Three cheers for character development! Vice-Captain coward finally grew her spine. Whether Chamomile Elragorn survived long enough for said spine to blossom directly tied to Rem’s victory. The victory the sound increasingly improbable with every second.
Rem awaited the flames, pleasantly surprised by Chamomile’s unexpected response. He smiled with content at his fiery fate. The bond between people may make them weak, but through weakness they learned strength. It was those bonds that taught the irredeemable ass-hat Lex Luthor the meaning of humanity.
Rem’s perception of time slowed as fiery death approached. His mind spun a lantern’s tale. Memories flashed as he surrendered to an impossible battle. He wandered back to his favorite Superman’s triumph over Luthor — the legendary All-Star Superman. In that book, the ass-hat finally got the Man of Tomorrow’s power, but through its lens, Luthor comprehended what Superman saw every moment — consciousnesses connected through the fundamental force. The most selfish human on planet Earth witnessed the working clockwork of reality and how precious the tiny human life meant. Throughout his life, Luthor envied Superman’s overwhelming might without realizing raw super sensory would make anyone incline to empathize with other beings.
The comic was legendary, but the film adaptation bumped the victory by making Luthor admitted Superman is right and reformed.
Wait
Hold on a second… consciousness connected the fundamental force.
Two years. Two — mother-fucking — years Rem spent failing to reach the root of [Mentalism] and completed his training. His Astral Tracing crashed. He pictured enough mental images to drive mortal men insane. A crow-bar to the head? Fail. Electrical jamming? A migraine. Sound projector? Embarrassing. Worst, his proficiency with other Arcanes hit an impasse. Unlike his comrades, Remus Breaker didn’t have talent with other Arcane but [Mentalism] and [Interfere]. After solid months of failure, Rem switched to prioritizing his physical ability and his mental Skills instead.
Still, Rem used every past-time not honing his skill or mental prowess to discover the ‘root’. The Arcane whose ability synchronized in harmony with him.
Who would have thought Rem finally achieved it semi-seconds from his roasting?
links to the Astral Consciousness checked.
Knowledge of the Primal Arcane built on [Mentalism] and [Interference], cumulating in an Arcane the World recognize not as moves but Skills.
Rem learned [Tenshou].
…
As established, Arcane essentially replicated a phenomenon memorized through Astral Consciousness. However, hierarchal ladders existed for these phenomena. Some Arcane were mere children beneath the massive archaic umbrella of ancient conceptual forces.
Conjuring fire-hounds and phoenixes fell under creation of life from flames. Suffocation and Wind manipulation coexisted beneath a single Arcane. Such massively powerful parental Arcane were so mightily overblown the World recognize it not as a mere spell or technique, but Skills. Knowledges worthy of ranks in the Status ID as Supernatural power even the Center Force and the Malice balked to face.
Discoveries of such magnitude were possible with Hikma De Darwin and Remus Breaker inventing a method to study Arcane — aptly titled Contemplation — and explored its usage by immersing oneself in the phenomena’s history. Half a year after Contemplation launched, Melody Solarmaria stumbled across the primal root of all Dragon. later development was history.
With Primal Arcane dragged onto the table, the goal of the 3-years training was set; learning these Primal Arcanes and retooling their style to better mesh these new wisdoms. Melody and Luxinna learned one. Hikma — with chad energy at full blast — learned several.
Despite Rem’s best effort, only he failed to complete his training. The Primal Arcane most compatible with him was simply complex beyond his imagination; until now.
[Tenshou]
Ten in Japanese meant Heaven, and Shou meant acquiesce. As Primal Arcane, those definitions were elevated to its limit. To influence or beseech [Tenshou] meant to sway all things connect by Heaven. Yep. No wonder Rem failed to grasp something that broken under three-years. [Tenshou] was the Mandarin of Arcane; stupidly ancient and complicate.
