Chapter 131: Slayer's Slayer (2)
While Sun was having a little trouble Lavabending in a completely different environment, he soon grasped the essentials needed to look out for that only gave Zhao and his troops more trouble.
Instead of Lavabending directly, Sun adopted to let the entirety of the Lava flow upon the icy surface towards Zhao and his troops as it easily covered a large portion. What intimidated the group was their apparent lack of knowledge regarding the interaction of Lava and ice that Sun had understood by now as the layer of lava didn't burn through the icy but instead let out huge steam initially before cooling into a black solid surface with bubbles encased within. Not letting the chance go, Aang once again redirected the stream and kept the firebenders at bay while Sokka weaved through the layer of caked lava fearlessly and attacked the opponents.
On the other hand, Sun finally began to liquefy a short stream of Lava every now and then and easily manipulated it to attack the enemies. With the increase in the swiftness of his attack, Zhao couldn't help but retreat with a few soldiers already incapacitated, leaving him and four more soldiers, of whom, one was simply a titan in human form and he was second only to Zhao in evading the attacks.
"Damn you..." Zhao growled softly. He had underestimated Lavabending severely as it was his first time experiencing it but Sun's threat had directly risen to match with Nik and the Avatar.
"Don't think of running back," Sun snorted.
"Running?" Zhao chuckled as Sokka noticed the titan of a man slowly removing his helmet and uncovering his mask to reveal a bald man with a thick beard and mustache. His face was covered with sweat as he gazed at their group sternly and murderously. A strange tattoo of a third eye imprinted in the middle of his forehead made everyone frown for a second.
"Don't even think for a second that Lavabending makes you unbeatable," Zhao smiled.
*Swish*
Aang felt something passing through the air at a breakneck speed as it created a whistling noise. Goosebumps spread over his body and others were the same. However, the attack came from too short of a distance and too quickly that even when Aang airbent to shift the trajectory of the strange attack from Sun to elsewhere, it...
*Booom*
It exploded.
The slightest shift in trajectory is what saved Sun's life but he was thrown back as if a doll with its strings cut off while Sokka and Aang were forced to cover their eyes for a second.
*Sssshhhhh*
The explosion caused the toxic steam within the solidified lava bubbles to crack and slip as the opponents retreated finally but Aang could hear the soft whisper through the gushing steam.
"Kill them all. I am needed elsewhere. Your contributions will be well paid for."
And just as Aang quickly pushed the steam away, he hurriedly spiraled while causing a cocoon of air to cushion another devastating explosion that sent the both of them flying with their ears ringing.
'What the hell is this?'
Aang and Sokka thought simultaneously.
---
"You guys will be alright?" Yoki looked at Suki, Rena, and Katara. The trio were close to the inner circle of the city as the last defense alongside other benders, warriors, and Hama. Pakku was on the wall with other benders, making sure that a breach isn't induced due to their own negligence.
Everyone nodded regardless of their feelings. Worry, frustration, and even a bit of helplessness were quite evident on their faces. One thing that relieved the girls and Yoki was that Nik and Yue were probably in a safe place respectively. Although they have had a few differences among one another, the girls cared for Nik just as he cared for them so both the parties would worry one another unintentionally but what could they do about it except trust that the other party would return safely?
"Men, women," Yoki looked beyond the front of the troops. Many archers in the back with more than enough weapons they had looted from the ships Nik devoured or sent to his personal space, "This is a war we could have never avoided. We lost once due to the cowardness of one, we shan't lose due to our fears again.
The fire nation titles us barbarians," heaving a deep breath, Yoki screamed louder than ever, "But know this! There isn't a kind more passionate than us! We stand here not to fight but protect!
Our loved ones. Our culture. And our pride!
Who's with me!"
Yoki raised his hands as warriors, archers, and benders alike raised their weapons and fists. His words alleviated the general concerns in everyone's heart as a leader should do and his voice brought out surging emotions that could only be described as courage.
"Tonight, even if we die, we will never be forgotten!
Men, forward!"
With that, Yoki led the herd of Komodo Rhinos and charged into the outer region of the tribe facing a certain demolition from the firebenders only to find the section of the tribe empty in preparations and a few traps.
*Boom*
A faint explosion could be even heard but the group was too tense to take notice of such strangeness and Hama took charge after Yoki's departure.
"Right, you lot better be prepared to see some blood," she warned those close to her and looked at the most recent batch of students gained from the return to the tribe that acted as the last line of defense, "This goes for you, too."
