Mad God Chapter 127

Published at 20th of December 2022 09:03:46 AM

Outside of the palace, Leinor patiently waited for Astair to catch up to him. He was standing opposite to him, with dark clouds above his head, clearly enraged and furious. 

“In what way do you want to compete?” Leinor asked with a smile.

“I'll beat you down, so you can't stand back up!” Astair snorted, letting his newfound powers flare up. His hair and clothings started to dance around him and not because of the wind, letting his aura free.

“Oh, so it is going to be the most basic version of competition, fighting. Got it, at least it won't burden your simple mind.” Leinor nodded, just standing there, hands crossed behind his back.

“No wonder they are married.” Toobu chuckled while Ariana stood beside him, watching Astair with furrowed brows.

“That guy emits such a vile aura…” She whispered, while the rest of the disciples turned towards her, switching to voice transmissions. 

“What do you feel, sister Ariana?” Sylvett asked, not looking away from the fight.

“Rage. Mixed with deep, repressed sadistic thoughts… and a whole lot of desire for possession.” Ariana tried to explain what she was feeling to the rest. “His mind is focused on crippling Elder Leinor and making Master kneel before him.”

“Hah… good luck with that!” Lulu laughed, “I think the only one who can make Master kneel before him is his opponent right now!”

“Oh stuff it…” Yanda nudged her, making the rest blush, or at least those who got her reference.

“I… don't understand it.” Heldi said while Kirch reassured her. 

“Just don't. Senior Sister is asking for a beating if Elder Ren hears about it.”

“Hauh… s-sorry…” Shai said as she lowered her head, embarrassed.

“I-i-its s-s-starting!” Wyland tensed up, warning them to concentrate.

The first to make a move was Astair. He stomped on the ground as the tiles below them ruptured and floated up to the air, flying out towards Leinor while spinning in the air. He was not bothered by it, easily dodging them, keeping his eye on Astair. Seeing the ranged attack of his failing, he produced an iron-like rod from the left sleeve of his, waving it once. It quickly  expanded to around 1,5 meters long and he started rushing at Leinor. To his surprise, Leinor refused to produce any kind of weapons as his weapon was coming down from an overhead strike. Leinor just simply stepped back at the last second. It went past his face by millimeters, landing on the ground, shaking everything and blasting pieces of the hard, marble tiles everywhere but he was uninjured. 

“It had that much force behind it… or is it made out of something special?” Sylvett asked as she furrowed her brows.

“The first.” Yanda said, “Watch his hands as he swings.” 

As the disciples looked on, after a few other swings, they could finally see. The moment Astair struck down, his hands gripped much harder on it. The weapon suddenly accelerated way much faster and Astair had to exert much more strength to hold the weapon of his.

“It's… changing… its weight?” Heldi speculated.

“Seems like it.” Ariana agreed, crossing her arms. “Sylvett? You are the one with earth affinity amongst us. Do you feel anything?”

“No.” She shook her head. “He is way above me. I can barely follow their exchanges.” She replied quickly, straining her eyes to keep watching and capture everything.

On the 'battlefield' Leinor was only moving when necessary, never making a counter-strike, just dodging with a half smile, clearly taunting Astair. 

“Fuck you!” Astair shouted in the end, slamming his metal rod into the ground so hard, it just shattered into dozens of pieces.

Letting go of his weapon, he pushed out his hands and the air somewhat got distorted around both of them. The metallic shards, the broken pieces of the tiles and everything that wasn't nailed down, started to float, losing their complete weight. More precisely, gravity was no longer affecting them. The same became true for Leinor as he also lost his balance and started to float upwards. It surprised everybody, even Leinor too. Astair quickly produced another, shorter and thicker rod from his right sleeve. He jumped up and was swinging it down at Leinor. He was focusing everything into his attack, while the floating pieces in the air came crashing down, hard.

“Go to hell!” He roared as the weapon descended down, turning red in the process from the friction of the air, like a meteor crashing through the atmosphere.

Leinor only crossed his arms before his head as it struck him down, sending him into the ground. Literally. Loud cracking sounds echoed through the garden, making a lot of disciples shiver and while the ones on Heaven's Gate's side cheered, their guests looked on, without a change in their expressions. They were worried at first but then they realized their elders were still looking on, focused on the battle, watching the kicked up smoke clear away.

When the dust settled and Astair stood a few steps back, tossing away the deformed weapon of his, Leinor was getting up from the hole, he left in the ground. Both of his arms were disfigured, bones sticking out of it and bending in the wrong way. His head was missing a large patch of skin and showing his fractured skull, where the rod had reached it. Although it looked really gnarly, he just cracked his neck, still smiling. Before everyone could react, he shook his body as a shockwave burst out, into every direction. He was sapping the surroundings from energy, only in a second's time. The grass turned yellow, bushes wilted and dried up and the ground hardened and cracked up. Astair faltered after feeling his own energy getting chaotic and being dragged out of his body. He was quickly stepping back even more farther, watching with horror as the wounds on Leinor's head healed in less than two seconds. He looked as if those injuries were never there in the first place. His broken arms corrected themselves with loud cracks and not long after it, he just cracked his fingers, stretching himself lazily, without any injuries.

