It went as no surprise that Goliath Golem had no speck of shame in its runic formations.
Its cracking and flaring mana continued working, moving its constructed body that had unknown amounts of tons. It must be heavy by all rights, thanks to the large sword of quite some mass and body.
But without the edge, it looked like a mace. So it did smack with the remains of its weapon, crashing against the weird mass of 4 swirling Blades that looked like a pair of angled swords, appearing almost like scythes. They tried to turn back to straightness, which Murai accepted because they wanted to return to their stable appearance.
Murai forced them to clutch the large sword and crack it like a stick.
Onslaught, test, and slamming power of the sword's weight crashed against Murai's Blades, turning this fight into an expected picture where Murai went aside, attacking with his Blades where he could.
It came as no surprise to his heart, but onlooking figures did question his acts.
Golem's attention came back to a tiny little duck that tried to change the pace or workings of its sensors. It shouldn't fail, but its mace crashed against the previous dangerous light, forcing the Blades down.
Murai used his Blades cleverly, forcing his feet to move and change the directions. The remains of its sword didn't even come close to his body.
Golem's mana flared in a flash, pushing the Blades aside by increasing its mana output, powering quicker and stronger swings. Murai didn't need to do the same; he just needed to dodge and look for a way to turn this golem into scraps.
His already Conjured mana was enough of a tool and his Shaping clashed against much heavier and quicker swipes, slams, and slashes. Some of his Blades warped against momentum and heaviness, but they did not dissipate. Murai had to be careful about that if he wanted to finish this fight with them alone.
Goliath Golem's mass proved to be a formidable enemy, as some slams crashed his Blades, hitting close to where he stood. But thanks to the lowered mass and weight, Mountain Blade was a much lesser threat. Golem wasn't, however, as its speed increased, and its powerful swipes did move things that many previous enemies challenged as well.
Murai's patience had its limits.
Acting against him with unhinged power and tactics, slams crashed the ground, causing his steps to waver. So he used what he already had. If he crashed that sword once, why not again? A pair of well-aimed Blades slammed at the side of the incoming sword, while another pair went against the hands, forcing the grip and sword to split apart.
This ended in the massive halved blade flying to a nearby building, leaving Murai free to reign. He immediately put good use to this situation. Blades had no other enemy than those hefty arms, but it wasn't his aim.
Slashing right towards its legs, and stabbing into distinct veins that flared in mana, he severed the use of its feet by digging deep into certain runes and important flow. Golem trembled and its legs turned unsteady. Its balance lost its importance, falling right into a placed Blades that pierced into the Artificial Core.
It happened in an instant since mana flow in those veins was raging current. Usually, some measly stoppage wouldn't end up troublesome. Murai had to truly sever it for a second to do this, which his mana did.
Golem's mass proved to be a good tool. Blades went deep, destroying fewer runes, but the flow of the formations cracked some veins around its legs and core, causing aftereffects as if the foundation fell like a house made of cards. With severed fuel, the golem couldn't even move.
Accuracy was essentially, so thanks to the well-placed slash and positioning his pair of blades like spears to the ground, just a couple of moves and Goliath's Golem usability turned to scraps. It was still as lifeless as before, but this time, wide on the ground where it belonged. Its body was sturdy, made of a tough rocky substance called Inox Ore.
There were many layers of golem-making that Murai was able to exploit. Good golems or makers would hide such clear weaknesses as veins outputting mana around their bodies. But Murai understood this problem, as the amount of mana to move this mass must have been incredibly notable and hard to hide.
Ensuring the safety of mana was probably impossible, or straight up too bothersome to fix, as pretty much everything about the golem would have to change. Its outer or inner appearance, everything would have to work for the safety of its mana. But even then, if he wanted to stop its flow, it wasn't as easy as he made it out.
And golems of this size would need extraordinary resources for this kind of thing, or a skilled golem maker. This one was some prototype or poorly done concept that had its good uses, but glaring weaknesses made it lacking.
At least against Murai, of course.
