Chapter 1733: Opening Notes - Nepherage...mostly

[Do you want to stay here?] I asked Hurricroak as she continued to cry her heart out. [I understand if you want to stay behind and not—]

[No! No...it’s fine,] Hurricroak eventually answered after a sniffle and wiping the tears from her eyes. [If the Maestro was here, he would’ve told me to stay behind to deal with my emotional shit. But then, I would argue that I’m a kaijin and emotions aren’t detrimental to me, they’re arguably one of the reasons why I’m able to fight better than any mortal, past or otherwise.]

I could feel [Determination] radiating off of Hurricroak as she took in a breath and got up to her feet, slapping her chest to motivate herself.

[Besides, I would definitely be doing our friend Frosttusk a great disservice by not being there when he needs us to show these bastards what for!]

[Of course.]

[I’ll see you back at the tent, aye?]

Hurricroak sauntered back towards the tent where the Zhen Clan would normally sleep, a forced skip in her steps.

She had forgotten to dampen her connection, so I could already feel that she was just putting on a brave face for her own sake.

[Logos and Pathos said that they had tracked Draigo down somewhere back on our home continent...maybe it’s time for them to meet again. Properly this time instead of just in passing,] I thought to myself and to milord.

My connection to him felt a bit muted today as well, but I figured it was due to recent developments on his end of the world. Then again, it could’ve also been the [Pudding Incident] from a few days ago on the Mysticlassic side of things.

Either way, once I shared this feeling with him, I quickly followed after in preparation for what should hopefully be the deciding battle for the Echoing Valley.

[I was expecting more build up...oh well.]

...Time Skip...

[Are you guys sure you don’t need us providing Possession buffs?] I asked as we got closer and closer to the Collectrix’s floating fortress of bullshit. [I think it will probably be safer if we do.]

"Maybe against the regular rank and file, but if there actually are dozens of these...what are we calling them again?" Zhen Shi called back to his family as we continued to fly forward together.

"I think we agreed on the term [Affixed], father," Zhen Long shouted back.

"Affixed. If there are actually dozens of these Affixed guys, then we’re going to need as many people as possible that can punch through their defenses."

[Fair enough.]

Unlike last time, our group consisted of more than just the usual suspects.

Joining us this time around were a half dozen or so warriors from the Storm Singers consisting of mostly Aether Grandmasters.

The most noticeable exceptions were the chief, who had become an Aether King thanks to our involvement, and his son, Hakon.

Hakon may have been an Aether Grandmaster, but his axe made him punch several leagues above himself.

This wasn’t the entirety of the Storm Singers’ fighting force, but it was their strongest group...for the time being.

When Frosttusk’s shield maiden was sent to scout around the truth of the Affixed, she had found that they were keeping several hundred captive nearby as slaves.

These captives consisted of predominantly tribes that refused to kneel to the Collectrix and wandering warriors who were unlucky to come to the Echoing Valley without learning about the current situation. More importantly, the captured Storm Singers were also a part of this group.

If we managed to free the slaves in the process of attacking the Collectrix’s fortress, then we could increase our fighting capabilities by several folds.

Then again, it may not be needed given that the situation had gotten dire enough that my fellow Ragnarockers and I were given permission to use...extreme measures in obtaining victory.

More specifically, we were allowed to leverage the usage of zakos for this upcoming conflict.

[How many of those little guys do you even have on hand?] Slug-at-Arms asked. [I thought our lordship had to be in the vicinity to make them.]

[He actually gave each of us a bag of fifty zako marbles each,] Hurricroak answered for me and Frosttusk. [He figured that it would be better for us to be prepared in case we ended up in a mass combat situation. You know going to war.]

[You...you make it sound like that’s a regular occurrence,] Terra commented as soon as Hurricroak’s words were fully processed in her mind.

[Honestly, it happens more often than you think.]

