The ape charges at Ke’an now that his long range weapons are gone. Ke’an imagines that to an untrained monster hunter the ape’s fury looks haphazard but it is a trap. The greater wraiths are intelligent and will hide skill behind their monstrous facade to catch overconfident combatants of guard. The reason greater wraiths are so feared is because of their acute battle senses and demonic nature which make them more like fighting a force of nature than a beast.
Ke’an takes out his war machete allowing the magic siphons in the orchard to power the weapon instead of his own mana. While it is not as potent, Ke’an doesn’t want to threaten the integrity of the weapon. He gets into the sari’vas form form two stepshu fighting stance as the blade erupts into flames. The form has him stand straight, the blade held with both hands above his head and his breathing calm and deliberate.
“One or one-thousand, it matters not; bow or die.” Ke’an says his second spell.
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Skill: Genocide 0.00%
Skill Type: Passive
Cooldown: 12 hours
Magic cost: None
Effect: Enemies have two choices: bow or die. You and your selected allies will have slightly increased physical, magical and spiritual damage when outnumbered.
Transcendent Effect: Every enemy killed will add stacking damage effects to your attacks regardless if outnumbered or not. Genocide will also take effect if a single enemy is over 10 levels higher than you.
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Ke’an doesn’t know if it will work or not, but figured trying wont hurt since he is now fighting without System and is outnumbered. A little icon appears in the corner of his vision that he can only barely make out. Even so he is sure that the skill is active and he will have a slight boost to all of his attacks. The sword erupts into a white flame which flows in what looks like slow motion, leaving a trail of frozen fire in the air with even the smallest motion.
As the ape approaches Ke’an tightens up his stance and the creature stabs one spike after another down on him. Ke’an deflects the strikes with minimal motion to be sure not to meet the ape’s force directly. The creature is far stronger than he is and he knows if he tries to tank attacks head-on he will be knocked out of the fight quickly. Ke’an only manages to avoid thanks to his increased dexterity which makes his skill with his machete far above anything the ape can manage. However, this does not mean he gets through unscathed, the creature manages to get a few glancing blows which draws blood.The strikes would have ended the fight with anyone else as it would have turned them into stone.
Manny and a couple of the town defenders sees Ke’an holding his own from their new vantage point behind a wall that had been reduced to a pile of rubble in the centipede's rampage earlier. They set up a firing line to give him some support while he expertly avoided the ape’s strike. Ke’an sees the group setting up and jumps back, giving them a clear shot. An enfilade of superheated bullets pelts the monster, taking it completely off guard. The ape staggers to its side and in desperation lashes a spear towards Ke’an hoping to end the fight quickly and get back to the centipede.
Ke’an finally sees his opportunity to counter strike between the creature’s now desperate swings as it fumbles to escape the bullets. He ducks down under one of the spears to finally get within striking distance with his war machete. He focuses his magic into his shoes overcharging the boots which allows him to control rock. Suddenly a rock spike shoots up out of the ground directly under the ape. At the same time Ke’an slashes his machete using all of his strength. In a flash of speed the ape moves its third arm to intercept the rock spike. It loses the arm as a spike penetrates its forearm and stabs into the creature's abdomen but stops it from being fatal.
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Ke’an’s blade is also intercepted by the second ice spear, however at the last possible moment he forced his own extremely potent magic into the blade. The white flames dance in the air becoming frozen in place after following the uninterrupted path of the machete. The fire marks a clear path like a ribbon through the ether as the machete cleaves through the ice spear and bisects the arm that held it. The machete kept going as slices through the chest of the ape. The creature jumps back to escape but is badly injured and lands with a stumble.
“Don’t worry, I am here to kill-steal.” System says as she runs towards Ke’an with several rifles strapped on her back.
System reaches Ke’an and jumps off his back using him to launch herself forward. Ape prepares to spear her with its remaining arm and spear as she flies through the air. Systems fists began to glow with an intense heat as she drew in her magic circulating it with the help of the stamps she got from Ke’an. The ape stabs for her and in a motion that looks impossible to do in the air she dodges and spins into an open palm strike that is further empowered with Ke’an’s genocide and regicide powers. The creature is blown in half following the cut Ke’an made on the creature earlier.
The final remnants of the creature's life is snuffed out as it falls limp. The momentum of the corpse causes it to skip across the snowy ground like a rock across a pond. Once the centipede sees the body of the ape come to a stop it lets out a loud screech. It turns its attention and rage to System as it forces itself to stand despite it’s grievous injuries already as it charges at her in full force.
“Ke’an!” System says as she throws him the shotgun off her back. “Gonna need you to soften that one up some more!”
Ke’an catches the shotgun and takes out his stamps seeing that the gun was no longer enchanted. He places the wind and fire stamps on the gun’s barrel and starts running at the centipede.
“Gotcha.” Ke’an says impressed at her sudden arrival and brazen attack. “That was impressive by the way.”
System starts running away seeing that the centipede seems to only be focused on her. It completely ignores Ke’an as he jumps up on its back between the spikes. Ke’an serges his magic into the gun as he runs up the carapace of the creature. The violent heat the gun admits becomes visible not in the form of fire but instead a bright blue glow. Ke’an jumps off the head of the charging creature and turns midair to face it, shooting it directly in its face. The shotgun explodes and sends out waves of superheated projectiles which easily penetrate the hard outer shell of the creature.
Ke’an throws the gun as he lands with a roll. He then runs over to System who gets into her fighting stance. The wraith screams but ignores the pain as it closes the distance between itself and the duo. Rage and pain have fully blinded it to anything but revenge.
“You said your fist is a weapon right?” Ke’an asks.
“Yes, can you do Regicide again?” System ask.
“I have an idea. This thing is too hard for your attack to finish it off.” Ke’an says as he gets close behind her. “I claim the head of Kings.”
The centipede is not much of a threat without the ape on its back. It is slow and lumbering but tough and unyielding. The shell that made up the hard carapace is cracked and flaking off, exposing weak points beneath. The creature charges towards System and Ke’an as they stand one behind the other in front of it.
Ke’an what are you doing?” System says as Ke’an grabs her wrist and imitates her stance. “You are kind of too close.”
Ke’an pours as much of his magic as he can into his Regicide spell as possible, focusing it entirely on himself. He then focuses his magic into System’s right hand which to his surprise reacts the same way as his weapons and starts to glow with blue heat that shifts into the white fire. System understands what he is doing but the heat becomes so intense that it burns her and she winces in pain.
The centipede rushes towards them wanting revenge for killing its friend. As it approaches it opens its massive maw which is lined with rows upon rows of teeth. Ke’an uses his rock magic thanks to his boots to create a column of stone that shoots out of the ground beneath their feet and propels them high over the mouth of the monster and into its face. Ke’an directs System’s fist punching the creature with all of his and her strength. The creature is killed instantly by the combination of the regicides now twenty times force multiplier and the heat magic that is forced deep into the creatures head.