Thankfully, life-and-death situation often stimulated enlightenment. Rem's unending effort to comprehend [Tenshou] cashed its reward. The young knight learned Heaven's wisdom in his trail-by-fire. No, not the cloud palace those winged jackasses built, but Heaven as in the universe’s celestial fabric.
All forces were governed by consciousness. Everything connected under Heaven’s tapestry; A precious balance held together by fragile forces of life.
That is [Tenshou]. The root of [Mentalism], [Interfere], [Shadow], and many more unaccountable Arcane. An unstoppable force that would promptly hip-checked Orwell’s ass, power-up or not, once mastered. Should it be questioned why such a conceptual mega-authority warranted a class of its own?
Remus Breaker finally attained Heaven. Half of Phantasia’s organization would cry if they know what awaited them.
…
Rem’s power swelled. Light of cosmos tinged his icy blue-eyes. Thread linking his heroic will to the fabric of the universe blazed with hope. He stretched his hand and summoned his greatest ally.
The moment of reckoning arrived. Severus! Hit the boss music. Maybe that Nightcore version of Star Wars’ Force theme.
“[Tenshou]”
Rem tugged the string of the universe. He tuned the thread between him and the fireball. A single requested vibrated through the heavenly link.
The fireball answered, imploding in a ring of fire an inch from Rem’s fingers. The detonation left Chamomile unharmed and Rem with a burnt right hand. He cringed. Cytortia would pop her cork for real after burning his hand twice. Alas, achieving the power he chased for three years didn’t mean he would pull a Jedi Master worthy Tutaminis from get go.
Hex howled, shifting his back-cannon into their firing position.
Warned by [Clairvoyance], Rem preemptively acted, using [Tenshou] to find and return an object he discarded to his hand. The connection between the Uzi and Rem magnified in magnitude. Fundamental force held by consciousness eagerly responded, flinging the gun at Rem. Catching his telekinetically flying Uzi with his left hand, Rem opened fired with [Tenshou] tuned at full-blast.
Hex never had a chance. The bullet blessed by [Tenshou] knocked the connection within spell formula, creating the effect of [Interfere] Arcane, effectively disabling his cannon.
[Tenshou] existed as the originator of all mind-technique from advance telekinesis to mental manipulation. As its sole user, Rem was the closest Phantasia had to a Jedi; untrained Jedi who barely scratched all his abilities, but one with a solid grasp on the basic.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Padawan Remus Breaker fought against genetically engineer weaponed of destruction with a hand disabled. No contest. Hex was about to realize why people never fuck with ancient Jedi Order. Unlike the cuck in the movies, ancient Force-user were beasts proficient in both Light and Dark aspect of the force.
Orthodox cuck or ancient-planet taming chad? Three guesses which Jedi Order Remus Breaker subscribed to.
More bullets found their way to Hex’s cannon, guided by Rem’s [Future Lock-On] to trash the artilleries beyond recovery. By pre-emptively predicting opponent's position and vector, Rem’s attacks were nigh-unavoidable without Luxinna-tier reflex augmentation — augmentation Hex never received.
With his big gun disabled, Hex switched tactic, pointing the hand-flamethrower at Rem.
It was an acceptable plan, saved for one fact; people bought over one blaster to kill a Jedi
Rem dashed in, waving his burnt hand.
[Tenshou]
Fabric of consciousness responded.
Fizzle
Internal mechanism inside Hex’s arm-cannon clicked out-of-place. Sparks flew as Hex’s contraption-hand malfunctioned and broke. With his fireball permanently banished, Hex’s eyes glowed, firing Orwell-approved optic detonator at Rem. The young knight waved past the twin beams of annihilation. Voices of [Tenshou] connected him to the surrounding, isolating Rem from distraction.
Hex’s eyes glowed crimson.
Rem’s eyes shone cosmic blue. A gesture sent a pile of gigantic broken wall rocketing at Hex, detonating Hex’s second of optic-blast in his face, blinding his sensor.
An object flew over Hex’s head; it was an Uzi.
Two-throwing knives slipped from Rem’s sleeves and flung at Hex in quick-motion.
