Michael sneered.
'They're going right into his trap.'
The whole formation ran in tandem, circling from underneath the ravine-like place Michael had formed. As Astrid spotted them, she pressed her hands firmly on the ground.
A translucent, white light spilled from her hands and a dome started to extend from about 70 feet above the Wujins. Extending downwards, it closed all of the paths. A few of them managed to escape, but they were instantly caught by Michael and killed.
'Good thing the fatality limitation doesn't apply to these fuckers.' He thought to himself in a moment of pure bliss.
Michael – as Arthur had guessed – had a Divine Covenant. Since his Arcane Art's byproduct brought harm to his own body, he made a Covenant in which he would seal his Arcane Art away in exchange for around 3 to 4 times increase in his physical abilities.
However, there was more to it. He did not permanently give up his Arcane Art for physical capabilities, he could still use it but only when he was at around 30% 'health,' i.e. when he is really close to dying.
Since he was able to still tap into his Arcane Art, the loss he had to incur was that as soon as he reached 30% health, he would lose his physical buff. And while he had this buff, he can not kill humans. Michael had thought this would not apply to Edeners. However, it was applicable, given how no one who fought him had died.
Monsters, however, were exempt from this criteria.
It was annoying, but Michael was fully satisfied with it. With a ridiculous amount of strength coupled with the knowledge of multiple martial arts, he was a force to be reckoned with, even with only basic body augmentation.
Astrid let out a pained gasp as the Wujins started to club against her barrier in which she had sealed them. At the same time Michael called out for Arthur.
"DO IT!"
Without looking back, Arthur flicked his wrist and the weapons he had lodged into the ravine all started to oscillate subtly, creating a specific weak frequency of sound waves to wash over them in an orderly manner.
The clubbing started to weaken, before eventually dying out.
"Perfect." Michael grinned as Astrid fell on her back, gasping loudly.
"God that took a lot out of me…" she mumbled to herself before looking over in Arthur's direction.
His clothes were sagging down due to the blood and sweat leaking out from his body. He had already overused 'Slipstream'.
The number of steps before his body started to break was around 15 steps. Right now he has used it for around 18 times, resulting in the muscles in his left arm torn and ears bleeding.
However, the heavy amounts of adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream numbed out the pain.
The commanders were all dead, their bodies making an extremely large pile.
The Queen took a step back. Her regular soldiers were running towards her.
However, it was too late.
Biting back a groan, Arthur phased, turning the last, dying spark into a checkpoint and arrived behind the Queen. She tried to turn around, however, Arthur effortlessly lodged his blade's tip into its membranous frill.
It let out a loud crunch.
The ones circling around the queen and a few others that had circled around Astrid suddenly limped.
She looked back and a wave of horror washed over her.
The Wujin jumped at her, determined to kill her at least.
Astrid brought her hands up, but before it could bite down at her, Arthur yanked the frills from the Queen with his bare hands, killing it in the process and in extension, turning the switch off for every Wujin around them.
The Wujin's giant body fell on Astrid.
She let out a groan, trying to push the humongous weight of the creature from above her. But even with Arcanum, she wasn't strong enough.
"BUAHAHAHA! LOOK AT YOU! Squashed like the little rat you are!" Michael mocked, wrapping his arms around his waist as he laughed.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." She grumbled to herself. It wasn't just that one but every Wujin was dropping dead the moment their Queen was killed.
Suddenly, Astrid's lips started to tremble as she saw something. Something that wasn't supposed to be here. And the scene sent her senses into an unbridled state of alarum.
It was not Arthur and his bloodied face, nor was it the way he was sitting on the giant throne of Wujin corpses, but it was the one standing right behind Michael.
His horns etched a deep imprint into her mind.
She pointed to his back, her lips fluttering but fear muffled out every word.
Michael threw his body backwards and a dark blade pierced through his forearm. As he looked back, his eyes were met with squinted amethyst eyes.
"You are quite the bother, from what we have observed." The newcomer spoke, his voice low and dangerous. "The Lord has decreed, should you sabotage his plans, I will personally execute you. Do not expect any form of mercy."
Michael sneered, unfazed by his arm that bled profusely. "Fuck your lord... and FUCK YOU!" Ed's eyes widened as he brought his other arm upwards. The bones inside his arm rattled from Michael's punch.
