Chapter 1653: The Kaijin Lord and the First Prince
’Wait a minute. I just realized something partially bad,’ Zhen Liu suddenly declared to Logos and Pathos. ’All of the kaijin are currently fighting opponents across the library. Meaning, I don’t have anyone that can give me a power boost, is there?’
Logos and Pathos were silent for a moment before pointing out the one thing that should’ve been fairly obvious to the young Kaijin Lord.
<=This is the first time you ever fought in the library, right? =>
’Yeah...’
<=You never considered that fighting in what is essentially your domain would enhance your fighting abilities to be even greater than your opponent’s? =>
’...huh. Well, I guess Jinju Ren and I are in for a good time then.’
<Oh, right. Lady Jinju Ren said she was going to wait a little after you start fighting to join in. Like she wants to just watch you fight for ten minutes uninterrupted. >
’Eh? Why?’
=She said something about wanting to see how you grew as a warrior, but she also had this weird look in her eyes and slightly chuckled the whole time.=
’...’
<=...=>
’I...I’m just going to focus on fighting Lofarro, now...’
...Not as unrealistic as it sounds...
"Interesting..." Lofarro muttered as he looked about the new area he had been forcibly teleported to. "Very interesting..."
When the group was in the process of getting separated, Lofarro was...oddly quiet about the whole thing.
He was an Aether King, just like Feroxxa and Hulna, but he was also a veteran of multiple battlefields. As such, his sense of danger and ability to detect issues should’ve been greater than practically anyone else in the group, even with the quirks of [Chaos] messing with such things.
In other words, he could’ve very easily warned everyone about the dangers that were plaguing their group...but he chose not to.
Why?
Because he could sense that none of them were being instantly killed by these traps, and he wanted to know why they were being spared.
Once he saw the location he had been sent to after being flung by a catapult-like drawbridge into a strange portal, Lofarro immediately understood the circumstances he and his compatriots were forced into.
"It looks like I’m in a theater...combined with a fighting arena? I guess that means whomever I’m fighting has the flair for the dramatics?"
"You’re damn right I do!"
Answering his question in the most ostentatious manner possible, a certain disguised warrior appeared under a spotlight some dozen or so feet away from where Lofarro was standing.
"Kaijin Lord...pleased to finally find you despite that great fall and being separated by your insidious little monsters." Lofarro said with just the slightest hint of sarcasm and a whole lot of repressed rage. As he made this statement, Lofarro began to circulate his aether in preparation of doing more than simply reinforcing his [Regalia].
"Well, I had wanted to just gang up on all of you at once with every kaijin in my retinue, but they’re...how to say...surprisingly individualistic," Zhen Liu said while clapping his hands in a grand gesture. He was still using a bit of [Chaos] to make a mask around his face in order to keep his identity hidden, so he had to emote more with his body, like an actor in a play.
"As such, your compatriots are now facing my kaijin in glorious combat. Apologies, but you’re going to be dealing with me directly."
As Zhen Liu said his piece, he proceeded to draw both his [Veteran’s Bone Club] and [Hammer of the Graceful Dead], using the latter to reshape the former into a hammer of equivalent size and shape.
Lofarro could immediately sense that these two weapons weren’t [Astra], but that they were still top-quality aether treasures at the very peak of Silver quality...well, the hammer was at least. He had no clue about the bone club, other than that it was dangerous.
"So here’s the deal, I am going to let you have the first blow because I’m fairly certain that I won’t be able to hold back and—"
"FINE BY ME!"
Before Zhen Liu could even finish saying that Lofarro could have the first swing, the First Prince of the Erupting Dawn Empire was already on the attack.
Lofarro was like his father in the sense that both of them had a rare affinity for aether known as "Sun Aether," a special aether that’s made with an unknown mix of Light and Fire aether. Now one would be safe to assume that it’s the opposite of Moon Aether given the name, but that’s not really the case.
