Polymorph was a trait she still didn't fully understand. Olivia wanted to know more, but sadly, there just wasn't much she could go off of. She was tempted to ask Maya more, but she also didn't trust the little blue box all that much.
It wasn't much to go off of, but part of her suspected that Polymorph allowed a person to become their ideal self, or almost like a version of themselves they wanted to be. After all, when she used it on herself, she would become someone like Evelyn. She felt powerful and confident, and she got to wear a stylish outfit. When she used it on Davi, he was free.
At least, that was the feeling she had gotten when she looked at that version of him.
Ken's form was something else entirely, though. She wasn't even a human anymore. She was some massive beast of power, radiating fire, and she looked as if she could conquer the world.
What on earth happened to Ken Yuan for her to have this ideal version of herself? What had the world done to her to create this outcome?
Olivia winced and nearly collapsed to her knees but was caught by Davi. "You okay?" He asked, showing a surprising amount of concern.
"Yeah." Olivia managed a weak nod. "Burnt through all my mana, but besides that, I'm fine. I am out of this fight, though."
"To be honest, I don't want any of us to be in this battle…" Sieg muttered. "This is a little intense."
The forest shook, and thick, multicolored fire spilled out, tearing down trees and burning the land. The Lord of Threads felt a wave of heat smash into him as one of Ken's paws smacked him. He let out a laugh, and as he was sent flying back, he threw his arms out, opening them wide as if he were about to accept an embrace. From his fingers, blue threading forged from mana spilled out, and it began to slice into the trees rapidly. The wire kept cutting and began to wrap around the chunks, and with another flick of his wrists, he launched them toward Ken.
Ken growled as the jagged wood hit her fur-covered flesh. More fire flared from her and burned the rest of the projectiles before they could hit her. She then took a thundering step forward, and her wings began to flap. The wind they generated kicked up several twisting tornadoes, which blew Davi and the others back, but the Lord of Threads managed to keep his footing and stared down at the monster before him.
His robes were on fire and burning away, and his mana took the shape of dozens of threads that struggled to wrap around him and keep him safe as the heat grew more intense.
The Lord struck the beast by slicing his hand out and sending a long and thin wire out that split the forest in two. Ken narrowly dodged it, one of her wings being sliced clean off, but that only pissed her off, and the snake tail she now had struck out. It was big enough that its mouth wrapped entirely around the Lord of Threads, and it started to slam him into the ground and thrash him around.
The puppet master flexed his arms, and an explosive wave of energy blasted out around him, blowing the snake's head to bits. He had barely landed on the ground when Ken whipped her head in his direction, opened her maw, and unleashed a wave of pure annihilation.
In terms of pure power, Ken Yuan now had the same level of strength as a mid-tier dungeon boss. These monsters were very powerful and normally took a small group of Knights or a Title Knight to take down.
In other words, she was currently on a level near the power of a Title Knight. Not one of the major ones, but even so, going from the level of a Squire to an official Knight, all because of a single trait…
Roads Polymorph was indeed a powerful skill. One that many people throughout history had coveted and chased after, yet at the same time, none knew it existed. Roads Polymorph was only matched by the equally sought-after Burning Heart skill, which was said to possess the power of an Author who set their heart ablaze and wrote with reckless abandon, weaving new stories into reality.
Yes, both Roads Polymorph and the Burning Heart were two dangerous skills for most people. The Lord of Threads wasn't most people, however.
From the fire, he emerged walking forward, and the Lord slammed his fist straight into the side of Ken's head, sending her massive body flying. His robes were entirely gone now, revealing a body that didn't match his face. His head was that of an old man, but his body was full of rippling muscles, and he clenched his hand into a tight fist.
"Perhaps I was wrong about you, Yuan." The man called out as Ken struggled to stand back up. "I thought that you didn't understand the sins of your family and that you were another ignorant creation that bastard made. This form disproves that, though! A wild, untamed beast, one that just brings destruction and ruin! This one is perfect for you!"
"And your perfect form is that of a corpse!" Ken snarled.
The Lord just laughed. "Want to see something amazing?"
"No."
"Well, too bad!" The Lord slammed his hand into the side of a tree, and suddenly the air shimmered. Black glitch-like effects began to spill into existence around the wood, and the very fabric of space twisted and morphed. The glitchy air was like in some horror game or ARG when a video would be blocked or cut out. The tree changed, its wooden form becoming metal. "Alchemy." The man spoke softly now. "Behold, the art of transmutation. Existence is realizing that which exists does not exist and that which does not exist can be made to exist. I'll transmute reality and grasp hold of a world that is entirely mine. Creation of All Things!"