Goliath Golem had served its purpose, much to the annoyance of some figures in the Hell Haven.
Its armor turned out to be useless. Mana needed to be wide open because of its size, large quantity of mana, and need for cooling. Then, the sword lost against mana-shaped Blades, creating a surprising sight because the Mountain Blade wasn't a weak sword. Its mass was incredibly tough and heavy, so seeing its loss against a little duck was ridiculous to any proper swordsman.
However, Murai had his own thoughts and didn't care for anything great. Its mana needed heavy output for its size and sword anyway, so its core was obvious, even with the armor around it in the way.
Its armor was debatable because golems were made from precious materials already. So its armor wasn't much but part of its body.
Around the Hell Havens, armors posed great significance. They meant status, as low-ranked members of Hell Haven would never afford great pieces.
Thus, armor was a reputable and reliable point of interest, and rather than physical help, it was a good triumph if someone owned a great piece of armor. Of course, it didn't work that well with golems, or slaves.
Murai knew that if this golem had clearer protection around its weaknesses, it would have limited flexibility in combat capabilities, but it would be significantly tougher to destroy. Protecting what mattered was all important. So when its weight slammed his Blades inside, ruining the runes and its internal structure, it was over in a heartbeat.
Murai scoffed, thinking this golem was even worse than Acaman Golem. That was at least clear in its core, but its body was different. This one left a bad taste in his mouth. Simple as that.
He crippled the Artificial Core, smashing it to pieces with his Blades that were lost in the process, but it was a good enough price for such a kill. Its armor pieces only flowed and acted around the visible mana veins and limited plates around the torso, revealing a hole to the core in its chest. Its hands were mostly barren of significant protection, making them free to hit, similar to legs.
But they should be decent because of their sheer size and weight, crashing any weaknesses apart.
Murai admitted that overcoming weight and momentum was difficult. This was why he attacked one of the essential principles of how to defeat a giant: attack the legs. Murai did use an easy-sounding method, as its mass was good, and he didn't want to get smashed too. If he used his beak, such weight would truly challenge his body weight and he would be squashed like a pancake. Some feathers wouldn't protect him well.
He had no doubts, so the use of his Blades was clever and went according to his expectations and newly found confidence.
In terms of guidance and mentality, this Gate provided him with more things than just valuable loot, or a bunch of essences.
It gave him mental and physical growth.
With the golem gone with relative ease, Murai looked towards the rest of the figures.
He noted some glaring beasts that were alive, growling at him as their gazes met. It was just the end of the starting round, so Murai quacked. “Wanna piece of me? Come and get something in return.” he turned, slapped his butt with his wing, and wished to have his fingers right now. This will have to do in his honest opinion an unhinged nature. “Is this everything that you've got? So disappointing to see you growling to an empty air. Get lost.”
For some reason, even if the beast didn't understand his quacks, this act agitated them that much more. There was no need for language barriers when one talked shit.
Considering Murai's lofty and arrogant demeanor, most of the beasts wanted to kill him on the spot. Clever figures among the foes only scoffed at his acts, but a few of them weren't happy either. The golems among them were indifferent as they should be, and so were statues of locked beings.
Murai was successful in angering them and didn't find it wrong. He happily stretched his legs, letting the remaining Blades swirl around his head. He could quickly change them into more Blades, as long as their mass would be able to get lower, and their flow wouldn't be as quick or stressed. Finding that line was important, yet it seemed to be working well, as long as he squeezed his Shaping with enough force, and enough power to split the Blades apart.
A similar method worked in numerous Blades and creating a single piece. That one required massive control and Shaping. Murai found both of these things hard. Both needed workings with mana, but increasing was flooding, and decreasing was tightening.
In this case, he doubled his Blades in relative speed without weakening his Shaping or form. He almost used it as if he had 4 sharp fingers.
“Huh? Here I expected to have some conversation with these fools.” Murai wondered. “Perhaps my set expectations weren't that great? Right. That must be it. This is what I call expected if I can't even utter a normal word. My vocal cords are probably in shambles, or they are as terrible as a pebble or a leaf. Wait... Those have no vocal cords at all. But I had my soul. It's not like I can't have conversations with others. It's the other's fault! They don't understand me. Well, shit...”