Hex’s sensor returned in time to calculate the knives’ trajectory. The Amalgam robotically ran the calculation and concluded those knives would miss. Hex’s crystal eyes glowed crimson for another optic death-ray. Sadly, one gesture from Rem’s roasted finger foretold another fate.
The off-trajectory knives righted their courses and flung into Hex’s charging eyes.
Rem’s timing was impeccable.
Twin supercharged blades cracked the energetic crystal in Hex’s eye-sockets at their critical point. In recipe of catastrophe, Hex’s eyes blew inside his socket. The howl of pain echoed as the abomination dropped to its knee.
Rem flipped mid-air and recalled his Uzi with [Tenshou]. In majestic, smooth combat-flow, Rem emptied the magazine of True Magic reinforced bullets mid-flip without missing his beat. Enhanced submachine-gun round rained on the smoking abomination, pecking and scratching its metal skin, wearing the hulking mass into a defensive position.
Chamomile barely believed what transpired. The knight was cornering the Abomination.
And he did that while missing his dominant hand.
…
Inside Hex’s mind-controlled brain, alarms flashed. Damage counts crammed the internal server. With vision downed, heavy-weapon sabotaged and under unceasing assault by the enemy, Orwell’s kill program finally hit its peak desperation.
Click!
Rem landed, dropping his empty magazine. Hex chose that opening for a counter-attacking. The Abomination lifted its remaining hand, unveiling a tube of micro-homing rocket-launchers.
“Dammit, Orwell.” Rem cursed, reacting fast with [Tenshou] to crush those micro-rockets before it fire and removing Hex's remaining limb.
Clank!
Or not. A retractable blade burst from the ruin of his contraption’s arms. Machinery in Hex’s chest whirled, charging with Mana. Rem’s [Clairvoyance] clued him to its gimmick, forcing him dropped the Uzi and drew his revolver.
[CROWN: ABOMINABLE]
Golden blades of Hex’s Mana erupted from his chest as six curving beams of devastation. Remus Breaker repositioned himself under the serenaded light’s blind spot, evading the devouring lights carving up the quarter’s broken surface, toppling the building and slicing the trench in the earth via rapid vaporization. Hex howled, unable to detect the result of his attack or Rem’s action with his eyes removed. Unable to isolate his target from the midnight darkness, Hex recharged his chest piece for a refiring, but Rem’s preemptive reaction was faster.
He drew his revolver and fire thrice.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A bullet, filled with grounded Holy Blues, slammed into Hex’s chest piece. A cross of light shone.
[Holy Force: Finale Cross]
[Holy Force] + [Interfere] round enhanced by [Tenshou] exploded at pointblank. It was Rem’s invention during his three-years training. Hikma and Rem had devised several methods to ease Arcane. Their best method was creating a specialized tool to increase the synchronization-rate of each Arcane by rewiring mental-trigger of a specific series of Arcane to said tool — the project grandly named as Arcana.
Rem’s gun was an Arcana created during the three-years mental-world training by Melody. Three hours were spent forging the firearms into reality — a beautiful prep-time well spent.
It was 140 RPM hand cannons with matted black grip. The 7 inches length sported revolver mechanism. Heavy barrel-frame — inspired from Desert Eagle handgun — maximized it’s for usage as blunt weapon and heavy-caliber gun. The piston-counterweight embedded within the firing mechanism reduced its recoil, allowing for more consistent firing. Rem received this weapon in less than twenty-four hours, but he wield like an old friend.
CHORUS MK1 — A firearm meant to fire Arcane rounds. Weapon built to exploit Rem’s [Future Lock-On] to its fullest.
The cross of light detonated, blowing the barrier protecting Hex’s chest in a burst of light. Two more round smashed Hex’s chest-piece apart in a spectacular, brilliant eruption. Three compressed bursts of [Holy Force], each capable of wiping out Amalgam’s platoon, overcame the friction and gravity grounding Hex. Remus Breaker — a mere human — sent a monster design to take out demigods flying. Hex's lumbering mass crashed into a ruin in an eruption of dust and dirt.
