Lu was not the sort of man to dwell at length on the topic of combat – even if he had been making strides to boost his competence recently – much less speculative combat. But even so, he had put some amount of thought into attempting to answer a question: how did the comparatively rigid realms of cultivation stack up to the more nebulous progress of consumption?
It was a question worth thinking about, and as a line of at least two hundred men, the least of which was half-again as tall as himself, advanced with bloodthirsty menace, the paltry answers he had extracted from his experiences filled his mind.
Their ability to sync consumptions will elevate their techniques, helping them punch above their weight. But the physical gap should be lower, so rely on speed over durability, keep switching up how you attack, and stick to Bull’s much stronger back like glue.
Overlapping shields obscured his sight with a translucent film, and in the next moment both sides struck.
Lu’s Dancing Blade-controlled swords aimed for vital points as he slid sideways, folding space around himself to evade a flurry of bullets aimed his way, and when reality reasserted itself a wide spray of pills from his purse – and his own returning gunfire – were already arcing through the air.
The pills struck raised shields, thick rectangular things that must have weighed twice as much as a man, and did little more than scorch the metal. The bullets fared better, if only because his spell aimed itself according to his intent rather than his throwing arm. Men fell, and Lu cycled out a stream of pre-prepared firearms as the talisman in his off-hand glowed brightly. Spurts of blood misted the air, and behind him there was a savage crunch.
He looked back for a fraction of a second. Ah, I see I don’t have to worry about Bull.
His swords, much slower than the Space Ripper propelled pills – or the bullets – finally struck. The blades cut through steel as easily as flesh, and for a moment Lu felt immense relief as a half-dozen men dropped without heads.
Then a shield swipe batted one of his swords out of the air, the qi connection cutting off as Dancing Blade simply failed – and to add insult to injury, four of the headless men began standing back up, nodules of meat and bone spouting from the stumps of their necks, eye sockets and jaws already half-formed.
This… isn’t going to work. I’ll run out of qi before they run out of bodies, assuming I can even last that long. Punctuating his thought was a wave of fire, white-hot and dense with ki, issuing from a trio of soldiers who had snuck up from the side.
Lu stepped backwards, pressing his back firmly against Bull’s. “Hang on!”
Space froze in a wide sphere, liquid flame centimetres from Lu’s nose… and, nonsensically, it continued to burn brightly. Is Bull..? Yes, he’s fine, he’s fine. Safe inside the Spacial Freeze, Lu took a metaphorical breath to steady his mind before twisting space again.
The pair of disciples appeared above the frozen dome, taking the high ground, and the assault began again. A massive wave of punishing lightning burst forth, and before it had even landed another silk attack talisman heavy with formations was already in Lu’s hand. Molten steel flowed freely, and this time the fallen warriors did not stand back up.
Attacking is nearly pointless; we’ll never be able to kill them all. Retreat is the only sensible option.
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The humans had stacked their deck to the brim; there were less than twenty of them, but through some feat of alien strength they were holding against a tide of Salt’s strongest warriors.
Ded watched as one, an old man who would have struggled to reach up and touch his opponent’s shoulders, put his fist directly through solid plate and the underlying torso, neither steel nor bone resisting the rending force. A burst of something beyond understanding and the warrior fell, his wound failing to regenerate as he bled out.
It was admirable. Any one of these warriors would be Junk Dog the Old’s equal, and all together they could have wiped out any clan on the continent.
But there was more than one clan present, and they were elevated by the strength of a greater power… and they had their own hidden cards, too. He raised his arm, signalling to four huge men on the edge of the army. “Guame, Thine, Sight’o, Aden. Spread the word; get the weapons into position.”
The Nine brothers flexed and nodded, but Aden, the eldest, broke off from his battle-lust enough to voice his concern. “Our guys are right there. You sure, Raidboss?”
Our guys are getting shredded like sharpies under a butcher’s knife. “Do it.”
From atop his bike, Ded continued to watch. Even Urick, with his greater divine spark, was barely able to take a hit from the human elites; each of their strikes blew great chunks off his frame, and as the battle wore on he became more fire than flesh. In contrast the humans were nearly uninjured; they were simply too fast to be hit, and used esoteric techniques to evade even the widest ranging attacks. As the Joeists pushed the giant cages of steel and living flame forward, Ded’s conviction only grew.
They’re spreading out. We won’t catch all of them if they aren’t together…
This is where I’m meant to be. Not with the rest of Junk Dog under Joe, but right here. “Cavalry, to me!” It was never impossible, Kara. We were just too ignorant, too young. Watch me, I’ll show you the man I should have been.
His raidgroup rolled into their proper place, a v-shaped attack formation, and the fire sang in his veins. “Forward!” He accelerated explosively, and although there were scores of knights between them and their target his men did not hesitate to follow. Energy cycled between him and his machine, and between the machine and the ground, and less than a second before he would have plowed into the line ahead of him the earth shifted.
One-Man-Eaten-By-Fire had poured a portion of himself into Urick’s flesh, but in a way that was only an illusion. One-Man was fire, all fire, and every single man in the army had some amount of fire in his blood. Ded included. A ramp of hard stone sprouted under his wheels, flinging him up, up, into the sky. His bike roared, and vented power from its exhaust – and for a period of time he couldn’t possibly measure, Ded became a rocket.
