Chapter 232: Hunkering Down for the Long Winter
The next full moon in Red Sun, according to various experts and calendars, would not be for another few months. There was absolutely no way of changing this but, really, Asha didn't need to. Part of why she was such an incredibly frightening foe was that, within her snowstorm, she could summon a fake full moon to unleash her true potential. There weren't many ways for a revenant to improve their bestial form but a full moon was always guaranteed to do it. In fact, on average, the benefit of a full moon was roughly equivalent to gaining another revenant tier's worth of strength and would more often than not provide the individual with a monstrous power boost. Anyone who was a beta or above would change fundamentally and gain access to a whole host of new skills they wouldn't otherwise possess as well as a slight difference to their appearance. Typically, learning how to summon a full moon on demand wasn't possible and les than 1% of revenants ever found a way to accomplish it.
Being an adept, like Calla, Ares, or
In order to use the art, though, she needed to be in her snowstorm. Theo didn't but what was the point of doing it if he wasn't nearby? Asha could prowl through her snowstorm in her enhanced state but the second she left the area it would fade away so Theo's presence inside the storm was a necessity for it to even be useful. To that end, Asha needed to buy a bit of time until her snowstorm could close in on them but that was easier said than done. Asha's current goal, that she'd set for herself in order to come out on top, was to use Chill Grip on all of Theo's weapons and leave him with no automated defences. He was still strong without them but definitely nowhere near as much compared to his combat proficiency with them.
Asha took off running as the stare down with Theo had evidently come to an end as he ordered his cannon to fire a shot at her. She ducked under it, leaving one of her poor gnolls behind her to take the brunt of the explosion and die miserably, before sliding around to the side. Although Asha didn't care much about her gnolls they were still useful so she positioned herself somewhere her soldiers wouldn't get hit if Theo's attacks missed her. Asha lunged forward to try and grab onto one of the twin machine guns but Theodore hopped off his cannon, finally, and defended their honour in gentlemanly combat. I.E he kept trying to poke Asha with the end of his cane. It didn't look like a devastating attack but the explosive pellet that came out of it was no joke and would seriously wound anyone who ignored it so his pokes needed to be treated with due respect.
Theodore's close range combat style was fencing mixed with constant retreats to enable his weapons to fire after risky attacks. He would overextend to poke at Asha, rapidly fall back, and let his artillery fire in his absence. If Asha wanted to try and chase him she would be pelted with bullets and cannonballs galore. If she just let him go then she would never be able to strike him, putting her between a rock and a hard place. Tackling Theodore's cane lunges head on wasn't a great idea either as he was particularly talented. He'd won many-a fencing competition back on the Legion planet, where the sport was viewed in high regard and had steep competition, so he was not to be trifled with or underestimated as this was somewhat of a specialty of his. Asha was able to deflect Theo's cane consistently with her claws but she wasn't really getting anywhere. She could keep this up until the snowstorm arrived but she could also try and throw a few arts out to put her in a better spot overall. In fact, she didn't even need to use any new ones as Chill Grip would do wonders here, threatening to lockdown Theo's weapon if he wasn't careful. Asha activated Chill Grip multiple times in a row whenever Theo attacked her and the rate at which he did so visibly decreased. No longer could Theo just wildly strike, he now had to patiently observe and wait for any safe openings. Not that this was doing him any good as the gnolls were starting to arrive en masse and that wasn't something he could ignore either. Asha wasn't the only one stalling, however, as Theo's drill artillery was about to land, at which point he would summon some more weapons and take control of the fight once more. If he could gain the initiative, kill off the nearby gnolls, and then focus fire on Asha he could still very much win this. It's why he wasn't too fussed about the repeated Chill Grips, he was just as content to slow the fight down for now as he was readying himself to speed it back up later.
Theo struck out at Asha's knee but she returned fire whilst ignoring the attack. Theo could strike her but he would likely lose his cane afterwards and that wasn't a trade he was willing to make so he retreated. In his place, a cannonball came booming through the air towards Asha who nimbly contorted her upper body to swerve out the way. The cannon shot off into the arena wall and blew up, creating yet another dent in the wall the C.O was going to have to fix. This rampage the seasons were going on was actually rather troublesome for the C.O who really wished they would have done this anywhere else...