The metal unfolded and was split apart into chunks. The ground started to change as well, iron spreading rapidly and breaking. Suddenly, it began to rise up, lifting into the air by an unseen force, and the wooden blocks he created earlier also floated up and began to shift.
The wood was shaved down and twisted until it was in the shape of a person, and the metal formed nails and screws jutting into the wooden doll, which gained joints and movable limbs. Razor wire burrowed into it, forming a series of circuits that operated similarly to nerves, and when it was all done, the creation dropped to the ground, eight more following it.
The Lord of Threads had made puppets. "You'll have to forgive me; I've never been one for martial arts." The man giggled like a schoolboy now and flexed his fingers, his puppets following his command. "Ever since I was a young lad, I always preferred to play with these toys instead of doing my normal practice. It is so much more fun to wipe someone out with puppets rather than do the dirty work myself."
"That doesn't scare me." Ken's new beast form managed to scowl. "I'll tear them apart and-"
"Creation of all Things. One thing shall become something else." The puppets all raised their right arm, which glowed, the glitch effect molding over it. When it faded, the puppets now supported a metallic limb that was shaped like the barrel of a gun. The barrel glowed, and then they all fired a wave of compressed mana that formed jagged white beams!
Ken's eyes widened, and she tried to dodge some, but several of the beams pierced through her form, blasting small holes in her body. Her healing factor was still here, but she had lost the ability to cast spells in a traditional way since she was akin to a monster now, and so her body's healing had greatly slowed down.
With a growl, Ken slashed her paw out and fired out a wave of flames that ate several of the puppets up, but most of them managed to dodge. The ones that did raised their left arms up, which also changed, forming into bladed weapons. The Lord of Threads then began cutting down and transmuting more trees, reforming his small group and replacing the ones he had destroyed.
The puppets charged Ken and started to stab her or blast her with their energy weapons. She kept destroying them, but more would take their place, slowly whittling her down with sheer numbers. The Lord of Threads laughed and kept his hand up, millions of microscopic threads connecting the puppets to his fingers, allowing him to control them.
"Normally, I hate using random stuff to create my dolls." The man called out. "I much prefer using human corpses, as it leaves some of the Core behind in the puppet. I also dislike using my Transmutation to build the tech into their body. These ones are sloppy and not as good as they could be. It's a lot better to actually build one. That's why the other ones work without me being there. They're akin to robots, but these ones require me to operate them myself. Still, they aren't doing all that bad, are they?"
Ken howled as she was overwhelmed again and again, blasted on all fronts, and sliced into. Some of the puppets even threw themselves onto her, self-destructing. There was almost nothing she could do, and her healing was starting to reach its limit.
Ken clenched her teeth and felt her rage boil, but there was nothing that could be done. At least, that was what she thought, but suddenly, as the puppets all dived at her, they all dropped to the ground, no longer moving. Her eyes widened, as did the Lord of Threads.
"What?" The man glared and was met with a black mask as Sieg now stood before him. Sieg's spear was covered in lightning, and he had used it to sever the tiny threads coming out of the man's fingers, cutting off the connection with the puppets. "You bastard-"
Sieg bonked the man in the side of the head with his spear and then grabbed his wrist with his free hand, stopping him from creating any more puppets. The Lord grunted and stabbed his remaining hand out, piercing it through Sieg's gut. It was a devastating blow, but Sieg gritted his teeth. "Row Electric-Shadow Armor!" His armor reformed, the hole mending and fixing, as it sealed around the Lord's hand, trapping him in place. Sieg then twisted his body around. "Ken!"
Ken began to charge up whatever energy she had left and compressed it all into her strongest attack. She put all her mana into it, as well as every drop of her anger and hate for the man that stood before her.
"Planning to commit suicide, are we?" The Lord sneered. "You'll be caught in the blast as well!" Sieg ignored him.
The attack launched, and the Lord of Threads was unable to pull away in time. He got ready to take the blast, but before he could, Sieg's armor glowed and suddenly turned into pure lightning. It shocked them both and caused the Lord's mana to lower, reducing his total defense. The armor then fully faded, unsealing him, but he had no time to move as the lightning coursing through his body seized his nerves up.
