Chapter 285: Cold Waters

"Weapon Magic..." He'd utter, trying to piece together his opponents, looking through the pages of his book, using the free time available to study up on such a style. He'd be quick on finding a specific page retelling one of the stories: The story of a war. The story of a time where such lands were impure enough to be casted judgement, the only time such judgement was casted from God himself.

The War of the Nine Kings.

As the boy read through such pages, skimming through the contents regarding the participants, one of such beasts caught his eye immediately, letting him recognize and compare the style to the two mechanical menaces. One of the kings that organized the war, Arioch, would utilized the cursed nature of Sodom and Gomorrah's lands, due to a future event where it would be invaded by a unholy beast. Such nature would transform not only himself, but his men, into living weapons: blades that protruded out of their elbows and fingers, cannons mounted on their stomachs and mouths, reticles on their eyes to aim better, daggers as teeth, torches residing in their palms to act as makeshift flamethrowers. The war waged like mad between him, until a worthwhile hero came with his own army, destroying Arioch's forces one by one, until Arioch himself disappeared, vanished in black smoke and ash. "Yeah, that's got to be the answer." Solomon muttered to himself, yet before he was able to prepare a counterattack, disaster struck him once more.

KA-BOOM!!! KA-BOOM!!!

Explosions, three coming from his left, two on his right, rocking the shadow boat heavily and nearly causing the Biblical Sorcerer to fall overboard, having his feet be sunk into the darkness and using a barrier on his book to avoid it from getting wet. As he was flipped over, he can see that the Groom changed his weapon's designs to better accommodate for the water. His feet became propellers, his arms into rudders, the stump on his neck now acting as a missile launcher for such torpedoes. The Bride would be atop of him, guiding the Groom around as he'd fire such rockets, the masks now plastered on their chests, bound by metallic binds to prevent them from slipping off. Solomon would have Shady skate across the waters, dashing in a zig-zag pattern in order to evade the shots, his hair nearly grazing some of them in the process. "They're gonna stay on me until I get shot down...So what if..." He'd think to himself, as he'd try to swerve up to the surface, letting his Shadow deal with the depths. 

From here, he'd utilize Shady to drain out the water from the area, using the bottomless abyss itself to soak up as much as it can, as well as letting him devour any of the rockets nearby that would've been a point-blank shot. Even if, by any means, he'd be pushed back, because of the lighting from outside, it would give Solomon just enough of a spread to prevent him from going overboard. The waters began to bubble as the duo sprang out, most likely catching on to Solomon's plans, yet he'd merely cast another plague upon them to keep them down: Frogs. A Mass of frogs would be residing in the water, all of which would shoot their tongues towards the metallic newlyweds, grabbing ahold and dragging them straight back down, prompting the Bride to try and slice at a few, not affected by its stench due to not possessing a proper face, instead having the corpses of such frogs be absorbed alongside the water, converting it back to energy so that Solomon rained a secondary plague on top of it: Boils.

Even if they were machines, such bubbling can still occur, visible by the body parts gaining such noxious lumps, slowly damaging their internal structure. Coupled with the frogs keeping them down at the water, it would guarantee the boy a chance to incapacitate them and check on his friends if necessary. He'd watch the water level slowly lowering, finally letting him see the doorway, getting himself ready to swim across and open the door.

SHIKK!!

Stabbed. Punctured. Holes being made across his entire body, his blood streaming out like a waterfall. His eyes were wide open as he'd look down. As he'd be left in shock, the Groom and Bride would escape from the depths once more, striking at the child with a collaborative kick, skipping him across the man-made ocean, before being slammed straight into another wall again. Despite his injuries, he'd still stand, his legs wobbling, his body reeling itself, as if he was about to vomit. Blood build in his mouth, yet he merely spat to his side and wiped it off, staring down at the duo. "Cowards...." He'd mock, pulling out his book again and preparing to cast another spell, watching as their bodies, although lumpy and tattered, would simply cleave it off and create prosthetics in its stead, the damage from the boils being useless.

"Ok....what the hell was that? They should've only been able to use Weapon Magic. How did they hit me while they were sinking...?" he'd thought to himself. He'd watch as they'd create new sticks to hold up their masks again, their expressions almost taunting the boy. They were hiding something, that much was for certain. He couldn't bring himself to try and figure out what such a thing would even be, as no spell from his mind came to question on what made such holes. He'd close his eyes, trying to concentrate, though as he did, he'd recall the same words he was told before.

"Life doesn't make sense. We still walk with it anyway!"

Solomon would hold himself as he'd remember such words, as well as what came afterwards. The day where he had to be a Monster if he wished to live another day. The Biblical Sorcerer simply sighed as he'd crack his neck a bit, loosening himself up. "Well....If all else fails...Punch 'em really hard. That should be good enough."

The Sorcerer simply smiled as he'd switch spells, charging forward without a care in the world.