“Fuck…” Frenir whispered, standing next to Ren and Aerthus. “Someone can do that…?”

“Wait until you get stronger.” Aerthus smiled as he put his hand on his shoulders.

“You joke, Master…” Frenir sighed, not taking his words seriously but Aerthus just smiled, not elaborating on it more. 

“It is always frightening, seeing your gift at work, old friend.” Zelig commented, standing not far from them. “He even looks more adept at it than you were at his stage, no?”

“Yes.” Aerthus answered proudly.

“He got used to it early.” Ren chuckled. “When we were kids, we always had a 'no bar brawl' every afternoon.”

“Poor Senior…” Frenir whispered, shivering a little.

On the field Leinor just rolled up his sleeves, dusting off his uniform, not even bothering with looking at Astair. Only after he was satisfied with his own looks did he pull back the rapid energy consumption around him. 

“That is all?” Leinor asked, tilting his head, asking with an almost disappointed voice. “I won't lie, you surprised me with that trick. You can manipulate gravity, yes? Interesting but I can feel it. You are still not in complete control of it… Or you could've just slowed me down, making me lose balance, individually raise or lower the gravity around my limbs, etc… So that you could strike at least a few fatal blows. You just reached Harmony, yes? At least that is my guess! Not bad, not bad, but nowhere near to our level! If you have anything left to show, do it. I am waiting.” He gestured politely, wearing a small smile.

“Don't be so cocky!” Astair grinded his teeth, looking into Leinor's eyes.

His violet irises grew brighter as he tried to invade Leinor's mind and stop him from moving before his next attack. As soon as he felt in control, Leinor just flashed a much wider smile.

“You already forgot who my wife is?” He whispered, before his eyes also turned purple and lightning came forwarded from them, completely visible to everyone present.

They traveled quickly and right into Astair's eyes, making him scream out agonizingly. He was stumbling backwards, grabbing onto his own face, finally falling to his knees, continuing to howl with pain. He started to claw at his own eyes, trying to pluck them out from their sockets. Rudrick immediately appeared beside Astair, placing his hand on his head, infusing his energy and drawing out the strand of electricity, still flashing between his fingers. He just crushed it, turning towards Ren with a dark look.

“Why did you interfere? We need an explanation for this!” Rudrick bellowed.

“Easy! I did not.” She said as she crossed her arms in response. “It's just some leftover energy from our previous, full contact spar in our bedroom.” Ren answered with a clearly happy attitude. “Was it me who casted it? When? How? It came from LeiLei's eyes, not mine. Or was it really me?” She tilted her head, while her disciples were holding back their laughter. “Hey, Sect Master granddad, you are a super-duper cultivator!” She looked sideways at Zelig, “I am standing almost next to you! Did you really let me interfere with the match, letting your own elder loose before everyone? Woah, I didn't know you favored your never before seen offspring like that, to let me go wild! What a great man you are, gramps! I love you to death!”

“Enough.” Zelig said, opening his mouth. His voice was laced with irritation as he was ignoring Ren, looking at Rudrick. “There was no interference in the spar. He challenged someone who was stronger than him. Clearly he needs more discipline, but we can't fault someone for being young.”

“Heh…” Ren just chuckled, not saying more while Leinor walked back to them. He won without even dishing out any moves, defeating his opponent by just standing there.

“You were awesome, Master!” Toobu sent over his voice, flashing his thumbs at him, while Wyland just nodded heavily. 

“Ahaha, don't flatter me! But thanks~” He smiled at them while Ren just grinned, patting his back as he stood beside her. 

“It was an exciting showcase!” Zelig turned around, wearing a smile, clapping his hands. “We are going to have such exciting days ahead of us! It was a perfect ending for the banquet, our guests are surely eager to rest for the night! It had to be a long journey getting here!”

“True.” Aerthus nodded, before continuing. “I presume we are going to have a tour of your magnificent city tomorrow?”

“Of course! We also prepared to show you our different strengths and inventions! I hope you all look forward to it!” 

“Sure.” Aerthus smiled a little, before they were shown to their rooms, inside the palace's left wing.

Soon they were put into luxurious, two person bedrooms, each of them. Even though they were in a clearly a more hostile than friendly environment, most of the disciples were relaxed, when trying out the soft and fully beds.

“Why am I with you here?” Yanda asked with a deadpan look, watching Lulu undress inside the room, ready to go and take a bath.

“I don't mind! Care to come in with me?” She asked, throwing her clothes on the bed.