Sieg was used to such an effect and had trained his body with lightning magic, and so his nerves were fine. He forced himself off the Lord of Threads' hand and collapsed back. "Row Shadow Vault!" Davi's Vault opened, dragging Sieg inside and keeping him safe as the blast finally hit its target.
The forest exploded, the ground being reduced to pure ash, and all the trees were blown to bits. The blast reached the skies, separating the crowd, and those near Daisy all froze and stopped, staring at the wave of force that rippled out. The blast flung Olivia away, as well as Sieg, who managed to get out of the vault, and even the massive form of Ken was swept up in her own attack, being sent miles back.
The attack had landed.
Was it enough, though?
***
Meanwhile…
Back in Daisy, Laerton dodged and weaved between Adam's strikes, her eyes lighting up as Instinct kept flickering and showing her all his attack patterns. Adam's own eyes were also glowing as he did the same, both of them seeing invisible lines that allowed them to react and dance with each other in a clash of blades.
Their swords slashed against one another, again and again, and Laerton sped up, pumping more mana into her body. Then, without warning, she jutted her free hand in Adam's direction, and three spears blasted out from her sleeve, nearly skewering the man, but he used a Mana Step and avoided it.
Laerton followed after him and spat out a needle from between her lips, which Adam swatted away with his blade. Once she was on him, their swords met again, and this time Laerton kicked up, a knife jutting out of her sandal, which jammed into Adam's thigh. He shoved her away and covered his wound, wincing slightly as black oil dripped from it.
"Laerton Eman." The way he said her name made her pause. Adam smiled again. "They say you've mastered every weapon and that you're one of the greatest hidden-weapon users in this world. I can tell you must have hundreds, maybe even thousands of weapons on you, even now. Those robes are some sort of holding device, aren't they?"
"You sure know a lot…" Laerton felt a pang of confusion. Her life as an assassin was mostly kept secret. Only a few people knew about her hidden weapon fighting style. The truth was she wasn't a swordswoman. While she held a sword and swung it, she actually preferred using any other weapon to take out the enemy.
"I could never forget you."
"What?"
"Nothing." Adam shook his head. Then he took a stance. He held his sword with both hands and began to walk slowly. "A master of every weapon, yet there was one you were best with. You hated the feeling of a sword in your hands, yet you still wielded it and created a move that defied all logic. Why don't you show it to me? Your triple slash."
Laerton's frown grew. "You need to die." Without warning, she twisted her sword so that the bottom of her hilt pointed in his direction. It clicked open, and a wave of bullets came rapidly firing out. Adam began to slash them apart before they could reach him, and Laerton charged. She kicked up with her leg and sent the other sandal she had flying toward him. The grenade that was built into it exploded directly on Adam, but he withstood it. "You want my technique? Fine."
Laerton flashed in front of him and twisted her grip on her sword. Then she swung it out at him, aiming for his right side. At the same time, her body flickered, and a second image of her appeared, swinging the sword on his left. Finally, a third version of herself appeared and swung her sword down.
Three-Dimensional Slashes!
This sword technique was very simple yet powerful. It allowed her to strike in three places at once by overlaying so much mana and converting it into chaotic energy. As she swung her sword, she would use a form of Mana Step, but place it into her arms and blade rather than her body. It was extremely complicated and required a perfect balance of magic and timing, but if done correctly, the slash would appear in three places at the same time, creating an attack that couldn't be blocked.
Indeed, not even the mighty Adam was able to avoid this. The blades tore into his stomach and across his chest. He was split open and nearly torn in half in a single instant. Laerton kept going with her slash and stepped past him. As she did, she shivered as her blade became coated in oil.
Adam looked down at his stomach, which was oozing the black substance. "Thank you." Tears fell down his face, and this time the smile he had seemed to be genuine. "Reading about it and seeing it is vastly different. I- It was nice to see again-"
Laerton spun around and ripped an entire battle axe out of her robes, which she smashed into Adam's neck, trying to behead him, but his mana just grew even more intense, and the weapon shattered. Before she could strike again, he stabbed out with his sword and impaled her stomach.
Laerton's eyes widened, and she collapsed back, grabbing her wound. Her robes became stained red.
Adam managed to wipe his tears away and let out a sigh, collecting himself. "Sorry you had to see that. Anyway, I'm going to kill you now, okay?"
"Fuck you!" Laerton applied pressure to her wound and spat out more needles from between her teeth, as well as stood back up. "Haru, you're so annoying to fight!"
Adam deflected the needle. "You're not so easy yourself, you know? The least you could do is give up and die."
"Screw you!"