Sorting his ideas wasn't that bad, because the brief pause between the rounds allowed that.
2 minutes later, another figure came forward without Mindarch's voice.
This time, unexpectedly, the horniest figured her hopes in catching his little feet and feeling his feathers. Succubus walked forth, swaying in a strangely demonic appearance. She had no wings or tail, but she was the sole succubus among the possible foes. Swaying in her walk, her thick pair of legs gave her enough stability for what was above.
Not one, but two sets of arms were there to set her Bloodline apart from the low-level succubuses, or it was the effect of some Influence Item or her own Bloodline. Hands were fairly normal to see in numerous numbers for demons, but what to think of 4 breasts that were unobstructed for all eyes to see? Murai couldn't think what use they had, or why her armor didn't cover them up.
Her stature wasn't small either, reaching almost 3 meters in height. Such a stature worked well with some physique-based Paths, while her numerous arms provided greater fighting power. Her muscles weren't that small, leaning into the power of flesh for sure, or some martial arts.
She wasn't as big as Goliath Golem but perhaps her strength will be leaps and bounds better. Limits in golems were excellent exploits so Murai expertly destroyed it. Enough intellect should give this foe the edge that Murai expected from this Island. Her body and flesh should be much better than experimental constructs and sensors to hunt an Anatidae.
Her vivid soul shined, giving her Lust notable feelings. Murai would recognize she was a succubus even if he was blind.
“G-greetings, Anatidae,” she uttered in a hoarse forced tone, stumbling over her words as she walked forth. Her eyes were steady, but anything else wasn't. Her arms trembled as she clutched them around her hips, and her red face was either angry or far too excited.
Straining her acts together, she waited to kill this duck to prove herself. Visible killing intent and her aura was so clear, Murai was probably sure only Razmund would be horniest for his skin. She was smiling in her bloodlust, and even her rather slim-looking torso, relative to the rest, made her legs and arms radiate a bloody aura.
At this time as she came forth, Mindarch spoke the rightful message.
[Goliath Golem has been defeated.]
[The next foe is clearly a step above the rest, as Bloodspawn of an Overlord.]
[Young but hopeful to be strong, Level 41 Uqari awaits her hopes.]
[She is Lesser Demoness of Lust. Succubus eats the emotions and bathes in the glory of their opponents.]
[This one made a blunder, so she hopes to proclaim and fix her choices in this Gate.]
[Or she can die while trying. That is a fitting choice too.]
“Figures. A Demoness of Lust? Is that her Path? Should I be worried that she is gonna... do me? Hm!! What a hilarious possibility! Should I offer her my beak? That seems validating enough, forgetting the fact that she wants to kill me, of course.” Murai sneered, having all sorts of thoughts in his mind that weren't as fitting as he thought.
Most of it came out of his beak anyway, and because he felt no consequences for his tone, he spoke however he wanted.
“Name' Uqari Nazga, Anatidae that comes to stir this place.” She said with visible calmness after hearing Mindarch's voice. “I will slaughter you. Right now. Right in this place. On my name, I will stop your unhinged raid on my Lady and our Blessed Temple!” Uqari said, and each sentence was like a surge of a Strengthening Potion that hyped, contorted, and heated her body.
She had straight and deep black hair that flickered like snakes. Her red eyes glared down, adding a pale skin ferocious contrast.
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Murai heard her words with quite indifference, figuring that this enemy may be strong. Golem was just a little test. A treat, he thought.
The amount of intent, Will, and psychological effects this succubus gave him wasn't unfamiliar to him. But against his Robust Spirit, it was not only laughable, this sort of demon wasn't a fair match to his soul.
Of course, unless she would be an incredibly good fighter. He had no doubts she looked physically demanding. At least 4 times more than the usual succubus, if not more.
Her voice and tone bore her Path, affecting his mind so little, perhaps only an Extremes in terms of Lust would give him some problems.