Arthur looked at the scene with a tired look, still sitting comfortably atop the pile of corpses of the commander ranked Wujins. He let out a deep breath and his Arcanum started to slowly hasten the process of his healing. To an extent it was capable of.
Ed had already summoned Nightcrackle, which meant that Michael wouldn't last long. Not without a weapon of his own or his Arcane Art.
Arthur thought. His eyes flicked from Michael to Astrid who had almost removed the hulking weight of the creature from atop herself.
'Something isn't right…'
Arthur mused; the grey clouds overcast subsiding. His Arcanum had taken a huge hit, dropping to around 40% of what it was. As he watched the battlefield break underneath the might of Michael and Ed's auras clashing together, he took in a deep breath, trying to refill his reserves.
His heart palpitated as the much purer form of Arcanum – when compared to Earth at least – seeped into his skin and stored into his primary node. Even if the air was tinged with a foul smell, it felt extremely light and crisp.
As the adrenaline started to wash off, he started to feel the pain hit him like a truck. However, at the same time, he jumped down from the makeshift throne of corpses.
Just as his foot touched the ground, a huge, sickly green runic circle encased the entire battlefield, save for the place where Michael, Ed and Astrid were.
Arthur's eyes widened as he recognised the circle.
Turning around, his eyes met a single person.
Short, curly white hair and a pair of slit golden eyes. Two pairs of obsidian horns shone in the sun as it continued its ascent and washed the whole world in an orange hue now that the stormy clouds were gone.
Two horns sprouted from his forehead that moved upwards and the other two extended upwards from his temples and curled down around his ear.
He looked down at the dead Wujin queen, her frills yanked away from her.
"You are smarter than I thought."
Arthur stayed silent. There was no more chance for him to phase out of this circle. And his body was as heavy as lead.
"How did you predict my Arcane Art? Even if Adam or Eve passed out everything that they knew about us, this Arcane Art was not well known back then. So how?"
Arthur stayed silent once again. Not because he didn't want to talk. But he was trying to save every bit of energy.
The Lord looked at him with a rather amused look. "You look angry at this outcome." He placed his chin over his hand.
"If it makes you feel any better, I can't make use of the Queen. You have foiled my whole plan of controlling the Wujin Army." He paused and then looked down at him.
"It is really infuriating, you know."
He studied Arthur's entire form and felt his muscles going stiff. "Pardon my manners. I am Jayden Cromwell. Lord of Central Dominion."
"Uh, cool."
Arthur's chest heaved up and down and then suddenly he held his breath.
Lightning spilled out of Arthur's body as a huge amount of Arcanum exploded underneath his feet and he shot forward towards him.
"Oh? Nice attempt."
With a rapacious glint in his eyes, the Lord raised his hand making a sign.
"But playtime's over, pup." He sneered.
The tip of his thumb and index finger created a perfect ring, while the other three fingers stood tall, like a crown. He placed the circle directly in front of his eye, the open space framing his golden iris like a lens.
Through the small, rounded window, his eyes shone with an otherworldly glow.
The light caught the edges of his fingers, casting a soft shadow.
"Technique Deployment."
The Lord – Jayden Cromwell – mumbled with a victorious grin as Arthur frowned.
"Requiem of Eternal Rest."
Jayden chanted his Technique Deployment's name as everything turned white.
Was it a checkmate?
--------------------------------
A/n: Dumbo author here. For those who couldn't quite catch the explanation behind Slipstream, here is a simplified version without my author-istic self.
Arthur's instantaneous transfer is similar to how entangled particles share similar states regardless of distance. He manipulated supercharged electromagnetic fields in a way that the energy barrier started to decay--hence less resistance, creating a temporary "tunnel" or "stream" through which he can pass.
About him vibrating, as I mentioned, after matching the Arcanum encased frequencies, his body existed in a wave-like probabilistic state during the transition, allowing him to "tunnel" through the intervening space and appear at the destination.
Quantum tangling (in this case force distangling) and tunnelling, in extremely simple and summarised terms.
And while you think it's broken, this story's power system is quite balanced. Drawbacks will be explained naturally in later chapters. Until then, toodaloo.