บท 134: Wives' Endeavours III
The soaring Gae Bolg finally clashed with Penthesilea's Goddess of War enhanced cross guard, producing a thunderous crack as waves of deadly magical energy billowed outwards from the point of contact.
With a mighty burst of Divinity fueled power, Penthesilea killed the thrown spear's momentum and overwhelmed its magical energy, forcefully stopping the attack in exchange for spending a much greater quantity of magical energy that she required had she chosen to simply endure it.
Was it out of pride? Perhaps a wish to show her prowess before the end. A powerful statement that she would go down in a burst of fiery glory?
No! It was none of those things.
Enduring the attack would only prolong the inevitable while making her already disadvantageous position even moreso. As for the shock and awe effect, it would never hold any true meaning in front of Scathach.
While such a showing might be seen as a proof of true mettle by the queen of Dun Scaith if done by a brave young warrior seeking new challenges and growth, when performed by Penthesilea from whom she expected focus of victory rather than show, it would only foster disappointment.
Thankfully, honing her sights on a single glimmer of hope for victory, was exactly what the amazon queen was doing by forcefully stopping Scathach's attack through extra expenditure.
While Gae Bolg was a powerful Anti Army Noble Phantasm when thrown, especially if boosted by runes like Scathach did automatically since she was fighting an enemy that required it, the recoil damaged the thrower, creating a small gap for a counter attack.
Naturally, a master like the Queen of Dun Scaith could swiftly repair the damage right after the throw by means of her masterful use of the Primeval Runes while her opponent would be much to busy trying to survive her mighty attack.
Had Penthesilea endured the blow, she would have given Scathach time to recover but by forcefully stopping it, while becoming nearly fully spent, the amazon queen bought a small window of opportunity to exploit the otherwise unexploitable gap in the queen of Dun Scaith.
With an expression of bestial rage and madness that reminded one of Penthesilea's existence as one of the maddest of Berserkers when triggered, the amazon queen unleashed her Hero Killing Technique sublimated into an Anti Unit Noble Phantasm.
"Outrage Amazon!"
With a last burst of energy, the amazon queen charged her opponent with greater strength and speed than even before, intent of tearing the queen of Dun Scaith apart in fit of bestial rage by exploiting that gap created by Gae Bolg's recoil.
One could only imagine her her shock, when she saw Scathach's calm smile of enjoyment in battle, turn into a grin almost as bestial as the Amazon's.
Rather than healing herself like Penthesilea expected, Scathach decided to try out a new move she developed based on a story told to her by Jun about her most prodigious apprentice . . .
The two red spears both named Gae Bolg Alternative collapsed into motes of light, even as one laid it the distance after Penthesilea stopped it and the other rested in Scathach's left hand.
As they disappeared with ominous red and black light, an even more macabre aura covered the Queen of Dun Saith's body as she shouted the name of her newly minted noble phantasm.
"Curruid Coinchenn!"
That's right, the noble phantasm held by Cu Chulainn Alter as his mightiest trump card, reproduced by his mentor based on a description Jun gave her as an idea she could pursue to increase her own fighting prowess.
Curruid Coinchenn: Beast of Crunching Deathtusk. It was a black armor, composed of huge black gauntlets and greaves along with a tail and helmet while leaving one's toes completely unprotected.
This couple with the massive red claws, spikes, thorns and horn protruding from it, revealed its nature as an offensive noble phantasm in spite of taking the shape of an armor.
Gae Bolg and its prototypes made by Scathach, were all forged from the ribs of the fearsome phantasmal sea monster known as the Curruid which the Queen of Dun Scaith had slain.
Curruid Coinchenn, summoned the skeleton of the beast as armor in exchange for losing access to Gae Bolg an it unleashed the monster's cursed wrath along with its fearsome power and vitality.
It carried a Mad Enhancement type rage with it and it boosted the user's Endurance by one rank while letting their Strength soar high enough to shatter the scale, putting it at the EX rank.
At least, that was its function when used by its original creator, the Alter version of Berserker Cu Chulainn. Scathach however, who knew the Curruid much better and had actually been the one to forge the cursed red spear, could shockingly draw further power from it.
This power however, was even more cursed that Cu Alter's . . .
Even as Penthesilea charged her, Scathach let out a monstrous roar that carried uncontrollable madness within it, which ironocally drove the amazon who was already tapping into her primal rage even madder, increasing her attacker's power by accident.
Scathach's own power however, was massively raised even as she struggled to hold back the madness rising within her mind.
All her physical parameters shot through the roof with Strength being by far the one showing the most improvement but all qualifying for the immeasurable EX rank and a Beastial Instic was born and refined within her that in terms of battle, was even superior to the A ranked Clairvoyance she usually made use of.
In exchange for this great power, far surpassing the one given by Cu Alter's version of the noble phantasm, the drawbacks were far more serious as well.
The cursed red thorns that spread inside an enemy's body, Gae Bolg's curse, was now turned on the user as well.
Unhealable cursed wounds spread through Scathach's immortal body and even as her natural resilience and undying nature prevented her from perishing, unbelievable pain wracked her body which was being held together, tougher than ever, by the very same red thorns tearing from the inside out.
As compensation from such massive backlash however, a single swipe from one of Scathach's massive red claws crushed Penthesilea's mightiest assault yet, pounding the amazon with the ground while tearing her body tougher than steel apart and riddling it with cursed wounds . . .
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!
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You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.
There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!
I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.
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