"I've asked nicely…" Adam sighed again. "Oh well, let's finish this-"
"Yes!" A booming voice announced, which actually managed to get Adam to pause. He turned, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Father. That man looked as if the sun had taken on a human form. He was radiating a wave of golden light and was draped in it, head to toe, with massive wings that reached all the way to the sky poking out of his back. Father pointed his sword at Adam. "Let's finish this."
"Wait a second-"
"Allow me to show you the pinnacle of magic. Vow Absolute Divinity. Palace Of The Golden Gods."
And for a second time, everything exploded.
***
Meanwhile…
A smoking crater had formed in the center of the blast radius, and the Lord of Threads still stood; his Mana Skin was almost entirely gone, and his protection was at its end. Before he could even think of escaping or doing another attack, the shadow beneath him twisted and expanded, and Davi came rocketing out.
A glowing sphere of chaotic mana formed in Davi's hand, and he slammed it out as hard as he could, directly into the Lord's stomach. The puppet master's hands flew out, and he grasped the orb, holding it at bay.
"Once more!" Davi's other arm came up holding a second orb, which he smashed into the first one. The two mana spheres collided and rippled before exploding outward in the direction of the Lord. He was kicked back and slammed into the back of the crater. Davi collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, blood gushing out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Tori's healing had allowed him to use Old Bird's Flapping Wings a bit more, but he was at his limit now.
The Lord of Threads quietly stared down at his chest. A large bruise was now present. They had managed to hurt him. He reached up and gently touched his wound. "It has been such a long time since someone managed to leave their mark on me. In fact, the last one to do it was none other than Adam Hawker. Now that I think about it, you and that man are from the same clan, right?" The Lord snorted and stood back up. "No. Actually, I don't think either of you are from the Hawker clan."
Davi weakly stared up at the man. "Damn. Why the hell are all these guys so tough? One bruise? Seriously?"
"We're monsters; that's true." The Lord mused. "Still, I like to think I am far better than you. You've chosen to surround yourself with dangerous people like that Yuan brat and that other man who I am sure is a Hawker."
"That's my brother you're talking about."
"That's not possible." The Lord shook his head. "Do you even know what the Hawkers are? I doubt it. After all, they weren't anything truly special. Unlike the Yuan's, the Helios, the Branded, or the Jin's, the Hawker's didn't have a lot going for them. They weren't blessed with a rare power or gift, and they lacked special kinds of magic other than being particularly good with lightning. There was but a single thing the Hawkers had to their name. A genetic mutation within their very DNA that made it impossible to fail at breeding them."
"I don't like hearing you say that about my family…"
"It's true." The Lord tapped his skull. "It isn't that useful of a trait, but still, it is something they have. You see, when a mom and dad have a kid, that kid always turns out as a mix between the two in terms of DNA. It would have ties to both families. This isn't the case with the Hawkers, however. Their DNA is very sturdy. When a Hawker is born, they always possess the signature blonde hair and eyes that hold lightning. They also always possess a great affinity with lightning magic. You not having that blonde hair is quite interesting." The Lord rubbed his chin and stared down at Davi. "If you were really a Hawker, then you'd have to be some sick freaks' genetic experiment who somehow managed to corrupt the Hawker side. I think you're like Adam, then. He doesn't strike me as someone who is part of the clan either, but I think he likes the name." The Lord shook his head. "Oh well. Anyway, I decided to trade with Bloom; you're my target now-"
From the edge of the crater, Ken came crashing down, her maw snarling. She rammed into the Lord, but he easily wrapped his arms around her snout and threw her into the air. She crashed down, and her body was surrounded by a golden light.
A second later, she returned to normal, and even Yujin was forced out of her, leaving her panting in her base form. She winced and tried to stand, but she had already used a lot of energy up before the transformation, and it now came crashing down on her.
"Roads Polymorph is only temporary if you don't know how to use it right." The Lord sneered down at Ken and went to stomp on her, but Davi threw himself in the way and took the boot to the face. "Oh? What are you doing?"
"I'm not done." Davi forced himself up and shoved the leg off his head, sending the elderly man stumbling back. "I can still fight, so don't think this battle is over with."
The Lord frowned. "Hmm. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe there is a bit of Hawker in you after all. Those bastards were known for never giving up." Then he smiled. "Alright." Slowly, his hand reached up and was placed over his heart. His mana began to swirl around him once more, coating him in a layer of razor-sharp wires. "Allow me to show you the pinnacle of magic."