Asha feinted an advance to force the machine guns to fire at her so her gnolls could keep creeping up on Theo. This was the final straw and now the gnolls were able to arrive at the artillery commander's position from behind, sandwiching him from all sides in an uncomfortable location smack dab in the centre of the arena. His own plan was coming together but he still needed a few seconds so he pivoted on the spot and activated an art. "Unload!" A classic that had shown up a few times throughout the tournament. On the surface this looked to be a rookie error. Yes, in the moment, it was clever. Theo could deal with the Sgnolldiers while his unloading cannon and machine guns would now be capable of fending off Asha without his aid... But what about after? The punishment that came inbuilt with the art, that prevented these weapons from firing again for a lengthy period of time afterwards due to overheating, couldn't be avoided so he would be leaving himself completely open!... Not!
Theodore's title of expert had been earned through countless battles and tribulations so it was only natural he'd planned countermeasures. For starters, the reason Theo didn't summon all his weapons at once in close range fights was precisely because of this. Unload only affected all weapons within a certain range so provided Theo didn't summon his other weapons before he used the art he could use them as a backup while these ones were overheating. This was the masterful way to use this art, by being highly selective and treating it like a temporary boost top specific entities rather than an all in win condition that left you high and dry if it failed. This way, Theo would deal with the gnolls, the weapons would hold off Asha until he was done, and then afterwards his new weapons could be directed wherever they were needed in the moment and Theo would maintain his advantage as the drill would finally drop back down to earth. Theo wasn't making a mistake, far from it, he was picking the perfect move of a wide selection. Like in chess, sometimes sacrificing a piece, or taking a turn that looked un-optimal, was actually the correct way to proceed relative to whatever grand scheme you were concocting. As an artilleryman, Theo had a lot of experience fighting from the back lines where he could aid in strategizing efforts with the Legion masterminds so being able to make brilliant choices had rubbed off on him as he learnt indirectly from the greats.
While Asha was under heavy fire, and forced to maintain her ground instead of pushing forward, Theo was swinging his cane around with semi-reckless abandon. Every swing was enough to cave in a gnolls head but he still retained his dignified posture and bearing as he did so, opting not to give into brutish temptations and fling his body around like a monkey. His strikes were precise, fast, and effective. He rotated between smacking and shooting explosive pellets which netted him incredible results against the waves of enemies assailing him as he ducked under spear stabs and retaliated with pokes to the brain. A gnolls brain wasn't anything impressive but it was still way more functional when Theo's cane hadn't just poked a hole into it. Theo swiped aside a spear and kneed another gnoll in the gut before pushing it backwards with his cane. The stumbling gnoll bumped into another, causing them both to stagger, while an explosive pellet followed up and blew both their heads off. Though the amount of weapons he had out and about wasn't quite the same as usual, there was nothing Theo enjoyed more than mowing down weaklings to the tune of a cannon and bullet barrage in the background. His weapons weren't having quite the field day he was, as Asha would not go down quietly, but Theo was in bliss right now as he tripped a gnoll with his cane and crushed its stomach with his foot.
Theo briefly checked something above him and decided it was the right time to make a move so the next gnoll that came at him, with teeth fully on display and ready to chomp on Theo's neck, was winded via a punch straight to the abdomen. Theo then swung the cane upwards and struck the gnoll on the jaw, sending him flying up into the air where he became a very easy target. Asha felt she had to pay attention to this weirdly showy string of attacks because something felt off about it. She soon found out why when Theo's explosive pellet blew up the gnoll in mid air, right above Asha, and the drill from earlier came crashing down through the stream of blood and fur. Theo had worked in tandem with his artillery to cover for its approach by using the gnolls body up until it would become an obstacle, at which point he removed it via his pellet. Had he not done this, Asha's chance of dodging would have gone up considerably and, if he hadn't used the explosive pellet, the drill's speed would have slowed as a result of barrelling through a body. Theo had executed his plan to perfection yet again which, unsurprisingly, put Asha in a terrible spot. It didn't end there though as Theo summoned out three new weapons and aimed them all in whatever directions they were needed which ended up being a mix of towards the gnolls, right at Asha, and somewhere in between.
