The Golden Brother’s killing technique was, most of all, very interesting. Zelsys had seen a move like that; one of Halxian’s. Regardless of whether there was a real connection or if it was simple coincidence, that move was an awe-inspiring display that would serve to grow Halxian’s techniques.
In that same sentiment, the triplets were monstrous. Stronger than anyone she had fought before Ubul, perhaps among the strongest in the country… And they were doomed. Doomed to be consumed, to have their meticulous arts dissected and incorporated into the growing behemoth of Sturmblitz Kunst.
It was undeniable.
And yet, the Triplets didn’t seem like they were even considering giving up. They exchanged uneasy, yet determined glances, and Zelsys felt excitement rise, knowing that they were going to pull out some final ace. A few hand signs followed, and something changed, so quickly it could be a blink and you’ll miss it moment to anyone without a substantially superhuman mental processing speed. Before, their formation had served to empower just one of them. Whatever they had just done gave all three of them that same feeling of magnitude, and they moved to fall upon her like one mind in three bodies, rather than three individuals in near-perfect sync.
PINNACLE FORMATION
ABSOLUTE UNION OF SPIRIT
THREE KINGS ASTRAL CONJOINING
Roderick had seen them practicing the formation through the Three Kings False Conjoining, a lesser version, and he was also among the few to see the real thing, exactly once. The formation, though named after the Three Kings of yore, had little to do with them; the Triplets’ family just so happened to be descendants of nobles from that era. In combat, it had no weaknesses. The problems came after the fact. Separating could be charitably described as traumatic; the last time they had done it, the time Roderick had seen, the Triplets were out of commission for months, and they were never quite the same afterward. That was the second major flaw - the separation wasn’t perfect. The triplets’ personalities and memories bled into one another. Since they were already near-copies of one another it wasn’t a major issue psychologically, but rather due to the fact it disrupted their martial arts and forced them to undergo remedial training after each use.
Taking this opportunity, Roderick clandestinely ordered all his surviving subordinates to coordinate attacks with the Triplets.
At first, it looked to be working.
It looked like she had been consumed by the combination assault.
That hope of Roderick’s was dashed when he caught a glimpse, and beheld a swirling dome of blades and lightning, enclosing the Living Tribulation. It refused to budge against any attack and moved with such terrible violence that it seemed to be creating a dome of force, but Roderick sensed no energies that would suggest such a defensive formation. Terrifyingly, rather than a spiritual or magical method, the defensive technique was repelling attacks through incredibly potent magnetic fields… And sonic booms. A constant tsunami of thundercracks in all directions. What few attacks managed to penetrate these outer layers were either simply bounced off or torn to shreds like paper.
If there was any appropriate moment to pull out the stops, it was this. Zelsys felt herself on the precipice of grasping another thread of enlightenment… No, that wasn’t it. She was grasping in an effort to spin her own thread from thin air, forming a new truth rather than trying to comprehend someone else’s. Combat elixirs of her own body’s making flooded into her veins. In a near-instant motion she summoned a bottle of Witch’s Brew, melted a tiny hole in its bottom by wreathing her thumb in lightning, and effectively inhaled its contents.
MYRIAD BLADES DANCE IN UNISON
GEHEIMNIS: THOUSAND-FANG FLAMENCO -ENLIGHTENMENT REPRISE-
Suddenly, she stilled. From an implacable blur of motion, blades, and lightning, the Walking Tribulation suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the open street, amidst carnage and desolation.
With her head tilted back and eyes cast skyward, she was smiling. Not grinning, madly, consumed by violence, as she had been this whole time, but smiling. Her smile widened, and with it, her ominous, invisible aura flared, and then seemed to retract into her. That whole time, a deluge of strikes and magicks rained down upon her, mighty techniques smashing against the whirling wall of blades that was her weapon. Thousands, tens of thousands of needles and daggers swarmed towards her from the Order’s hidden weapon specialists, yet the only purpose they seemed to serve was to become more mass in her metallic aegis.
“I get it now! Everything is violence! Everything is predator and prey! All of existence can be interpreted as nothing more than an unending dance of predation and violence! The sun, yes, the sun, too, is a warrior, a predator, guarding its territory!”
A deep, roar-like laughter thundered out from her, and then, utter tranquility came over her as she tilted her head forwards, sweeping her gaze over those before her, and then the ground. Her next utterance, though clear, was far quieter, meant for herself. Nonetheless, he heard it, and knew that his death was nigh.
“...anything can be my fangs, and anything can be my prey. It feels like I’ve always known, but only now has it truly fallen into place.”
In a flick of her arm, defense became offense. An inconceivable upsurge of lightning poured out from her, as if she’d just been hiding the power of a storm within her all this time. It was, of course, the Retributive Battery, fed so generously by the battle up until this point, but Roderick had no way to know that. In an instant, her blade’s dozens of segments lashed out. There was a roar-like, prolonged thunderclap. A hundred heads fell to the ground, their bodies riddled with their own throwing daggers and needles.
With the return lash that drew back the blade, the Triplets also met their ends. Given the positioning, Roderick estimated that it had been intended to behead them. It was more accurate to say their necks were simply gone, shredded out of being. Their bodies suddenly became ravaged with wounds that hadn’t been there before, as if caused by the claws of some invisible beast.
STEEL FLOWS AS LIGHTNING
LEAVING NONE TO HEAR THE THUNDER
BUTCHERING ART: BEHEADING SCOLOPENDRA
Akaso
If you’d like to read ahead, consider heading on over to the Patreon! You get up to 20 advance chapters for both Retribution Engine and Cherno Caster.
I’d also greatly appreciate it if you could rate my story, maybe even leave a review or advanced review!
For a link to the discord, check the synopsis.
