Chapter 968: Modern Day [Stigma]
[Regalia], [Astra], [Icon] and [Avatar].
In order, these are the tiered, exclusive abilities for aether warriors of the Grandmaster, Lord, King and Emperor levels.
But where did these names come from?
To be honest…nobody knows.
Cultivation, especially aether cultivation, has always been a part of people’s lives for so long that the humans, the Bloodliners and even the Aetherii have all collectively forgotten the originator of certain names of the trade.
That stated…I have a theory on why these terms are used.
Much in the same way a certain country uses Jell-O to refer to gelatin dessert or Q-tips for cotton swabs, I believe the terms of [Regalia], [Astra], [Icon] and [Avatar] were all originally coined by one warrior and everyone else just sort of…picked it up.
Combined with the fact that on Valresta, names have a tendency to carry some form of power, at least in regards to aether and aether-based objects, it led to a feedback loop of sorts where the most powerful version of these features carry the name of [Regalia], [Astra], [Icon] and [Avatar].
However, this got me wondering on something.
If someone were to try and change the term of these abilities, not just on a surface level but down to the very structure, what would happen?
-An excerpt from an Otherlander anima wielder, trying to understand the origins of aether.
________________________________________
=At some point, we really need to upgrade our communication arrays.=
=True…wait, what if we-=
=Damn.=
Back at the [Library of Nowhere], Logos and Pathos were doing their damnedest to try and reconnect with Zhen Liu for what felt like the umpteenth time while in their observation room.
They could still connect to the kaijin, and use them to see what was going on, but that didnt really help much.
Because from their point of view through their observation mirrors, all they could see was localized static.
They could make out the apartment building turned tribal commune, they could see the looks of worry on Bellona’s and Alicia’s faces, they could even see the Strange Bloods panicking. The only spot they couldn’t see was the place where Zhen Liu was currently fighting something that gave off the [Chaos] aura of the Storm Queen, aka, what was preventing them from being able to see what the fuck was going on.
They had been trying to come up with some sort of solution but had been coming up short due to lack of resources.
At this point, Pathos was just about to-
=Hold up! Stop whatever you’re doing.=
=Because our connection to our lord and the visual clarity of what’s going on just got a lot fucking sharper.=
=Turns out your name changing idea worked.=
…
After making his declaration, Zhen Liu pulled on the over of his MY Driver that was related to his [Maou] armor. When he did, a horrifying melody played out before the driver made a rather loud declaration in a growling voice.
[Stigma!]
Once the call was made, [Chaos] began to condense on and around his body like pools of shimmering oil.
‘Huh…that’s new.’
Before, when Zhen Liu did this transformation thing in practice, the [Chaos] would just sorta appear like a gas as opposed to this strangely liquid state.
‘Huh…I guess names do carry power.’
As weird as it sounded to Zhen Liu, having the things made from [Chaos] be referred to as something associated with the concept of “forbidden” or “against the norm”, had somehow powered it up. Which sort of made sense to him, since [Chaos] was this weird energy that’s only supposed to exist in the space between worlds.
Then again, this could be a circumstance unique to where he was right now, but that was something he would have to address later.
‘I can already tell that the armor is going to be a bit bulkier than last time…or more form fitting? Bah, I’ll find out when it happens.’
As Zhen Liu was too busy focusing on the [Chaos] surrounding his body, but if he had just looked in the direction fo the illusionary Storm Queen, he would’ve noticed a strange twitch of nervousness and possibly fear. Regardless, after once the [Chaos] concentration reached a point that felt, Zhen Liu pulled the lever again.
[I am the Ma-Oh!]
Almost as if compelled by the voice, the oily [Chaos] merged with Zhen Liu’s body and formed into a distinctive set of black armor, complete with a pair of horns. For all intents and purposes, Zhen Liu now looked like a proper demon lord from a video game or comic.
(Un)surprisingly, the illusion to the Storm Queen didn’t activate her own [Regalia] in response to Zhen Liu’s sudden transformation. Perhaps she didn’t have one?
Either way, once he had armored himself, he proceeded to arm himself by drawing both his [Veteran’s Bone Club] and [Hammer of the Dearly Departed], and clanging the two of them together.
He didn’t do this as a show of force though, he did it so that he could use the latter to morph the former into the shape of another hammer.
Once this was down though, Zhen Liu noticed that the [Chaos] flowing between himself, his [Stigma] and his weapons felt a little more fluid than normal. Almost as if they were now extensions of his body, as opposed to external objects being held.
‘Alright…let’s go.’
Once he had prepared his second hammer, Zhen Liu took on a low fighting stance with his hammers at the ready.
Noticing that Zhen Liu was ready to fight, the illusionary Storm Queen obliged as well, taking on a fight stance appropriate for a trident.
‘Huh…cool.’
In all honesty, Zhen Liu didn’t take this stance because he knew this would happen, rather, it just felt right for the moment.
And for this moment, Zhen Liu was now determined to do one thing.
‘Fuck it, let’s fight a force of nature.’
He wanted to see how he stacked up against his predecessor.
Silence descended between Zhen Liu and the illusion as both stood with their weapons ready, as if they were waiting for some sign or signal for them to start.
Drip…drop.
That signal came in the form of a water droplet.
‘Go!’
In the blink of an eye, Zhen Liu and the illusionary Storm Queen both rushed at each other with murderous intent.
From an outsider’s point of view, it appeared as if two monstrous embodiments of natural disasters were crashing into one another.
…
[GET HER ASS, MAESTRO!]
[YEA-wait, should we really be cheering for this? That is technically Lady Jin Fang’s mother.]
[It’s an illusion and they started it first.]
[Fair point. KICK HER ASS, DIRECTOR!]
While the kaijin absolutely hated not being able to assist their lord in his current conflict with more direct support, they managed to pivot their anxiety and energy into cheering as hard as they could in support of Zhen Liu.
While the kaijin were cheering though, Alicia and Bellona couldn’t help but to still be a little worried.
“Dammit! Is there seriously nothing we can do to help?!”
“No…but if it helps, Xiao Liu isn’t feeling worried or scared right now.”
“Hmmm…sort of…”
As learned ladies of high standing, lessons in regards to history and famous warriors had been drilled into their heads, and with the assistance of the [Library of Nowhere], that knowledge base was significantly larger than before.
Meaning that they understood that Zhen Liu was technically punching way above his weight class, since the Storm Queen was an Aether Overlord when she disappeared. Granted this information was back when they didn’t know about things like [Chaos] and kaijin. In other words, it was very likely that the Storm Queen was much stronger than what was recorded in the history books.
But the only ones who would know for certain were a pair of cagey spirits and a group of Kaijin blooded tribal warriors who were standing off to the side and…wait a minute.
“I just realized something,” Alicia suddenly declared, before tapping on Nepherage’s shoulder. “Pardon me, Nepherage, but can you translate for me?”
“Of course.”
“Cool, then I need you to get Chief Tusk’s attention.”
…
[Hey! Chief Tusk!]
[Huh? What is it?]
…
“He’s asking what we want.”
“Ask him if he knows how strong that illusion is in comparison to the real Storm Queen.”
…
[Did your ancestors by any chance record his strong the Storm Queen was back in her hey day?]
[Yeah.]
[How strong is this illusion in comparison to her?]
[Uh…about a quarter, maybe a third.]
…
“That illusion is about a quarter of the strength of the original Storm Queen.”
“Ah…”
This news wasn’t comforting to Alicia and Bellona in the slightest.
