Chapter 135: Civil War - 4 [ Monstrosity vs Experience ]
After Nius sent that strike that pushed Winchester back and even breaking his [Shadow Veil], he began moving slowly toward Robert and where Ramoth was.
Robert could feel the intense energy released by Nius and his sword, and a threatened feeling even run in his mind, alerting him that it was dangerous to be close to Nius.
"Don't worry, little Robert, I will keep in check Gram, get Ramoth, Gif, and Vem out of this location because it will be destroyed by my unleashed power."
"Wait, old Nius, there are still some people living in this area. What about them?" asked Robert while he got to Ramoth, checking his pulse.
"Hmph, don't worry about those idiots. Felicia will handle this problem in the meantime. Now go, stop wasting precarious time, hasn't Vlad though you the basics of a fight?"
Being left without a word appeal, he used his strength to pick Ramoth from the ground and could only think of one sentence in his mind.
'This meatball is so heavy. Hah, let's get these guys to a safe location before I go assist the soldiers with the silver ones who should be making chaos in the city by now.'
After picking Ramoth, he quickly moved out of the square range, but when he just moved to get out, a shadow portal appeared in front of him where Wincester appeared while his face turned pale and his eyes entirely red from his devil ability.
"Die, kid." said Wincester while swinging his hand like a blade toward Robert's neck.
'Damn it, I thought he was hurt by old Nius just now. This guy really didn't lie when he said he still had a lot of power and energy in him.'
'I need to dodge, but with Ramoth on my back, I can't make fluid moves. Ahh, I'm also late to draw my sword.' thought Robert when he noticed he was too late to stop Wincester hand strike.
"You fight me, rat, not the youngsters." said a cold voice, heard wholly by Robert, who saw a dark, icy sword, releasing a lot of lights to block and strike at Wincester.
"Foolish, old man. You are drying yourself of your inner energy by feeding that sword to fight me. But you still can't do much against me."
"[Mind Assault]"
With this call, Nius felt something inside of his mind being stirred up a bit, but he was released from that state with a sudden release of Conqueror's Haki.
After getting away from Wincester's attack, he got in range for another strike since the first one was blocked.
"[Relieving Memories]"
Called out Wincester, another skill from his arsenal while doing fast steps to dodge Nius' strike.
This time Nius, felt the same sensation as when he got first attacked by [Mind Assault]. Yet this one was slightly different. He had a vision showing Lucius' figure and himself when he was younger and had jet-black hair and a clean shave.
This memory suddenly being brought from his mind was something that made Nius stop in place. He could hear the young kid about 6 years old talk with a cheerful tone to himself who had a smiling face, like a doting uncle.
'Hah, Little Lucius. You were so small and amusing to watch while you were growing. A beautiful memory indeed, but everything is in the past. Now I have other people to protect and what as they grow.' thought Nius while shaking his head with a sad, melancholic expression.
After he ended thinking that and watching this vision for a bit more from a detached view, his eyes turned cold, and all of a sudden, the world of this vision began shaking, but this vision seemed to hold firm.
"You are overestimating yourself, little shit. Do you think I am the same foolish old man who you played with your fingers? Break! Break!"
As Nius said, the vision began shaking and breaking in his mind, collapsing into nothing, while on the outside, the pressure around where Nius was standing increased tremendously, that the ground began to give in.
Robert, who was by now away from the center of the fight, felt a heavy pressure wave going toward him, and turning his body, he saw how Wincester was about to deliver a finishing blow to a petrified old man.
'No way the old man, who releases the same pressure as big brother, would get himself killed in this manner. Come, old man, don't disappoint big brother's expectations.'
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Wincester had a pained expression, and with Gif's halved blade that he picked from the ground and a made-up hilt consisting of his shirt, he covered the edge in armament and began a strike to Nius's head.
'Just drop dead old man. How can a pleb like you even have Conqueror's haki? If the elders find out, they wouldn't even believe it and look at themselves ashamed.' while thinking that, his head was in an excruciating headache from the result of forcing Nius' mind to keep him out of the fight.
'Just a bit more, and I got his head. Arghh, my brain hurts so much that I feel my veins pulsing.'
When Wincester was about to cut Nius's head, he felt a jolt in his spine along with the old man opening his eyes.
The instant Nius opened his eyes, he increased the pressure around himself that slowed Wincester a bit, enough time to get out of his range and get back at him with his own strike.
"Kid, do you think that having a good Observation would give you a strong mind? How many things haven't I experienced? How could a little fuck like you actually win over my mind and will?"
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Dodging the strike, while holding his head a bit, in this way trying to calm his hurt mind after suffering the backlash of Nius getting out of his control ability.
"Hmph, the same could be said for you, old man. If you think all I can do with my powers is to control other minds, you are wrong."
