Chapter 1669: Royalfall (1)
<=Hmmm...=>
Logos and Pathos looked concerned as they watched the two living members of the Sacred Flame Theocracy suddenly powering up like a two-stage boss fight, but they weren’t going to hit the panic button quite yet.
As far as their calculations were concerned, the mere presence of Blazejudicator and Springerdermain made the puffed up priests less of a threat than they appeared.
Granted, they still didn’t know where that last False Crusader was, but they figured that their existence wasn’t going to be an issue... probably.
Besides, now that the kaijin had more or less defeated the other False Crusaders, they were now able to go and provide assistance to not only Serena and the proto-kaijin under her command, but to their Lord and allies who were fighting the Erupting Dawn Royals.
The curators purposely didn’t include the elites getting beaten by the Zhen Clan scions because those three were exhausted after breaking through in such a violent manner and victory was more or less assured.
Those three were going to have bright futures to look forward to.
Probably.
Pathos asked.
=Well...to an extent,= Logos admitted. =Springerdermain and Blazejudicator should be enough to handle those two at their current level, but it’s still somewhat up in the air. Worse case, Springerdermain gives Lady Serena the full kaijin experience and she punches a spring-loaded fist directly through Feroxxa’s stomach...ideally.=
=Also a possibility.=
[Logos, Pathos,] Nepherage suddenly piped up. [Screamira and I are free to move elsewhere in the library. Do you want us to try and track down that missing False Crusader or go and assist Lady Serena?]
[We could technically do both, but it would require us to split up,] Screamira added.
<=Kaijin Lord, what are your orders?=>
’BUSY!’
...You see the title, you know what’s next...
"How the fuck are you still standing?!" Galban shouted as he was forced to use his [Astra] to defend himself.
"I could ask you the same thing," Olstenna fired back while literally throwing a flaming fist at Galban’s head.
The two warriors had been locked in a deadly melee since Nepherage had passed the buck off to the aetherii. Although, it wasn’t an entirely mutual decision.
Prince Galban initially planned to use his [Bonekneader] to pulverize Olstenna’s bones into dust.
In his mind, Olstenna was more likely to have bones than the crimson demon woman made of jade and magma. However, this assumption was born from Galban’s ignorance when it came out aetherii.
Aetherii were more energy than matter, so something that would normally cripple a human or a Bloodliner, would do jackshit to an aetherii. Granted, Olstenna had the added benefit of being empowered by the [Violet Berserker Spring Flame] he absorbed years ago, and the [Black Hellfire] he took from a rival aetherii.
Either way, Olstenna was utterly thrilled by this battle while Galban was annoyed and pissed beyond comprehension. Battle hungry warriors like Olstenna were Galban’s worst enemy because of the way he fought.
The Fourth Prince of the Erupting Dawn Empire almost exclusively used aether arts that needled at the senses and concentration of his opponents, inflaming rage until they made a mistake that he could exploit.
This worked most of the time, especially against opponents who considered themselves "noble" or "enlightened". It, however, didn’t work on berserkers like Olstenna.
"Ya know, your fighting style is actually kind of interesting," Olstenna started. "Weaponized annoyance is something I’ve heard about but never seen. Well, until now."
"Tsk!" Galban clicked his tongue, not wanting to give the aetherii the reaction they were aiming for.
Unfortunately, that didn’t matter.
"But now it’s time to die!" Olstenna declared as he began to concentrate purple and black flames into his fist.
[Fist Fire Storm!]
With a shout, Olstenna charge and released a barrage of flaming fists that came too fast for Galban to react to.
"GRK!"
A sound akin to a pig getting their head smashed in, echoed throughout the arena from Galban’s throat as the prince was first sent flying into the arena wall...only to then be absolutely hammered by over a dozen blazing fists of fury.
None of these attacks broke through Galban’s [Regalia], due to them being "normal" aether attacks. However, Galban could still feel every concussive blow through the armor despite his best efforts to mitigate the damage.