Asha didn't have time to worry about the new weapons because the drill took priority and needed to be avoided pronto. Her life was made somewhat easier by the fact that the Unload duration had just run out so she wasn't going to be assailed by the machine guns or the cannon any longer. As for how she was going to escape her fate right now... Well she had Calla to thank for that. Also her reflex adept trait as almost anyone else in her position would have died before they even realised what was happening. She was able to take everything in quickly enough because of her trait. it didn't come in handy often but she was happy to have it when it did. Anyway, back on the drill dodging discussion, the way Asha was going to avoid the incoming pain train was a way that Ares instantly recognised, mostly because he'd been doing this a lot lately! Asha raised her palm, faced it towards herself, and pushed as hard as she could while yelling a word that a few other people had been chanting here and there in this arena during the tournament.
"Echo!"
Asha had apparently learnt Echoes! To be fair, it was a fantastic art and there was zero reason not to learn it if you were a cultivator with any skin in the achieving immortality game. The versatility of the art was immeasurable. Quick, offensively a powerhouse, defensively solid, pseudo mobility by self-damaging, potential for combination with divine sense, and could be enhanced via pressure as well as flung at range. It was too good of an art to not know so it was unsurprising Asha had learnt it... Kinda. The reason the other seasons hadn't learnt it was simply because they didn't know it existed, other than Ye who saw it during the Umbra vs Legion match, otherwise they definitely would have. Asha only knew about it because Calla had very nearly shoved it down her throat a couple of days ago while ranting on about how her 'precious and big and fluffy baby was oh so smart'. Asha had to agree, however, as she was pretty impressed by the art as a whole so she learnt it pretty much on the spot and it was already making itself useful. As for the other seasons, Ye would go on to learn it as soon as he could get his hands on it, as he'd asked Margaret to fetch a copy via her sons when they were able. Bravo would be the last season to acquire it, as he wasn't here to see it right now, but he would eventually make great use of this art in hunting down mecha dryads specifically. Mecha dryads were tough because of their hard outer shell, a problem which was circumvented by the internal nature of Echoes provided they were strong enough. And perhaps most interestingly of all was Theo. Yes he would combine it with divine sense, given his incredible divine sense that was to be expected, but what he would do that truly stood out from the crowd was create an Echo artillery weapon that could amplify and fire them at great distances. The benefit of this was that they were nigh invisible and could effectively be used as undetectable sound bombs that penetrated buildings. This was highly unorthodox but he did a great job of creating a functioning Echo launcher so kudos to him. Ares may have been the origin of the art but there was no doubt countless others would go on to improve upon it in various ways and make it their own, that was par the course of course.
BANG
Asha flinging herself around via an Echo would go on to leave quite the impression on Theo who, as mentioned previously, would go on to do some serious investigating into this art but that wasn't the important detail right now. What actually mattered was that the drill had missed her by a hair's width and sunk back into the earth, killing off most its momentum and drastically reducing its lethality. Of course the drill was now going to start hopping about like a dolphin as it chased Asha but it was less fierce than it was kinda cute, actually. Deadly, very much so, but still very cute. Almost like a puppy vying for attention and hopping around after a human. Asha didn't have time to pet the drill though because one of the new weapons Theo had summoned was already firing directly at her.