Forcing her clear open threat, use of her Bloodline, and intent to catch him, Uzaki frowned. Her veins around her eyes and forehead swelled in anger, and she stomped the ground in unhinged outrage.
“Y-you... You! I will kill you by my own hands if you can't take my Lust!” she shouted, extended her hands, and let her Physique do the rest.
Among the foes, she was coreless, much to her dissatisfaction, Murai guessed, but it seemed she had her advantages in different ways than her core.
She can still be a Handler, whose effects and techniques often worked surprisingly well in physical or martial-based Paths. Such beings could wholeheartedly focus on their priorities without core or mana inflicting the rest. They would focus all they could on their martial arts or weapons.
Uqari had no such Path, however. As she walked the Path of Succubus without any shame, the strengths of her current form moved through her Bloodline alone.
Those were demonic powers, as a succubus was a wild being that was closely connected to devils. Their main influence came from the demonic roots that had chaotic properties.
They wouldn't look like Uqari in most cases, as their preferences in their form were more human than demonic. In such cases, they often looked straight like devils instead; almost too human.
Her nails warped and sharpened to form sharp cutters, while even her fingers thickened like her forearm, becoming dense like fine steel. It was her Muscle Control, as all succubusess had various powers of shape-shifting and body-altering powers. Alongside martial-based techniques outside of her Path, she could train fairly well in them, as long as the effects of her Bloodline were tight.
Veins popped throughout her forearms and her biceps swelled in body-alternating power, but she didn't seem to struggle. It was natural for her, even if her mind wasn't calm just because of her foe.
It was just her arms that were changing drastically. That was all she was changing. Both pairs, of course.
Though it made her whole upper body thicker and muscular anyway, her arms were the biggest. It took a couple of seconds to start her Tearing Heart Technique. There was no indication to start this fight yet, but she didn't care for that anyway.
Pouncing at Murai, who stood below her point of view and 10 meters away, she realized straight away how difficult it was to think of slaughtering such a small yet dangerous foe.
It was too weird of a concept, similar to the pair of Blades floating above Murai's head, acting like arrows or swords that could clash against her in a heartbeat. All on their own, they were impossible to read. Their speed and Sharpness were intimidating because she saw how Murai finished that Golem. His accuracy was ridiculous as well.
Frankly, he did hit the weaknesses, but the precision and Sharpness that would cut into the mana veins required steadiness and power. It wasn't as if veins were universal weaknesses. His mana had to overflow its flow. Some weaklings wouldn't hurt these veins in the slightest, even if the golem stood still. And she knew that golem was a War Golem. Those, even if in experimental stages, were ready to go to the Surface and battle at any point.
She was asking for a challenging fight anyway, so Murai sent his Blades forward. “Piss off, small fry.” he quacked in annoyance, swiping his Blades diagonally, and clashing against a pair of her left arms.
Uqari saw that swipe right away, so she halted her pounce, opting to put her hands against the Blades to test them out. She caught them without bleeding a little, and a standstill occurred, ending in no advantage for either of them.
Neither of them hoped to kill the foe. Both wanted to test the other.
In this sense, both succeeded. Which pissed Murai off a little, so he squeezed his core, straining both Blades to push against her grip.
It worked, pushing Uqari a couple of steps back as she felt the depth of the shiny Sharpness and wild mana that seeped into her hands. “What a savage force.” she huffed a cold breath, clutching the Blades with not her fingers, forcing some of her nails to cut into the Blades. It hadn't done much. Their flow was endless, sharp, and tough to crack.
Oh? Did she catch and stop it? It seems the difference in levels can show some unclear, or obvious disparities. It works weirdly, doesn't it? Me and her, she is 42 and I am not even 20 yet. Seems unfair... but I can fight the same. What does it make me? Am I someone insane? How do levels work if they can't even form good balancing factors? Or is it that the balance was never there to begin with? Murai thought as he stood, calculating the truths that this Gate kept giving.
