Major Reed stared at Jake's Divine Arrow in shock, her eyes trembling with confusion and disbelief. However, her expression didn't convey simple fear or disbelief; it was primarily bewilderment.
"How the fuck's that thing working!?" She spat in exasperation, overwhelmed with the absurdity of the sight before her.
As she ascertained, the attack was indeed magnetism, but it was so amateurish that it looked like a child had taken a gray crayon and drawn eight hundred overlapping circles over the whole paper instead of a spiral. The blonde couldn't even give a plausible answer for how it was functioning!
Magnetism was a sophisticated technique that required cultivators to create an object-like magnet of Qiites and spin it rapidly to attract Elemental Qi. That's why Kaze's blood techniques created a cyclone before turning into shards or objects. It accumulated the blood and fused his Qiites into it so that he could manipulate them.
Rotating raw Qi was difficult; Heaven Realm cultivators spent years developing small energy balls to practice and progressively built up the size. It was also dangerous--if a cultivator didn't spin it correctly, it created a lethal double-edged weapon that randomly damaged things until it fizzled out. That's why it was a high-level technique that the living and able-bodied didn't practice until they had sufficient Qi control.
For those reasons, the attack she stared at was incomprehensible. The cyclone had a massive amorphous blob the size of a beach ball at the center, wobbling as it spun like a tire about to fly off on the highway! It was as though someone seared the technique into his brain without prior experience of magnetism, so he was ignorantly skipping decades of practice to attempt it!
Was his showcase talented? Maybe. Impressive? Not at all! He might as well be a four-year-old running around with a flamethrower and no gas mask!
"Kid, you need to stop using that thing!" Major Reed yelled. "You're not going to kill me, but you're sure as fuck gonna kill yourself and everyone else near you!"
"Good luck, this is a divine technique!" Jake yelled with a strained voice, fighting against his hazy vision. "It's also an arrow--it won't get near us."
"Divine technique? That much is fuckin' obvious!" She scoffed. "If that were a heaven technique, it wouldn't even function!
As for it being an arrow--good luck with that! You don't have the Qi to keep that thing going for long, let alone shoot it! It's gonna explode right in the center of everyone.
But here's the thing, kid: while I have a shield that can survive some crazy fuckin' shit, your people have windbreakers that can't withstand a solid Guided Arrow. If you release that thing, you'll massacre everyone but me."
Jake was about to call bullshit, but his brain shut down when he heard the term massacre. The accusation that he would do that made him feel ill.
He looked forward and truly saw the destructive force of nature in front of him and assessed his Qi. As she pointed out, he was nearly out, and it was taking everything just to keep the whipping wind around him contained.
Jake looked around and saw the Immortals working together to stay put. People out front were using Qi Wall to keep the wind at bay while chains of people pulled their waists, working on getting out of the vortex. He didn't even realize how powerful the suction was or what it would do!
Major Reed was right--he was acting out of his league and needed to stop it. "Fuck, you're right! How do I stop this thing!?"
A bone-chilling silence cut through the whipping winds like a lance, stopping the screaming and groaning. No one could believe what they had just heard.
"What the fuck did you say!?" Major Reed yelled in disbelief. "How don't you know!?"
The atmosphere became tense, creating the emotional climate someone would expect from a bomb threat or bank heist.
"This is the first time I've tried using this technique!" Jake yelled back, pushing past his embarrassment for the sake of his people. "I just wanted to force you to stop fighting!"
"WHAT!?" Major Reed screamed in disbelief, staring at him like a primal animal. "I was going to spare you after this, but now I'm going to rip your fucking throat out!"
She wasn't impressed in the slightest. While it was unbelievable that Jake had partially succeeded, the thought he attempted such a technique around others made it impossible to see him as anything but a fool.
"I gotta hand it to ya, kid!" Major Reed laughed viciously. "If a genius has a tinge of madness, you're butt fuckin' stupidity."
"JUST TELL ME!" Jake roared back. "BERATE ME AFTER EVERYONE SURVIVES!"
"You need to slow the rotation!" Roxy groaned, holding her wounded stomach as she ran forward with her shield. "I can't do much, but I'll help!"
She got behind the divine wind barrier that protected him from the winds, easing her strain. Then she grabbed an invisible ball, palm upward, and twisted it counterclockwise.
WHoOOooOSHHH!
A chaotic sound of clashing air pierced the airwaves, like machinery groaning against the strain of a heavy force. While she couldn't use a divine skill, she was far better at magnetism than he was. As a result, the storm eased by a fourth instantly, allowing the Immortals to make progress in their chain tug of war.
It was slow, but slowly yet surely, the Immortals and Heaven Realm cultivators backed up, giving the technique space to move.
"GuuhHhhH..." Jake groaned, feeling his vision doubling and getting hazy.
"Harper, help!" Roxy pleaded desperately.
Major Reed's eyes lit up in exasperation in disbelief. "Help him!? You want me to drop my shield and risk my life to save my enemy and his troops? Are you mad!?"
"If this explodes, it'll kill all of our troops, too!" The brunette pixie argued. "And right now, this kid might pass out from Qi withdrawal any second!"
"Hah!" The blonde laughed aggressively. "You mean that thing's about to fuckin' explode at any moment, and you want me to help? By forcing a rotational clash, no less? Are you insane!?
I'm not next to him while he's slowing that thing. My counter-rotation will make that shit explode! You're out of your goddamn mind!"
"Please, Harper!" Roxy pleaded, "If you weren't a crazy hothead who'd risk their lives to save their troops, you wouldn't have gotten demoted to the lower ranks! So please--forget this boy and save our troops!"
"Gah! If you fall unconscious, I'll save your life so I can kill you, kid!" Major Reed roared to Jake, moving away her shield bravely, "You're lucky I'm still naive enough to keep doing shit like this!"
"And YOU!" She roared, turning to Roxy, "Don't you dare blame me if this thing fuckin' explodes, bitch!"
Major Reed grabbed the air itself, visually warping space as the Qiites attracted Qi. She cranked it counterclockwise with intense force when she had a strong grip.
WHoOOoOoShHHhhHHHooOSH!
A shockwave rocked the area, instantly shattering the Immortals' shields and sending them flying.
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