Chapter 649 - A Clash of Tremors
Oubai Touri's unique title, 'Heroine,' comes with the enhancement ability [Helios Tremblea, The Trembling Great Body of the Hero]. The person herself who disclosed this information kept the explanation extremely brief, saying it was "too complicated," so the fine details of its mechanics remain unknown.
From her words and the facts pieced together from various archives, if one were to interpret the power governed by the zigzagging EKG-like 'crown,' it could best be described as 'the ability to manipulate the intensity of vibrations affecting one's own body and anything it touches.'
Its effective range extends to her avatar and everything her body is in contact with.
Simply put, Oubai Touri can freely amplify or dampen the 'vibrations' acting upon anything she is touching.
Needless to say, it's a power far too immense to be described with a simple word like 'strong.'
Used offensively, every single one of her attacks becomes a defense-piercing vibration strike, akin to a [Shinden] from the Kesshiki style. Used defensively, it dampens the power of enemy attacks and helps avoid hit-stun by stripping the vibrations and shock from them. It is a truly versatile power, excelling in both offense and defense.
Furthermore, for someone whose full potential is only realized upon vibrating ground—
"Ugh, I'm getting sick...!!!"
"It's tough, isn't it? Being constantly shaken!"
By continuously amplifying and maintaining the tremors beneath her feet that form her personal stage, she gains the immense convenience of no longer needing to refresh her 'earth-shaker' with her Anima.
For her, who is completely accustomed to this as her own battle tactic, it's one thing, but for her opponent, it is, from the bottom of my heart, utterly unbearable.
Fortunately, or perhaps in a case of extremely timely intervention, the resistance function of the [Perdia Eternity (Earth-Vowing Star that Dreams of the Azure Sky)] newly fitted on my left middle finger seems to be working, and I appear to be resisting the faint stun effect that would otherwise accumulate from the infinite vibrations...—
But it's no use. I can't keep this up.
Even if my stats aren't affected, the situation of being endlessly shaken by an earthquake is relentlessly chipping away at my concentration. It's not enough to throw off the accuracy of my punches yet, but that's likely only a matter of 'for now.'
There's a limit to how much I can take, even if I prefer a straightforward fight. I welcome a challenge, but recklessness is a no-go. And so—!
"Take thiiis!"
"Guh—! You're full of energy, aren't you...!"
A lightning-fast one-two punch. The extended range of my water-enchanted fists—which were perfectly serving as a cushion against her 'vibration amplification'—parried each of the Heroine's strikes and slammed into her stomach, forcing a break.
[Desperate Crimson] and [Ignition] activated. I immediately disengaged from the brawl with zero-to-one-hundred acceleration—...and from there, [Rocket] activated. From ground to air, and from air to air, two quick steps brought me instantly back into the fight, and my fist came down from above.
...Actually, this just cancels out the height difference, putting us on even ground, I guess?
"—Hey, that's not how I expected you to get away, you...!"
"Well, I don't really get many chances to use this, you see!"
Fists and words exchanged again, while still floating in mid-air. It was a bizarre motion, different from the act of planting one's feet on the ground, one that would surely give any observer a strange sense of unease.
[Talaria Record]—its hidden power was unrestricted aerial walking.
It felt different from the runaway express trains that were [Rocket] and [Rocket].
Forward, forward, forward, ignoring the immense weirdness of my soles firmly treading on empty air through a combination of habit, tension, and sheer momentum. My feet never stopped, and my fists were endless.
The price for this optional activation was having my agility cut to one-fifth of its total, which was actually convenient against a Ranker, since I couldn't go full speed anyway to watch out for counters.
In fact, it was just right. It meant I could step on the gas without reservation—
"I can focus on our little brawl without any distractions!"
"Ngh...! Don't you—dare underestimate me!"
It was likely some kind of emergency skill. An invisible pressure erupted from a deep step Oubai Touri took, instantly blowing my body away without allowing for any resistance.
No change in my stats, no damage taken, no debuffs. I assume it's a forced knockback that's possible precisely because of that...—oh, crap.
"Reca—"
"Fly away."
She didn't miss the fleeting opportunity. A charge and release. A right straight punch thrown into the empty space before her... though calling it that was a bit too polite for the brawling strike it was. It struck unerringly into the void.
Her unique title enhancement, [Helios Tremblea, The Trembling Great Body of the Hero].
Its power was the manipulation of vibrations in herself and whatever she was touching. That power—was not limited to the earth, but also included the air itself.
A roaring fist,
A flapping habit,
And approaching with a thunderous roar, a great, trembling, invisible wall.
The arrival of this pressure, filling the entire width of the cramped maze path, was truly unavoidable. Yet if I didn't deal with it, it would undoubtedly be a fatal, one-hit kill.
In that case, as a 'Ranker'—no, as someone who made the esteemed Lady Heroine unhesitatingly unleash such a powerful ultimate move, I would, with due gratitude and respect...
"—[Flood]!!!"
...show her a counter worthy of the 'Name' I have been bestowed.
In my hands were a great warhammer and waraxe, no less grand than the weapon she had summoned. The world acknowledged the words I chanted in rapid succession. Maximum output, faucets opened wide, and a great waterfall overflowed.
My excessive mana, easily surpassing 1000 MID, raged uncontrollably, and the moment the vast amount of 'water' that instantly flooded the passage made contact with the Heroine's ultimate attack... a grand 'brawl' between immense output and massive volume swallowed a whole section of the maze.
Five seconds. The water, having dragged in the two opposing shadows, raged ceaselessly.
Ten seconds. The water, having consumed the shadows, also consumed the impact and vibrations, swirling into a quiet vortex.
Twenty seconds—after a magical sight where the water born from altered phenomena melted into the void... the remaining shadows were, as before, two.
The distance between them had become zero.
"—Shinden Style Two..."
The smaller shadow, having transformed the fatal shockwave into a near-fatal torrent with a cushion of absurd scale, placed both her palms on the larger shadow's abdomen.
"—...I got ahead of myself. How frustrating."
Both were dripping water from their long hair, and their expressions were also matched in smiles.
"[Yamabiko]."
The signal for the end erupted, and a pillar of light shot towards the heavens.
- Shinden Style Two [Yamabiko]—This is not one of the protagonist's original Kai series, but a technique that originally belongs to the unarmed martial arts of the Kesshiki Ittoryu. As a form, it is simply [Shinden] x2 released from both hands, but the two vibration strikes resonate and harmonize, causing the 'power to pierce through the target's interior' to instead 'explode inside the target's interior.'
As for why a vibration attack worked on Oume-san, I'll touch on that later.