Propelled by the spinning flames, the Kaijin Lord proceeded to launch himself at Olstenna, forcing the aetherii to put in effort to his defenses for once.
Every time the Kaijin Lord came in for a spinning chop, Olstenna would blast jets of flame to redirect the attacks elsewhere.
Many people watching this unfold from the stands couldn’t help but find this whole situation a little ridiculous.
However, they wouldn’t be thinking that for long.
…
“Man…this battle is fucking wild! One minute a guy shows up challenging everyone to a fight to a death, then some crazier warrior show up, then they end up exchanging blows until the crazier guy fucking swallowed the first guy’s attack and now the crazier guy is spinning like a top from the pits of hell. I only wish I understood what the fuck they were saying to each other.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean…hey, is it just me or is it getting uncomfortably warm?”
“Yeah it is a bit war-hey your nose is bleeding!”
“It is? Oh it is, holy-”
*FWOOSH!*
“HOLY SHIT!”
“AAAAAAHHHHH!”
“HE’S ON FIRE!”
Because of all of the rampant Ignatii aether begin exchanged between the Ignarii and the mysterious warrior in black, not only did the air of the arena steadily beckme drier and drier to the point of causing nosebleeds but the temperature was becoming hotter and hotter by the second. Unfortunately, everyone was so enraptured by the battle on the arena floor proper that they failed to notice this change until it was too late.
Panic began to break out amongst the observers as people began to either spontaneously combust or bleed profusely due to the dry sapping the moisture from their skin and flesh.
Thankfully, someone with a touch more authority and a more level head began emergency procedures.
[Attention arena fans, the Stone Claw Arena is now closed due to an emergency situation. Please calmly exit through the vomitorium in an orderly fashion. If you are unable to move, please remain seated as the Extraction Spiders do their jobs.]
“Extraction Spiders? What’s an Extraction Spider?”
Literal moments after this question was asked, a giant spider suddenly dropped down from above, grabbed someone who had passed out from the heat and wrapped them in a protective cocoon of spider silk before throwing them out the arena’s windows.
Needless to say, a lot of people opted to simply walk out the vomitorium when they saw this alternative.
Surprisingly though, there were a few people who opted to stay behind and watch this absurd battle unfold.
These people fell under three categories.
The Zhen Clan scions, who were safe in their box.
Powerful visitors from outside the city who wanted to know more about these clashing warriors.
And last but definitely not least, a whole bunch of kaijin that were panicking now that their lord was going haywire.
________________________________________
[Oh…that’s not good.]
[Is the manager on fire?!]
[No, I think he is the fire!]
