As Alex stood within the barrier, Ulric continued his fight with the lieutenant. The Order Lieutenant had been smashing his full force against the barrier for only a few moments before Ulric launched a new wave of attacks against him. Despite his best efforts, the Order Lieutenant could not even leave a scratch against the barrier around Alex.
Ulric's incredible drive to win forced the lieutenant to back off and focus on him. Even though the lieutenant's goal was right in front of him, he was left with no choice but to defend himself. At this point, Alex had fallen into a trance of some kind anyway. He simply stood in place, but several wounds began to appear on his body as the seconds ticked by.
The lieutenant didn't overlook that and planned to exploit those injuries as soon as the barrier vanished. However, first, he would have to deal with that pesky paladin, Ulric. It was a simple matter to go back into a stalemate. That said, until now, the lieutenant had held back one of his greatest assets.
With a groan of effort, he channeled his Zight and focused it throughout his body. A bright green aura began to flow all around him, and his muscles began to bulge. Then with a loud snap, his body mass shrank down, his muscles condensing into a form that made him appear rather scrawny. With this new change, Ulric grew more defensive. He had seen this kind of thing before from other martial artists.
Martial artists used their own bodies as their weapon. Sure some enhancements could be added to increase overall damage, such as Iron Knuckles, staves, tonfa, or other similar weapons. They could, on the surface, be compared to regular warriors in that respect. However, at their core, their body was their main offensive weapon and all other things were merely tools to extend the viability of their combat proficiency.
Swordsmen trained specifically with swords, and archers trained primarily in bows and crossbows. Warriors like this could often train in a few auxiliary weapons, but at the end of the day, their battle prowess depended on the use of such weaponry. Even without such tools, martial artists could deal devastating blows to their opponents. In this new form, the lieutenant would prove to be much faster than before.
Ulric's prediction had been correct. With blinding speed, the lieutenant shot toward him and delivered a powerful punch to Ulric's gut. The attack sent him flying off into a nearby wall, which cracked and fell apart as his durable body slammed into it. Ulric let out a gasp, but the lieutenant wasn't done just yet.
“Tha-thump!”
The sound of the lieutenant's attacks filled the chamber as he followed up that attack with another, and another, punching Ulric deeper into the stone wall. Each blow was somewhat stronger than the last. The lieutenant's aim was also true, and each strike bypassed Ulric's defenses and landed upon his body.
Ulric did his best to defend himself in that position by guarding his more important organs like his heart, but he was still suffering the damage from the previous attack and was struggling to hold his own. Things were not looking well for Ulric. However, this new form put tremendous strain on the user, and the lieutenant coughed up a bit of blood as one of his internal organs exploded under the immense pressure within his body.
He was overpowering Ulric, a fellow Rank-Three Conductor, with ease. After a moment, the lieutenant stepped away from Ulric's crumpled form and turned to face the barrier around Alex once again. "You stay right there, Paladin. You will watch as I kill this boy and claim power for the Usurper Sect of the Order. It has been a long time coming, but finally, our goal is within reach!"
Ulric coughed up more blood and tried to speak and cast a spell. However, the Magick fizzled out, and his body shook as it dealt with his wounds. The lieutenant laughed and said, "Now you decide to use Magick, eh? Amusing. If you had tried to use your spells against me, I would have been powerless to defend myself in this form.
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"With each passing second, my attack strength rises! In a few more instants, I'll surpass the third Rank and step into the fourth. However, as you can see, this takes its toll on me. In this form, I can't use spells or even wards because of the strain. Of course, you couldn't have known that from just a glance. Still, if your rage hadn't clouded you, you would have been able to see the signs clearly."
The lieutenant chuckled and spat out a glob of blood, "Alas, you still have a long way to go before you can challenge the likes of me!"
He shot forward and slammed his fist into the barrier.
With such empowerment, he could finally send a series of cracks spreading out from the impact site. He rained another blow down upon the barrier, and this time, a chunk fell away and shattered into flecks of light on the other side. Ulric crawled across the ground, blood flowing from his mouth and pieces of rubble clattering off his tattered clothes.
He weakly reached out a hand towards the lieutenant, but the man paid him no mind as he continued to attack the barrier.
“BANG! CRK!!”
“BANG! KSHH!!”
“BANG! CRKK!!”
With each blow, more cracks spread throughout the barrier, and the overall structure started to fall apart. Shards of Zight rained down around Alex's motionless form, but they went unnoticed, his wounds continuing to spread from some unseen force. The lieutenant grinned widely as he coughed up another spout of blood. His empowerment was still in effect, and despite the internal damage it was doing, he continued to attack.
He reared back his fist and, with a mighty yell, shattered the last of the barrier. However, at that moment, a powerful shockwave of heat and Zight exploded outwards, sending the lieutenant back into the entryway of the chamber. He crawled to his feet and glared at Alex, who was stretching his limbs as his wounds began to heal. Radiant light shone from his body, and all of it swirled around him and converged into the center of his Ark. Even the shards of the barrier that had been surrounding him were absorbed.
Alex opened his eyes and smiled at the lieutenant, who was stunned by what he was seeing. A torrent of information poured into Alex's mind, and his eyes shone with an understanding he had not held moments before. Without a word, Alex pulled his Ark free from the chain around his neck and dropped it down into the ‘X’ in the middle of the Ark Cradle. It melded itself around the ridges of his Ark and memorized its shape.
A lattice of light, the color of a raging flame, burst out from the belt after that. It surrounded Alex in a dancing pattern that took the shape of a slowly spinning pyramid. A fearsome heat accompanied the lights, and a soft but ancient melody began to fill the chamber. It pulsed and beat like the sound of a deep drum for a few moments, and then Alex spoke in a commanding voice.
"Ember Armor Phase One… Ignite!" Alex spun the ‘X’ to the left towards the sword side of the belt, and as it returned to its upright position, the pyramid of light spun faster. Grey-colored armor pieces materialized in the air around him as a powerful fire took light around Alex's body. A suit of crimson red covered him, and a white stripe appeared down the length of his body from his right shoulder to his hip. In the next instant, all of the armor pieces snapped into place, and the flames around him converged and gave color to the grey armor.
As the change ended, Ulric and the lieutenant could only stare on in shock and amazement. Alex now looked ready for anything. His crimson armor shone brightly from a light it seemed to generate itself. His pauldrons were flared out from the edges of his shoulders like the tips of a fire, while several thick tassets hung around his hips, firmly protecting those areas.
A crimson breastplate covered his chest, and upon it, a raging fire was etched into the surface in great detail. Each piece of the armor was edged with gold, and its color faded from a light red to a dark crimson. A jagged cape sprawled out behind him, and his Scaltar took on a more ferocious appearance. The length of the staff was now ridged with a metal similar to that of the armor, and the blade of the weapon took on a more ferocious appearance.
He somewhat resembled Cypher when he had first arrived in the warehouse. However, this armor seemed to suit Alex on a more personal level. His pride, his determination, his desire to reach his goals and persevere no matter the circumstances, all of it was represented in this new appearance and in the heat that radiated from his body. At a glance, one might assume that this armor was rigid and firm, however, it seemed to flow and move more like cloth than steel.
Alex smiled beneath his sturdy helmet as the lieutenant stared on in a mixture of confusion and anger. Alex could even detect a slight hint of fear coming from the man, but that was quickly hidden as he struggled to his feet.
"How dare you bring your weapon to bear against me! You will suffer greatly before I strip you of that relic, boy!" the man spat.
Alex gave a confident chuckle and took a ready stance as he replied, "Gimme your best shot, asshole!"