Pr-twang~!
Akiol deflected another series of attacks from the Undead King. Pointing his scepter the Undead King caused the room to finally collapse from Rot. Sand fell from the ceiling and before his vision was covered Akiol spotted a faint smile on the husk of a face from the Undead King.
Swirling violently the sand kicked up into a sandstorm. As a grain scraped his body Akiol noticed a delay before Mira's link recovered the damage. Travis also noticed his Holy recovery wasn't immediately working. His wounds would fester a bit, like an infection. Like it was rotting. . .
Travis was able to deduce that this wasn't a direct application of [Truth: Rot], but rather a sort of semi-application. Unlike how his Truths directly affect his targets it seems Rot was acting like an infection. He was unsure if the Rot would affect them if they were hit more, or if it was different requirement the Undead King had to fulfill.
Akiol understood that this was possibly the reason to why the Undead King wasn't fighting to immediately defeat them. As time progressed this "Rot" ability grew stronger. The Undead King was leading them on to steadily increase the strength of his ability.
Both of these proved troublesome. It wasn't something they could immediately change. With the large power gap between them and the Undead King, the King was able to easily afford to take things less seriously in order to prep.
Moreover the constant usage of his techniques was making Akiol's aura start to sputter. Occasionally a strand would flicker out, and the effect of the Form of Fortification was dwindling. Travis on the other hand was growing stronger by the moment thanks to [Averoth's Lust for Battle].
Akiol pointed Stars forward and spoke, "Repulse."
The blackhole formed at the tip of Stars and exploded, blasting the sand away violently. It quickly revealed the castle essentially entirely rotted. A swirling pile of sand and the occasional rock served as the only proof that the walls existed. Ironically however the throne and the stairs leading to it remained standing.
Now that the sand was no longer pestering them they could see the Undead King. A series of weapons falling apart around him, their rusted pieces of metal sinking into the swirling mass of sand. He did not bother to pay attention to the two, and instead looked upwards. Circling the destroyed castle was Ryolu, and Opportunity on her back.
Opportunity looked down and placed a hand on her ear, "It's as you thought Yielya, Akiol's gone and bothered the King. However it seems our good friend Dot is helping out!"
"Dot? Helping? He doesn't do anything unless he gets something out of it. You can pull back now, we-", Yielya questioned the words she heard but was cut off before she could give any more orders.
"Pull back? That's not happening, I'm not gonna let this chance go~!", Opportunity grinned and leapt from Ryolu's back.
The golden avatar manifested and swung its two axes in unison. Several weapons lifted from the sand and shot forward to clash with the golden avatar. Stunned that such rusted weapons were capable of stopping her avatar Opportunity instead opted to cancel the avatar and descend. The sand exploded outward as she landed, placing an axe on her shoulder she pointed the other one towards the Undead King, "Coming for you."
"Another joins this futile attempt."
"Futile? I'm here for the ride!"
[God's Avatar: Form]!
[God's Avatar: Full Release]!
A brilliant glow descended on Opportunity as the two skills began to intertwine. It flashed and revealed Opportunity, donned with a golden armor set and cape to match.
Skill Sync!
[God's Avatar: Form]
+
[God's Avatar: Full Release]
Synced Skill-!
[[God's Avatar: Descent of the Chosen]]
Twirling her axes Opportunity placed them in front of her and formed an 'X' shape. They flashed and an ambient energy covered them. A semi-translucent look of deadly and ruby axes layered over the original axes. Like a poor illusion meant to trick you into thinking they were more grand than their actual appearance.
Although it came with more than just visual changes!
[Weapon of War: Carving Scarlets]
Travis recognized the look of these weapons! They were the two axes that Opportunity carried around normally. The ruby look was incredibly eye-catching. More importantly it was one of the few confirmed Myth-Making weapons with publicly known abilities! Due to Opportunity constantly fighting, and being the strongest known player at that time, various high-level identification Skills were used on her. Eventually someone got past her defense and was able to find out her Stats and the abilities of her weapons. The Carving Scarlets were famously known because they provided a stackable permanent buff based on how many unique kills the player had.
Although it was clear that currently that the weapons Opportunity currently had were not the Carving Scarlets, but rather some sort of ability that mimicked them. Regardless he felt that Opportunity wouldn't use such an ability without there being some sort of benefit.