It wasn't wrong. The sensible nature of this world wasn't all that sane when too many weird things met and fluttered together in the most Blessed. And Murai was even stranger than that.
There is also the succubus nature of her Bloodline and that Lust. Or does her mass work as some disaprity too? Weight is often subject to more power. I am light, yet still powerful. Or is it the beak that put this disparity aside? Anyway, she is a handful, that is for sure. Or, do some other effects act as another force?
I may be weaker in some aspects, but stronger in others. That is what I call a normal thing, but in a world that makes clever use of some numbers, it hardly makes sense. This clash against the physique, mass, and weight is exactly that. It makes sense to lose some edge, as Blades aren't supposed to be used like this. They are for slashing. Not pushing. Spears or pillars are for that. Murai deducted, glaring at Uqari from 5 meters away.
He had to think about the limited range of his Shaping as well, so he thought of his acts and how to kill her.
My current Proper Mana Blade shouldn't be something overpowered alone. It isn't by the norm, but it is passable because of my mana and... Shaping. Pillage would think of it further, I bet. I suppose I will take this idea to him on my next visit. I am fueling this spell to a new power. Not my mana by itself. I can't wield it physically, and the amount of mana around my output is my saving grace.
It still has some force thanks to my mind, turning out the way it does. Right.. It's all about control, knowing one's enemy, but mainly, oneself. My Sharpness acts like a Catalyst to make these Blades shine, but frankly, it is my mind that does most job.
Wait... the Wilderness! Heavenly Shaping! Have I already worked around it without my intentions? Pillage... that dog must've come with his reasons, while I am working on it myself.
Wait, never mind that. It is unlikely. I do not cover any of the points of his manual yet. I just squeeze it enough to let wilderness be what it can't be. A bother. It isn't important against this succubus, who is thicker and holds stronger core strength than me. It must revolve around her demonic physique of some sort, giving her more power than the previous golem. Her legs aren't the problem. Not really. She is not dumb, but I can try to seek her weaknesses. No one knows how thin-skinned, or dumb one is, until the End is near, or power bursts it away.
Well, her anger issues are obvious, I must tell. She thinks she is stronger than me, but that may not be wrong. Her power has its foundation, but her Physique can do so much against a proper enemy. Am I proper? I always am and am not, as I have my body and soul! She can screw off. Right, she can. Just some lesser demon under some lofty-ass demon who thinks killing me is cheap? Phe! Murai scoffed at that idea, standing still amid the chaotic undulation of the aura that Uqari radiated.
The moment she popped her nails, her whole demeanor changed. She wore extremely revealing armor, that only protected her belly, shoulders, and neck, and her thigh-height boots did pose at least some protection, even if they were lean and long and the armor was relatively thin. These armor pieces could only be described as stripes of plates, curving around her body tightly.
Her upper body was mostly bare of them, apart from a few stripes that secured the rigidity of the whole outfit. One would often see such outfits amongst the succubuses, as they bathed in primordial emotions, with Lust, Bliss, or Chaos being the most notable.
Uqari was trying to destabilize the pushing Blade within her grasp. She clutched it as tight as she could, unwilling to let go of her test. Her nails dug deep, cutting into his mana, but he kept his control tighter.
If she let go of her grip, she knew that the Blades would flash in momentum, slicing her in half if she wasn't careful. She was wrong in this regard. Her body was strong and her armor was good because of her position.
So she kept pushing, unwilling to see any stops. It wouldn't stop just here, or so she thought. Her face was as serious as it could get, her unsightly clutched mouth revealed no smile. She wasn't enjoying this, or she did it so much it turned her face weird.
She flared her flesh again, arms bulged in power, and her other pair of arms came in help. With little effort, she clawed at Blades with the nails, obliterating them to foggy, azure dust that flew into the world.
Murai kept this loss in his mind, but it was just a temporary hindrance. He had more Blades ready if he wanted.
“Ugh... This was harder than I thought.” Uqari grunted as she felt her arms stressed as if she moved a mountain.
