Chapter 444: Remnant vs Current

’No, seriously, how the fuck did he do that?,’ Zhen Liu asked again.

’Also, didn’t y’all say the core was the part that went haywire before the body and mind? This guy seems like it was the other way around to me!’

Literally moments before now, the abomination now identified as Marlancer looked less like a fish-man and more of a protean mess of a humanoid.

Combined with a voice that didn’t sound quite right and a speech pattern that seemed almost obsessive, the abomination formerly known as Grand Fisher looked to be out the door both physically and mentally.

But now, after loudly declaring he was about to take Zhen Liu’s head for the sake of his previous Lord, he looked more...stable.

On the flight over from the steamship, while his fist was about several inches inside the guy’s torso, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but notice that Marlancer’s overall physical appearance was incredibly uncanny and janky.

The torso was twisted in such a manner that it reminded him of a crushed soda can, the limbs kept morphing between fins and extremities as if the the idea of being one or the other was strictly forbidden and the abomination’s eyes could best be described with the words, empty and fake.

That all changed when Zhen Liu made it known that he was the kaijin lord.

Gone was the ill-fitting torso, replaced with a broader chest.

Gone was the fluctuating limbs, settling on to a blend of armored scales and webbed appendages.

Finally, gone were the uncanny eyes that seemed oh so fake, replaced with ones that burned with rage and hate.

Granted, Marlancer still looked decidedly off even for a kaijin.

Unfortunately, Logos and Pathos didn’t have a clear explanation of what was going on, since this sort of encounter shouldn’t be happening in the first place, but they did have a hypothesis.

A really fucking dark one.

=I think what you’re witnessing milord is the equivalent of a mortal suddenly looking healthy and lucid moments before death. Terminal lucidity? Granted in the case of a kaijin, it’s more of death of spiritual existence moreso than death of physical well-being...=

’Well that’s...grim. Is this happening because we showed up and agitated him or something?’

<Honestly, the Storm Queen was active at least a century and a half ago, and we are unfortunately certain that she died all those years ago. The fact that this guy managed to last as long as he did is impressive in its own right. Granted, it might be because all of the kaijin the Storm Queen made were stubborn sea monsters that laughed in the face of death and danger. If anything, we just showed up at the exact moment he was set to turn into a full-on mindless monster anyways,> Pathos added, <kinda like being at the tail end of someone’s memories before fading.>

’Again, grim.’

[Milord,] Nepherage interrupted, [as interesting as this conversation about the mortality of my existence as a being of [Chaos] in a world that actively rejects it, that Marlancer guy is about to pierce our stomach with a giant sea serpent thing.]

’Oh shit.’

[Should we use Mountain Goat Guard to block it?]

’Actually...this is a rare opportunity to test my abilities.’

[Making kaijin?]

’No, no, the other ones. The ones Anton have been teaching me every now and then during training, well...I guess the one move.’

[Ah.]

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*Bing-Bong*

The writer would like to take this opportunity to remind the readers that Anton was the name of one of the previous Kaijin Lords, more specifically, the Damned Drunkard.

He would also like to clarify that the training Zhen Liu is referring to is the daily practice stuff that has been happening in the background and timeskips.

Zhen Liu’s training schedule can best be summarized as:

1. Go to quarry.

2. Practice with kaijin

3. Go to Library to study random stuff for the day

4. Go practice [Chaos] application with Anton, occasionally due to the man being a drunken ghost skeleton that only occasionally becomes sober/active enough to help with training.

5. Eating and bathroom breaks sprinkled in when necessary.

The only reason why this hasn’t been mentioned prior, was to spare the reader from unnecessarily repetitive training sequences, which was literally him practicing the same move over and over again, as well as avoid having to do yet another flashback chapter.

This is not because the writer is a lazy S.O.B. who keeps dragging me out here in order to cover for his-

|STOP AD-LIBBING!|

STOP BEING INCONSISTENT!

|BITE ME!|

DON’T TEMPT ME!

*Bing-Bong*

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[Wani’s Fury: Riptide Rapids Rush]

Marlancer’s form became distorted as a huge amount of water aether suddenly condensed around him into the shape of a massive sea serpent-like monster with the kaijin’s bony harpoon mimicking a horn for the watery beast.