"Let me get serious then, since you are someone with Conqueror's, something not seen often in the world."
"[Mental Monstrosity]"
As he said that, he released a cry of pain, his eyes began bleeding, muscles started tensing up and getting even more packed. Following that, he closed his eyes and began gritting his teeth were. Not long after that, from his mouth, blood started flowing with the dehydration of his lips.
Every single part of his body began suffering changes, and his cries of pain began intensifying, even more, a signal about the difficulty of this ability use.
His body lost weight significantly in just some short moments that Nius prepared to strike him with a long-ranged sword slash. However, as frail Wincester looked now, his muscles and body seemed to release some heat vapors while his veins bulged all around his body.
"[Reaper's Beckoning]!"
Nius sent a slash that began destroying the ground in a straight line, moving without stopping for a brief second, straight for Wincester's transforming body that looked like a dead person.
Yet, once that slash got close to him, Winchester raised his head like a wicked beast and, using a speed so fast that even someone like Nius got taken by surprise, appeared close to the old man who also prepared to block. Yet, he was slower than he expected.
A powerful fist strike blew Nius toward a building, and without stopping for a brief moment, Winchester used his newfound speed to teleport to where Nius was blown away, and like a ghost, he got to his back and unleashed another powerful strike.
'This rat turned into a beast? Interesting, but you'll slowly get tired. Let's do this Gram, we'll unleash our power slowly since there's one more rat in hiding, most likely looking for a kill shot."
With his hand grasped tightly on Gram, Nius turned his body quickly, and using the sword blade, he blocked the punch that still sent him flying, crashing into another building.
'To think one's mind would be capable of inducing such a state. To unleash all the potential of the body. A state where a human could use all his mind power? Hahaha, impressive.' thought Nius while bracing for the impact.
"Kill. Kill. I will slaughter you and everyone dear to you. Haha, this is my strongest version, you fool." said Wincester in a creepy voice that was dry, a possible consequence of his transformation.
Nius' cold eyes saw the moment the gold-ranked assassin got in his face and with Gif's blade preparing to strike at his body. Gram released a chilling coldness while Nius moved to block. However, the old marshall was still sent flying by the power Wincester was highlighting.
Like this, Winchester began pushing Nius around with a much more crazed expression. Some hits even managed to connect with the old man's body, leaving a purple-dark bruise on his chest and stomach and many smaller ones on his arms.
However, when Nius felt that Wincester began slowing on his assault, he also began releasing his energy and Conqueror's and countered the assassin.
Blocking his strike, he sent him flying with a strong kick, and while dashing to where his landing trajectory was, he felt a big quake happening in the zone of the Wisdom Palace.
'Huh, so you finally got serious too, brat? Just in time, I was also preparing to end this rabid dog.'
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In a distant place, away from the Dawn square, where Nius and Wincester were fighting, Cranfon Oliver observed the fight with a calm expression. Since Nius began moving for the square and got Wincester, he followed all his movements closely.
How he handled a horde of simple citizens storming him with the intent of doing harm. His solution was to unleash a powerful sword strike that froze the entire area, leaving those brain-dead people created by Wincester useless, but at the same time not killing them and risking to have him alerted by the death of his minions.
'This old man, to think he would grow so much since that day. He fights Wincester in his power mode so calmly, as if he is sure of his own powers and just wants Wincester to consume his power and stamina.'
'His sword also seems special. I never studied that sword grading book made by the elders, but I bet this one is a Great Grade or Supreme Grade since it is rare to see a sword having special abilities like how this one gives off.'
Patiently Oliver waited for the action to flow and think about joining the fight or not, ending the battle and war in a fell swoop or let Wincester die.
At that moment, Nius's sword began releasing a lot of energy from the blade, freezing the ground in the path Nius moved.
'If I don't help and Wincester dies, Elder Starfall would probably put all blame on me and excommunicate me, not even taking into regard the years I spent serving the Union. Master, from how emotionless he is, he probably doesn't even care about me. In his eyes, I might be just a tool to help him acquire the heirloom of Vermilions.'
'This doesn't work. I need to accomplish my goals with or without the Dark Union's help. However, I can still save this arrogant idiot from his death and see how the Elders and Master react.'
Yet as he thought that, he felt a strong earthquake coming from the Wisdom Palace, and just like Nius who began his assault, made his guess.
'There are only two scenarios in the fight inside Wisdom Palace, either Vermilion wins or Lacilet. Both have interesting devil fruits, but I think Lacilet's is more deadly and has a bigger chance at winning the showdown.'
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On another part of Dawn City, Robert walked toward Vem's location, in a collapsed house. After picking Gif up from the nearby buildings, he crashed. While moving toward Vem's approximate location, he talked with Gif and Ramoth to keep their minds awake, not succumb to eternal sleep.
