[MA] 198. Unparalleled (Patreon)

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[A/N: Chapters this week: 2/3

Late chapters: 3

Next release: Saturday ]

As much as Shen wanted to enter a battle of willpower to evaluate his growth, the ogre whose aura touched Shen's was their leader. If Shen won, the others might flee. If he lost, he might end up weaker and incapable of escaping.

So, he retracted his aura.

Not using his aura might also assist him in Rupturing a Concept, especially "Sharpness." Speaking of which, he stored the paper sheets in his spatial ring for their safety.

Unlike what had happened against the Embryo, his aura didn't continuously try to assert influence around him this time. He thus didn't need to split his focus and wasn't forced into an aura-will battle. For all of his domain's current uselessness, it had given him that enormous gift. Shen didn't need to risk losing an aura-will battle because he simply didn't need to enter any such fight.

He rushed at the enemy using only his body and spear. His True Path protected his body and soul from any aura. His perspective against magically created matter made him immune to most spells. His D+ resistance made him invulnerable to most ordinary attacks.

The leader had been at the forefront of the incoming opponents, only a few hundred yards away from Shen, who was already shooting straight at them.

As fast as Shen was at Mach 51—his new peak speed using everything he had—the ogres' Mach 30 was enough for them to start slowing down when they saw Shen. The leader was midway through a sword swing when the cultivator arrived. Their long barbed sword sought to cleave Shen in half in a considerably painful way.

All ogres were also releasing their control zones, the actual name of what he had called an elemental field. The zones didn't fight each other. Rather, fire and water, wind and earth, lightning and stone, gravity and ice mixed perfectly. That was a well-honed and experienced group, much more than gnolls had been.

Unfortunately for them, Shen had learned many ways of affecting such coordination.

He started with one of the simplest ones: he shook his body at such a fast speed and precise frequency that the air around him shook just the right way.

A mighty sonic boom ensured, further aided by the way Shen's qi-empowered vibration affected the ambient energy, qi and mana both, around him.

He still hadn't learned why he and other Guardians produced no sonic booms while moving faster than the speed of sound. The Drow Maiden had refused to answer that question because "the knowledge was useless" to him. He had only learned how to bypass that in a weaponized way.

The battered earth beneath his feet cracked under the pressure of the displaced air. The sound was deafening and would soon spread confusion over the enemy ranks. Unfortunately, even empowered by the secrets of the skill taught to him by the Drow Maiden, the pressure wave only moved at the speed of the sound.

Meanwhile, Shen also stepped down hard to further destabilize the enemy's unity. Each of his steps weakened the soil and made it less stable for whoever followed after him or stood nearby.

All that happened instantly. The leader was still in midswing. Shen had only just arrived and instantly determined the best moves to use.

Right now, the best move was also to completely ignore the leader.

Shen went for the weaklings first. They were more likely to escape if he killed the leader, even if no willpower battle was involved.

"Combat, War, and Sharpness," he repeated, focusing on his spear's edge, the number of ogres, and their synced movements, resistance, and incoming deaths.

He swung his spear diagonally from down upwards at the ogre closest to the leader. He vibrated his spear at the right frequency and placed qi in the correct proportion throughout his weapon. Mana and qi differed in many things, but both shared the energy proportions that the drow had discovered to exploit set materials. It was related to more profound truths of Reality than even what he had been taught, to how energy and Laws were associated with each other.

The edge of his qi- and Path-filled spear went through the metal armor as if it was going through empty air.

Once his weapon was through the armor, Shen immediately changed the vibration and energy proportion to counter carbon-based mana-filed beings. He was only guesstimating, but the ogres didn't seem to have a much different composition from humans. Carbon-based sounded right.

His weapon found extra resistance this time. D-tier resistance fueled by mana and wilfully applied magic tried to force the world into stopping his spear.

It failed. For all the ogre's effort, the extra resistance was barely good enough for Shen to feel like he was cutting jelly.

He left the bisected enemy behind and met the next one soon enough.

Magic from control zones touched him harmlessly. Nothing less than twenty other auras interposed with the leader's without interfering with each other, but they were useless against his. His True Path and perspective made him immune to them all.

