Chapter 13: Sun.
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Stepping inside the light brought by the White Frost, Richard employed his Sun Breathing to the maximum. A burning, flaming mark appeared on his injured right temple, making his heart rate so fast that the sound could be heard in the outside world. Not only was the sound of his beating heart audible, but ionized flames also constantly flowed outward from his body, creating a contradiction of extreme heat and extreme cold.
Dum, dum. Dum, dum.
Arriving where the curled-up, frostbitten Ciri lay, Richard placed the two unconscious parents beside her and sat down beside the ashen-haired lady. Brushing her hair delicately to the sides and gazing earnestly at every detail of her profile, he then gently positioned her to face upward toward the sky. Placing both palms on the center of her heart, which was already turning blue from the cold, he once again inhaled deeply, using the Breathing of the Sun.
Dum, dum. Dum, dum.
Exhaling and channeling the vitality into her tiny heart that almost becomes devoid of heat and warmth, Richard does the procedure countless times. Making sure the White Frost substance that is already entering and wreaking havoc on Ciri's body to become one with her, since apparently this is the last and final act of desperation from her to extinguish the substance. By directly coming in contact with her power on a deeper level and as a result destroying each other in the process, only hoping one the sliver of chance that she will come up on top.
Dum, dum. Dum, dum.
Just because she is worried that it will be too late and as a result losing another part of her family outside the gateway. If only she can deal with the White Frost calmly maybe this thing will never happen in the first place. And she can return to her world and continue becoming a Witcher with her father Geralt, maybe traveling to Angren and slaying a Garkain in the process.
Tuning his Transparent to a minimum after seeing the blood flow in her hippocampus and prefrontal cortex and after knowing that the condition already stabilized even though she still frostbitten and need a medical attention, Richard finally heave a sigh in relief.
But…
Hearing a whimper cry of an animal from the distance and looking up at the sky specifically at the beam of laser that was growing closer and closer wanting to annihilate the three of them, Richard stopped his procedure for a second and drew the last swords that he had.
The mark on his head unknowingly lit up with a bright sun-golden color. Activating the Third Form of Sun Breathing, he slashed 360 degrees, vaporizing every particle of the laser beam into nothingness. Looking into the distance where he heard the animal cry, he then saw the king of demons madly roaring at him with foam in his mouth. Before he could pursue him, however, the demon king was already being dragged and teleported away by his trusted aide.
Sighing and going back to treat the injured Ciri, Richard felt something amiss but didn't quite put a finger on it. He only sees the Blood on Ciri slightly fluctuate before stabilizing once again, making him puzzled why it is so. And he was sure it was not caused by the laser beams since he personally vaporized every atom that was near Ciri or the three of them to begin with.
After thinking for a bit, he realized that the fluctuation probably occurred because the procedure was halted, affecting her power, which might be tied to mystical magic. Once again, he could only sigh over the apparent weakness of his abilities, as his power lay solely in the Material Plane. Regarding everything related to the illusory Ethereal Plane, he lacked knowledge, to the point of naivety.
Finishing the job of restarting the ashen-haired lady's vitality and seeing that Yennefer was about to wake up to heal Ciri, Richard decided to pay a visit to the location where he last saw the demon king. Using Second Sun Breathing to glide on the snowy ground, he arrived at the location to see a greatsword stabbed through the chest of a golden chicken. Below it all was a makeshift structure that he presumed to be an altar, given the many weird symbols and languages written on the ground.
Seeing the poor animal whimpering and crying from the pain and still not dead yet, Richard decided to help it. Drawing the greatsword out of its chest and seeing the miraculous effect of the regeneration of this chicken, he couldn't help but be astonished. Even the destroyed heart of this chicken is restored to a peak state in a minute without leaving a single mark on them.
"Doodle le cuckoo!"
Not understanding a single thing about animal language, Richard replied, "Ehm… You're welcome?"
Then, without his consent, the rooster flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder. Wanting to remove the rooster, he felt the chicken affectionately rubbing its cheek against his. Stumped and unsure what to do, he decided against removing it after seeing the bird's adoring gesture.
Chuckling and shaking his head, ignoring the rooster that had already started ticklishly pecking his hair, Richard then focused on the greatsword he had just pulled out. Taking a deep breath, he performed a continuous First to Fifth form of his Sun Breathing attack. Not only that, he simultaneously performed a double breathing, and even incorporated three breathings all at once with Sun Breathing to unify them. His favorite combination included: Magma lava composed of Earth, Fire, and Water; thundering typhoons composed of Wind, Lightning, and Water; and searing mist composed of Fire and Water.
Slash, Splash!
Slash, Zaap!
Slash, Foom!
Slash, Boom!
Slash, Woosh!
Over and over again, with no rest in sight, he performed the continuous breathing. Throughout the ordeal, the poor rooster flailed about, trying to survive the natural disaster, finding solace only in clinging to his hair with its beak. After familiarizing himself with the newfound attack, he finally rested the blade in a downward position. Consequently, the poor guy could finally catch some rest on his shoulders again, this time swaying from side to side, trying to regain its bearings.
Looking back at kilometers upon kilometers of destruction—from volcanic lava altering the terrain, typhoon thunder electrocuting and tearing apart the surroundings, to a mist of searing droplets preventing anyone from approaching—these were the results of his continuous use of the Sun Breathing technique. And looking at the blade that was still pristine, clean with no damage whatsoever, Richard nodded in satisfaction. But then, he sighed in lamentation afterward.
"It's just too big."
Awkwardly looking at the greatsword that almost dwarfed him completely, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed over his height, which was not appropriate to hold the blade comfortably. Sighing, since there was nothing he could do about it, he was glad that at least he had found a sturdy sword that wasn't easily shattered. Removing the four-sword strap from his waist, he then glided out of the destroyed terrain to where Ciri and the group were located.
Looking at Yennefer and Geralt that already woke up and tends to the frostbitten Ciri, he then hears the sorceress exclamation.
"The legendary greatsword of Hofund, the mythical beast of Kambi, and disaster power to shake the world—all that's lacking is Hornwall Horn to make it perfect. It appears the Skellige people must prepare to welcome back their ancestral hero."
Puzzled, "Ancestral hero?"
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone