Uchronia nestled safely within the embrace of Alwin's Spirit Hands started chanting an incantation. The Spirit Hands that were lined up in a straight row began tilting up like a cannon adjusting its aim. Their target: Gu Jia. The Spirit Hands signaled their readiness with a synchronized thumbs-up.
Alwin issued the command and the first Spirit Hand began its windup, the arms pulling back. The other hands followed suit, mimicking the motion like a well-oiled machine. The momentum gained from the pullback was unleashed as the Spirit Hand released itself, sending Uchronia hurling forward. Then the second set of hands propelled her even faster, followed by the third, each one adding to her speed—think of it as setting in the ancient human sport of volleyball, except here there were a bunch of hands all setting in quick succession, building up large amounts of momentum.
She was sent sailing over the crowd of humans. One of them looked up, pointing at the green figure soaring above them. "Is that a bird?"
Another human, who was sporting a bow and arrow, answered. "No, it's a monster, you numbskull. Incoming!"
The humans drew out their weapons: spears, bows, maces, but mostly swords. While their eyes were fixed on the flying Uchronia, Alwin was already preparing for the second launch. The Spirit Hand cannon, altered its trajectory, aiming for right above the hoard of humans. Gus, secured within the grasp of the Spirit Hands, braced himself for the launch.
"Gus, I want you to trust me."
"But, I always trust you." He smiled—oh Cor, he was so innocent. Alwin felt so bad for being jealous of his abilities, even if he never voiced out his displeasure.
"Thanks! So, when you're flying I want you to use Copper Body then Fur Quills immediately after. Copper Body has to be active when you use Fur Quills, got it?"
"Yup. Let's go!"
The Spirit Hands flung Gus, each hand that he passed through building up more and more velocity as they threw him with all their might. The human hoard was so fixated on the projectile monster that was Uchronia, that they didn't notice the other missile coming at them, not until it was too late.
"Copper Body! Fur Quills!" Gus yelled out, drawing the attention of the humans.
The humans, weapons drawn, followed Uchronia's flight with their eyes, heads tilted upward at the sudden disturbance. From their vantage point, another threat emerged—a monster launching an attack. Archers nocked arrows, drawing their bows to target the approaching figure. Meanwhile, those with melee weapons sprinted toward Gus's predicted landing site, determined to confront him. Little did they know, they were rushing headlong into their demise.
"Monster army!" one of them called out.
The humans began roaring—a battle cry—to psych themselves up.
Gus' body and fur hardened, while his fur bristled into sharp, metallic spines. Now that Alwin got a better look at him, Gus reminded Alwin of a sea urchin, but with infinitely harder spines. When Gus was at the apex of his flight, he let loose a barrage of his Copper Quills, sending them flying everywhere, even upwards.
The battle cries and war cries of the humans morphed into cries of horror and pain. Hundreds of tiny pieces of copper pierced through their armor and embedded themselves into their flesh. Those were the unlucky ones. The lucky ones with exposed faces had their eyes penetrated, driving the needle straight into their pink squishy brain, ending their lives in an instant.
Alwin was disappointed. In an instant, Gus was able to cut down the human forces by half and injured half of them. He was supposed to support Gus by launching Spirit Blasts everywhere to distract the humans while he dealt with them, but it looked like that wouldn't be necessary. The humans who were alive were still recoiling in pain. When he landed, all he had to do was repeat the two techniques again, and the human horde would've been dealt with.
Alwin sighed, it was the best-case scenario, but he would've preferred to have a bigger role, instead of just the guy launching the main characters: Gus and Uchronia. Wait! If he was the guy launching the main characters, then if he launched himself he would be a main character. His logic was flawless.
Alwin launched himself in the air with the Spirit Hands high-fiving each other before disappearing. A whoop escaped his lips as he sailed above the humans, giving him a bird's eye view of the battlefield. Gus was still falling to the ground, screaming in fear since none of them planned out how to land. Gus would be fine. Probably. Copper Body should be able to protect him. Hopefully.
If anything he could at least blame Uchronia for accepting such a half-baked plan on such short notice. Sure, it was his plan, but part of the blame was on her for giving it the green light. Speaking of Uchronia, where was she?
Scouring the area, he spotted Uchronia about to land. Her landing spot? Gu Jia's face. Even from a distance, Alwin could tell that she was upset. It was easy since that was the best impression of a tomato she'd done so far. Was she angry at Gu Jia? No, his gut—and his past experiences being burned by her rage—told him it was something else. She was angry at Gus!
Then it dawned on Alwin why she was mad. That Copper Body and Fur Quill combo nearly skewered her, but she must've been just slightly out of range. That was why Gu Jia was unscathed—physically at least. The man had his jaw dropped as low as it could go and was staring at his brothers and sisters—what was left of them—shrieking in pain.
One full day passed and then a second dawn hit Alwin, and it was the realization that she was furious at him too—partially. Alwin got partial credit, for developing the strategy to begin with. Hopefully, she wouldn't realize that Alwin played a part in almost accidentally killing her. Please, Gus, take all of the blame. Let sweet old Alwin have a break for once.
Uchronia channeled all of that rage into a slap connecting squarely to Gu Jia's temple. That slap dealt practically no damage, but it did have the extra benefit of casting Slow on him, unfortunately the drawback was that she slapped Gu Jia out of whatever stupor he was in. She rolled onto the ground already preparing another incantation. Gu Jia was already bringing his hands together about to cast a technique, albeit at a comically slow rate.
Who was going to be the first to unleash their spell? Gu Jia or Uchronia. The answer was Alwin. A Spirit Blast dropped from the heavens right into Gu Jia, knocking him onto the ground. The sun shining high above Alwin's head acted as a lightbulb, a bright idea birthed in his mind. The five pairs of Spirit Hands were summoned and lined up right in front of him, aiming straight for Gu Jia.
When Alwin fell into the first pair of hands, they launched him. Each pair of hands that tossed him only served to increase his speed even further, coupled with gravity and Alwin was going so fast he was basically a blur. Darkness seeped out of his body, turning him into a black streak.
"Dark Tackle!" Alwin yelled out.
Gu Jia was sent flying back as Alwin smashed right into his stomach. The impact sent him flying backward until an unfortunate tree caught him. Too bad for Gu Jia, trees were horrible at catching things. A large dent was formed, in the place where the tree had caught him, giving it a permanent scar that would never go away. Unless trees could heal from that—Alwin wasn't an arborist.
The bone armor cracked under the immense force, absorbing the impact until it shattered. Gu Jia staggered, the remnants of his protection disintegrating into fine white dust that settled across the forest floor. The only sign he had been wearing armor at all were the pale, powdery fragments scattered around him.
As Gu Jia slowly got up—emphasis on slowly since the effects of Slow were still active—Alwin was vomiting the pitiful remains of food that were in his stomach. Throwing up twice was definitely not on Alwin's bingo card for today.
Uchronia was already hopping toward Gu Jia, finishing the last words of her incantation. "Alternate History!" she shouted. A flash of light surrounded the area and when it dissipated a second Uchronia was there. Instead of the usual Furball variant of Uchronia, this was another Leafling.
Gu Jia had gotten up and seemed relatively unscathed—compared to his comrades at least. That bone armor of his seemed to have absorbed more damage than Alwin thought. Gu Jia's movements, initially slow and lethargic, were becoming more fluid as the effects of the Slow spell began to fade, and he started moving at a normal pace.
Both Uchronia's and Gu Jia were in a fierce competition to see who could pull off their techniques first. Gu Jia was making a multitude of gestures with his hands, fingers twisting and weaving—if this weren't a battle to the death, Alwin would've thought that Gu Jia was trying to make shadow puppets with his hands—each gesture picked up in speed. The two Uchronias were both chanting different incantations, he recognized the original Uchronia's chants were the verses to Slow, but he had no idea what the alternate Uchronia was preparing.
Alwin had just finished heaving out his entire stomach, his throat and mouth stinging in pain. His eyes were tearing up—the sting from the bile burning him up. He took a shaky breath, needing a few more moments to steady himself and recover.
Gu Jia was the first to finish his preparations, muttering out, "Forgive me."
"Ossis Family Technique: Bone Harvest!"
