Chapter 135: The Battle for Monas Kye (Part 4): Ryuu unleashed
「Haa… ha…」The ogre panted softly as he and his son stood side by side, facing the Commander of the Army, Hou Yi, along with his two direct subordinates.「You're okay, Yuusei?」The ogre concernedly asked.
「...」The mutant hybrid, who was now in his ogre form, simply nodded. Much like his opponents, Hou Yi's lieutenants, the boy's body sustained a few bruises from his battle against them, but none appeared severe enough to cause a concern. Since it was a two on one fight, Yuusei found it hard to land a direct hit on either of the men since the other one had always perfectly distracted him in a timely manner. The two men seemed to be able to work with one another in a perfect synchronicity, even without any hints of communication during the whole fight, allowing them to both amplify their attack or defensive powers by covering each other's shortcomings. As frustrated as Yuusei was, little did he know that to his opponents, fighting him was one of the most infuriating experiences they have ever encountered. After all, the two lieutenants, nicknamed "The Death Reapers", were considered Hou Yi's left and right hands. They alone were responsible for the elimination of many individuals who dared to challenge or stand in the Yin Empire's path of conquest. If Yuusei was to be ranked among their victims in terms of fighting strength, he would not even make the top 10 list. Yet, despite clashing for more than fifteen minutes, the pair could not land a single fatal blow on the mutant ogre and it did not take long for the pair to realize what was missing.
「You've noticed it, Haoran?」
「Yeah. The reason why we cannot quickly eliminate him already… It's all because of his fighting style, isn't it.」
What made the pair such deadly foes for those who fought against them was because they were expert fighters, who had learned, analyzed, and identified weaknesses of all the fighting styles and martial arts known to man. Whether their opponents were proficient in close combat, swordplay, spell casts, or rune craft, the two of them could always easily exploit the weakness and shortcoming in their fighting style and deliver the fatal blow. However, unlike all others, Yuusei had never learned how to fight from anyone. His fighting prowess was completely instinctual and wild as an animal, which was fitting since it had developed during the time he was surviving in the wild and had to fight off the countless monsters circling him, especially at night. Recently, he had briefly attempted to learn some real fighting moves from Uri, the very man who bested him during their first encounter, but could not get used to being constrained by Uri's moveset. Such a decision to give up on learning actual martial art moves had turned out to be beneficial in the end, since sticking with his wild and unpredictable style was what prevented the two lieutenants unable to keep up with him, despite them already activating their Skills to further boost their power.
「Teran, get away from here. Yuusei's using it.」The mutant hybrid turned to his father.
「But…」The ogre was unwilling to leave his son.
「Trust Yuusei…」The boy's eyes glowed.「Yuusei's strong because Yuusei can't let Master down.」
「... Fine… Be careful, Yuusei.」Teran reluctantly agreed as his son simply nodded in acknowledgement.「Now, it's still just you and me, Hou Yi!!!」The ogre shouted as he sprung forward, thrusting his spear at Hou Yi. Of course, the Commander was able to block the attack using his large Gunbai war fan, however, the attack still was able to push him further away from the Yuusei and the lieutenants' battlefield.
「Activate Arte 」Yuusei shot the two Yinese standing in front of him a feral look「
「What? That brat also possesses an Arte?」Haoran twitched.「Yichen, let's end this quick with our own Artes」
「I know!」Yichen nodded. 「Arte < Amatsumara's smite >」
Suddenly, Yuusei, who was still transforming after activating his Arte, found himself standing on a giant anvil as an equally gigantic hammer, enough to block out the sky from the mutant hybrid's view, slammed down at him. BAMMM!!! The impact created a loud crash that reverberated throughout the battlefield, knocking even a few people down onto their knees. Yet, the victorious smirk on Yichen's face quickly faded when he realized that somehow, the giant hammer and anvil had not yet made contact with one another. The reason was because the mutant hybrid, who was now coated in a thick layer of Nen, had raised his arms up to receive the tremendous impact resulting from the smite. With his Arte activated, the boy's hair spiked up as if he was in a super Saiyan mode, his eyes turned blood red, his canine teeth seemed to have elongated.
「Impossible! He survived that?」Yichen shouted in disbelief.
「... His appearance… it's like he has turned into a wild animal.」Haoran noted.
