A Shower of dual-colored fire began to rain down, she was aiming very precisely at the outer portions of the queens body. The female in white claiming to have been Zao, fired with all her might.
"I have to see this. Here, fix that wound." Wu Hai passed a healing salve over.
"Will this work?" Vector rubbed it on this wing anyway.
"Its made from local materials, just use it." Wu Hai stared at the battle raging outside of the shield. "This is far beyond anything I ever expected."
"What do mean and who the hell is that?" Vector felt the burns lessening and then his scales began to regain their luster. Once the healing had finished, a thick layer of ice covered his wings.
"Save your strength, and.. I'll introduce her when this is all over." Wu Hai cracked his knuckles. "Now the real test." The crusher was pulled from his back and the white coat on his back carried the Zao Family Crest.
He pulled it over his shoulder and heaved.
The crusher was sent high into the sky and caught by the woman in white. She gripped it with both hands, tumbled over and sent out a slash attack that threw itself toward the Orange Queen.
The Orange Queen had already been beaten back into a circle, cut off from her own power supply. She could still regenerate on her own and in the same spot but the beasts that had once been chasing her had all been frozen solid.
Now, all the Orange Queen had was herself. An Orange pillar was forming, coming down from the sky. It looked like she was about to run.
"Tisk, Tisk, Tisk." The woman in white grabbed at the hilt of the crusher and pulled out a myriad of things that were sent into a formation like totems. They were instantly disassembled and ground to dust and basic elements. "You will never escape!"
A Bright flood of energy swept out from the weapon, it collected in droplets around the formation.
'What is she doing?' Wu Hai looked from below, it was a move he hadn't done.
Four-colored Fire, it swirled in a great ring and captured the orange beam. The fifth color ran down the center of the beam, hijacking its trajectory and momentum.
'No, this cannot be.' Vector watched with his mouth open.
A five-colored beam shot down, using the orange halo as a guide. The Orange Queen could not escape her fate, when she came into contact with the blasts, she was already in the process of coming apart to be moved from one place to another. The resulting collision had torn half of her body away along with the core, a great portion of her body was sent elsewhere while the parts that mattered were scattered across the floor and beaten by the woman in white's Pentafire.
Her body could regenerate but her energy was drastically cut short, even her mass was not enough to reconstitute herself quickly.
Vector wanted swagger out and give some assistance but Wu Hai stopped him.
The Orange Queen's arms shoot out sludge in a last ditch effort but it still only go so far. The woman in white continued to assault her and after a few more serious blows, she broke apart and an orange, slightly translucent stone was separated from her body. The Pentafire didn't stop, it rained down until there was only a steaming rock in her place, it was orange and somewhat clear like river water.
"How did she do that so easily?" Vector asked while she landed in a clean spot.
"To be honest, I don't know all the details. Lets get out of here." Wu Hai spread his wings and flew to the rift.
The Woman in white grabbed the spirit stone and put some of the muck that had been sprayed around into a crystal vial. Stowing it into the weapon's storage, she tried to sling the weapon across her back but noticed that the scabbard wasn't there. After a quick laugh, she spread her wings and came to Wu Hai and Vector's position.
"Are we ready to get out of here?" Wu Hai asked.
Vector flexed his wings. "I'd really like that."
"Okay." Wu Hai began to channel his ability but saw Vector grab his wrist.
"I need this. Let me at least try, if I can't do it.." Vector froze himself in place on the flooring and charged his energy channels, he was preparing.
Wu Hai understood what he was going through, he was certain that if he interfered with Vector's escape that he would never be forgiven. "You got this.."
Vector sighed inside, he didn't need approval, he needed power. A strong sense, like confidence, can get you far but it's never quite enough. In order to develop, some need more than just a big head on their shoulders, they'd require the struggle.
The Portal rift was noticeably shaking, it was visible to the naked eye.
Vector forced more power out. It was definitely a struggle, he was being pushed back and forced into a lean. The rebounds were nearly blowing him backward but he was forcing his power out in ever increasing amounts. When the membrane continued to shake, he gave out a battle cry and threw the remains of his strength out in one large sharp push. "I. Can. Do. This.."
The portal opened and Vector leapt through immediately. Wu Hai smiled and grabbed the woman in white's hand. "Lets go."
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Kuzunoha and Vira were still sitting patiently within the Ship. Misozi was resting, the ship was parked in a pasture and there was nothing nearby.
"I don't know who that woman was but its been a few minutes, shouldn't they be back?" Mursayade asked the two of them but both of them gave few expressions, they were having complex feelings themselves and coming to grips with their speculations.
"It doesn't matter, he's gone in. I believe in Wu Hai, he will come back and won't be alone. He never comes back alone." Kuzunoha laid in Vira's arms.
About an hour passed and they all began to worry.
Misozi had some speculations about the time differences but sharing them seemed like a bother rather than productive. It wasn't much soon after that a black dot appeared next to the portal's entrance.
Three figures two dressed in white and the other covered with Ice emerged.
