MI176: Power Overwhelming (Patreon)

Instead of allowing her Geo-formed wall to dissipate and crumble to dust, Zhongli thrust her hand forward and caused it to skid across the floor like a bulldozer on nitrous. 

Though they were far from indestructible, constructs formed from Geo Energy were comparable to Anti-Magic Bricks in terms of durability and magic resistance. With the wall constructed by Zhongli being more than 3m thick, trying to stop it was like an ordinary person attempting to stop a semi from rolling down a steep incline.

Realizing she couldn't slice through Zhongli's wall, even at a much closer distance, the Black Knight had no choice but to evade. In the same series of movements, black tendrils shot out from her armor to pick up Sayu's body, holding it up like a shield as she exclaimed, "Drop your weapons, or your friend-!?"

Before she could conclude her threat, the Black Knight felt an intense chill permeate her entire body as a brilliant purple 'meteor' passed by her in an instant. In its wake, her right arm could be seen spinning through the air, but the more pressing issue was that every nerve in her body was tensing due to the 'electricity' flowing through it.

As the purple meteor burst apart to reveal Ei, the Black Knight's tendrils hurriedly brought Sayu closer to her body, seemingly moving of their own accord. 

Dodging under the blade of light that attempted to cut off her head, Ei charged toward the Black Knight as if she was oblivious to the fact Sayu was being used as a human shield. Paul could always resurrect her come nightfall, and, more importantly, Ei knew that Sayu wouldn't allow herself to be used as leverage if she were conscious.

Realizing she was up against someone ostensibly cold-blooded, the Black Knight's tendrils hurled Sayu's body toward Ei, following it with a veritable volley of highly penetrative tendrils.

Though she felt a pang of guilt as she did so, Ei's body appeared to flicker as she evaded both Sayu's body and the tendrils. Her highest priority was eliminating the enemy before her, so she accelerated like a radiant purple beam of light the moment she had an unobstructed path between her and the Black Knight.

Feeling any icy chill suffuse through her body, the peculiar pupils of the Black Knight's eyes started to contract. Before they could even finish, a ring of rainbow-colored light seemed to overtake her, robbing the world of its color as her perception of the world abruptly split in two.

Appearing behind the Black Knight, seemingly in an instant, Ei exhaled a visible breath before rising to her full height. As she did, the two halves of the Black Knight's body began to fall away from each other, perfectly split from crown to crotch.

Just as the tendrils covering the Black Knight's body attempted to pull her back together, two hexagonal columns formed from Geo Energy erupted from the ground, seemingly crushing her as they came together to form a triangular arch. 

Looking over to the smiling Archon, Ei's brows briefly furrowed as she felt Zhongli had robbed her of her triumph. The Black Knight wasn't nearly as powerful as she had anticipated, roughly the same level as Reida, so she was confident in securing a solo victory.

Unbothered by Ei's glower, Zhongli shifted her attention to the entrance of the Great Hall, informing, "Our young kunoichi friend is still alive. Ganyu, if you would be so kind..."

Poking her head out from the relative safety of the Great Hall's massive doors, Ganyu immediately located Sayu's unconscious body and rushed over. She would ordinarily wait for Paul's orders, but she already knew he would give her permission to treat Sayu's injuries.

Interpreting Zhongli's words to mean it was safe, Paul, Kishirika, and Yae also poked their heads out. When Paul noticed Sayu's body collapsed on the ground, his expression immediately darkened. He was happy that she was still alive, but the loss of an arm and a leg wasn't something a girl her age should be forced to endure...

Turning his attention to the triangular structure formed by Zhongli, Paul's voice was several bars deeper as he questioned, "Did you kill the asshole responsible for this?"

Earning a disproving look from Ei, Zhongli shook her head and replied, "I attempted to crush them, but I can sense they're still alive. The odds of them being immortal are quite high."

As immortality was becoming an increasingly common gimmick, Paul was unsurprised by Zhongli's response. In response, he narrowed his eyes at the two conjoined pillars and remarked, "I recall you using your powers to seal your pet dragon, Azi-something. Can you do the same thing with the person trapped between the pillars...?"

Though she showed a rare expression of surprise, Zhongli didn't hesitate to reply, "It's not impossible. However, it requires a tremendous amount of energy. I'm not exactly running low, but..."

Understanding what Zhongli was trying to say, Paul nodded his head and said, "Leave it to me. Hell, I'll do you here and now if it means this assbag pays the price for harming Sayu..."

Adopting a narrow-eyed smile, Zhongli playfully replied, "I'm feeling more motivated already. But first..."

Vanishing from view, Zhongli appeared behind Paul just as a trio of black tendrils attempted to impale him through the back. The Black Knight's arm had managed to avoid the fate of being crushed, and the tendrils covering it were still active.

With Geo Energy condensed in her hand and body, Zhongli backhanded the tendrils, causing them to fracture like broken glass. Geo Energy could be used to petrify opponents in its pure form, so Zhongli decided to test if it would be an effective countermeasure against the tendrils. Seeing the tendrils shatter into crystalline fragments upon contact with the ground, it was fairly safe to assume it was.