He arced up, then down, his men following his movements like they were his own limbs.
Maybe it was their sheer speed, or maybe just good luck and coming from an unexpected angle, but the human failed to notice them before it was too late; Ded’s front wheel met the man’s face, and the face lost.
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Lu was quickly going through his stack of higher realm formations, but he didn’t dare consider slowing down. His normal spells did little more than plink off ki-infused steel, and mental attacks, while somewhat effective, were unfortunately more suited to fighting single targets. Lu could strike a warrior down for a half-minute with a mere second realm spell, but what did that matter when there were a hundred others to take his place? Ugh, I decided to skip the mass-hypnosis spells since they seemed entirely too sinister. Stupid, so stupid!
Bull was having a better time – or at least a less financially ruinous one. He had a similar problem of not focusing on area-attack spells, but the potency of what he did have combined with his superior physique allowed him to close the gap somewhat. Both of them were taking hits, but thus far they had managed to avoid anything crippling.
Another curtain of flame rushed out, and Lu froze it in space. He dodged most of a spray of bullets, his shield straining and deforming as lead slugs struck its edges and glanced off, before retaliating with a blast of gifted power.
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It was hard to spare a moment to check their progress, but Lu thought they were maybe a third of the way to the edge. We’ll make it. Just barely, but we should be able to slide through before I run out of talismans. The urge to take out his flying treasure and simply fly away was overwhelming, but he dismissed it; the treasure was fast, yes, but its acceleration wouldn’t be enough. In the air, the entire army would have a clear shot. And its made of wood. I’m not going to risk it unless absolutely necessary.
He refreshed his shield, cast Space Ripper twice to move closer to the edge, and then something black and heavy came out of nowhere. It struck his shields, which failed, and then his face, which did much the same.
“Ak-!”
“Lu!”
Lu hit the ground and skidded right into a warrior’s ankles. Unmoved, the huge man angled his spear-tipped rifle down and stabbed – only for tines of lightning to arc up and engulf his helmet, his eyes popping as the vitreous fluid turned to steam.
The giant screamed once, sharp and surprised, before his jaw clamped shut and another, much more human sound filtered into Lu’s awareness.
“Lu! You alive?!”
Gold light played over his body, and Lu’s eyes focused as degloved skin sealed back into place. I’m on the ground. That’s bad. A quick movement art got him away from the spear-rifle’s second stab, and he hurriedly backpedalled, freezing yet another wave of flame.
“I’m alive, I’m alive.” Qi reserves aren’t looking good, though. Ki either. “What hit me?”
Another Space Ripper, and then a second healing spell to deal with the aftermath of the bullets he failed to dodge. The warriors weren’t stupid; this far into the fight, they had learned to shoot where he could be going, in addition to where he was. Refresh the shield. Bring out more firearms- ah, there goes another sword. Goodbye, priceless treasure.
“Not sure. It flew away the moment I noticed it – there were a handful of them, I think.” Bull punched, a wave of steel-clad men tumbling through the air like leaves.
Someone on a speeder? Doesn’t matter, I just have to pay more attention in case they come back. “Okay. How are your reserves?”
Pills rocketed from his purse, expanding into a cloud of corrosive gasses where they hit. If the aliens were harmed, they didn’t show it; a wide wave of fire and lead forced yet another costly Spacial Freeze.
“Better than yours. Pass me one of those swords.”
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Ded could tell. Even in the heat of battle, energy thundering through him like electricity though one of Sulphur’s contraptions, he could tell. The height, the slim figure. The way the scarred one stands next to him.
That’s Lu.
He didn’t know what emotion he was feeling, buried under layers of battle-lust and discipline. He was not angry at the man, or sad or fearful of killing him. Any bad feelings of his betrayal had worked themselves out, annihilating where they touched past friendship to leave a void, a self-closing wound.
Resignation, maybe, was the best word. So they managed to find each other. Good for them. “Another pass. Drive them back to the centre.” This one’s for you Cobo, wherever you managed to end up.
They hit an empty space cleared for them, spun, and were flung skyward again with a flex of Ded’s power. The fire burned, spent energy cycling with fresh stuff drawn right from the open air, motes of godhood melting into his spirit.
It should have overpowered the rest of him, but it didn’t. The cold stone ate as readily as the fire and steel, everything swelling and melting together.
One thing. How could I have missed it, this whole time? There is no separation; only One Thing. There is no- There isn’t- Separation is-
He opened his mouth, speaking the truth of his spirit out for the world to hear. “Everything was once One Thing, and Separation is an Illusion.”
The bike roared, or maybe he did, or maybe there was truly no distinction anymore.
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Talisman after talisman burned away to ash in Lu’s hands. I really wish they were as stupid as they look; fighting an enemy that can adapt is actually quite difficult. The army had caught on to their patterns of movement, and try as they might the pair of disciples were being slowly mired down.