"Yes," Katara gulped slightly and nodded.
Suki and Rena looked better but only relatively as the former clenched her sword even harder. Although Yoki said that their defensive situation was great and the fleet might not necessarily break-in, he had also explicitly made it clear to be prepared for such an outcome.
They were simply spread too thin and the Firebenders were great in number as their count outnumbered the total fighting force of the water tribe by 3:1.
However, unknown to all, in the even more unvisited section of the outer region of the tribe hid two figures as they watched a group of robust firebenders pass through them.
---
"I can take them all," Mai frowned.
"Wow... that's some endurance. You take after your mother," Nik nodded with a sincere smile and whispered while following the group with his gaze.
"What?" Mai thought for a moment and then suddenly smacked Nik's chest with her open palm and warned, "I don't entertain such words."
"She doesn't either," Nik shrugged, "But she entertains certain literature."
"What was in that scroll?!"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Nik sneered and continued, "Besides, aren't we here to find Zhao as safely as possible? What part of attacking a group of firebenders and getting outnumbered is safe?"
Although his retort silenced Mai, he knew instinctively that she suggested ambushing the group because she was beginning to feel bored.
"Fine... let's find Zhao..."
*Boom*
Nik frowned and looked towards the faint but very real sense of tremor that passed through them and pointed out, "There, in that direction. Let's check out what's going on--" But before he could complete his words, he quickly raised the mound of snow before defrosting it into the water and blocking the attack of a rather short girl from the group of firebenders.
"I thought I heard something," The woman's muffled voice echoed as every other firebender took position and one of them identified Nik the next moment, "Hey... that's Nik. Admiral ordered to kill him on sight."
*Puchi*
*Chhk*
Due to darkness around Mai and Nik, their positions only visible due to the soft glow from the flames on the fists of firebenders, none of them, including Nik, were ready for a needle to pierce someone's head as the speaker who identified Nik fell down on the snow with a cold but resounding noise of crushed snow and ice.
Nik looked at the man plainly while Mai viewed the group indifferently as knives slid down from her wrists and were caught between her fingers, "For someone who resists the notion of killing someone so fiercely... you took the sight rather interestingly." Mai remarked as she had expected Nik to berate her only for him to divide the water into similarly thin needles and reply, "What can I say? It's hardly the first sight or experience for me."
"Attack!" The woman screamed as Nik slid his leg forward causing the ice underneath the benders to turn into a deep puddle as they instantly lost their footing while knives decorated their bodies the next instant.
Nik willed his chi out of the ice needles and sighed softly, "The attack was only a diversion... truly, why would you fight a waterbender on ice? If it was your armored vehicles, things would have been easier for you people... hey, are we leaving or not?"
Nik glanced at Mai. He may not have been negatively affected by the sight of deaths but seeing the bodies bleed out as they mixed with water and began to freeze was certainly unnerving.
"A moment... I have limited knives so I need to retrieve them..." She gazed at Nik silently for a second, expecting him to offer his help as it seemed the most natural outcome but he frowned instead and remarked with a scoff, "Quit it and get them yourself. I still want to check out... uh... not again..."
He turned to face a group of firebenders in the distance.
"Hey, what's going on?!"
Mai and Nik looked at one another and decided to take their frustration with one other out on these soldiers.
However, amidst the sounds of resounding explosions, Nik suddenly heard the faintest bit of crashing noise and his expression changed instantly. The sound must have been particularly deafening for Nik could hear it this far away from the wall.
---
Pakku had trouble keeping a balance as the entire glacial wall shook while the hull of Zhao's massive battleship had struck and penetrated their first line of defense and the very next second, another wave of flaming balls flew towards them. Understanding that the invasion of troops would skyrocket should they let go and retreat, Pakkuu decided to let the warriors in the tribe deal with the first round of invaders and held his ground.
The decision was right since Yoki was not far away and as if he couldn't see the armored tanks slowly driving out of the point of breach, he rammed the Komodo Rhinos into the invaders hard.
"March forward! Don't be shy and march!"
Yoki's roar rumbled as he was the first to attack the leading armored tank that was briefly stunned alongside his own rhino before sending in a thick jet of water on the closed surface from where a firebender would shoot and frosted it instantly as he raised both of his hand and spread them apart, causing the tank to fall into the nearby stream of water with no exit for them to escape to.
Many other waterbenders followed their moves but seeing this, the firebender instantly began to attack through the tanks as an intense battle took place right by the entrance of the tribe.
***
Shoutout to Andrew Jahn~!
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This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