Chamomile’s jaw dropped. Is Samadi actually winning against that?
The Abomination stood as the Man of Steel firing three more shots.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The triple burst of light delivered Hex to the sky. Rem’s reloaded the gun telekinetically. Finally, Hex realized the barrage of bullets won’t stop. The almighty being below was playing for keeps. A-rank endurance only delayed the inevitable brutalize shootings from reducing it to a hunk of dust and metal. With its cannon, flamethrowers, rocket-launcher and magical chest-piece crushed beyond recovery, the kill-program decked out on cards.
The program was right. Rem carried 40 rounds on his person and 150 more on the backpack beside Chamomile. If six-round cornered it, thirty-six more would be crushing.
It only had one option at hand.
Orwell Mehest’s programed World Enemy Santura’s gene into Hex’s dying flesh, allowing him to recover and enhancing his compatibility with Amalgam prosthetic. Santura’s flesh also had an ability to stretch at unbelievable length and speed like super-power rubber.
Hence, the Abomination fell back on its last weapon, throwing its bladed arm at the Hero of Steel with the force of A-rank strength.
Sadly, for Hex, Rem sparred a two-legged dragon and lightning powered elf regularly.
In displays of Horizon Dawn’s Ray of Mysterious Cloud, Rem deflected the subsonic arm with a pistol whip. Rem spent three years dealing with Luxinna’s Mach 12 projectiles. Hex must be way faster to land his jab. With serene motion, Rem repurposed the pistol-whip’s momentum to direct the hand-cannon at Hex’s remaining arm-spear, and shot that attack down.
Rem spun his gun into a fire-position in poetic rhythm and emptied the CHORUS.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Five rounds of Rem’s certified [Holy Force] slammed into the falling, wide-open Abomination, grievously denting its armor and winding it. Unable to wait for Hex to regenerate dragged the fight into an endurance contest, Rem seized the opportunity to finish Hex before he tapped out his stamina.
[All Creation]
In a burst of Blue, Purple and Violet, a bullet materialized in Rem’s hand.
[Purifying Steel Tolemitries
Rank: A
Ability:
Anti-Evil [SSS]
Soul-cleanse [SSS]
Info: Tolemitries is a one-of-a-kind purification bullet. It can grant peace to the corrupt, by-pass all magical resistance cast by those acting under malicious evil, and purged them regardless of strength. However, the bullet is only effective against evil.]
Rem loaded his miracle bullet, took aim, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet birthed from fantasy punched Hex in mid-air. Tolemitries successfully penetrated the flesh exposed in Hex’s dented smart-metal and performed its miracles. Waves of purifying energy ran through Hex’s broken flesh, terminating Orwell’s Amalgam. Kill-program embedded in Hex's brain melted, losing it linked to the suicide bombs implanted in his body. It was a thorough wash. The evil imprisoning Stuart Hex to earthly suffering — from life-support to brainwashing — died in a fire.
Stuart Hex the Abomination returned to the Earth as a member of humanity. Greeted by a hero of justice barely hanging to his feet. Chamomile watched from afar in tears at her impossible salvation. Her eyes glued to the unbroken symbol on the back of courage-made-flesh.
He arrived and let a monster trashed him for the sake of a stranger. Be a pillar of protection at her weakest. And against all odds, claimed victory against a monster that would trash the royal-mages and royal-knights in that beaten state.
Remus Breaker won his battle, proving to the world Right make Might. It appeared Justice prevailed after all.
…
Stuart Hex
the Abomination
Str: 4500 [A]
End: 4500 [A]
Mag: 5000 [A]
Wis: 200 [D]
Dex: 2300 [A]
Skill
Superior Stamina [A]
Software Intelligence [A]
Swordsmanship [D]
Walking Armory [B]
Passive
Hulking mass [C]
Rubber body [B]
Steel Plating [B]
Mana Reactor [A]