The bones in his left hand began to writhe and twist, protruding from his fingers. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he grabbed onto them with his right hand. With muscles straining, his scream echoed through the air as he yanked with all his might. The sound of bones cracking and skin tearing filled the forest. When the excruciating process finally ended, he stood panting, holding his own skeletal hand up to the elbow. His left hand was now a bloodied flap of skin.
Alwin threw up for a third time after watching Gu Jia rip out the bones from his hand. Looks like his attack was super effective in slowing him down.
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Gu Jia continued to weave out different gestures with his remaining hand. Blood from the remnants of his good hand dripped onto the floor, each drop spreading its red ink, the stains seeping into the dirt. Both of the Uchronias shared a mortified look with each other, but they remained steadfast, continuing their chants.
"Ossis Family Technique: Skeletal Sword!"
The bone in his hand twisted and contorted, fingers melded into a rough, organic hilt. The area where his palm would've been flatted and stretched themselves out forming the hilt of the blade. Finally, the two bones that made up his forearm drew together, fusing and extending it into a bone blade. The tip of the sword sharpened itself into an angular edge, pointed towards the two Uchronias.
"Prepare to die you Monster Army scum!"
The effects of Slow had finally worn off, allowing Gu Jia to run at them at normal speed. Even with the horrific injury on his left hand, he held that bone sword of his firmly in his grip, charging straight for them. The alternate Uchronia was the first to complete her spell, Grassy Shackles—at least that was what Alwin thought he heard. With all the sounds he was making from dry heaving, it was hard to hear, but that didn't mean he was going to miss out on watching the action unfold.
She channeled her mana into the ground, the grass growing abnormally large and tall, shooting up in the blink of an eye. The large strands of green stretched forward toward Gu Jia's legs, like hungry green serpents itching for a snack. The attack was too predictable.
"Crimson Gold Sect's Basic Sword Technique: Crimson Slash!"
Crimson mana wrapped around Gu Jia's bone blade. He performed a wide horizontal slash, cutting through the surging grass. With the path clear he charged forward to put an end to the two Uchronias. After that—Alwin.
Both Uchronia's looked at each other and nodded. They charged forward towards Gu Jia before splitting off, surrounding him, one on his left and one on his right. The original Uchronia had finished her incantation, her tail glowing, ready to cast it on Gu Jia. All she had to do was land a hit on him.
Gu Jia halted, eyes locked on the two Uchronias circling him. His breaths came in ragged gasps and from the trail of blood that made it look like he was painting the grass red, he needed medical attention—stat.
Once again, they nodded and leaped into action, simultaneously charging at him. Both of them shouting out their signature species attack: Thorny Leaf. A layer of thorns sprouted from their leaf tails. As they leaped through the air, they spun rapidly, building up momentum for a powerful strike aimed straight at Gu Jia.
"Crimson Gold Sect's Basic Sword Technique: Golden Sweep!"
Golden mana coated his sword as he swung his bone blade. Using the flat of his weapon, he performed a horizontal sweep. He smacked the alternative Uchronia away, sending her sprawling onto the ground, the thorns on her tail disappearing. As the blade came inches away from the original she casted Haste on herself. Using that extra speed she used her tail to push against the flat side of the incoming blade, springboarding toward Gu Jia. Without any more obstructions she landed a tight slap upon his face, the impact stinging as thorns left scratches on his skin and inflicting Slow on him.
This was the time to counterattack! The alternate Uchronia was already up and racing toward Gu Jia, while the original Uchronia was still attacking him. They both swiped away using Thorny Leaf, but they weren't strong enough to deal the final blow. Uchronia did spend her time focusing on support techniques, it's no wonder she wasn't strong enough to defeat him on her own, even if there was another version of herself helping her. From the looks of it, that alternate Uchronia focused on support techniques as well but branched out into a different area, one that focused more on plant-based techniques.
Since they couldn't defeat him on their own and Gus was still handling the last remaining humans—assuming that he survived the fall which he most likely did—now was Alwin's time to shine. Using the Spirit Hands, he launched himself into the air high above Gu Jia.
"Move out of the way!" Alwin yelled.