Sun Aether still allows the user to benefit from all of the same treasures and medicines that would benefit a wielder of Ignarii aether, but to an even greater degree. In fact, it’s been noted that someone with sun aether using an aether treasure flame can bring out even more power than some with pure Ignarii aether.
Charging forward, Lofarro pulled out his own aether treasure weapon, a sword that appeared to be made of gold, and channeled enough aether into it to suddenly cause it to glow bright blue like it was made of plasma. Not only that, but the blade was clearly infused with the power of an essence aether beast flame.
One belonging to a dragon, no less.
[Nova Slash!]
’Oh shit.’
Zhen Liu’s plan was to initially allow Lofarro to fail his attack against his skin, relying on his innate [Chaos] before releasing a devastating counterattack, but that was no longer a viable plan.
Instead, Zhen Liu lifted his hammers and blocked the incoming attack while empowering his own weapons with the [Ghost Flame] that naturally inhabited his body. He would’ve used the [Flames of Vice and Virtue]; those were a part of Blazejudicator, not himself.
An explosion of green and blue flames occurred as Zhen Liu blocked the strike with his twin hammers, but he managed to withstand the attack regardless.
Granted, he was forced to slide backwards a couple of inches, but he didn’t have to readjust his steps.
The sight simultaneously impressed and annoyed the First Prince.
"I am not as learned as my dear little brother, but I am more than familiar with the legends of the Kaijin Lords and their monstrous retinue," Lofarro said as he pushed harder against Zhen Liu’s hammers. "And one of the things I read up on was how the kaijin would actively avoid fighting dragons and those with dragon blood. I didn’t know if that extended to their creator, but now I get to find out for real."
"Well, shit, I guess if we’re going to be doing this dance for real, then I should probably be better dressed for the occasion," Zhen Liu said as he manifested the MY driver around his waist. "After all, it wouldn’t be right for you to be the only one wearing a [Regalia] right now."
This comment actually threw Lofarro for a bit of a loop.
"Wait...that mask isn’t a [Regalia]?!" Lofarro asked in alarm. The sheer density of aether in the mask made him assume that it was a strange [Regalia] of some kind, perhaps even an [Astra]. The fact that this "mere illusion" had this much aether behind it made the prince nervous...and a little excited.
"Ha!"
"Bwah!"
Evidently, Lofarro was distracted by the thought long enough for Zhen Liu to sweep his leg and create some space. Just enough for him to activate his [Stigma].
[Maou mode! Stigma, manifest!]
Snarling heavy metal guitars ripped through the air as [Chaos] surged and took the form of a demonic shadow and slammed against Lofarro a number of times in order to push him back before retracting and fusing with Zhen Liu’s body.
The shadow quickly formed into a suit of dark armor, with the horned helmet forming last as Zhen Liu still needed to dismiss the mask.
Once his [Stigma] had formed, Zhen Liu immediately followed up with a double-heavy overhead hammer swing.
"Gah!"
The hammer’s swings made contact with Lofarro’s [Regalia] and pushed the prince back a couple of steps. While they didn’t deal any direct damage, Zhen Liu could at least tell that the attack did something to the bastard. At least, judging from the grunt of pain.
"This feeling...it’s [Ghost Flame]? Huh. Judging from the way this entire library feels, I didn’t think someone like you would use death-aligned aether."
"Power has no biases, Prince Lofarro," Zhen Liu retorted as he pulled out a handful of zako marbles. "Death is merely a trait to someone such as myself. For example, I also have monsters that are aligned with earth, wood, and metal!"
With a shout, Zhen Liu tossed out the marbles and summoned several zakos to come and assist him in battle.
He normally wouldn’t perform such a trick when fighting, but he was currently leaning more towards his Kaijin Lord identity rather than his aether warrior side.
And a Kaijin Lord would definitely not fight fair if he could help it.
"By the way, I lied about you just facing me by my lonesome. Sorry!"
Comments