Turning her gaze upon a yawning duck, that wore an arrogant expression that almost snapped her mind, she shook. Murai remained on the spot, still thinking about how to deal with her.
Options were numerous, but it all came down to one thing: kill.
Unknowingly, Uqari watched with fear as she looked above, feeling more swelling mana. Her mouth opened unwillingly, her eyes looked at the hovering mass of mana that Murai Conjured in a heartbeat. He let it crash, divide, and reform into more Blades, but their Shaping and control would be harder if there were dozens of them. He knew that, but numbers were also strength, similar to a few much better controllable Blades.
So he worked on them one by one, putting his mind to where it mattered, rather than to touch the whole mass.
It was similar to how one can't move a mountain. One may try to chip it away, moving or working around some bits before it will become manageable.
That was a good concept that was similar to Heavenly Shaping's few notable ideas, but Murai knew about this long before he became a duck.
Some similarities in Heavenly Shaping touched on dozens of other Shaping factors. Pillage worked on them, figuring that some aspects of wilderness crashed the regular workings of his mana. Either by luck or intense training, there were workings in his technique that turned the wilderness into a Catalyst that would increase the efficiency of Shaping spells to another level.
It was a bit crude in terms of practicality, while some wordy explanations were only that: foundation set by written rules, that had often questionable practicality.
Murai made Blades that weren't one bit weaker than the ones from before. He didn't use any of the Heavenly Shaping properties. He had no time for the training, even if what he was doing right now was perfect for that.
Uqari gulped down, nervously coming to terms with the fact that she didn't even notice another Conjuration coming from Murai. She thought if he already pushed her over the edge, he wouldn't have time to divide his mind.
But he did. That fact alone should be fairly hard to do in her mind that held no core, but she wasn't a clueless demon. She knew and learned about the way of Shapers and Handlers.
Knowing the enemy was one key to a victory, after all.
And she didn't know nearly half of what she thought about this insane duck. Murai should've been way too preoccupied with forcing his Blade against her. The facts went against that logic, giving Uqari a tough reality check that someone insane just spent a huge chunk of their mana just to do this overkill Conjuration.
She doubted it held some validity, but since Murai was able to achieve that thanks to nothing but his mind, she readied her stance again.
This wasn't about the familiarity of his mana at all. He squeezed it all out to submission, Shaping it in bits like he wanted. It was far from the fact that Uqari thought about, as that act of letting mana out while maintaining his Blade against her, took just a little more effort than usual.
And since Uqari didn't seem to be very insane of an opponent, he decided to do things slowly. She hadn't come at him with utmost everything anyway, so neither did he.
His powerful soul did make it all possible and nothing else. Normally, a mage would need to pay attention to multiple things at the same time. They would have trouble with subverting attention to many things. Controlling mana came in many stages, so it came as no surprise that dangers arrived if someone physically strong came at mages like a spear.
Mages usually had weaker bodies, so killing them was easier up close.
The more talented mages were, the more they could work with their mana and fix their shortcomings. That worked in more spiritual aspects than flesh or bones. It also didn't include just mana affinities, quality of the core, or roots of the mana space. What one might take into their mind, control, and Shaping all revolved around a huge bubble. Popping it meant disaster.
Mind, soul, perceptions, and Will in itself. Either of these was something Murai was good at. He wasn't excellent at working or solving the shortcomings with the flesh yet, thanks to his Beast Core, so his unfamiliarity could give rise to new problems, or advantages. Murai was forcing it to work, which essentially put his Beast Core into more stress and flow.
It was a vague problem within his mind, but he wasn't even thinking about it. He forced it to happen, so it wasn't a huge issue. He just wanted to handle his magic the same way he was used to. That was all. It was honesty that he was yet to change.
Core was less of an issue with enough strangling squeezes, though it wasn't nearly as half as Murai hoped for. That was because his set expectations were too high, and his overwhelming memories possessed knowledge way out of his misconceptions about beasts.
He was willing to bend his knees and come to terms with his Beast Core, but only if everything would be calm. That required a couple of things: Heavenly Shaping and time. Both of them at the same time would be the best.
