Chapter 961: The Only Way to Win Was to Never Play
[Nepherage! What are you doing?!]
[Calling their bluff!]
On a certain blue planet, there is a doctrine known as, “Mutually Assured Destruction”.
There is a lot of deep thoughts and philosophy behind this doctrine, but it can be summed up as, a stand-off where everybody loses.
In this particular instance, Nepherage had the life of the chieftain of the Strange Bloods in the palm of her hands.
Literally.
Nepherage had a single hand gripped tightly around the neck of Chief Tusk. She knew over a dozen different ways to kill him, but she only needed one.
On the flip side, Scale of the Strange Blood tribe had managed to capture Alicia, Bellona and Mini within his scale covered appendages. Additionally, he had forced both Matilda and Tiny to their knees before him in a metaphorical manner
All he had to do was squeeze hard enough and he would’ve committed triple homicide in an instant.
Both Scale and Nepherage understood this fact.
Both the Strange Bloods and the kaijin knew that if either side tried to do shit they would go all out in an attempt to kill the other, casualties and survival rates be damned.
However…there was technically another condition.
The first to lose their nerve and release their hostages first would definitely be the loser in their conflict.
Which is why, in a manner that could best be described as unprofessional and absolutely appalling at worst, Nepherage and Scale started talking mad shit against one another.
[Let the girls go and I won’t pop your chief’s head like the fucking hollow ass grape it is!]
[Fuck you! Let the chief go and I won’t snap the neck of these whores like I would a chicken’s!]
“Wait, what the fuck did he just call us?”
“I’m not entirely sure but I get the feeling we’re going to smack him upside head for it once we’re -”
[Shut up!]
“Ah!”
[Hey!]
[Gah!]
In the same moment Scale had tightened his squeeze on the two girls, Nepherage had tightened her own grip on Chief Tusk.
Seeing this reaction, Scale visibly relaxed his grip before doing anything that could lead to his leader’s death. The moment Nepherage saw that Scale had eased up on the girls, she loosened her grip as well.
Understanding what was at stake, even the fighters that weren’t holding anybody hostage began to tense up. They understood that if they tried anything either, their respective hostage of interest would die as well.
Needless to say, the tension in the atmosphere was starting to reach a point where not even a knife could cut through it.
At this point, a guillotine would’ve been more effective.
Neither side could make a move, neither wanted to make a move, but if nodbody made a move then they would be here for hours on end until somebody decided they had enough and pull the trigger to unimaginable-
‘Nepherage, things are about to get loud. When the time’s right, knock the dude in your grasp out.’
[Milord?! When did you-]
‘Frosttusk, you’re gonna have to reinforce the ice flooring around you and the others…now!’
…Literally minutes ago…
[Maestro…I can’t believe this is a sentence coming out of me…but are you done vomiting yet?,] Hurricroak asked with genuine concern.
‘Almost, I think? It feels like I have another gallon or so of swamp water in me.’
[Producer, no offense…but ew.]
‘None taken. If we ever end up in a situation like this again, I’m making a kaijin or something.’
[Dafuq kind of Kaijin would help with a situation like this?]
[A living vacuum cleaner? Side note, this ship could use a once over with a vacuum cleaner.]
After several moments of intense labor, and one well-timed aether empowered scream loud enough to level a building, Zhen Liu, Hurricroak and Screamira had finally managed to get the [Storm Queen’s Galleon] out of the mud and on to the surface…surprisingly.
Zhen Liu was fairly certain that a sunken vessel shouldn’t be able to float after being underwater for about eight hundred years, but hey, he lived in a world where magic pills were normal and he had several love interests that would normally not give his ass the time of day in his old life, understanding how a cursed vessel was able to float wasn’t that high on his priority list.
That being said, there was one thing about this vessel that was bothering the hell out of him.
‘Hey…this is gonna sound weird, but does this ship feel…incomplete to you guys too?’
[Well…it does have a very torn sail,] Screamira pointed out while gesturing towards the aforementioned sail, much to Zhen Liu’s unamused chagrin.