Just as one of the lieutenants had observed, Yuusei's Arte
Crack…. Cracks…
「No way… how can… his fists… break the hammer?」Yichen sweated. Not only Yuusei was able to stop the hammer, the impact caused cracks to form and quickly shatter the giant hammer into pieces, completely neutralizing the man's Arte, his most powerful move.
「Arte…」Now it was Haoran's turn.「
「Damn you!!!」Haoran was going to react to Yuusei's presence; however, it was already too late since the boy's hands, with his strangely sharp nails that looked as if they were tiger claws, had grabbed onto the man's head. The next second, Haoran found himself laid down onto the ground… no… that was not all… somehow, he could not feel anything… Before long, he could only feel a sharp pain in the back of his head. He wanted to react to it, yet he found his body simply disobeyed his will, for he could no longer control them… Then, everything faded to black.
「YOUU BRATT!!! HOW DARE YOU KILL HAORAN!!」Yichen, standing just mere feets away, angrily jumped toward Yuusei. Just in that one second after the mutant hybrid caught Haoran, he had mercilessly mashed his head down onto the ground, crushing it into minced meat. With his hand still smeared with blood and brain matter, Yuusei turned to his incoming foe, his eyes glowing blood red. With a speed beyond his enemy's comprehension, both of Yuusei's hands grabbed onto the man's wrists, locking him in place before his wide open mouth ferociously bit directly at the man's throat.
「Ahhh… haaa… haa… Ya… haaaa」With his vocal cord completely bitten off and blood gushed into his trachea, Yichen struggled to mutter a single word before he, too, succumbed to the sweet embrace of death.
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「Why such defiant, Teran?」Hou Yi asked amidst their fight.「You and your Grasslanders kept struggling like ants trying to escape being squashed by an elephant. You should just accept your fate. What can this surprise attack accomplish? You think a mere tens of thousands of men can win against us, hundreds of thousands strong force? We were caught off guard, but sooner or later, your surprised attack will fizzle out. Then, as Wei Shimin sama arrives, we would have "return" your princess back to you and we're free to attack your last stronghold. I promise you, this time, we will not take slaves or prisoners… This time, Alsen will be the site of a genocide that makes all other genocides pale in comparison.」
「Just keep dreaming.」Teran parried off Hou Yi's attack.「By the time this battle ends, you'll be nothing but a corpse lying on a battlefield.」
「Haa… Words of a dreamer.」Snickered Hou Yi.「Even among the ranks of our troops, the Chimera Corps alone can crush you insects into pieces. Just wait until they unleash… 」The Commander paused as a sudden realization had just crossed his mind. The man frantically looked around, noticed the absence of the 6 chimera that were supposed to be around the encampment.「What's going on here?」He muttered to himself.
「What? It seems like you're a bit concerned. Are you looking for your precious Chimera?」Teran smirked.「Don't count on their help.」
「What do you mean? What did you do to them?」
「We didn't do anything. They simply assisted us in this battle on their own free will.」
「What?」Just as he had learned of the revelation, across the battlefield, the Yinese troops suddenly erupted in panic. The deafening screams and cries became more and more hectic by the minutes as the once well disciplined soldiers were massacred by the thousands by familiar skills that used to be unleashed onto their enemies.「There's no way… Those lab rats dared to betray us? That cannot be. They simply were incapable of…」Again, Hou Yi paused mid sentence as he spotted Ectharen, one of the 3 House Heads, fighting side by side with a member of the Chimera Corps at far off the distance.「Teran, WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE?」
「... Ha… I guess The Grasslanders' newly crowned King is just that amazing.」
「Wylan? There's no way he could have flipped those lab rats.」
「Oh… Don't you know? The King of the Grasslanders isn't Wylan.」
「Hah?」
「I guess Kibadios was right. Given how weary you are of Wylan's tactics and strategies, having you guys assumed it was he who had become King caused your attention to fixate on him, blinded you to other threats.」
「Kibadios?... The one that came to your city's rescue? The one that Akaban dono is after? That hybrid? Don't tell me he's now the Grasslanders' King?」
「... Yes. Indeed he is. And right now, his blade is aiming at your own "King."」
「Wei Shimin sama?!!」Before Hou Yi could react, Teran sprung forward, resuming his attacks without elaborating any further.