Pure killing intent could be felt radiating from the the very tip of the encroaching spear, as Marlancer was aiming for Zhen Liu’s abdomen.

His logic being that he only needed the man’s head as a trophy and his left arm as a means to reclaim what was stolen, the rest could be destroyed or used as chum.

Zhen Liu, who was on the receiving end of this attack however, did not panic in the slightest at the sight of the giant water beast. In fact, he didn’t even attempt to move.

Instead, he just stood there, hands gripped tight around the [Daemon’s Bone] club’s handle.

The kaijin didn’t understand why he wasn’t moving though, so they ended up panicking at the sight.

"Too...fast...!"

"Maestro!"

"Director!"

Razorstella and Hurricroak began to rush forward as fast as they could to either intercept and interrupt Marlancer’s attack or possibly knock Zhen Liu out of the way, Frosttusk didn’t join them due to his relatively slow speed.

But just when they were about halfway to do either action, they were suddenly commanded to stop.

’You guys just hang back, Nepherage and I can handle this.’

[But, maestro!]

[Director!]

’Besides, this is the first time I can actually make use of my own arts without having to worry about being eaten by a giant weirdo or getting called out for using weird energy,’ Zhen Liu continued as he began to circulate [Chaos] throughout his being. Well, his and Nepherage’s being.

One of the perks fusing with the kaijin on a physical level was that it was significantly easier for him to cycle [Chaos] and aether through them whenever he needed to do weird tricks in battle.

’I think this is the first time I’ve actually employed in battle properly...huh.’

This was a very, very rare opportunity for him to actually cut loose and go all out on someone, and frankly, he wanted to enjoy himself.

’You guys just stand back and... get ready to play ball.’

[Huh?]

As soon as he said those words, the water serpent that was Marlancer had finally got in close enough to Zhen Liu, that his harpoon (the sea monster’s horn) was just about close enough to touch this wretched pretender’s skin.

"You’re fish food!"

Unfortunately for Marlancer, Zhen Liu was a touch faster

[Imperial Crusher: Magma!]

At the same moment Marlancer was about to jam his harpoon into Zhen Liu’s stomach, Zhen Liu swung a [Chaos] infused bone club directly into the offending water serpent’s head like he was hitting a baseball.

Normally, a bone club wouldn’t do jackshit to a giant sea serpent made of water, but halfway through it’s swing arc, the bone club suddenly glitched out in reality, only to glitch back in with a giant ball of magma attached to it that also looked like a screaming face.

Marlancer didn’t even have time to scream or curse as the ball of magma slammed into his sea serpent, causing it to rapidly evaporate as the magma cooled into rock that crumbled into the sea below, and then the club itself slammed directly into his body and sent him flying backwards.

Directly towards the kaijin that were floating off in the distance.

’Now then,’ Zhen Liu told the kaijin, ’play ball.’

[Play...oh...]

As soon as the kaijin realized what was going on, the three of them began to charge up various attacks.

[Y’all wanna try doing a combo attack?,] Hurricroak asked.

[Why not? It’ll make good bonding experience,] Razorstella joked.

[Follow...my...lead...,] Frosttusk rumbled.

Once they were fully hyped, the three of them rushed towards the airbone Marlancer.

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’Wait a minute... I just realized something. Y’all said the Storm Queen is dead-dead? As in, her soul ain’t around anymore to anchor her kaijin?’

<=Yes.=>

’And didn’t y’all say that over the course of several dozen kaijin lords, not one had managed to meet an abomination of one of their predecessssors before they expired?’

<=Yes.=>

’Does... doesn’t that mean I have now broken that streak since I met this guy?’

<=Yes...oh.=>

As soon as this realization hit them, Zhen Liu could feel the emotions of shock and realization radiating from Logos and Pathos.

So much so, Zhen Liu mildly adjusted his plans.

’Hold up.’

________________________________________________

’Frosttusk, Razorstella, Hurricroak, you guys are cleared to kick his teeth in, but do not kill him. I want to try something.’

[Okay!]

________________________________________________

’Cool, now to wait for the results.’