Shifting her attention to the tendril's origin, Zhongli was about to crush the Black Knight's arm into pulp when Kishirika abruptly exclaimed, "Wait! Don't destroy it...!"

As she didn't take orders from Kishirika, Zhongli made a chopping motion with her left hand that caused a hexagonal pillar to emerge out of thin air before smashing down on the arm like a hammer. The moment she did so, Kishirika shouted, "You stupid fucking moron...!" before stomping the floor in frustration.

Though she was initially unperturbed by Kishirika's insult, Zhongli blinked in surprise when she could no longer sense the Black Knight's life force. It hadn't simply faded away like when an ordinary living creature lost its life; it had disappeared entirely...

Without waiting for Paul's command, Zhongli dispersed the pillar she used to crush the Black Knight's arm. The mangled armor was still present, but the interior was filled with what appeared to be rainbow-hued ash...

Witnessing the unusual sight alongside Zhongli, Paul felt a palpable chill as pure, undiluted fury rose from within him. He wasn't angry at Zhongli for crushing the Black Knight's arm; he was pissed off at the realization that the Black Knight had likely escaped.

Unable to contain himself, Paul shouted, "Fuck...!" at the top of his lungs before punting the remnants of the Black Knight's arm. He knew that the entity was likely only doing as it was programmed, but he couldn't stand letting something that had harmed his allies escape.

In a reversal of their previous conversation, Kishirika was the voice of reason as she said, "Calm down. We managed to get our hands on the Longsword of Light and save your companion. I also have a pretty good idea of who, or, more precisely, what attacked her..."

Though he continued breathing heavily through his nose, Paul did his best to calm down when he heard Kishirika's words. He knew anger was one of the least-useful emotions on the battlefield, sans when you had given up on survival, so he took several deep breaths before saying, "Tell me what you know..."

Nodding her head, Kishirika explained, "Those black tendrils you just saw were a trademark of Laplace. He was unable to wield Touki, so he tried to compensate for his weakness by recreating the material used to construct the Golden Armor. Fortunately, at least for his enemies, he wasn't the type of person that could focus on a single project at a time..."

Realizing she was getting a little side-tracked, Kishirika shook her head before staring into Paul's eyes and stating, "One of the subjects Laplace was most interested in were the various forms of immortality. He wanted to find a way to make himself unkillable while developing methods to kill every other immortal. One of his more successful experiments concerned the production of living dolls, vessels in which his soul could transfer to in the event of his untimely death..."

Shifting her gaze to the ash on the ground, Kishirika narrowed her eyes as she appended, "Though he ultimately decided upon a different method of transference, likely hoping his enemies would die of natural causes before his revival, those tendrils and this ash are a testament to his experiment's success. Once we retake the castle, we need to locate his laboratory and destroy it. If that research found its way into the wrong hands..."

Even without clarification, Paul could guess who Kishirika was referring to when she mentioned the wrong hands. Hitogami was certainly a cause for concern, but his powers and influence were limited thanks to being sealed in the Void. The more significant threat was humanity, or, more accurately, the bags of dick that suppressed others and prioritized the accumulation of wealth and power over the lives of others. If they got their hands on a method to transfer their spirits into vessels of their choosing, they would become even more brazen and corrupt...

Understanding that some technologies should never propagate beyond a highly regulated lab environment, Paul left Kishirika feeling fairly gratified as he nodded his head and affirmed, "I understand. Though I"m sure that Laplace's research notes would shed light on many things, there are ways to advance without relying on the insights gleaned by a madman...if there aren't, maybe society doesn't deserve to prosper..."

Though she felt his final remark bordered on the extreme, Kishirika didn't disapprove of the sentiment Paul was trying to convey. Several thousand years ago, magi-science and technology were much more advanced than the present. Countless airships dominated the skies, fortresses the size of castles guarded the borders of major nations, and issues such as disease and famine only existed in societies that willfully isolated themselves from others. It was an era of relative peace and prosperity, ruined by the desire for even more...

...

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Located in the depths of a labyrinth that spanned nearly the entire Demon Continent, connecting several key locations, was a warehouse-sized room housing hundreds of crystalline cylinders containing near-identical female forms. Some were distinctly older or younger or possessed features from other races, but every single one of them had violet-purple hair and goat-like horns.

Following the Black Knight's death, one of the containers glowed brighter than the others before the liquid within began to drain rapidly. The tubes and apparatuses supporting her retracted soon after, forcing the naked beauty within to stand on her own two feet as she bent over and coughed up a citrus-smelling, jelly-like substance. 

Without waiting for the container to drain completely, the violet-haired woman smashed her hand against the crystalline container, shattering it as she growled, "Those despicable fiends! They dare to steal the sword entrusted to me by my Master!? If I don't kill them all, then my name isn't Kishirika Kishirisu...!"

As the luminescent green liquid finished draining, an inky black substance began rising from the self-proclaimed Kishirika's feet, enveloping her from head to toe before congealing into a set of familiar black armor. This time, however, it had a golden trim and glistened with a faint purple hue...

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