...Yes, there’s a cliffhanger, but for a good reason...
"The [Devil Fangs], the [Black Iron Slab], the [Trickster’s Fangs]...wait, I know these blades...they belonged to the Seven Swords of Duskhollow!" Lauvanne declared once he had gotten a good look at the blades Lythero had mimicked with his [Astra].
"How do you know that name?!" Lythero exclaimed with shock.
The Seven Swords of Duskhollow was one of the many pseudonyms Lythero’s masters used to use when they went about doing their mercenary work.
This particular name saw a lot of use until the group had to fake their deaths during a war between the now fallen kingdom of Candella and the Efreeti Sultanate. That war went particularly bad, hence the need for Lythero’s masters to fake their deaths...again.
"I make it a habit of mine to learn about the various battles and warriors that may have an effect on the empire," Lauvanne explained. "And that particular band of swordsmen popped up over and over again under several different names. The Seven Swords of Duskhollow was just my preferred title for your band of masters. Wait, sorry, former band of masters."
"..."
Nobody liked being reminded that their loved ones was dead, especially during the midst of battle.
"Wait a minute, how the fuck did you know that—"
"From what I remember reading," Lauvanne continued, "you and your masters had been defeated at the hands of the Duke of the Golden Sabertooth. You had been crippled, while your masters were killed and had their famed swords taken as trophies. Is it safe to assume that [Astra] of yours is nothing more than a facsimile of something greater? That the sole purpose of your blade seems to try and pay homage to the original swords that were stolen from you all those years ago?"
Lythero was all set to verbally lash at the man for insulting his masters in such a manner, until he caught on to some details that didn’t click right in his head.
Once that occurred, he remembered one of the lessons that Zhen Liu and the kaijin had taught him: if your opponent is ignorant, use it. That, or make sure that when you dispell their ignorance, you do so in a manner that completely breaks their assumptions...and their spirits.
"You’re right about me using my [Astra] to try and pay homage to all seven of my old masters," Lythero confirmed with a sigh as he held his blade at the ready, which was currently mimicking the aforementioned [Trickster’s Fang]. "But that’s only half of the story."
"Oh?"
"You traded blows with Screamira over there and you can probably sense the weird ambient energy all around us. The same power that fucked with your Raidmen and all but nullified your ability to fight back," Lythero continued. "But did you ever wonder if such a power could be used by others other than the Kaijin Lord? Hell, didn’t you notice that I was empowering my [Astra] with it?"
Lauvanne paused for a brief moment as he thought over the past few minutes of battle, and he did indeed notice the weird energy coming off of the man’s swords during earlier bouts.
"But here’s the funny thing about that power, about [Chaos]," Lythero said as he held out his other hand. "In the right hands, it can serve the same purpose as aether."
Lythero had seen Zhen Liu perform this trick a myriad of times during practice, but never attempted to do it himself.
But for some reason, in this moment, he felt he could do it.
[Taboo, manifest!]
"What the fuck?!"
Before the prince’s eyes, wisps of rainbow-tinted energy began to flow and condense into Lythero’s open hand, vaguely taking on the shape of a sword before the young man decided to fully grasp the imaginary hilt.
Once he did, the sword suddenly solidified its characteristics and looked...oddly similar to the [Astra] in Lythero’s other hand.
No...that wasn’t quite right.
The new blade in Lythero’s off hand looked like the exact opposite of the one in his primary hand.
It was a very ying-yang style that caused Lauvanne’s hair to stand on end...and he wasn’t entirely sure why.
"Huh...so this is what a [Taboo] feels like," Lythero said as he studied the blade that looked like the [Trickster’s Fang] polar opposite. "It feels nice having two blades in my hand again, but...I get the sense I won’t be able to do this outside of the library...what a shame."
Lauvanne was about to make a comment about this observation, but he was interrupted by Lythero suddenly closing the distance between them, his twin blades ready to strike.
"Might as well make it count!"