And with the Encounter coming for his throat, along with this temple that seemed to hunt and test him too, he wasn't at a point where his mind changed yet.
His living provided the biggest strengths he could ask for. Some Heavenly Shaping was just part of a legacy that was part of a single world. It may involve secrets of beasts, sure, but out there in the wild universe, there were many such legacies, that would brick this world apart.
That was at least his current perception, even though it was wrong or sounded too arrogant. He hadn't even seen a speck of this world's might.
Killing this lesser lust demon? He could do that with enough force like he did with others. What he had was that, and even less of that wouldn't hurt him, as he cared about having his ego in check.
Murai playfully swayed his beak, letting his Blades sway in similar motions above him. It was a good practice that sent shivers down Uqari's spine. Murai faced his mood well, ready to give her some suffering.
He can also put others through some suffering, just because his circumstances were easier and power was ready.
Powerful beings were known to do whatever they wanted. That was the truth that ran rampant around all of the visible Skies.
Circumstances didn't matter. Murai didn't question the fact that his enemies weren't as crazy as before, while deep down, his Soul Read of this succubus proved some fears and hesitations.
Perhaps she knew more about Anatidaes, which would answer her starting words and current fear and shock.
In the past Islands, he had met a lot of insane foes that often no longer cared for his Anatidae status. They were specifically set to go against him, while the Last Islands held different premises.
These were simple tests before Gate 3.
Goliath Golem or Uqari held no hunt to kill him outright. They were put into punishment for coming here, albeit some of them were no different from hunting him down.
All went according to Hell Haven and Mindarch.
Murai wondered what purpose they had if they were so different? 26 foes came here to test him out. How and why did Mindarch make it like this?
He long imagined that each foe he battled was a slave or prisoner of Hell Haven that this temple was part of. It made sense in an individual matter he heard from Lisa or Lorry.
But Mindarch was the central figure in this, sending them to test him, kill him, or do all of the above between these lines.
He wasn't sure about the core reason that went around the Overlords, or Gods. Those were too far behind his mind, inspiring someone like Mindarch in making decisions.
That left him guessing, wondering, and fighting anyway. Murai smirked as he felt his slowly amassing army of Blades. He hoped these would be good weapons not only for her but for others. He stabilized all of them in their floating form and connected them all to his mind.
Seeing his playful expression, Uqari turned to her inner fury. She had a hard time taming her emotions like any succubus who truly followed their heart.
She stood there with her flexing arms, which contorted every fiber of her anger and muscles together. “I will kill you.” She shouted as the boiling point of her body and mind went over some line.
Stepping forward by shattering the stone ground, her fingers went forward as if she wanted to pinch a hole in the space. 4 hands went in a straight line before her, forming a sharp point thanks to her nails.
In a strange sort of words, they weren't far from 4 spears coming together, while her step pushed her forward in her unhinged will to slay her foe. She bent her legs and pushed forward.
Dashing forward, she clutched her jaw as she was getting close. Murai wasn't moving, so she placed her right hands first, arriving with them much faster while keeping the left ones behind just in case.
“Piercing Heart!” She shouted the name of her technique. “Let's see who is curious how your heart will look like, Anatidae Child!” she spoke with utter conviction, following her Bloodline power over her hands, giving them a red look.
The first pair of Piercing Hearts arrived at Murai's chest.
“No. No. No. Nope. You won't do shit, as I have an upper... hand? Wing! Wing... Right,” Murai quacked, forming an argumentative stance where he tested her Piercing Hearts by slashing a single Blade forward. It shattered to pieces right away, so he let the others down.
He was sure his mana would lose if Uqari was serious and putting her power on the line like everyone so far in this Ending Isles.
When Level 40 fought with everything in line, his mana wasn't enough. So Murai wasn't going to rely on his Blades yet, even if he was curious if the quantity of them could challenge her qualities.
“Using them all... Clashing agasint your hands? Why should I?” He decided on some terms of what he had left and put it forth with his Will. “Robust Defense!”