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BAM!!! The two dragonkins finally crashed down onto a grove filled with sparse old trees right next to the battlefield after a lengthy aerial battle. Despite having once dominated Wei Ying, the dragonkin of the Empire, during the entire battle just now, Ryuu has found himself to be on the defensive as the woman's power seemed to have increased exponentially in such a short period of time. The moment he noticed Akaban's presence, he had wanted to quickly crush the dragonkin female in front of him then join Kailos and the others to deal with the Hero, but
「Ryuu, right? That's all you can do? I was planning to tame you like I tame a wild dog, adding you into my harem collection but at this point… I don't know. You've shown so much potential, don't disappoint me or else I won't let you lick my feet at night like a tamed little dog you are… or rather, going to be.」The dragonkin woman smirked as she pointed her weapon, a long battle hammer.
「Lick your foot? Don't make me vomit!!!」Ryuu closed the distance, his unusual 7-branches lance truck down at his enemy, though it was easily blocked by her own hammer. Sensing danger, Ryuu quickly backed off instead of following up with another attack.「You… How did your power level just skyrocketed these past few days?」
「Heh, who said I was fighting you at my best during the siege?」Wei Ying smiled.「As one of the 12 Heavenly Generals, we have to learn to control our power, or else if we fight at our maximum strength, there might be a lot of unintended collateral damage on our side.」The woman glanced at a few dozens soldiers that rushed toward her from a far… Such bothersome, As if I need their assistance , Wei Ying thought to herself before continuing her monologue.「 But since I have acknowledged your potential, I've decided to take off my earrings that acted as my power suppressants, just to show you the real gap between us. I am the great Wei Ying, Master of the Azure Sky, Ruler of the Verdant Earth, Guardian of the Great Yin Empire!!! Know your place and kneel before me!! Given how you're a dragonkin and your rather decent power, come to me, prostrate in front of me and I will spare your life!」
「What a ridiculous fantasy!」Ryuu's eyes widened in anger, his fist clenched onto his lance.
「Tsk, I guess I have to discipline this dog a bit more before taking him in.」Wei Ying grinned. 「Arte < Geb's Laughter >」
With her Arte activated, the earth beneath their feet trembled before large cracks formed, swallowing a few unsuspecting soldiers whole, causing them to scream out and beg for mercy from the uncaring Dragonkin General. For his part, since he was a dragonkin, Ryuu simply floated up into the sky to avoid the tremors. However, the ground suddenly shifted around, before a large part of the earth protruded out, taking the form of a giant Eastern dragon and flew straight at Ryuu with its mouth wide open. Leaving no time for him to react, with one single bite, the earthen dragon caught the dragonkin in its mouth, crushing him.
「ARGHHHH!!!!」cried out Ryuu. The earthen dragon shifted again, his time, coiling itself around Ryuu tighter and tighter, then slamming itself and the trapped Ryuu down onto the ground. The impact caused all of the trees in the surrounding area to fall over, while most of the soldiers that foolishly ran to Wei Ying for assistance had perished in the attack as collaterals just like she complained. Only a few of them, numbered less than 10, survived the literal earth shattering
The heavily injured Ryuu laid among the earth rubbles as Wei Ying slowly made her way toward him, her tongue sensually licking her lips.
Damn it… Master was right… I should have listened to him . Ryuu thought drifted off to a recent memory of his chat with Kibadios just before he left.
「Master, don't worry about Rowan senpai and the others. With me here, I'll protect them all in your stead.」Ryuu proudly hit his chest. Kibadios, though, remained silent as he examined Ryuu before his hand reached out to touch his chest.
「You're strong, but don't be too overconfident, Ryuu chan. Overconfidence always lead to one's downfall」
「But… I'm just stating the facts, Master. None of those small fries from the Empire could pose any threat to me anyways.」The dragonkin pouted.
「Yes, it's a fact that you're strong, at this moment, much stronger than anyone here, except for probably Ayer and myself… and that weird ass Demon Lord who's currently enjoying the Dungeon. But, that doesn't mean you'll stay the strongest forever. 」Kibadios gently explained「Remember, you've been sealed away for eons. As you were asleep within the seal, progress marches on. The inhabitants of this mortal world continue to learn and accumulate wisdom, experience, power.」 Much like how an Olympian from the 1900s cannot compete against the athletes in the modern time… or like how Qual's deadly signature spell, Zoltraak, became a mere offensive spell for a typical mage after almost 100 years of progress, Kibadios thought to himself.「That was one of the reasons why the Astrals have to reset this world every so often because if they let the progress made by us mortals get out of control, we may one day be able to challenge them. Even I, after being reincarnated, had to hide inside the forest and gauge the power level of the human inhabitants around me before I could confidently set out on my journey for revenge. After all, this is not a game, there is no save point. Any battle we face, we place our lives on the line. There is no health bar either, so one small mistake can lead to a fatal injury that we can never recover from. Always treat all of your opponents as a threat and fight them with all your strength.」
「... I understand, Master, but…」Ryuu seemed to think about it for a while before voicing his thoughts.