The Golden Brother’s killing technique was, most of all, very interesting. Zelsys had seen a move like that; one of Halxian’s. Regardless of whether there was a real connection or if it was simple coincidence, that move was an awe-inspiring display that would serve to grow Halxian’s techniques.
In that same sentiment, the triplets were monstrous. Stronger than anyone she had fought before Ubul, perhaps among the strongest in the country… And they were doomed. Doomed to be consumed, to have their meticulous arts dissected and incorporated into the growing behemoth of Sturmblitz Kunst.
It was undeniable.
And yet, the Triplets didn’t seem like they were even considering giving up. They exchanged uneasy, yet determined glances, and Zelsys felt excitement rise, knowing that they were going to pull out some final ace. A few hand signs followed, and something changed, so quickly it could be a blink and you’ll miss it moment to anyone without a substantially superhuman mental processing speed. Before, their formation had served to empower just one of them. Whatever they had just done gave all three of them that same feeling of magnitude, and they moved to fall upon her like one mind in three bodies, rather than three individuals in near-perfect sync.
PINNACLE FORMATION
ABSOLUTE UNION OF SPIRIT
THREE KINGS ASTRAL CONJOINING
Roderick had seen them practicing the formation through the Three Kings False Conjoining, a lesser version, and he was also among the few to see the real thing, exactly once. The formation, though named after the Three Kings of yore, had little to do with them; the Triplets’ family just so happened to be descendants of nobles from that era. In combat, it had no weaknesses. The problems came after the fact. Separating could be charitably described as traumatic; the last time they had done it, the time Roderick had seen, the Triplets were out of commission for months, and they were never quite the same afterward. That was the second major flaw - the separation wasn’t perfect. The triplets’ personalities and memories bled into one another. Since they were already near-copies of one another it wasn’t a major issue psychologically, but rather due to the fact it disrupted their martial arts and forced them to undergo remedial training after each use.
Taking this opportunity, Roderick clandestinely ordered all his surviving subordinates to coordinate attacks with the Triplets.
At first, it looked to be working.
It looked like she had been consumed by the combination assault.
That hope of Roderick’s was dashed when he caught a glimpse, and beheld a swirling dome of blades and lightning, enclosing the Living Tribulation. It refused to budge against any attack and moved with such terrible violence that it seemed to be creating a dome of force, but Roderick sensed no energies that would suggest such a defensive formation. Terrifyingly, rather than a spiritual or magical method, the defensive technique was repelling attacks through incredibly potent magnetic fields… And sonic booms. A constant tsunami of thundercracks in all directions. What few attacks managed to penetrate these outer layers were either simply bounced off or torn to shreds like paper.
If there was any appropriate moment to pull out the stops, it was this. Zelsys felt herself on the precipice of grasping another thread of enlightenment… No, that wasn’t it. She was grasping in an effort to spin her own thread from thin air, forming a new truth rather than trying to comprehend someone else’s. Combat elixirs of her own body’s making flooded into her veins. In a near-instant motion she summoned a bottle of Witch’s Brew, melted a tiny hole in its bottom by wreathing her thumb in lightning, and effectively inhaled its contents.
MYRIAD BLADES DANCE IN UNISON
GEHEIMNIS: THOUSAND-FANG FLAMENCO -ENLIGHTENMENT REPRISE-
Suddenly, she stilled. From an implacable blur of motion, blades, and lightning, the Walking Tribulation suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the open street, amidst carnage and desolation.
With her head tilted back and eyes cast skyward, she was smiling. Not grinning, madly, consumed by violence, as she had been this whole time, but smiling. Her smile widened, and with it, her ominous, invisible aura flared, and then seemed to retract into her. That whole time, a deluge of strikes and magicks rained down upon her, mighty techniques smashing against the whirling wall of blades that was her weapon. Thousands, tens of thousands of needles and daggers swarmed towards her from the Order’s hidden weapon specialists, yet the only purpose they seemed to serve was to become more mass in her metallic aegis.
“I get it now! Everything is violence! Everything is predator and prey! All of existence can be interpreted as nothing more than an unending dance of predation and violence! The sun, yes, the sun, too, is a warrior, a predator, guarding its territory!”
A deep, roar-like laughter thundered out from her, and then, utter tranquility came over her as she tilted her head forwards, sweeping her gaze over those before her, and then the ground. Her next utterance, though clear, was far quieter, meant for herself. Nonetheless, he heard it, and knew that his death was nigh.
“...anything can be my fangs, and anything can be my prey. It feels like I’ve always known, but only now has it truly fallen into place.”
In a flick of her arm, defense became offense. An inconceivable upsurge of lightning poured out from her, as if she’d just been hiding the power of a storm within her all this time. It was, of course, the Retributive Battery, fed so generously by the battle up until this point, but Roderick had no way to know that. In an instant, her blade’s dozens of segments lashed out. There was a roar-like, prolonged thunderclap. A hundred heads fell to the ground, their bodies riddled with their own throwing daggers and needles.
With the return lash that drew back the blade, the Triplets also met their ends. Given the positioning, Roderick estimated that it had been intended to behead them. It was more accurate to say their necks were simply gone, shredded out of being. Their bodies suddenly became ravaged with wounds that hadn’t been there before, as if caused by the claws of some invisible beast.
STEEL FLOWS AS LIGHTNING
LEAVING NONE TO HEAR THE THUNDER
BUTCHERING ART: BEHEADING SCOLOPENDRA
Akaso
If you’d like to read ahead, consider heading on over to the Patreon! You get up to 20 advance chapters for both Retribution Engine and Cherno Caster.
I’d also greatly appreciate it if you could rate my story, maybe even leave a review or advanced review!
For a link to the discord, check the synopsis.