"What is this? Can't you sacrifice yourself only once?" Vira stuck her tongue out and laughed. "It wasn't nice of you to throw me."
"Thanks." Vector gave Vira a fist bump and turned toward Mursayade. "I'm glad you were able to get through without me. It would have been nice to come through with you guys but I didn't think there was time, I was right too."
"Yeah yeah." Kuzunoha waved her hands around to end the discussion. There were thing she was more interested in. "Don't change the subject. Who is this?"
"A Friend." Wu Hai knew where this questions were leading. He led everyone into the ship before explaining. "This is, she's.. well, she's bonded to me. Now, She's grown a body just like mine only.." Wu Hai touched his nose. "As you can see, its a girl. I don't know what to say.. she's got my memories, my power." The only thing she didn't have was Pistis Gift.
Wu Hai felt his forehead, "After the transformation, I gained this appearance. I couldn't just call her by the name of her kind."
"Hi, My name is Zao Noyuki." Noyuki took the opportunity to introduce herself. "Trust me, this feels even more strange for me. All of Wu Hai's memories, are of being a guy.. I'm not a guy!" She laughed but everything felt so strange.
"Wait. Huh? You're Wu Hai?" Vira came over and felt at Noyuki's wings.
Noyuki shrugged her off. "No. I'm Noyuki, I just have a body equal to his and his memories."
"Kuzunoha? Help me?" Noyuki looked to Kuzunoha but there were a lot of tense feelings going around the room.
'What am I suppose to do?' Kuzunoha led Noyuki into the room with Wu Hai and Vira. "Lets go talk it over, I want to hear all about this.."
Mursayade laughed when the isolation barrier went up, "She's quite something, isn't she?"
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After a week of explaining and figuring out the math, the group had a better understanding of themselves and their capability. Three years had passed for Wu Hai while less than nine months had passed for the others. The time gap was a constant problem, they decided it was best that they make all future journey's together, as a party.
More than thirty years had passed on Shiyan, Vira wanted to know what had happened to Tero and the Demon Regions, everyone had things they wanted to do or take care of but not everyone had gone through the processes of advancement. Mursayade wasn't willing to give up so easily, she expressed her strong desire to breakthrough. Even though her body had undergone changes, they were not because of a breakthrough, the power she wielded was not yet her own.
Kuzunoha had some business she wanted to do in Japan but all of her plans had already been set into motion without her, as per her orders. Wu Hai had a choice to make, going home meant splitting up the group but he wasn't sure they would all stick together, even after their vow to remain together as they traveled. Vector was content on staying but the time for Earth's to join Shiyan wasn't too far away.
In the end, they chose to stay until everyone achieved a breakthrough.
Cheonquq was left in the ship to read, his ability to contribute was nonexistent. They left in a hunting party and headed toward a mountain range. The skies above had an interesting phenomena that was ongoing, lightning fell in every direction but it seemed only interested in the stones that littered the ground. Many different types of plant life covered its surrounding area and there was a nest of something. The group couldn't decide what to call them but their basic structure was brought up on the HUD.
The creatures were like dogs but they had grasshopper legs and scythes for arms. Their electric carapaces protected them but it seemed like they fed off the rocks that grew in place of the strikes, small bits would grow to the full size rocks after a few hundred thousand strikes.
"What exactly do you want an invitation?" Wu Hai stood at Misozi's back door with Noyuki, Vira and Kuzunoha.
Mursayade kissed Vector on the cheek and leapt out of the hatch with four spears in her hands.
"Its your game, I'm just playin it." Vector patted Wu Hai on the chest and dove out of the doorway, it was storming outside. Wind and Lightning were coming at sharp angles and everything was in a swell.
"After you." Vira pushed Wu Hai and Noyuki out of the hatch and grabbed onto Kuzunoha's robes, yanking her down into the storm.
"I didn't want to get wet!" Kuzunoha was drenched even before having left the ship.
They had to stay above the clouds to avoid the lightning, Misozi stayed right above the storms upper bounding layer and watched as the party dove in with shields.
A thunder crack sounded just as the party was entering, it was somewhat ominous to Cheonquq but he kept his eyes on the HUD's readouts.
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On Earth, many nations had come to an understanding that they were no longer at the peak of power. Some bombings had occurred in the name of various religious sects and there were even a few people who showed up with abilities. They were still human, dying like the rest of such terrorists by mortal means. Explosives were a tool of men and great explosives left wide paths. Several decades of struggle had turned into a chaotic and unfriendly place for the citizens of Earth.
Japan was the only nation that had current diplomatic interaction with Shiyan, they had a Teleportation Stone that had been left by the Emperor the last time he had come to visit and their curious nature had yielded a surprising return of dialog. Zao City and Greensong were the limits of their capacity travel within its network but trade had begun and scientists around the world were begging to be a part of the push.
Several groups of extremists had targeted Japan for their cooperation and deification of Nara Kuzunoha. Japan was protected by shielding and Espers soon after, a full contingent of Demons from the Ying Family had arrived as protectors.