The two Uchronias looked up and saw their savior, their guardian angel—Alwin. But to Gu Jia, this Dark Slime would be his devil, personally bringing him down to the deepest depths of hell. The Uchronias jumped out of the way leaving Gu Jia wide open.
Now Alwin was about to rain hellfire—it was actually just a bunch of different types of Spirit Blasts—upon the despicable human. Within his core, his mental tools were moving like a well-oiled machine, a seasoned factory pumping out different types of Spirit Blasts: regular ones, Spirit Scatter Blasts, and Spirit Burst Blasts. Spirit Blasts came down onto Gu Jia—now unless he had some trick up his sleeve that human was as good as that.
"Crimson Gold Sect's Basic Sword Technique: Crimson Golden Whirlwind Sweep!" he roared.
Crap. Did he jinx himself? That was bad.
Crimson and gold colored mana spiraled around his blade. Like a ballerina, he began to spin on his feet, unlike a ballerina he was generating a whirlwind of air around him. The flat side of the blade pushed the air around him, creating a column of wind, coated in the same Crimson Gold color, that acted as a barrier. Even with Slow active, he was still able to generate enough speed to pull this off, imagine how strong the technique would be if he was operating at a hundred percent.
The Spirit Blasts struck the vortex, unable to penetrate it. Still that didn't mean Alwin was going to give up. Eventually, Gu Jia would tire and one of them would get through. Thus, Alwin continued to launch Spirit Blasts at him. Even though this was a do-or-die situation Alwin couldn't help but play a little game inside his head, nothing serious. He wanted to see if he could kill Gu Jia before he landed. Alwin's output increased, launching Spirit Blasts as fast as possible.
The Spirit Blasts smashed into the wind barrier, dissipating. The Spirit Scatter Blasts collided with the barrier, the outer casing broke apart to reveal dozens of mini Spirit Blasts, each one of them crashing into the barrier only to be reduced to magic particles. The Spirit Burst Blasts exploded upon contact, raw mana being whipped up in the whirlwind only to evaporate moments after.
Remember how Alwin said 'Imagine how strong the technique would be if he was operating at a hundred percent', well you're still going to have to because Gu Jia still had an arm missing. But, what you didn't have to imagine is how the technique would look like when he was operating at seventy-five percent. The effects of Slow were waning, and it was obvious. Gu Jia started spinning faster the area of the whirlwind gradually widened until it was one and a half times larger. There wasn't much difference other than the fact that his Spirit Blasts were getting destroyed quicker since they had to travel a shorter distance before hitting the barrier of wind.
There was also another problem. Alwin in his bid to destroy Gu Jia before landing made a fatal mistake—he used up all of his mana. Between all the Spirit Hands he had used earlier and all of the different types of Spirit Blasts he was launching out as fast as possible, he had drained most of his mana. Peering within his core, that once swirling nebula of pure mana was but a drop in the well—quite literally as there was only a drop of mana left inside.
He began to feel the effects of mana exhaustion kick in. The drowsiness, the shortness of breath, the feeling like he was about to pass out any second. But, no he couldn't pass out now. If he did there was a good chance he'd never wake up again—courtesy of Gu Jia. Alwin reached for his bag, hoping to replenish himself with a Small Mana Pill. There was one small issue. He didn't have it with him. It probably fell when he launched himself into the air. Welp, he was screwed. This was the end. Maybe he should hold his breath and start counting to ten. Was that the delirium talking?
Alwin hit the ground with a splat. Unsurprisingly, he was still alive—being a slime meant that he was squishy, and being squishy meant that he could survive a fall from great heights. Gu Jia drained from his effort, collapsed to his knees, panting and drenched in sweat. His eyes bore into Alwin, and he knew that his end was near. Using his bone blade as a crutch, he pushed himself up and hobbled toward the collapsed monster.
The two Uchronias had something to say about that—the names of their spells. The alternate Uchronia used Grassy Shackles, blades of grass in front of her stretched forward to subdue the exhausted Gu Jia. Even in his weakened state, he summoned his strength and slashed through the grass with his Crimson Slash technique. The severed blades of grass fell away, along with droplets of blood from his injured hand, and Gu Jia resumed his hobble toward Alwin.