「I know. Your dragon core is damaged after the fight with Aspen, isn't it?」
「You've noticed?」
「Of course… he pierced through your body with his arm, do you think I'm dumb enough to not examine your dragon core?」
「But when did you take a look at it?」Ryuu touched his chest.
「When you're asleep, dummy!」laughed Kibadios as he ruffled the dragonkin's hair. 「I've noticed you've been restraining your Nen after your encounter with him so I check the dragon core within your chest when you were sleeping soundly next to me.」
「Ahh… I see…」Ryuu scratched the back of his head.「But yeah… Since my core is damaged and has yet to recover, I have trouble controlling my enormous Nen reserve. I'm afraid I may randomly explode with my Nen output and harm others around me so I've been actively suppressing my Nen to avoid such a scenario. But I've been fighting with a suppressed Nen output ever since then and none has yet given me any trouble, even against that arrogant dragonkin from the Empire, so don't you worry.」
「... I know, but promise me, never hesitate to unleash your true power. I was, once… and that led to my downfall during my first reincarnation.」
「But if Rowan senpai, Ryan senpai, and others are staying close to me…」
「Well, even if you go on a rampage with your Nen fully unleashed, the worst that can happen to them is that you knock them unconscious. Use your judgment… But as I said, never, ever, hesitate, even for just one second.」
「I understand, Master.」
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「So? Have you decided to forsake that pathetic hybrid you call Master and make me your new Mistress?」Wei Ying's lips curled into a grin as she taunted the trapped Ryuu.
「Don't…You… DARE INSULT KIBADIOS SAMA!!!!」Screamed out the dragonkin. 「Come to me, Gungnir!」Hearing its master called out for its true name for the first time after he was broken free from the seal, the lance swiftly flew toward Ryuu, piercing through and breaking the earthen mound entrapping its Master into pieces. As Ryuu held onto the Lance, just as Kibadios had advised, the dragonkin fully unleashed his unstable Nen, causing the few remaining Yinese soldier to foam their mouth and pass out as if they were subjected to the conqueror's haki. Thankfully, the battlefield between Ryuu and Wei Ying was far away from the other harem members so none of them were affected.
「What's… happening?」Wei Ying gulped as she looked up at the enraged Ryuu, floating in my air. The intense pressure from his Nen almost caused her to kneel down, but luckily, she still found her balance to withstood it. Slowly, the Nen's pressure faded away, which elated Wei Ying, before her brief relief turned to apprehension the moment she understood why Ryuu's Nen was disappearing. The reason was because much like Enma taking Zoro's Haki, Gungnir, Ryuu's lance, was devouring his Nen and morphing into its secondary, hidden form. The lance grew and grew into an oversized weapon; however, since blades were growing and elongated much faster than its shaft. Once it stopped morphing, the "lance" now looked like a giant 7-branched sword instead. 「Damn you… Foolish struggle of a foolish man!!!」Wei Ying clapped her hands, controlling the earth formation again with her skill. From the ground, 6 different earthen dragon's jaws emerged and attacked Ryuu. However, unlike the last time, Ryuu was now ready.
「< Shichishito Slash >」Ryuu swung his oversized, ethereal sword around, shattering the incoming attacks back into dust.
「How… that attack is not even an Arte, how could it compete with mine???」The female dragonkin angrily screamed out in frustration.
SHHREESSHHHH!
Before Wei Ying could comprehend what had just happened, another slash, at the speed hundred times the speed of sound, cut off her right arm that was holding onto her long hammer.
「Ha….what?.... AHHHHHH!!!!」cried out Wei Ying in tears. During her 300 years of existence, she had sustained a heavy injury only once, when she fought against her own younger sister. Even then, the pain seemed negligible compared to what she was experiencing now as blood gushing out from her flesh.