The ogres tried to trap him. They tried to block him. They tried to damage him.

Shen found no noteworthy resistance as he went straight through the group, killing fifty in the blink of an eye.

Deafening sound, strong air pressure, and unstable ground confused everyone in his wake, but he didn't think it would be enough. He saw the signs of an incoming retreat, maybe even before the enemy did. The drow's teachings had also assisted the... "War"—he guessed—part of his Path with analyzing the enemy's intentions.

So he swung his spear horizontally in a specific frequency and qi proportion.

His spearhead split the very Concepts in the air and space it went through.

Plasma, lightning, light, fire, ice, images of weapons, and myriad other elements blinked into existence almost faster than he could see. Without any Concepts regulating how the Laws affected everything, some temporarily got more substantial control over the infinitely small area that Shen cut through.

It was infinitesimal indeed, an edge that split atoms. Most D-ranks couldn't see things move as fast as Shen could, so the ogres only witnessed the weak light left behind as atoms were cut apart.

The invisible edge traveled fast and mercilessly, leaving a light in its wake. It cut through ogres who had no idea how to defend against what was effectively the Laws themselves suddenly getting a stronger hold inside their bodies in unexpected ways.

All it would take was to fill their bodies with three or more Concepts. Two True Path Walkers were their Concepts and resisted the attack without doing anything. Fifty other ogres instinctively used mana filled with their entire Path while giving their all to defend themselves.

Almost a hundred didn't know two Concepts and were easily cut.

The Drow Maiden had said such one-bit Guardians were surprisingly common. She had also claimed they were utterly stupid or useless. Apparently, everyone in the Alliance agreed on one core Concept and two support Concepts being the best combination.

Lucky Shen, those hundred foes either hadn't known about that combination, hadn't cared about it, or hadn't been talented enough to touch on a second Concept.

At Shen's current power, the attack could only reach a few dozen yards away. He swung in full hundred-eight degrees, though, and the ogres had come packed in a tight unit, likely thinking that would let whoever was nearby protect each other.

Armor and weapon fared no better than the ogres. Concept-filled mana around or inside the objects would've solved that, too.

"Humans say knowledge is power," the Drow Maiden had taught Shen. "They have no idea how true that is."

Shen moved after his attack, swinging his spear more in every direction, returning to the leader.

Spells rained on him while the enemy tried to make the terrain impassable. But Shen couldn't be stopped. He had learned to move his body in ways he hadn't even taught possible and could think faster than any attack could come.

He was both in harmony with the Laws of Reality and moved in ways that bypassed many annoying Concepts that tried to halt his advance.

Shen also easily deflected the few non-magically created objects thrown his way with his spear. Rocks and thrown projectiles had no chance to ever harm him.

Yet, he failed in one thing.

His prediction had been wrong.

Midway back to the leader, the ogres still hadn't started running.

The reason had become clear almost as soon as Shen used his long-range attack. The leader had fallen on the ground, and whichever ogre his empowered sonic boom attack touched was quick to follow. It made them too dazed to even stand, maybe even disabled some. The chain of command was probably a mess.

That was... wrong.

Sonic booms weren't that powerful. Not enough to make D-ranks faint, at least, regardless of how much he empowered them with his every movement.

Yet his eyes disagreed with the cold logic of the laws of physics. The patterns and frequencies and his outstanding movements were too powerful. The attack that hadn't made a single eyelash from Drow Maiden move had knocked D-ranks out cold.

That wasn't the only unexpected thing. The ogres' attempts at destabilizing his movements were mocked by his very steps. The unstable earth he had left behind with his technique had finished expanding to cover the entire group, as he had aimed to. What he hadn't aimed at was how violently the ground suddenly exploded upwards. It created a chaotic, uneven ground and covered everyone's vision with debris.

Yet Shen still doubted his eyes.

It was so easy to defend against those attacks!

Why hadn't they simply vibrated back in an opposing frequency, changed the energy pattern in their bodies, or even simply strengthened their ears and brains a little bit beyond D+ resistance?

Why hadn't they removed the influence of his vibrating steps from the ground, strengthened the soil, or built a defensive layer under their feet?