No longer were warriors grouped shoulder-to-shoulder, but rather a way’s apart. This would have been an amazing change of pace, as far as Lu was concerned, but the space between hulking men wasn’t empty; the enemy were filling the gaps with walls of fire, presumably counting on their own innate resistance to weather the scorching heat. Or they’re just willing to take the pain to kill us. From our perspective the distinction doesn’t really matter.
Nothing Lu had tried was able to put it out, not water or wind or even burying it under heaps of earth. The only tool he had was Spacial Freeze, which would quickly exhaust his ki reserves and leave him without his most useful movement technique. Bull could force it away with raw strength, but he also had only so many spells left in him.
Do I chance the flying treasure? If Bull hangs from the underside, maybe-
His sense caught it before his eyes did, something moving towards him, a sleek and heavy shape. There it is. No time for a full Freeze, so-!
His shield flared as it was struck, and Lu pumped as much energy into his muscles as he could. Whatever it was had aimed for his head again – a mistake. I can predict my enemies too, you know!
His hand caught the tip of the thing, and as it spun under his grip his last sword – a beautiful blade carved of solid sapphire – flashed in. Bits of Fairy Light plus Light Ray plus Dancing Sparks plus Spacial Freeze, let’s name it… Lu’s Restraining Will o’ Wisp! Take this!
The combination of four different spells produced a dazzling sphere, which threw burning rays of light in all directions. The thing twisted while Lu hunkered behind the reflective crystal, and it broke his grip as it spun like a rearing horse – but the beams of light proved not only destructive to whatever was in their path, but immovable obstructions that left space frozen in their wake. Flakes of steel breastplates sublimated off their wearers, and Lu’s attacker hung suspended in the air.
…Ah, or not so immovable. The space broke under the motion after only a second, the lower cost spell not nearly as solid as its parent – but a second was more than enough. The huge flying machine had lost its momentum, and as he twisted away from six similar shapes blowing past, Lu finally got a good look at what had hit him.
It was a speeder, or something similar. Wheels instead of hoverplates, so how does it..? Bah, it doesn’t matter, just attack!
The machine and its rider, a slimmer warrior in half the armour of his grounded peers, bucked through the last of the Wisp’s frozen beams, falling to the ground. Where he struck the ground reared up, and Lu jumped as a field of jagged spikes erupted where he had been standing.
His shield flared as it took a stray bullet, but Lu ignored it in favour of preparing another talisman. This one is only in half-plate, his inner legs and upper arms are exposed. Maybe I can spare a full talisman and just use a normal spell..?
No, let’s not underestimate our opponents. The silk strip, embroidered with the forms for Winter’s Final Chill, glowed and writhed in his hand. “Ha!”
There was a strange moment where time seemed to slow, Lu and the warrior locking eyes. The darkness inside the rider’s helmet exuded something familiar, a scent of dark plum mixed with heavy chemical fumes.
Then the speeder let out a burst of ki, and in complete ignorance of physics it dashed sideways with movement-art-like speed. Lu’s perception caught up to the present and he redirected the formation-spell, engulfing the back of the machine in frost as the fire-heated air suddenly snapped to deepest cold.
Somewhere nearby something exploded – Bull, probably, dealing with the other drivers – and heat and cold warred for supremacy as a blast of fire from the advancing infantry hit the wall of supernaturally chilled air.
Come on, top-tier formation, don’t fail me! You’re a gift from an Elder, so act like it!
The result only matched Lu’s hopes halfway. The advancing fireball fizzled out, but a similar stream from the vehicle’s backside managed to free it from the shell of ice, and it roared away before turning and coming back in from a wider angle. Lu touched down just as the speeder made its third pass, the driver standing up on his saddle to aim a small pistol with both hands.
Space folded, and Lu was behind- Ack! The speeder reared up, again very like a horse, the back wheel smashing into his shield. The already-damaged spell popped, but it slowed the thing down enough for him to get his treasure sword up in a block.
The tire shredded, black rubber flying as the enchanted gemstone proved its worth. The earth heaved and the speeder rocketed off, but there was no comparison between its current speed and what it had demonstrated moments before; Bull whirled and pounced, catching the machine in its head with a darkness-wreathed fist, and the rider went flying as his mount turned to scrap.
When he hit the earth engulfed him, turning almost liquid for a moment to break his fall. Four vehicles, identical to the head rider’s late steed, sped past like bullets. Pain erupted from Lu’s back, and yet again he was forced to heal a bullet wound and refresh his shield. The armoured warriors advanced on the edge of Lu’s awareness, streaming around the sides of the freezing barrier.
Okay, I’m officially done. I don’t have enough qi to keep healing myself, so I’ll have to gamble on fleeing by air. His stomach resonated, a massive Spacial Freeze building; hopefully enough to cover an escape.
"Bull-!"
Then a dull and resounding whumph as something large crashed down. Lu turned, sword in hand, to see a large box of metal with bright flaming seams. Oh Hell, what now? No, it doesn’t matter, I’m grabbing Bull and leaving. This is obviously some new super weapon, or Junk, or something; I’m not dealing with it.
He reached into his pouch, but a bright flash of light forced him to blink and grit his teeth, and when his vision cleared the seams were gone. The now separate pieces of metal fell, revealing sunlight.