NOVPUBZhen Liu stood there with an expression similar to stiff wood after he had deflected that lighting attack.
Now, the thing he should’ve done after countering was to follow up with another attack, or have the kaijin go in for the kill.
Four on one might’ve been overkill, but this was the last match of the day, and he wanted it to be memorable.
However, Zhen Liu immediately decided not to follow up with that idea, due to the very simple fact that the counterattack he had just performed had revealed something incredibly intimate and dangerous about "Ren Jin Yan", or to put it more bluntly, Zhen Liu was positively fucked. As to what extent though...that depended on how things went after the smoke cleared and the world got to see Ren Jin Yan’s true identity.
’Gods... damnit...how the fuck did I not...wait...before I start cursing like a sailor and beat myself up over it, did y’all know what Ren Jin Yan was a pseudonym for...’
<=Honestly, no.=>
[We’ve actually been debating and making bets about whether or not Ren Jin Yan was a real or a fake identity for two days,] Hurricroak answered.
[That and whether or not they were crossdressing or trans,] Spring Brawler added.
’...’
Zhen Liu had no idea how to respond to the kaijin at this point, so he just kept his mouth shut and decided to mentally prepare himself for what was sure to be a massive pain in the ass.
’On the plus side, I think I just won this match by virtue of disqualification for lying...and yet that doesn’t feel satisfying...’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<Hahah! Woo! Didn’t expect you to deflect and empower my own attack as a counter!,>> a feminine voice called out from the cloud of smoke that formed when Zhen Liu did his counter attack, <<let me clear this smoke out of the way and we can finally go at this for real!>>
From within the smoke, Ren Jin Yan swung their sword and called forth a surge of wind that blew away the surrounding smoke cloud into nothingness.
<<Now I could clearly tell that you are still holding back. So now I am going to take off my own limiters an...wait a minute...WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MASK?!>>
As the smoke cleared however, it soon became evident that the person who came out of the smoke cloud wasn’t Ren Jin Yan, rather, it was a comely dragon bloodliner armed with a strange looking saber. Additionally, if one were to stare at the feet of this newcomer, they would’ve noticed a strange looking mask that gave off the power of a Silver tier aether treasure.
To be more specific, this particular treasure was known as the [Dream Gossamer Mask], a powerful aether treasure that could change one’s physical appearance down to the internal organs. The only drawback was that it could not mask one’s aether flow in the slightest.
Regardless, as the dragon bloodliner girl panicked while searching for her mask, the people in the crowd that was watching her fight started to realize who this woman was exactly.
<<By the gods! Ren Jin Yan was actually a woman?! How unexpected!>>
<<Ey yo, I still wanna smash that...>>
<<Hold the fuck up...that isn’t just any ordinary woman...THAT’S THE 38TH IMPERIAL PRINCESS, JINJU REN!>>
<<Retract that smash comment, I want to live.>>
<<Oh no, oh no, oh no...,>> Jinju Ren began to mutter as she kept looking for an aether treasure mask. The task took her a solid minute to do, since she was panicking so much that she failed to actually notice the mask was right by her feet until she kicked it, twice in a row. By the time she reclaimed the mask though, it was already too late.
Before she even had a chance to celebrate getting her mask back and getting ready to keep this fight going, a wall of aether manifested between herself and Zhen Liu. In this exact moment, her joy had turned into despair.
<{"Attention please! Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be postponing the battle in Round Robin Arena 7. Please standby as we make a final judgment.}">
<<No, no, no, no!,>> Jinju Ren shouted with a panicked expression as she realized what was about to happen.
Jinju Ren was about to be ejected from this competition on the grounds of using a false identity to participate in the first place, a wholly justifiable reason in any competition. Strangely though, while most people would look at the judge for making such a call or perhaps people in the audience that they had let down because they got caught, Jinju Ren started staring at her opponent, Zhen Liu, with this strangely intense gaze of disappointment.
Granted, this wasn’t a gaze of disappointment directed at Zhen Liu. Rather, this was a gaze of disappointment in regards to herself and the circumstances of the moment.