"Knowledge is power," he could almost hear the Drow Maiden repeat. "You'll face some foes who never even imagined some of the attacks I'm teaching you are possible. Some races will be young and ignorant. Others will compartmentalize information, and your enemies will be none the wiser. Pathetic as you are, only absolute elites will be your match when I'm done with you."

Shen had thought it an exaggeration.

As he felt all ogres fall when the sound reached them, he concluded the Drown Maiden hadn't boasted or spoken humbly. She had been extremely precise in all her teachings.

Alas, the ogres at the edges started running as they realized something was wrong. Shen wouldn't have it. He ran after the ones on the right first.

There was no "Combat" or "War" in what he did. It was a one-sided slaughter. Even when he slowed down just to see what happened, his enemies' attacks couldn't damage him.

When they tried to crush him, he twisted his qi, and the damage flowed through his body. He took advantage of the qi-bolstered vibration-improved D+ resistance in his every cell. The shared burden made even the most substantial impacts harmless.

When they tried to pierce or cut him, they simply failed. He could make himself half as fast as them and still analyze their every movement, predict any attempt, and dodge all strikes.

Shen had met a thousand D-ranks and crushed them. Instead of being elated, he was left... disappointed.

That made it for him. He ended his attempt to Rupture a Concept. Those ogres wouldn't do.

He unleashed his aura. His willpower ran over every other will he met when their auras touched like a dragon slamming on an eagle. A moment later, only the True Path Walkers remained.

Another half a second later, they were all dead.

Shen surveyed the fruits of his labor.

Weak. So, so weak. True Path Walkers, aura users, peak D-ranks, and likely some D+ equipment. None had withstood his power.

No ogre even had another survival treasure to summon someone stronger!

The cultivator returned to the still-protected ogre. The bait. He had left that one for last.

He looked at his spearhead's edge. He had cut the very Concepts of Reality. That had been... "Sharp?" Maybe. The drawing also contained pictures of enemies getting pierced.

Shen focused on the very tip of his weapon, then struck the translucent golden shield. As with all his attacks, he used the right frequency, qi in the correct pattern, knowledge of the exact angle to—statistically, probably—connect for maximum damage, and everything else the drow had taught him.

To the shield's credit, this time, it felt like he hit a solid rock for an instant.

His weapon continued forth the next instant anyway.

The golden bubble popped. His weapon pierced the ogre's remaining lower half, and he moved it to create five-inches cubes. The creature had no extra survival treasure.

As soon as the bubble was pierced, something exploded inside the ogre's body. Survival treasures couldn't be re-utilized. They self-destroyed to deny the enemy the chance to use it themselves.

Shen looked back at the sharp edge of his weapon. Sharpness. It was there.

So simple. So obvious. How had he ever missed it?

There was no great moment of mystical enlightenment. No glorious realization. Suddenly, he just knew once more what Sharpness was and that he was it. The Concept separated itself from the others but didn't get any weaker. It still synergized perfectly with his whole Path.

Shen immediately realized how dumb his attacks had been. What he had thought was sharpness was just a blunt stupidity.

He swung his spear, cutting the air in his long-range attack, and there was no visual effect as the invisible edge traveled forward for almost two hundred yards. The very matter it cut through never "noticed" it was cut. Reality seamlessly blend back into place, the cuts too sharp and perfect.

"Pathetic and weak," Shen said, both to the ogres and himself.

The Drow Maiden had been precise in everything she had said, including her assessment of his abilities.

Yet, he couldn't stop himself from looking at his hands. He was weak, yet compared to the other weaklings, he was king.

To gain such power in a mere year...

Shen was utterly humbled once more. He was also awakened once and for all to how inconceivably precious everything he had been taught was.

Suddenly, everything just clicked.

He accepted her teachings like never before. He took it all and made it all an intrinsic part of his Path.

Shen laughed when he felt that simple acceptance led his power to increase a little further.

Truly, the Drow Maiden's methods were unfathomable. And more importantly, her results were unparalleled.

[A/N: Quick and dirty chapter to give perspective on how much above everyone else Shen currently is.]

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