[Well nothing, Hurricroak,] Nepeherage interjected. [We only managed to pull it off because our lord was subjected to that horrible screeching sound and the three of us were too destabilized to notice anything. Quit teasing the others.]
[Boo~ Youāre no fun.]
=Wait...if sound was the main component, maybe we can recreate it...,= Logos muttered before compartmentalizing part of his mind to do several calculations.
<Weāre really leaning into the whole musical theming, huh.>
=Say what?=
<Nothing. Anyways, weāre getting close to reaching the ideal saturation point of both [Chaos] and aether, so weāre going to get an accurate triangulation of our lordās position soon...hopefully.>
[Hopefully?]
<Our lordās luck bounces between "highly improbable" and "utter disaster" so often that weāre in this current situation. Iām hoping for the best, but planning for the worst here.>
=Hey, thatās my job.=
...Now back to the battle...
āSo...you think these guys are going to give up or am I going to have to fight them to death?ā
[Judging by the way Kendana is about to unleash a combo against you, probably the latter.]
āPride is a flaw on every continent, I suppose...ā
...
^Bastard! [Burning Barrage!]^
"Whoa!"
Soon after Zhen Liu launched Leon into Rama by changing the formerās trajectory, Kendana had gotten enough strength back to start attacking Zhen Liu again.
Making use of Ignatii aether, Kendana closed the gap between himself and Zhen Liu in order to unleash a flurry of burning punches.
āHuh, this feels familiar...ā
(Un)fortunately, not a single blow managed to land on Zhen Liu.
At this point in time, Zhen Liu had been channeling the mindset of Razorstella.
Arguably, she was the most elusive and evasive of the kaijin due to her main concept being that of a [Dancer].
Lithe movements, quick instincts and the ability to pick up on the rhythms of others in the heat of the moment were key traits that every dancer needed. Unexpectedly, these were also good traits for fighters to have too.
āLeft, right, left, right, feint and a leg sweep!,ā Zhen Liu mentally noted as he avoided Kendanaās punch-kick combo.
āAnd counter!ā
BAM!
^Bah! Bastard!^
When it got to the last part, the leg sweep, Zhen Liu had leaped straight upward and used a bit of aether to slow his descent just enough to land a double flying kick into Kendanaās chest.
Kendana was too annoyed at getting kicked to notice that the impact to his chest was more similar to getting stab than getting kicked.
Well, that and he was very focused on making sure Dealmaker didnāt notice a little action he was doing while throwing explosive haymakers.
After all, a good surprise attack had to be a surprise.
...That aforementioned surprise...
^Get off me!^
^I am! I am!^
While Zhen Liu and Kendana were trading blows, Leon and Rama were busy disentangling from one another after the former had gotten launched into the latter like a stone cannonball.
In the process of doing so, however, the two Grandmasters of the Cortez Trading Company received an unexpected aether message from Kendana.
Unexpected in the sense that this message seemed to come, a little early, in their opinion.
...
^[Are you two still conscious?]^
^[We are. Just incredibly annoyed that I canāt seem to land a hit on this Dealmaker asshole,]^ Rama complained. ^[Wait a minute, why am I speaking so casually.]^
^[I donāt fucking know, Iām more focused on the fact that it sincerely feels as if heās able to punch through our Regalias like theyāre made of cloth and....wait why do I sound so casual as well?,]^ Leon added.
^[Forget the drop of decorum! I need you two to go and activate the ancestorās insurance, now!,]^ Kendana ordered.
^[What?!]^
^[Are you certain, boss? Isnāt a little early to use such measures?,]^ Rama asked.
^[Perhaps because you two arenāt actively trading blows with this bastard right now, but itās becoming clearer and clearer to me that this guy has been toying with us this whole time!,]^ Kendana explained. ^[He hasnāt used a single aether art this whole time, and he clearly has weapons in him, but heās using neither of them. Heās holding back!]^
^[Holding back? His blows hit like a dump truck!,]^ Leon complained. ^[Wait, what the fuck is a dump truck?]^
^[I donāt know.]^
^[Just get to the box! I donāt think I can keep him distracted for much longer and we need every advantage we can get at this point, because I do not want to see what it looks like when heās not holding back!]^
^[Right away!]^
^[Weāre moving, weāre moving!]^
...
