Chapter 948: All it takes is a little…push
Meanwhile, back in a place that had sunlight…
“Huh…why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?,” Zhen Liu verbally mused for the kaijin and his grandaunt to hear.
At this moment in time, they had finished packing the last of the Plague Birds in their specially made box shaped seals and has opted to take a snack break…at the matriarch’s behest.
Apparently, she had a weakness for these little mochi-like snacks and insisted on having thirty minutes a day to enjoy them.
As such, whilst in the middle of snacking on these sweet little cakes, Zhen Xun Tian decided to answer Zhen Liu’s inquiry with the most out-of-pocket statement she could.
“Probably your stomach is warning you that your fiancees, your girlfriend and whatever that Amazonian hunter woman is to you, are all planning together to do something obscene with you. All at the same time.”
“I…what the fuck?”
“Love is a fickle thing, but is also the most potent catalyst in the world,” Zhen Xun Tian continued without elaborating. “Saw a man rip off the head of another guy, due to the power of love.”
“What is the context for this?”
“I can’t remember to be-wait, I do actually,” Zhen Xun Tian answered. “I was helping an old friend rescue his girl.”
“Huh…neat.”
___Meanwhile, somewhere where love was being used as a literal catalyst…___________
[BAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS FEELS AMAZING!,] the now mutated Sophita roared in an inhumane tone of voice that sounded like what happens when rubbed the rim of a crystal cup. Combined with the indecipherable language that seemed to be at the root of the universe, it was an unsettling sound to say the least.
[Focus on your words, miss. The language of Chaos can be a bit overwhelming when used.]
[Ah, sorry,] the crystal mutant Sophita said in an abrupt shift in tone. “Like this?”
“Better. Now come closer so I may have a better look at you. Need to make sure my work didn’t have any unforseen changes.”
“Aside from my skin now being as unbreakable as my love?”
“Yes. By the way, have you thought of a new name? Most other people I’ve…helped, had a tendency to rename themselves after coming to terms with their new powers.”
Sophita’s transformation did not end in a violent explosion, bloody or otherwise, despite all the power surging through her entire existence. Instead, that power had become refined, polished and condensed into her now crystal-like body.
She had gone from a enslaved beauty, to a beautiful monstrosity.
Granted, this sudden change in appearance didn’t deter any of the others.
“How did a mere slave from that land of ne’er-do-wells manage to pull this off?!,” Prince Alain shouted in disbelief.
“I ain’t sure,” Gao Kan answered. “But…I’m starting to warm up to the idea of doing this myself.”
“I get the feeling we all won’t look her though.”
“You’re right… I’d look better.”
As they discussed amongst themselves about wanting to take Buzza on his accursed offer, Gao Shen Yuan and Gao Ao Long were still off to the side with indecipherable looks on their faces.
On the one hand, they didn’t mind boosting their own forces with power that was previously only used by the aforementioned War Elder and that hateful inked bitch from the Zhen Clan.
On the other…they couldn’t help but feel a bit…worried.
“I will not lie, I am rather…ambivalent about such immense power being bestowed on such transient individuals,” Gao Shen Yuan said as she stared back and forth between Sophita and “Prince” Alain. “If it was just the immediate members of the clan, I wouldn’t mind but-”
“It should be fine, matriarch,” Gao Ao Long assured her. “The way I see it, we are going to have four loyal warriors to the clan wielding the power of [Chaos], to balance out a pair of transient ones.”
“I suppose that’s right,” Gao Shen Yuan sighed.
“Besides, worst case scenario, I’m fairly certain you could just bribe the both of them very easily. Since that one is snubbed royal and that one is obsessed with love. A rather twisted form of it, but still.”
“Hmmm.”
Matriarch Gao Shen Yuan was quiet for a couple moments as she tried to figure out the right words on what to say. She eventually figured it out though.
“War Elder…did you know, that would happen when you asked us to come to Buzza’s domain?,” Gao Shen Yuan asked while subtly gesturing to Sophita, whose diamond arms were now being thoroughly examined by Buzza. During the process, she had unconsciously turn them into blades.