「Hmm, blood huh?」Ryuu leered down at her as if he was looking at a mere insect.「Dragon? Don't make me laugh. You're simply a hybrid with dragon ancestry, aren't you? That's why you have blood still flows within you.」
「What nonsense are you sprouting?」Wei Ying floated up to Ryuu's level as she held tightly onto the large open wound at her shoulder.「Of course we have blood flowing within us!」
「Not if you're a true dragon.」shrugged Ryuu.
「True dragon? They've all died out ages ago!」Wei Ying paused… Wait a minute… why is he talking as if he's a true… that cannot be…
「Pitiful trash… Claiming yourself to be a dragonkin without knowing how powerful a true dragonkin would be… Here, watch… spend these last moments of your life experiencing how terrifying a true dragonkin can be.」Ryuu shouted out 「Ultimate Skill < ???% >」
「Ultimate Skill? Don't try to trick me! Even my sis…」 The woman paused.「 Even I don't possess one, let alone a random dragonkin like you?!」Roared Wei Ying as she, too, unleashed her ultimate attack. The entire ground beneath them shook and moved fluidly around as if they were ocean. Then, the small "waves" gathered into a giant tsunami, rising up enveloping Ryuu. Suddenly, the "wave" stopped moving, despite Wei Ying having ensured the attack would be carried out until the very end.
「What's happening?」
「I took over control of this feeble tsunami of yours」Ryuu calmly explained.
「Impossible! Even if you're < Telekinetic > class, you cannot control all of these earth particles.」Wei Ying was puzzled. She had clashed against him for a while previously, enough for her to understand that the only object that Ryuu could control telepathically was his lance, which was why he sometimes used it as a projectile to aim at her during their battle.
「But with my Ultimate Skill activated, I can control everything within a 500 feet radius, as long as I have enough Nen to power it.」Ryuu squeezed his hand. The motion broke apart the continuous earthen waves around him and condense them into densely floating earth bullets, much like what Aang did when he was in the Avatar State when fighting Ozai.
「What did you do to my attack!!?」
「Return it back to you.」Ryuu flicked his finger, sending one single earth bullet flying toward Wei Ying at the speed of sound. The impact quickly shredded her remaining arm.
「ARGHHHHH!!!! No… It can't me…. What's happening to me???」cried Wei Ying. The once ferocious general has now been rendered harmless… or rather, armless if you spoke french. Realizing her predicament, the proud Wei Ying began to beg.「Wait a minute… wait a minute!! I'm one of the great heavenly generals! If you let me leave, I can convince… no… I'll make Wei Shimin stop his planned assault on Alsen, I'll ensure the Grasslanders safety!!!」
「Why? Master will take care of this Wei Shimin anyways.」Ryuu coldly tilted his head. Having suffered under Wei Ying's attack previously, the dragonkin was now trying to toy with her for just a bit longer.「Ah, right. Have I told you, that my Ultimate Skill even allow me to telepathically control organic matter, like the flesh of my opponent, as long as my Nen completely outclasses my opponent.」
「Huh…」Wei Ying found herself unable to move a single muscle, her body felt as if an invisible hand was now grabbing onto her flesh and squeezing it.「Please stop…AHHHHH…. STOPPPPP」The flesh on her left leg suddenly twisted around, causing her extreme pain before her right leg too, suffered the same fate. 「Please… have…mercyyyy…」With all her limbs either being cut off or twisted off of her, the heavenly general was now nothing but a piece of fleshy punching bag.
「Die.」Ryuu's hand reached out, then grabbed tightly, telepathically crushed Wei Ying, or rather, what was left of her, into a blood dripping ball of flesh.「... Deactivate.」Commanded Ryuu. His ultimate skill quickly vanished, returning him back to normal. What transpired was exactly why he rarely activated his ultimate skill, especially when his harem brothers and sisters were close by since he lost a bit of his conscience when the skill was activated.
Now, I have to take care of the hero… Please, Rowan senpai, Ryan senpai, Yuu chan, Ren chan…. Please stay safe!」Ryuu rushed toward the sinister Nen energy he felt, where Akaban was at. Though, suddenly, the dragonkin stopped, then looked up into the morning sky as a giant floating island broke through the cloud.「What the hell is that?… Wait a minute, Is it falling down? But that direction, it's falling toward Alsen 」