The original Uchronia had casted Haste and rushed over to Alwin. Maybe she was going to kill him for pulling off such a stupid stunt. He deserved it.
Instead, she popped open a cork with her mouth and dumped a Small Mana Pill into his mouth. Try as he might Alwin couldn't swallow the pill. It was as if he had forgotten how to use his mouth. Uchronia had to use her tail to force his mouth shut and only then did the pill work its magic. As his stomach digested it, he could sense the mana in his core start to rise, like the tide of an ocean, it slowly crawled up.
He was at five percent mana capacity. That was when his brain sparked back to life. With his mind working again he could see Gu Jia walking towards them, the alternate Uchronia disappearing into magical particles. She had been defeated.
Alwin tried to get up, but just because his brain was working didn't mean that the rest of his body was. He stumbled and attacked the floor with his face. Uchronia had to roll him back up just so that he wasn't eating a face full of dirt. The dirt may have been a better option. He would rather eat that than bone. Gu Jia was right in their faces.
Gu Jia had his sword held high, crimson mana coating the blade. Alwin still couldn't move. His mind was screaming. From shouting at his body to move, to just straight-up begging. Nothing happened. Uchronia was still with him, standing between him and Gu Jia, her tail armed with a layer of thorns. Alwin wanted to scream and shout for her to run, but all that came out were a series of moans and grunts.
Why was she defending him? She should leave him be and grab Gus. If Gu Jia managed to kill the alternate Uchronia, then the original was as good as dead. It would've been smarter to just let him die. It would've been a better plan. A smarter plan. Why sacrifice yourself? Nothing was going to change if she stayed here. Actually, there was one thing that would've changed. There would've been two deaths instead of one. So, why was she still here? Just go get Gus!
"Crimson Gold Sect's Basic Sword Technique: Crimson Cleave." His voice was flat, like an old soldier tired of the fight, just wanting to get it over with.
The sword came down, casting a shadow over them. Uchronia flicked her tail in a desperate, futile attempt to fend off the inevitable. So this was what it was like to die. Time seemed to stretch. Everything moved in slow motion; everything except Alwin. He couldn't move at all. As Uchronia's tail swished, she turned, coming face to face with Alwin. She was scared, she was desperate, she was crying. Tears leaked out of her eyes. Even she knew that death was coming for her. Oh, Uchronia, why didn't you just run away?
The sword was inching ever closer. A breath away from cleaving Uchronia's tail in half. Seconds away from killing her. The end was coming. Uchronia squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaking her cheeks. She was mouthing something, but in that moment there was only ringing in his ears. Oh, what he would give to hear her screaming at him again.
Alwin sealed his eyes. Being killed was one thing, but watching your friend die in front of you was worse. There was nothing left to do but wait. Seconds stretched to minutes. Minutes stretched to hours. Hours stretched to days. Yet, the cold sharpness of the sword never came. What gives?
Opening his eyes he saw that he was still intact. Uchronia was still intact. Her tail was still intact. The sword was not intact. Standing in between them and certain death was an angel—a furry one with lightning jettisoning out of his body. In his mouth were scraps of bone, remnants of Gu Jia's bone blade.
It was Gus.
Oh, thank Cor. Was this a deus ex machina? Who cares? Alwin was alive. From now on, they should call it Gus Ex Machina. He'd build a shrine just for Gus. He'd hunt down humans and feed them to Gus so that he could get stronger. He'd do anything for Gus.
Without his blade, Gu Jia raised his solitary arm, about to punch the daylights out of Gus. But, the Furball had other ideas. And in Alwin's eyes, those ideas may as well have been written down by Cor himself.
Gus's body and fur had been hardened by Copper Body. Each strand was as sharp as a nail, thanks to Fur Quills. Electricity crackled through him, a result of Lightning Legs and Static Pounce. Gus met Gu Jia's fist. The strands of fur pierced through his body like paper. Electricity was sent coursing throughout Gu Jia's body, sending him convulsing on the floor. Smoke rose from the corpse, and the stench of barbequed flesh wafted through the air.
They were safe.