BANG
A large bullet pierced Asha's left breast and created a gaping hole in her upper body that was rather gruesome to look at. It could have been a lot worse had Asha not reacted to the bullet in time but that didn't mean this wasn't still a pretty rough injury. As for what was responsible for this attack, a gigantic sniper rifle that, honestly, looked more like a railgun than anything that fired bullets. It was a long range heavy hitter that fired a calibre of bullet that should have really been illegal in every domain out there. Just because it was a long range weapon that didn't mean it couldn't function up close and personal when it needed to, however, and that was especially true of targets marked with Kiss Of death. This bad boy could spin on a dime and put a hole in you no matter where you were. Asha had been too focussed on the drill to fully dodge this new weapon and she paid the price for it. Luckily, though, she was a revenant with an impressive cultivation base so her wound had already begun healing. It would take a few hours to patch up but, considering the size and location of the injury, which had even clipped her lung, being able to recover fully so soon was phenomenal. The wound was painful but wasn't actually severe enough to affect her fighting strength so it was really just an annoying inconvenience more than anything problematic. Still, she had to take care with this new weapon to make sure it didn't put a hole in her somewhere far more hazardous to her health. It wasn't a quick firing weapon but it was the one that packed arguably the strongest punch here right now. It would truly start to shine when the machine guns and cannon were back up and running as, then, its downtime would be made up for by everything else. A constant hail of lead and cannons were what was in store for Asha so the sooner she could end this fight, as soon as her snowstorm arrived, the better.
As for the other two weapons, one was a zap cannon capable of shocking multiple foes. It would shoot a bundle of charged electricity up into the air and then, when it crashed into the floor, it would explode in a range that was determined by how much kinetic energy it had stored up. In other words, the further and higher it was fired the larger the area of its detonation would be. Anything hit by the electrical discharge would then act as a node for the electricity to spread from to nearby foes, the amount of which it could hop to was determined by the size of the initial explosion. This was the weapon not aiming at Asha as it was currently on mob clearing duty. Theo had sicced this weapon on the pack of gnolls and it was barbequing them spectacularly. The firing range was short, so the initial zap wasn't all too impressive, but that didn't mean the weapon was ineffective at this range either as the deceased lumps of charred flesh could very much attest too. The zap cannon was doing its job well, chaining electricity between the numerous foes, but Theo still had to stick around and hammer a few more gnolls with his cane just due to the sheer number of them. If he'd had the zap cannon out from the start this wouldn't have been an issue, and it likely would have cleared out the horde by now, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Keeping weapons in his back pocket for a rainy day was why Theo had lived as long as he had as risk reward situations never did appeal to him, he was by no means a gambler.
While the zap cannon was making its shocking debut, the third and final weapon Theo summoned was getting ready to flare up. It wasn't a flamethrower, although Theo did in fact have one (it was infinitely more powerful than Bravo's and would have burnt this coliseum to a crisp if he whipped it out), it was actually a napalm launcher! Theo could set multiple targets, launch a few napalm grenades up into the air, and then watch on as he cordoned off various areas with burning misery. The napalm was hot enough to melt humans easily and was actually one of the stronger weapons in his arsenal. Luckily he could reduce its output by limiting the amount of grenades he fired which, thankfully, didn't shackle the power of each individual grenade. It's not that they weren't as strong as usual, there was just less napalm to go around when he put restrictions on the weapon. Theo had to do this otherwise he would turn this section of Red Sun into the inside of a volcano. The four seasons were all holding back a considerable amount of power here! As for where Theo had fired off these napalm grenades... Well he hadn't yet. He was saving them for a rainy day as the snowstorm was now no more than a few inches away from turning this area into a frosty white hell on earth. Theo wanted to keep the napalm grenades available to him so he could set up a defensive position amidst the snowstorm and have the napalm keep him toasty. If he set up a circular barrier of napalm then both he and his weapons could hide within it, firing at Asha's Kiss Of Death mark from absolute safety.
The snowstorm rumbled over the earth and chilled the ground it hovered across, signalling its arrival via the tune of chilling winds howling in Theo's ears. Asha slunk backwards into the storm with one final glare directed at Theo before she vanished for good. Theo was going to have to keep his eye out for some rifle shots as she would no doubt pester him with them but what he really had to keep an eye out for was a problem he wasn't yet knowledgeable of. Still, it wouldn't take him longer to figure it out as the appearance of a giant full moon within the snowstorm would very much clue him in to what was happening. He was completely unaware of that at the moment, however, so he felt confident as the snowstorm rolled over him. The scope of his divine sense was immediately curbed and he would struggle to find Asha if relied exclusively on sight but his Kiss Of Death made his life far easier so he wasn't fussed. Overall, he was feeling good, save for the chill creeping up his spine that he chose to ignore, and felt like he might have this win in the bag. Oh how wrong he was.