’Dammit...just when I was damn sure I had found someone I could call a true...’
_____________________________________________
’Okay, there’s the safety barrier. Guess all I need to do now is wait right here, not say a word and I’ll be able to-’
<Powerful desire has been detected. Beginning desire condensation protocol.>
’Now?! Seriously?!’
=Oh it feels like a good one too.=
I remind you that I do not have any materials that can be considered "good enough" for all of these desire cores laying around. What am I supposed to do with them? Eat them? I already did that once and I promised never to do that again.’
=Well...you could also use them on the more developed zakos to turn them into full-fledged kaijin.=
’Oh yeah...I honestly totally forgot I could-’
<Condensation complete,> Pathos interrupted, < [+Roaring+ Core of -True- Companionship] has been created. Please use at your earliest convenience.>
=Oooh, an unusual core! Looks like this particular desire was deeply rooted in her soul. Weird. Then again, it kind of makes sense. Not many people are willing to try and make friends with a draconic princess without thinking of milking some sort of benefit out of such a situation.=
’...’
<Huh...we are now two for two on finding a royal young person disliking their lot in life due to royal politics being at the center of it all. Honestly, I think the next time we come across such a situation, they’ll end up being a bonafide prince.>
"...ggguuuuhhhh...," Zhen Liu began to groan as his mind and his mouth were in-perfect sync.
=Huh?=
<Milord?>
"Godsfuckingdammit," Zhen Liu moaned and groaned, "...fine..."
<Fine? What’s fine?>
=Milord, what you doing?=
"I’m about to tear down this wall and fulfill the desire of one, painfully obviously lonely girl."
’Once upon a time, a political leader once said: "We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone",’ Zhen Liu stated in response to Pathos’ question. ’How the fuck can I be considered the Kaijin Lord, someone who essentially command desire in the form of demons, if I can’t fulfill the simple desire of one girl?’
<=...=>
’What?’
<=For someone who tells their girlfriend he doesn’t flirt, you seem to have a habit of helping damsels in distress.=>
’I...shut up.’
_____________________________________________
’Thank goodness I stopped the match in time,’ the Wisdom Elder thought to himself as he maintained the barrier separating Zhen Liu from the 38th Imperial Princess.
While the Zhen Clan competition this time around was a surprisingly complex beast, what with all the last minute changes and surprising upsets, the last thing anybody wanted to deal with was a political incident that came from injuring a member of the Imperial Family!
The Zhen Clan may have been a warrior clan that adhered to meritocracy and the law of the jungle, but even they knew it was a shit plan to injure a superior, or a superior’s family members.
It was good thing he intervened in time, otherwise things could’ve gotten nasty if the branch clan scions had managed to win via knock out.
Now all that needed to be done was disqualify the princess and declare the-
<<HEY! WHAT THE FUCK?!>>
’Oh no...’
Just as the Wisdom Elder was about to make the announcement about this particular match being cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances, one of the participants began to loudly protest.
That participant, surprisingly wasn’t the Imperial Princess though, it was Zhen Liu.
<<I DIDN’T HEAR A FUCKING BELL, SO WHY IS THERE A BARRIER STOPPING THE FIGHT?! TAKE IT DOWN! BOTH OF US WANT TO KEEP GOING!,>> Zhen Liu shouted, as if he was addressing the entire audience.
The Wisdom Elder was confused at this action, since this situation would be ultimately to Zhen Liu’s benefit. Regardless, he decided to ignore this reaction and just make the announcement that this fight was over.
Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t get a chance to do so...
<{"Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that-"}>
<<WELP, IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT DOWN, THEN I WILL!>>
<{"-Ren Jin-"}>
*CRACK!*
<{"WHAT THE FUCK?!"}>
...because Zhen Liu was going to break the only thing stopping them from continuing the fight.
<<DAMNIT! I THOUGHT IT WOULD BREAK IN ONE PUNCH...TWO IT IS!>>