Ryolu continued to circle above, not immediately joining the battle. Neither Travis nor Akiol knew why, but considering Opportunity didn't seem bothered one could only assume it was intentional. With these three top players, this was undoubtedly their strongest force!
The Undead King still continued to play passively as more rusted weapons rose from the ground. Circling around him they acted as a form of simultaneous offense and defense. Occasionally a group of weapons would shoot towards one of the three.
Opportunity ignored any form of defensive option and leapt directly towards the dome of rusted weapons. Manifesting the golden avatar she swung downwards to disrupted their flow yet found once again her avatar failed to destroy the weapons. Travis clicked his tongue, his mental image of the "strongest player" continued to dwindle the more he got to know Opportunity. This sort of brutish play was very Berserker like!
Yet he nearly stumbled over his own two feet in shock when Akiol joined her in attacking the dome. Opportunity sure, but Akiol? Clearly he just lacked skill in judging characters!
Akiol had a different plan however. As he was dealing with the weapons he noticed a particular pattern, there was a certain time that passed until the weapon rotted into pieces, and it was only when they shattered that the undead king bothered to replace them with new weapons. This was either due to a restriction on the ability, or a limitation to activate a condition. Thus Akiol was currently betting on the latter, and forcing the Undead King to use a different card to disrupt the flow.
{Way of the Galaxy: Constellation}!
A thin strand of aura bounced between the swirling mass of weapons, connecting them in a beautiful pattern. For an unknown reason the Aura was capable of redirecting and interrupting the Undead King's hold on the weapons, and this move caused every swirling weapon to come to a screeching halt.
Travis' flickered through this opening, and Opportunity was next to follow. The two approached the King and opened with a swing! Raising his scepter he blocked two axes from Opportunity and with his open hand he summoned a rusted spear to block Travis' attacks. Akiol zipped in front of the Undead King and thrust forward.
Chance! There was a decent chance to do some serious damage! Aura swirled violently into a point, twisting like a drill as Akiol thrust forward with every last bit of Aura he could muster. It made contact with the Undead King's mantle and a funnel of Aura appeared on the opposite end. It bellowed violently, shredding and kicking up sand.
{Way of the Galaxy: Pulsar}!
The mantle shredded to pieces and the Undead King's voice bellowed, "Futile!"
The strands of Akiol's Form of Fortification flickered out, he was now out of Aura. As the Pulsar faded it revealed the Undead King without his mantle, a bare chest with a spiral caved into his chest. This wound did not bleed, and if anything looked more like a scar. Yet despite this being the most amount of damage dealt yet, it seemed to barely effect the Undead King. A burst of mana pushed away the other two, and Akiol's perfected mana control was able to keep him from being affected.
Sand swirled and consumed Akiol. The Undead King lowered his arms and walked towards the now forming ball of sand. Placing a palm he spoke with a belittling tone, "You spent the last of that energy, and now you're powerless. Willingly giving up the last drop for a mere scratch."
The sand spun so quickly it began to solidify in pattern, looking like a ball of sandstone. Several rusted weapons surrounded the ball, their tips pointed towards it. Opportunity leapt towards it while manifesting her golden avatar. Several remaining weapons flew towards the avatar and shattered it.
Clenching a palm the rusted weapons pierced the ball of sand, and then moments later the weapons fell apart from the excessive rust. Now that all the weapons the King had under control having rotted it was seemingly the perfect time to strike. Yet the Undead King raised his scepter and tapped the ground with the bottom.
The sand began to meld and spread across the field, crawling out like a tsunami. It extended to the entire range of the Territory, covering the battlefield. The Undead King shook his head, "You threaten the King in his own Kingdom! There are to be consequences for such idiocy!"
Travis looked towards the ground and grit his teeth. As expected, a Fourth Stage was simply ridiculous! This was actively rotting away any equipment that was near its presence. The Guild's equipment was losing durability at a rate no one would used to. This sort of wide range debuff was something akin to a Domain. Yet that wasn't possible! One person could not wield both a Territory and a Domain! This ability was something else entirely! This was. . . !
[Truth Twofold: Rot]!