"Uncle Gif, please hold on for more. Keep fighting with the poison until this war is over. Big brother, for sure, has a treatment for this poison. Just some hours, hang on there." said Robert to Gif, who had an intense trembling chill that could shake even his soul, and with a weak voice, replied back.
"Don't worry about me and keep fighting, Robert. We have to win this war at all costs. We served the country plenty of years, got to enjoy the apples of our work, but you are still young with a bright future."
This was all Gif could say before turning weak and breathing forcefully, as if to keep his body temperature stable.
"Don't say that thing, uncle. Look, we are winning the fight. Can you hear our people's victorious cries in the city? The cries of war in the Royal District? It means big sister Sofiya and brother Bolt, together with Tomas and Aerius, took over the bridge and started rounding the nobles soldiers."
Yet there was no response, only Gifs trembling and the silence of Ramoth's heavy body.
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His path forward was stalled by a group of 8 silver masked assassins who charged at him the moment they spotted him, without even saying a thing.
'Not now. I can't leave uncle Ramoth or Gif down for them to be targeted by those bastards.'
Gritting his teeth, he could only use his feet to fight back because his hands were occupied holding on to Gif and Ramoth. However, once those assassins began getting speed toward him, a lady with long black hair and a slender longsword wearing dark skin-tight clothes, along with another ground of 12 beautiful girls, appeared and rather quickly killed those assassins moving to strike Robert.
"You are? Lady Felicia?"
The beautiful mature lady who took the lead of the charge turned her head at Robert after doing a swing of the sword to clean the blade of any blood, smiled at him, and said.
"That's right, handsome. What are you doing in these zones infested with rats? Shouldn't you be offering support to your master soldiers?"
Yet after she noticed Gif trembling hard, and Ramoth, who was in a silent state, with his eyes closed, quickly moved to Robert with a surprisingly fast speed and brought some vials from her clothes.
"Here, kid, let those two drink this. This isn't the antidote, but it will stop spreading the poison for half a day. It will lengthen their life a lot, compared to slowly die in agony."
"Agony?" asked Robert, a bit confused.
Felicia shook her head, and after Robert placed Gif and Ramoth down, she moved their heads carefully so they could take the liquid inside the vial.
"Kid, you don't know how cruel the effects of this poison coming from the Dark Union assassins actually is. Those guys who got wounded and poisoned by Niflheim, if they were simple people, would by now die from the pain. Who would have thought that in Kaysang, there are still strong people except for Marshall Nius and Vermilion Prince."
Hearing this, Robert looked at Gif's and Ramoth's expressions, who seemed to slowly get better, yet he didn't linger too much on this and asked Felicia.
"Lady Felicia, you come from a zone where another uncle, called Vem, crashed in the fight with the assassin Wincester."
"The spearman? He was taken away from the battlefield by my girls and should be fighting the poison in Lucil underground base along with the other guys who got wounded in the war that takes place in Dawn. I can't pronounce myself on the situation in the other locations."
"I understand, big sister. Are you going to stay here and hunt the assassins? Or move with me back to the base?" asked Robert while picking Gif and Ramoth up, securing his grip on their body.
"My sisters and I still have a lot of work to do. You can go to the base, little Robert and when you see a small middle-aged guy, with short hair, clean shaved face and a monocle over his eyes, pretty pathetic face from panic and lack of sleep, tell him that the central part of Dawn has been evacuated and the citizens who managed to escape from the war fire got to the designated location for citizens."
Robert nodded his head and quickly began moving toward the location Felicia mentioned, while Felicia's smiling expression turned instantly frosty and, looking at the other girls who remained quiet in all her conversation, said coldly.
"Let's go, ladies. There are so many of those bastards who we need to kill."
A girl with crimson hair that looked to be around 18 years old, with a beautiful face and body features, replied with a severe tone.
"Understood, my lady."
Then, as those girls began to move for their next target, they felt a strong earthquake coming from the Wisdom Palace in the Royal District.
Felicia turned her sharp cold eyes in the direction of the earthquake, and with a smooth movement, she climbed the top of a three stories high buildings that let her have a perfect view of the palace who had all the windows blasted away along with the towers which collapsed on the ground.
She whistles, impressed, and said to the crimson-haired girl.
"Iris, we need to treat the young prince after this war with the greatest respect. I told him about the other business I do, and he told me that I will have all his support when things stabilize."
"I don't understand, my lady. I still don't believe Zagreus is Prince Vermilion."
"You will after meeting him. Now let's get going. We relieved our womanly curiosity to see what's going on with the Wisdom Palace front. Things look good. Lacilet barely has a chance to win against the young prince, with those small brains of his and narrow mind."
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A/N: Nothing much to say today. I guess the generic stuff, review if you want to tell other future readers your reading experience and comments to the end of chapters with what you think of it.
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