“Ooooh! Pointy and sharp!”
“Change them back for now.”
“Right.”
“To be honest, Matriarch…to an extent, I did expect this,” Ao Long answered.
“You did?”
“All those decades ago, I wasn’t the only one who managed to find Buzza and have him perform the operation,” Ao Long explained. “There was another who was recovering in the inner chambers around the time I arrived. I wasn’t sure who he was, but I noticed instead of an arm like mine, he had opted for-”
“Patient Ao Long, would you mind coming over here for a moment. I require your assistance with something,” Buzza suddenly interjected.
“I’ll tell you later,” Gao Ao Long told the matriarch before walking over to Buzza and “Sophita”.
“Of course.”
…
“So you’ll still be going with Sophita for the time being?”
“Yes, I’ll tell you if that changes,” Sophita said while nodding her crystalline head. “By the way, I get this weird feeling that my skin and flesh are fluid despite looking like this. Can I change into other forms or something?”
“Yes, but I will show you guys how to do that later,” Buzza assured Sophita just as Gao Ao Long had gotten close to them.
“War Elder, perfect timing!”
“Is there something you needed from…huh…have we met before?”
“No, I don’t think so…,” Sophita replied.
“So why do you feel familiar to me?”
“Don’t know, but I got the same feeling too…”
“Oh, that’s just the essence of the parts making yourselves feel more comfortable with each other. It’s why you guys feel comfortable standing around me instead of jittery and jumpy.”
“Ah.”
“Anyways, Ao Long, as someone who had his arm longer than our new friend here, mind giving her a chance to test her abilities?”
“No problem.”
“Wait, what?!,” Sophita exclaimed with surprise. “I may feel and look like a million gold pieces and then some, but I never fought a day in my life!”
“Oh don’t worry,” Buzza assured her. “Your instincts will handle it, just go with them.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll find out.”
After making this declaration, both Buzza and Ao Long moved away from Sophita. The former was so that they could see how this battle unfolded, while the latter did so he could give the girl some room to figure things out.
That said…she wasn’t given long to figure things out.
“Alright, at the count of three, come out swinging,” Buzza told both Sophita and Gao Ao Long…moments before shouting, “321 GO!”
[Whale Buster!]
“Fuck!”
The moment Buzza said “go”, Gao Ao Long had already charged up enough aether and [Chaos] to punch forward and fire off a projection of energy that came in the form of a giant whale made of water.
As a trained Aether Overlord, Gao Ao Long knew how to be prepared to attack or defend at a moment’s notice. As for Sophita, she was little overwhelmed.
‘What do I do, what do I do? That’s thing is at least a peak Ethereal Aether art so how am I supposed to…oh…wait a minute…’
For about a half second.
Despite not being a proper cultivator, despite being a slave, Sophita had the [Core] of a warrior that had been through way more battles and had way more experience than she ever did.
And right now, in this moment where death was about a whale’s tail to the head away, that ingrained experience manifested.
‘I don’t need to dodge or attack…I’m unbreakable!’
[Emerald Aegis!]
Boom!
“Excellent!”
In a split second, moments before the whale made impact, Sophita willed her newly acquired aether and [Chaos] and formed them into a giant emerald shaped shield that radiated with the power of wood aether.
Needless to say, everyone who wasn’t Buzza or Gao Ao Long were rather shocked by the display of power.
After all, it was unheard of for a former slave girl to suddenly and fluently summon forth a defense with the same power as an Aether Overlord.
“Holy shit.”
By the time it had sunk in what had happened, Sophita had already dismissed the shield and had this manical look of pride on her face.
With this sort of power, nobody could push around anymore.
Which just so happened to be a sentiment shared by the rest of the group.
Before Buzza could even ask what they had thought of the display, they all answered the same thing.
“Me next!”
Seeing the response, Buzza simply smiled.
‘Ah…I love gathering live data.’
