Chapter 1030: Evening Odds...Or Not
Chapter 1030: Evening Odds...Or Not
Chapter 1030: Evening Odds...Or Not
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Em-Sul looked as though he had encountered a particularly angry - and particularly large- porcupine and engaged in rough game of wrestling with it.
The bloody holes he spotted could be seen even on his neck, spitting out blood like fountains. It was a wonder how he was still conscious, and far from unsubscribing to life yet.
It was also a wonder how he managed to avoid getting the Harmonic Ember stolen from him when Baddan's hand was less than an inch away from snatching it.
The Faction Leader's body - to quite the surprise - abruptly transformed into a full set of strangely disproportionate golden armour that was unnecessarily tall!
A vengeful presence exploded from it, full of vicious life, in stark contrast to the dreary air that Em-Sul's torn flesh had presented.
This set of armour had no perforations made by mysterious attacks. It was full, sturdy and glossy, standing at three meters in height.
The narrow, horizontal visor on its helmet exposed the empty and full duality of what lay within it.
The armour was indeed protective gear... but it was also an autonomous body.
One of the Mythical+ grade!
Baddan found that he missed the chance to nab the Harmonic Ember when its altitude rose with Em-Sul's height just now. That single instance permanently cut off the opportunity for him to simply grab what he needed before everything spiralled into high hell.
And now, at the beginning of high hell, Baddan and his least favourite Wild Exigency, Warpish Fuggu flashed a distance away from Em-Sul.
A firm silence temporarily took hold over the plain.
Baddan couldn't help but wonder which of the many Classes Replicus had explained to him this foe had.
His abilities were rather... odd.
How could someone turn into a full set of armour, one that exuded such a frightening presence?
Baddan saw it fitting to compare this to Replicus' Hollow Dusk Prison calibre-wise.
At the same time, Em-Sul wondered just what was the deal with this Territory. What exactly was the Primary assault function?
Only after figuring it out would he be able to find a way to counter it, and whatever that method to counter was, it needed to be less reliant on physical power. Well, at least for him.
'Well, at least he is every bit as tough as that Territory struggle suggested...' the Faction Leader thought before flexing his metallic fingers which were individually glazed with Nitros. His current form, was a result of his Advanced Class.
In general, Em-Sul had a rare sort of Class to begin with.
He was a Shifter, a type of Energy Former rarely seen among both humans and beasts. Shifters' main traits revolved around mimicking the shapes of other creatures and objects.
Where Em-Sul differed from this description, however, laid in the fact that he was an Augmented Material Shifter; a Shifter that specialised in transforming into unique, magical artefacts and mimicking their properties finely!
His current golden form was one such mimicked artefact. The golden armour could intensify all physical impacts it received and add them as special effects to its arsenal!
Em-Sul let out a burst of hot steam.
"Why are you after this?" he suddenly said while facing Baddan, his thick finger pointing at
the Harmonic Ember.
Baddan didn't answer.
Em-Sul expected as much.
His body creaked lightly as he shrugged and exposed the clam-like artefact he had withdrew before.
"Well, sorry to say, you've made me even more vigilant. That Bright Storm has you working a bit too hard. Are you on a payroll?" he said, and the clam opened, spitting out two streams of energy that coalesced into two human figures.
Baddan grunted.
More enemies?!
Indeed, there were.
One was a man with long grey hair and a moustache of the same hue, a sceptre with a black gem in his hand. His robes reeked of danger, as did his calm eyes.
The other was a freakishly burly man with intense red eyes and blonde hair drawn into a mullet.
Baddan noticed the depths of their strength immediately. They weren't quite as strong as Em-Sul; Baddan judged them to be a step below - Masters. However, that did not depreciate the level of threat they held, especially the man with the sceptre.
'A Mage. It must be...' Baddan thought, recalling once again what Replicus had warned.
When it came to Mages, it was wiser to disregard what Stage they bore, and be wary instead of their skill in Magecraft, after all, as Replicus had put it:
'Magecraft might as well be its own standard of power, like Stages...'
The Sky Watcher narrowed his eyes.
"Who spooked you, boss? I didn't think you'd let us out any time soon," the muscular man stretched as he asked Em-Sul.
The Faction Leader let out a hoarse breath that sounded almost mechanical given his current state.
"Don't let your guard down, fool. There is more than two enemies. I merely called you both to help me even out the numbers somewhat and - if you can handle it - dissect this Territory's effects?" he said.
"I see," the Mage said, his eyes pinned onto Baddan.
Em-Sul had stored his belongings as well as these two - the only members of his Faction that he brought on the voyage - within a special spatial artefact that could house living things before joining Eaniss on her ship.
Doing so had paid off more than he thought. If he hadn't decided to also have this pair stay in the artefact, they might have been left out when he was dragged into Baddan's Majestic
Territory.
The burly man grinned.
"Yes, yes. However cool you want to sound when saying it, you do need our help, don't you?" he said as his body became engulfed in a potent Perfect Aura. "Now we sh—"
The words died in the bulky beefcake's throat, as he and the Mage almost missed the giant shadow that flitted through the air unceremoniously... and ripped an irregular chunk of the large man's body in less than an instant!
Em-Sul was the only one to keep track of the movement with a grim look on his face.
A massive canine with shaggy red fur layered with two variations of Perfect Aura had chomped out his man's entire left side!
Splits of sped time later, it landed a distance away and turned, bone and bleeding flesh stuck in its teeth, its eyes burning with malice!
Atop it, sat Pherdanta, her helmet on, and her large, red sword out. Above Grim's bold blue Aura which covered his entire transformed body, her own also mixed in with his, though, it also formed an almost perfect replica of Replicus in his starry armour above her.
This was the Swordswoman's Genuine Incarnation, a living type.
Em-Sul clicked his tongue as he watched the bulky man fall to his knees, his eyes rolled in
vicious agony.
He hurriedly summoned the dumbbell-like artefact he had used to heal from the damage he
took from Baddan's Territory when...
'Oh. A pity...'
He stopped.
The bulky man's blood rapidly turned from a deep red to a pale lilac colour in a matter of seconds. His flesh also became a light shade of mahogany.
Poison.
Em-Sul turned to Grim's ferocious appearance.
He didn't know what kind of poison was contained in that beast's bite, but it didn't look he could afford to waste his artefact's charges trying to see if the idiot who had been injected
with it would survive.
Beyond that, there wasn't any time for such charity or mourning.
Pherdanta's sword set loose a chilling outpour of Aura, and that Aura rushed into the hand of
her Incarnation, creating a copy of her sword for the Replicus look-alike.
As this occurred, Em-Sul and the Mage readied themselves while Baddan charged again with
the Warpish Fuggu.
High hell fully commenced.