Chapter 901: Defensive tactics…
Within the folds of manifested dragon wings, the Martial Mimic Monkey was condensing aether and dragon force into his vocal chords as a rain of splintered wood smashed against him.
Technically speaking, his skin and wings were already durable enough to resist most of the onslaught he was currently enduring. If he enhanced his defenses a bit more, he could easily weather out this entire thing and get back to attacking with his stolen moves.
But he didn’t, for one simple reason.
He wanted to try something out.
For the first time in its new life, it wanted to try something it had thought of and not merely stole from someone else.
In other words, it was increasingly becoming more and more inaccurate to continue calling this monkey monstrosity, a mere Martial Mimic Monkey anymore.
‘Not yet, not yet…now!’
And so, with a roar that reverberated onto the heavens, the dragon-like monkey released a terrible roar. One that sent shockwaves surging forward and obliterated all of the wooden projectiles that had almost turned him into a skewer.
As for the people about to be on the receiving end of this roar, it wasn’t gonna be fun to say the least.
Especially when this roar of his was only the opening move for something significantly more…damaging.
…
<
At this point in time, Zhong Wei had managed to create enough distance between himself and the monkey monster that the former had enough wiggle room to throw up a proper defense for once.
<<[Ironwood Shield!],>> Zhong Wei declared as a surge of wood aether caused a barrier made of trees to form spontaneously around him.
The trees themselves had bark that shined like refined iron, giving off this air of impenetrability.
‘Not enough,’ Zhong Wei concluded as he placed his hands against the barrier he had just made and began to infuse it with even more of his aether. This infusion became so intense that even his [Regalia] began to merge with the barrier to form a single cohesive armor.
In Zhong Wei’s experience, running from a roaring dragon, even a dragon inheritor, was always a bad idea.
This wasn’t due to some profound reason involving cowardice or whatever, but due to the simple fact that it was a way to get a target immediately painted on one’s back.
Standing one’s ground in this situation was the only way to survive…granted, this was dependent on them being able to resist the roar in the first place.
Zhong Wei had undergone such a baptism before, so he had confidence that he would survive this moment.
As for the others…he had faith in exactly one of them.
…
‘Bad…!’
‘What do you mean it’s a bad idea to use [Chaos] right now to defend myself? It negates most aether arts like it’s nothing.’
‘N..ate…’
‘What do you mean dragons negate [Chaos]?!’
For the past few days, after returning from Roaring Tide and learning some secrets in regards to his family’s past, Zhen Shi had been practicing to channel the power of [Chaos] with the assistance of his significantly more vocal [World Serpent] spirit.
He hadn’t been able to employ the energy in an offensive manner yet, unlike his grandaunt and grandson, but he had been able to use it to strengthen his defenses to a respectable degree.
Then again, he had yet to approach his grandaunt or his grandson about how to employ [Chaos] in a more offensive manner.
The former was because she was another continent for now, while the latter was due to him understanding that he was keeping it a secret and it would be in becoming of an elder to expose this secret until they were ready.
He was young once, he understood that secrets were kept for a reason.
That stated, the serpent that was giving him a crash course on [Chaos] had been incredibly dodgy in regards to some of the more subtle nuances and drawbacks to channeling this strange energy.
Like the fact that [Chaos] was weak against dragon force!
Zhen Shi’s initial plan had been to create a defensive dome of ice, similar to Zhong Wei’s wooden one, and empower it with [Chaos] to block the attack.
However, this turned out to be a very bad idea, according to the serpent in his head.
Apparently, the moment the monkey’s roar would make contact with this hypothetical ice [Chaos] shield, the latter would instantly subliminate and Zhen Shi would be subjected to the full force of a dragon’s roar.
In his early years as an aether warrior, Zhen Shi had been subjected to the roars of lesser dragons before and it wasn’t pleasant.
In other words, Zhen Shi was shit out of luck when it came to defending himself from the incoming wave of concussive dragon force.
Until…
‘Ac*oust*c…abs*rpti*n…’
‘Say what?’
As soon as that question passed through his thoughts, the World Serpent informed him of some very anachronistic architectural designs that would weirdly help in this situation.
Zhen Shi had no idea what to think in regards to this situation…other than following.
‘Okay…looks like I’ll have to use my chains again…I hope the princess and Xiao Liu will be okay…’
Spoiler alert: partially.
…
[AAAAAAHHHHH!]
“Nepherage, what’s wrong?!”
[THAT…SOUND.. IT HURTS!]
Situated the furthest away from the fray, Nepherage had been busy trying to make sure Jinju Ren didn’t get in the crossfire between the Martial Monkey and the elderly Aether Lords.
She knew damn well that Jinju Ren was strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to handle a monkey that could steal her moves!
Nepherage may not have been the brightest bulb in the box, but she was at least smart enough to recognize that giving your opponent a bigger toolbox was just asking for trouble.
A part of her had also figured that she would have to get involved before things went sideways for her lord’s grandfather and…tutor-in-law.
But then she had to throw that idea out the window after that stupid monkey monster had decided to release a sound, that to Nepherage’s senses at least, that sounded like what happens when a microphone is placed next the speaker with the volume set to max.
Except this sound was being projected to her eardrums directly with heavily cushioned headphones, and she didn’t even have ears to begin with.
If this was how much pain she was in from just an echo, what the hell was going to happen to her when it finally made contact?
Would she die?
Would her lord feel it?
What happens to a kaijin after they die?!
These sorts of thoughts rushed through Nepherage’s head, making it near impossible for her to come up with a viable plan of attack or defense.
Fortunately for her, Jinju Ren knew exactly what to do.
“Shit! Hold on Nepherage. [Mountain Dragon Guard!]”
“GOOOOAAA!”
From her saber, Jinju Ren summoned forth the phantasmal form of a Crumbling Mountain Dragon that proceeded to encapsulate her and her beau’s kaijin in its protective shell.
As the proper daughter of a literal dragon emperor, Jinju Ren knew damn well what to whenever another dragon decided to challenge her.
Even one who may have become a dragon only briefly.
‘First, into the abdomen…’
When a dragon challenges another dragon, there are actually two parts to it.
‘…now let it build into the lungs…’
Before the actual fighting takes place, the two dragons will initially roar at one another.
‘…let it burn in the throat…’
This roar is not only meant to be shown as a sign of respect to one another, but it is also that part that is meant to act as a “filter”.
‘…refine your teeth…’
If one side is significantly stronger than the other, the roar of the stronger party will silence the roar of the weaker party, and in some cases, knock them out completely.
‘…and let it loose!’
However, in the case of one party being equally strong or defiantly strong in the face of an obviously greater for…
The roar serves as a means to challenge authority.
“ROOOOAAA!”
“GOOOOAAA!”
Coordinating with the Crumbling Mountain Dragon, Jinju Ren released a roar that harmonized with the former’s and released a sound that was as loud as an earthquake.
Just in time too, for the roar had been released just as the Martial Monkey’s roar was just about to reach the two of them.
Now, it was simply a matter of being strong enough to defy an obvious power gap.
‘I will not let some bloodthief challenge my dignity as a fellow dragon!,’ Jinju Ren thought to herself.
As her pride in herself as a dragon continued to rise, the gems of her saber began to glow a little brighter than usual.
Nepherage herself couldn’t help but to notice this change too.
[Ugh…I know she means well and she’s supposed to be Milord’s consort, but the dragon force radiation is making me ill…I need to either get stronger or help her turn it down.]
On the plus side, she wasn’t going to die because of dragon force…maybe…