[Everyone, quiet down. We’re close to that floating fortress,] I ordered as soon as my senses detected the change. [There’s way more Chaos in the air than I had anticipated.]

"Singers, full stop!" Chief Heindril called out, his voice a roaring whisper.

Once we had stopped, we used enhanced our vision with aether and [Chaos] to confirm that nothing strange had happened since Frosttusk had first sent out his shield maiden.

[So far so good,] I commented before realizing that was a stupid thing to say. [I mean, as good as having to deal with a giant fucking army of aether warriors, Affixed weirdos and probably an increasingly mutated monster woman in the center of that weird floating fortress.]

[I’m taking bets by the way. Do y’all think that she’s going to be insect-themed?] Hurricroak followed up. [A lot of the enemies we’ve been fighting lately have a clear insect theme to them.]

[I’m going with something demonic,] Slug-at-Arms countered. [I feel like that insect problem might just be related to our lordship and that’s it.]

[Fair enough.]

[Quiet...] Frosttusk interjected with a rumbling call that surprised everyone present. [We only have one shot at opening this battle right. Otherwise, we’re all going to die.]

[Fair enough.]*3

[Now get to your places!]

Frosttusk began to fly forward before stopping, lining himself up alongside not just the Storm Singers, but all the Zhen Clan warriors save for Zhen Xun Tian.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Zhen Xun Tian said to herself as she made her own preparations for battle, summoning her [Icon].

At the same time, Hurricroak and I positioned ourselves above and behind this line, respectively.

To be more precise, I placed myself to float behind Frosttusk and began to channel fire aether and [Chaos] in my hands while Hurricroak positioned herself to stand on Frosttusk’s shoulders.

Once she was positioned, tendrils of energys resembling audio cables began to pop out of Hurricroak’s body and connect themselves to Frosttusk. As soon as they connected, my fellow kaijin’s eyes began to glow with power.

[Alright, nerds!] Hurricroak called out to the allied warriors, her voice echoing throughout Frosttusk’s body. [Warm up those vocals!]

Simultaneously, all of the warriors in the line including Frosttusk entered the same stance and channeled aether into their lungs and throat. As they did, a swirling vortex of frost began to form.

[Let’s do this thing!] I called out to Hurricroak.

[And a one!]

Once the vortex was spinning, Hurricroak and I went to work.

I began to channel fire aether and [Chaos] into Frosttusk, causing the polar vortex around us to get bigger and stronger.

As for Hurricroak, she also entered the same stance as the other warriors, but her innate power caused the surrounding polar vortex to spark with electrical power.

Eventually, as the warriors channeled more and more power into the polar vortex, into this aether art, giant shadows began to manifest.

[Altogether now! Echoing Frost!]

[Echoing Frost!]*12

And so, the most powerful attack in the Zhen Clan’s arsenal reached a level that it may never reach again.

...Roll back the clock a bit...

"Bleh...I wish I had gotten chosen...I hate training so much."

It had only been a couple of days since her palace had transformed and her ladyship, the Collectrix, started transforming the warriors under her command and the difference had been quite noticeable.

The first few chosen were initially freaked out over their sudden transformation, but they power they had gained ha washed away whatever worries and misgivings they initially had.

This was especially the case when the old and crippled among us ended up gaining new life as her Blessed warriors.

Now, practically everyday, more and more warriors came to pray at her feet in hopes they would bless them.

Loban of the Green Tail Clan wasn’t an exception.

He had been praying for three days straight and had nothing to show for it.

However, he did not give up hope.

’If not today, then tomorrow I will get that blessing and become the new war chief! I will make the world my—ow! What the fuck?!’

Before Loban could finish his thought a flake of electrified snow touched his skin and zapped him.

’Wait, what? That doesn’t make any sense,’ Loban thought to himself. ’This is spring side and—WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT LOOMING OVER MY HEAD?!’

Turning his head as fast as a top, he saw what he could only describe as doom coming towards him.

"What the fuck..."