Chapter 381 - Underestimated

  “What do you mean, they granted your wish?!” The strange, floating boy had a livid expression on his face as he stabbed his finger in the air toward the frog, “Your standards are too low, you glutton!”

  The frog on Yuzu’s shoulder didn’t seem to be particurly fazed by the verbal assault. In fact, its response was to half turn away from the boy, as if brushing off the accusations. However, the boy didn’t take offence to the action, but simply frowned.

  “Yes, yes. She does smell good.” He said with a sigh, his eyes nding on Yuzu, “But what about her stinky friends?… She what?”

  The boy’s second ‘she’ was not directed at Yuzu, but seemingly at Char Char as the boy’s eyes widened and stared straight at the Kumin girl. Char Char was in the middle of trying to sneakily sniff her armpit when she was put under the spotlight. She froze from the sudden attention, not sure of whether she was in trouble or not. Hesitation, then thoughtfulness washed over the boy’s face as he then turned away from the frog, “I see.”

  To complete this short dialogue the frog’s throat ballooned to three times in size and it let out a loud croak— or more accurately, a high-pitched squeal that dropped in pitch over time like air slowly being let out of a bag.

  The four Exalted humans could only stand in tense alertness as they tried to piece together the conversation, unable to hear or perceive the method of communication the frog was using. The swarm of flying serpents weaved through the air in a wide circle around them, looking equally parts curious and menacing as sparks of lightning zapped between the long, pale whiskers that trailed under them.

  Being able to see their fate threads gave Yuzu a key insight into their nature. They did not have their own individual threads like regur living creatures did, but rather they all shared the same thread as the boy. They were an extension of him, not independent beasts but more like different limbs of the boy’s body and spirit.

  “That sword.” The boy said, pointing at the sheathed bde at Char Char’s waist, “What are you doing with her?”

  “Her?” Char Char frowned, confused, “She has a gender?”

  “What? I wasn’t talking to you.” The boy rolled his eyes.

  “Who were you talking to then?” Char Char took a gnce around her.

  The brief awkward conversation gave Yuzu the critical opportunity to cycle through their imminent fate. Golden threads glimmered in Yuzu’s eyes as scenes shifted rapidly in her spiritual vision.

  Unfortunately, despite the boy’s carefree attitude and the somewhat silly conversation that was taking pce, his silver fate thread was rapidly and aggressively winding around them. A tense battle was imminent and Yuzu could not tell who would be the victor, or that they would emerge without any casualties even if they did win.

  Yuzu reached out to Char Char, taking hold of her friend’s arm much to the tter’s surprise. The gesture made it appear as if Yuzu was feeling scared or uncertain, looking to Char Char for comfort. However the truth was Yuzu simply needed to make contact to crify the threads.

  Violence will come quick, and ruthlessly. Yuzu’s eyes flickered to Char Char, then Kai. Char Char comes under attack first, but it’s a feint to distract her while two of the serpents strike at Kai.

  ~

  “It’s a pity…” The boy sighed with regret, “But I have no other choice.”

  The serpents appeared out of thin air, wrapping around Kai’s legs and torso with incredible speed. His dagger was already out, plunged deep into one of their eyes. The bones of his ribs and knees cracked. Fangs sunk into his neck. Blood sprayed.

  But if I warn him— The threads shifted with her intent.

  A new future bloomed in her mind. The extra second of warning gave Kai time to activate his powers. The serpents’ hidden movements in the spirit pne were disrupted before they could get in range. Kai and Firuzeh burst into action, avoiding the ambush.

  Char Char’s sword shone brightly as it left its sheath in a wide horizontal arc, instantly bisecting one— Yuzu tweaked the threads— no, two of the serpents. Char Char’s robes swirled around her as she deflected a serpent targeting Yuzu, but a different snake left a trailing gash along her leg with the razor sharp scales on its body.

  She adjusted again. An attack grazed past Char Char instead of connecting, but it left her open to a different strike. She plucked at the serpents’ threads, disrupting their coordination, but they adapted like water flowing around obstacles. In one future, Kai and Firuzeh both fell while Char Char had only succeeded in taking out half of the snakes. In a few others, Yuzu suffered various vicious deaths. The serpents were too strong. She couldn’t even find a single timeline where anyone could reach the boy.

  Yuzu flipped through multiple branches of fate simultaneously, discarding failures, exploring promising futures. However, there were too many threats, and even using her powers to stack the odds in her favour, she couldn’t get past the raw power and numbers against her.

  Though each serpent was weaker than Firuzeh and Kai individually, two of them could fight evenly with the Chaos fighters, and three was enough to overwhelm them. Yuzu had no combat prowess at all, the best she could do was swap the attention of the serpents away from her, leaving her untouched but increasing the pressure on her companions. Four exalted against twelve serpents. Those were impossible odds.

  The only one who seemed to be able to stand her ground, unsurprisingly, was Char Char. Even though she was not yet able to access her full powers as an Adept, she had ample speed and strength to cut through the serpents. With Hakuya’s incredibly sharp bde, she could cut down a serpent in a single strike. Their bodies turned to silk and fell to the floor, their fate threads returned to the boy.

  Looks like Char Char’s our best chance. Yuzu focused in on one particur line of action, the weave of the tapestry glimmered in her eyes.

  ~

  In an alternate future, Yuzu reached out to Char Char’s thread.

  “Listen carefully. The boy is going to attack. You’re the only one who can match him.” Images of the upcoming battle fshed through the connection, “He won’t hesitate to kill us.”

  Char Char’s expression didn’t change, hiding any hint that she had been warned by Yuzu.

  “That scarf of yours,” Char Char quipped casually, interrupting their conversation, “It’s quite pretty!”

  The comment seemed random, except Char Char hadn’t said it in any other timeline. She was acknowledging the warning, but also sending a message to Yuzu.

  Yuzu’s gaze snapped to the multi-coloured scarf flowing around the boy. The translucent, opalescent fabric shimmered in the afternoon sunlight, forming a loose protective shell. She had assumed that it was simply part of his attire. In battle it flowed like a living thing, protecting him from the counter-attacks of her companions, but she had thought that this was simply from his own techniques, rather than a quality of the scarf.

  Char Char had the ability to identify weapons and other important items that a person was carrying. For Char Char to single out this scarf, it must have a special significance.

  “Wait for the others to move,” Yuzu transmitted, “Then destroy it. Fast.”

  She tugged on the threads of Firuzeh and Kai.

  Kai moved first. His iron chain whipped toward the boy mid-sentence. The boy’s eyes fred, he batted the chain aside, but the motion came a heartbeat too slow, a fraction off-target. The links wrapped around his arm, tangling in the scarf.

  Three poison darts flew from Firuzeh’s fingers.

  The boy twisted. Two sailed past. The scarf flicked out and swatted the third from the air.

  “Scoundrels!”

  Electricity erupted around him. The serpents’ eyes bzed yellow as they coiled into attack formation. Lighting shattered Kai’s chain, bsting him back several meters.

  Three serpents descended on Firuzeh. Two more shot toward Yuzu, fangs bared, eyes burning with voltage. Even knowing this was just a vision, her heart lurched.

  Char Char was already in the air, her bde swinging for the boy’s throat. He dodged effortlessly, gring. Then his eyes widened as she twisted mid-strike and sliced clean through the scarf instead.

  The beautiful, mystical scarf convulsed. Colour bled from its silk as it spasmed violently, then drifted lifelessly to the ground.

  Two sheafs of lifeless fabric hit Yuzu in the face as the serpents attacking her colpsed back into pin silk.

  That did it! Yuzu’s eyes lit up, seeing that all of the deadly serpents had been completely defeated in one fell swoop. All that’s left is the boy!

  She continued exploring the vision, hoping to find its conclusion.

  Char Char nded, pivoted, and unched herself again with superhuman agility. Her bde was swinging for the boy’s neck again before the scarf’s pieces had even hit the ground. He didn’t even react, still staring at the drifting silk in shock.

  The bde passed clean through him, bisecting him from shoulder to waist. Char Char nded and turned, surprise flickering across her face.

  He was unharmed.

  The bde had done nothing.

  “I underestimated you.” The boy sighed, anger draining from his eyes, repced by sadness. Then his expression hardened with conviction.

  He didn’t speak again. He only chopped his hand through the air. Char Char’s fate string snapped. She colpsed without a single wound on her body. Firuzeh and Kai fell to another gesture, their spirits severed in a single effortless motion.

  Yuzu stared in disbelief, her voice cracking as she looked up at him.

  “Why?”

  He didn’t reply, but simply sliced his hand once more. Yuzu’s thread snapped.

  The boy looked toward the heart of the mountains, his expression dark. The golden tapestry around them began to quiver, then bcken as corruption started seeping into the threads like ink.

  He gathered the pieces of his scarf and fled from the approaching darkness.