Chapter 913: Embodiments of Vice & Virtue
An entry from the journal of a former missionary from another world.
Lion, Dragon, Bear, Snake, Boar, Fox and Rabbit.
These were the beasts I have long since been taught to represent the [Seven Vices] of humanity when I was but a lad.
Lions for [Pride], their roar forces all to kneel.
Dragons for [Wrath], their fury turns all to ash.
Bears for [Sloth], their laziness is what motivated us to move.
Snakes for [Envy], their venom seeks to bring down those they perceive as greater.
Boars for [Gluttony], their hunger for all is what makes them dangerous.
Rabbits for [Lust], as their numbers know no bounds.
In conjunction to three beasts though, I was also taught about the [Seven Virtues], and the beasts associated with them.
Donkeys for [Humility], for they work despite expecting nothing in return.
Elephants for [Patience], for they live long enough to know that everything takes time.
Oxen for [Diligence], for they shall keep going,even if the road is hard.
Whales for [Kindness], for have no reason to envy others, and been known to save even the most foolish of sailors from humiliating deaths.
Camels for [Temperance], for their willingness to cross deserts on little food and water.
Pelicans for [Charity], for what other creature in how many other worlds exists, would be as giving as one who feeds their young their own blood?
Finally, swans for [Chastity]. For despite their beauty, elegance and the desires they enflame in all who see them, they only ever have their eyes on the one they love.
I had memorized these creatures to heart, I gave my all to the &;#($; and rose in the ranks until my fatal accident.
I had thought this symbology would hold even when I learned that the Father Almighty has made more than one world.
But alas, as I travel through this strange land, where heavens empowers even the humblest of beggars and boldest of nobles, I have come to realize that some ways of thinking can be considered…outdated.
For if heaven itself said that love is the greatest of acts, then who am I to deny it when I am given it?
…
A note left by the curators: The author of this journal has been recording being married to multiple Bloodliners at once.
________________________________________
=Alright, I’ll bite. Why did you think this journal is relevant to our current situation?=
=Convergent culture evolution, it’s a thing. What about it?=
=Yes, and…=
=I…huh…=
<...>
=…=
=Time to go dig up the rest of those journals.=
=All the time. But you keep using that time to recreate arcade cabinets instead.=
____Meanwhile, the worst was happening__
In the exact moment the Dragon Thief Monkey got its face impacted by the strange blood red flame covered fist, something in his mind…clicked.
It wasn’t his mind breaking, his sanity being destroyed or anything negative like that.
It was just…there was something about that [Flame of Wrath] that completed something in the Dragon Thief Monkey’s mind.
No…
It completed something in it’s blood.
Need more…
Embracing this feeling, the Dragon Thief Monkey set itself ablaze.
Spiritually and physically.
FWOOSH!
Now he was seeing red in…everything.
…
“OOKIE!”
FWOOSH!
“Oh fuck!”
[Oh balls, he learned how to use the Flames of Wrath.]
Shortly after Zhen Yan had taken Blazejudicator’s advice to switch up what flames he should be using, in fear of the Dragon Thief Monkey somehow learning to use it against him, that exact thing happened.
After the latest change of blows, where the Dragon Thief Monkey and Zhen Yan cracked each other’s jaw with heavy punches to each other’s faces, the latter made sure to disengage shortly after. Blazejudicator had informed prior to this exchange of blows that swapping through flames in such close quarters would allow the Dragon Thief Monkey to copy it. Technically speaking, his swapping of the flames constituted as an aether art, so it could copied by the monkey.
While Blazejudicator had no idea if doing this would allow it to copy the [Flames of Vice and Virtue] as well, they didn’t want to risk it.
If the Dragon Thief Monkey could somehow copy Jinju Ren’s homebrewed combination move that relied on the power of four different dragonblooded beasts, they didn’t want to see if it was possible for them to copy their innate abilities.
But alas, it was too late.
For reasons that could only be speculated, the Dragon Thief Monkey had managed to mimic the [Flame of Vice: Wrath], and was now using this newly learned flame to wreath itself in a layer of blood red flames that seemed to be the purest embodiment of [Wrath].
“OOKIE!”
‘Damn that’s fast!’
[Shit!]
And now, it was gonna use its new ability to the fullest.
Emboldened and empowered by its new flames, the Dragon Thief Monkey launched itself forward in a spinning manner, accelerating itself by releasing jets of flames from its back and feet.
The beast had originally planned to use its tail like a weapon and swing it at Zhen Yan with accelerated [Flames of Wrath], but the effects of [Flames of Temperance] was making it nigh impossible for it to exert any power from the crippled extremity.
A rather heavy, crippled extremity.
Understanding that its tail was acting more like a weight than a limb, the Dragon Thief Monkey used it to rapidly change its trajectory.
Which is why, even thought Zhen Yan had already taken defensive measures to block the incoming kick, it had already failed.
“Grk!”
Instead of coming from the side, the monkey’s attack had suddenly changed directions and came overhead like a sledgehammer on a wooden stake.
Unlike last time though, when he didn’t feel anything, Zhen Yan definitely felt this one.
And he felt a lot angrier too.
Evidently, his expressions must’ve indicated that he had an opening of some kind because of this sudden mood shift, because the Dragon Thief Monkey opted to follow up the kick with an attempted double strike to Zhen Yan’s stomach.
A swirl of dragon force and aether surrounded the monkey’s palms as he aimed to not only rattle the man’s insides, but shatter the bones as well.
…
‘THIS STUPID-wait a minute…why did I suddenly a fuckton angrier for a moment?’
[Oh balls, it figured out how to do that….okay, change of plans. You’re gonna have to fully embrace the power of the Flames of Patience.]
‘Wait, what? Why?’
[Because if you don’t, you’ll be seeing much red and rage, that you’ll give yourself a heart attack then some.]
‘Oh…well then.’
…
FWOOSH!
“Ookie?!”
“Phew! That could’ve sucked.”
Unfortunately for the Dragon Thief Monkey, he was technically fighting two on one.
Moments before the palms managaed to land on Zhen Yan’s stomach, his entire demeanor took on a more [Patience] focused change as his mane went from being dual colored red and green to dark green.
The attack of the Dragon Thief Monkey did end up landing on Zhen Yan’s stomach, but the force behind it was mitigated to the point that while the latter’s internals were still intact, he was sent sliding backwards several dozen feet.
This was fine by him, because not only did it force the Design Thief Monkey to close the gap on him,he also realized something important from that short exchange of blows.
This monkey was starting to run on fumes.
‘Huh…copying all those big moves back to back must’ve taken more out of it than it had anticipated…interesting,’ Zhen Yan observed while taking a more defensive stance. ‘Guess I just gotta wait him out!’
“GAAAAAA!”
Infuriated at the lack of response from an opponent that had fired the first shot in the first place, the Dragon Thief Monkey launched itself forward, again.
Only this time, its tail was working again.
As such, it opted to go for a…fuller response.
One that entailed him copying a certain spinning move, except with a lot more flames involved…
_____While the slugfest was going on…_____
Disclaimer: The following conversation is actually happening over the course of a second, but since it’s at the speed of thought, a lot more is being said.
Hence why it’s gonna take a paragraph…or five.
…
[So…maestro…are we aiming to capture or kill this malefactor of a monkey?]
‘I will most likely play it by ear, why?’
[Well, you have been on a kidnapping streak lately, so we figured you’d take this monkey too.]
‘There… there’s a difference between prisoner of war and kidnapping.’
[Is there?]