Despite their own misgivings, Leon and Rama still followed Kendanaās orders to the letter and made their way over to the strange treasure box that they had painstakingly brought with them.
This treasure box though, unlike regular ones, had a powerful seal placed on it in order to prevent others from stealing itās secrets. The only drawback to this seal though was that the rightful owners had to go through the lengthy process of channeling their aether into the seal in order to open it and the chest it was attached to.
^Boss Kendana is going to be able to win with this thingās help...right?,^ Leon asked.
^Seeing as itās a gift from our ancestors, I donāt see why he wouldnāt,^ Rama answered. ^But letās see if we can hurry in opening this thing, yes?^
^Right!^
...Speaking of Kendana and his opponent...
āIs it just me or is this guy holding back?,ā Zhen Liu asked Blazejudicator as he kept dodging and blocking Kendanaās attacks.
[What makes you think that, Executor?,] Blazejudicator asked as he continued to provide assistance from inside of Zhen Liuās soul.[Dodge.]
āI see it.ā
...
^Stand still!,^ Kendana roared as he attempted to smash in Zhen Liuās head with an attack that took the form of flaming flying fish of all things.
^No!,^ Zhen Liu shouted back as he literally danced around the flying missiles.
...
āI think heās holding back because he hasnāt thrown a single attack that wasnāt an Ethereal class at most. I mean,I get weāre in a frontier town area but Iām from a frontier town too and we at least got the [Echoing Frost] aether art...ā
[Executor, your family only for their hands on that after an incredibly lucky deep dive into a wandering ruin. From what I can sense, there isnāt a wandering ruin for at least thirty miles in any direction. Also, donāt you have access to a literal infinite library that was information sources from every corner of Valresta.]
āOkay, when you put it like that than I am...hold up...what the fuck am I sensing?ā
...What was being sensed...
^Okay! The seal has been opened!,^ Leon exclaimed after expending a lot of aether. ^Now what?^
^Now, we activate,^ Rama said as he began to perform a series of hand seals one after the other before activating the treasure provided by them by their ancestors.
[Nine-Colored Feathed Serpent Chains, ensnare!]
HISS!
... Birdās Eye View...
Just as Zhen Liu was about to throw a punch at Kendanaās face, the latter suddenly jumped away and created a massive gap of space between them. Shortly after that, Ramaās voice echoed out with a strange command.
[Nine-Colored Feathered Serpents of Itzumel, ensnare!]
HISS!
From a treasure box being flanked by two of the Grandmasters of the Cortez Company, emerged a swarm of multifeathered serpents that radiated an oppressive aura that seemed to demand that all who beheld them to kneel.
The serpents coiled as they rose into the air, rising higher and higher until Rama gave another command.
[Serpents of Itzumel, bind the one known as Dealmaker!,] he shouted in an aether laced voice.
Once this command was given, the serpents turned their heads down until Zhen Liu was in sight and surged towards like a torrent of rain.
...
āOh balls, that is creepy as fuck,ā Zhen Liu commented to Blazejudicator as he stared down the surging serpents made of strangely foreboding aether.
The last time he felt this, dragon force was involved, but this wasnāt dragon force.
It was something...icky.
At least, from Zhen Liu and Blazejudicatorās perspective.
[It is and I donāt think I can just burn it outright this time,] Blazejudicator admitted. [I get the feeling youād have better lucky physically cutting them than using anything involving aether or Chaos.]
āWell, itās good thing I have weapon that can do that on me, isnāt it?ā
...
Staring down this torrent of energy serpents, Zhen Liu proceeded to draw from his sides the [Veteranās Bone Club] and the [Hammer of the Deadly Departed].
The Cortez Grandmasters watching at this time had assumed Zhen Liu was going to stupidly start swinging his hammers at the snakes, failing to catch purchase as they dance around his weapons.
However, that didnāt come to pass.
Instead, before their very eyes, Zhen Liu touched the handles of his two blunt weapons together and transformed the bone club into a pair of bone blades.
One that Zhen Liu began to spin like mad in the direction of the surging serpent constructs.
^Eat propeller power, bitches!^