[I know what you’re referring, Executor,] Blazejudicator answered, [and I’m not sure why either. It’s like…staring at a painting with partial censorship in place.]
[Or like a song missing a note.]
[Exactly.]
‘Well, whatever the issue is, I’m sure we can just head back to the Library and…hold up…why am I sensing that the others are under an incredible amount of stress and-‘
“Let go of us you stupid lizard!”
[Hold up…was that the Sheep Princess and Rich girl?!,] Hurricroak cried out in alarm. [What the hell happened to them?!]
[Looks like they’re being held hostage by a weird looking lizard…why am I feeling extreme amounts of blood…oh.]
‘Well then…time for extreme amounts of violence. Hurricroak. Screamira. Follow my lead.’
…Back to the Present…
In the blink of an eye, the entire stand-off was flipped over like a chess board.
In the exact same moment, three actions occurred one after the other in perfect sequence, allowing no room for error or interference.
[What the-] Sound of someone’s jaw getting smashed to dust.
“Xiao Liu!”
“Thanks for the save!”
“Ku!”
First, Zhen Liu had appeared directly in front of the asshole holding his loved ones hostage and clocked the sucker with an uppercut that would make most boxing enthusiasts curl their toes in pain. He made extra sure to aim directly for the bottom part of Scale’s jaw to ensure it was an instant knockout, and as a bonus, Blazejudicator made sure to accelerate his fist with a burst of flames that accelerated it like a rocket.
[Chie-]
[Banshee’s Wail!]
[Gah!]
Second, Screamira had appeared directly above the Strange Bloods and released a painfully loud sonic scream that slammed down on them like a series of hammers.
This not only stunned the everliving hell out of them due to the sheer concussive force, but the force of sound also caused the ice below them to start cracking in a rather worrying manner. Especially given that Frosttusk had purposely reinforced the section of ice that he and the others were standing on creating an obvious weak point.
[The…ice…is…cracking!]
[We gotta…run!]
[Can’t!]
Crack!
[Shit!]
Eventually, due to the constant battering of sound, the ice directly below the Strange Bloods shattered into multiple tiny pieces and forced the group into the water.
For a brief moment, the Strange Bloods thought that this was their chance to escape and regroup…only for that hope to get thrashed once they saw a strange blue frog woman look at them with a wild smile on her face…and the smell of ozone coming from the normally putrid swamp water.
[Buenas Tardes, putas,] Hurricroak said with manical glee as she electrified the water further.
[Oh f-AAAAAAAHGGG!]
The moment the Strange Bloods hit the water, they were impacted with enough electricity to stop and start the heart of a humpback whale.
If they weren’t cultivators, they would’ve definitely been dead as the electricity coursed through their veins.
[And this right here, is why you never take a bath with a toaster…or an electrified super frog like yours truly.]
The end result though was five or so unconscious warriors, twitching in the water. None of them had drowned quite yet as Hurricroak was tasked to retrieving them.
[You motherf-]
[Shut up!]
Sound of a massive rock smashing in someone’s skull.
And finally, Nepherage had rendered Chief Tusk unconscious as well with a heavy blow to the back of his head.
She would’ve gone for an uppercut like Zhen Liu, but her positioning was all wrong.
And with that final blow to the head, the battle was officially over.
For the first time in their lives, Frosttusk, Razorstella and Spring Brawler had collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Since this was technically the seccond they ever had to fight enemies that could actually injure them.
[Holy shit.]
[That was…stressful.]
[I don’t know about y’all, but I want to take a nap.]
[Well, you guys look tired as hell,] Hurricroak said in a chipper tone as she dragged the Strange Bloods out of the water and onto the ice. [What did we miss?]
[Well…]
As the kaijin were regaling their fellows about what had occurred, Zhen Liu made sure to check on the girls.
“Are you all ok-oof!”
Instead of providing proper answers though, the girls just simultaneously hugged him.