“No thank you.” He answered in a blink.

“Ice cold.” She shook her head. “Then I go first! If you are tired of waiting, just come and join me!” Lulu waved her hands, going inside the bathroom, without closing the door behind her.

In another room, Ariana and Heldi were amazed by what they saw. The expensive rugs on the floor, the hand carved decorations on the giant, double sized bed's frame and the bathroom, with the biggest possible bathtub, made of marble.

“So this is how royalty lives…?” Ariana gawked as she stood in the middle of the room.

“I'm afraid to touch anything here, what if I break it?” Heldi gulped, playing anxiously with her fingers.

“Yeah, I totally know what you mean!” Ariana nodded. “We should… be careful! Do you want to come in with me?” She held Heldi's hand, nodding towards the bathroom. “That way we can watch each other to not break something accidentally!”

“Good idea! Sure!” Heldi nodded happily.

While they were being extra careful, in another room Toobu was already tearing down the curtains, ripping them clean off and starting to do pull ups on the empty railings. 

“Come, a good workout before showering and you are going to sleep well!” He said to Wyland, who was watching him with twitching eyes. 

“are y-y-you s-s-sure?” He gulped as he looked at the curtains on the floor. 

“Relax! Fancy places like this replace them when they have a slight mood change! It's nothing! Come!”

“I-i-if y-y-you s-s-say s-s-so…” He murmured, trying to reach up to it but he needed Toobu to pick him up so he could grab onto it.

“That's the spirit! Ahaha! Let's do 500!” Toobu laughed, completely fired up.

Inside the room, opposite to them, Sylvett was lying on the bed, next to Kirch. Both of them were reading a book in silence. It was then when they heard a crash from outside… It was Toobu and Wyland's body crashing down, as the two's weight was not something the railing could support.

“I hope they can calm down soon.” Sylvett  murmured, returning to her book with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah! I had enough stress already. So many eyes looking at me… I'll get a stroke by the end of this all just from anxiety!” 

“Then you should steel your nerves Kirch, tomorrow we are going on a tour it seems! I bet we are going to be followed and looked on by a sea of people.”

“Shit…” He whispered, flipping a page, drawing a small smile on Sylvett's face. She reached out, patting his head, calming down her friend like someone would do with a nervous puppy.

In the room of Leinor and Ren, they were sitting at the coffee table, drinking tea, while Eisen put a small crystal onto the table. Their room was sealed by the powers of Leinor. Any outside energy, trying to come in, would first be in contact with his aura. Then it would be consumed, alerting them of prying ears or thoughts. 

“I recorded everything, as per your instructions boss!” Eisen smiled playfully.

“Good job! The letter Kitten delivered, specified the possible cases when they may make a move on us.” Ren nodded. The letter was… damning. It seemed King Rudrick was more ambitious than anyone else thought. He was not just aiming at her… he was aiming at the same position as Zelig. She was just a resource in his eyes, to push himself to the Perfect Harmony realm. He was not satisfied with being the second in command. He was aiming to replace his forefather. “The first one was correct. If it holds true, tomorrow some of our disciples are going to face some trouble too. If there is more chaos in the world, he can move and act more freely, without Zelig's watchful eyes on his back…” 

“Are we going to record those attempts too?” Eisen tilted her head. “What if the kids lose?”

“It is part of their training.” Leinor answered with a strict voice. “Defeat is not the end, you can learn from it. It is good for them to experience some setbacks too.”

“You are the boss, I was just asking!” She put up her hands, rolling her eyes, knowing full well that Leinor did not like her at all.  “I'll follow them with Kitten and record everything then. Should I step in if they go too far?”

“Do as you see fit.” Ren nodded.

“Really?” Her eyes lit up immediately. “Awesome!”

“You can go now! You were put into one room with Kitten.”

“Don't worry Boss!” Eisen laughed. “I can track that pussycat by smell!” 

“I'm surprised you have any sense of smell after snorting that much drugs.” Leinor whispered but Eisen just ignored him, before leaving with a grin.

“Relax~” Ren chuckled, climbing into his lap after Eisen left. She started to massage his chest while purring. “You were awesome~ Come, let me reward you a little~” Ren whispered, kissing him, slowly undressing Leinor when they heard the same crash that disturbed Sylvett's and Kirch's reading session.

“Eh…” Leinor furrowed his brows, wanting to stand up and see what his disciples were doing but Ren just pressed him back onto his chair, sitting in his lap.

“a~” She wagged her index finger at him. “Leave them be!”

“But-”

“Nooo~” Ren giggled “We are having fun now! Let them have some too! Also, Sect Head is here, no harm can come to them!” She whispered, holding his head with two hands. “Just focus on us~ I need to make you relax fufufu~ If you go out tomorrow like this… this pent up, you are going to explode~”

“Are we trusting my Uncle's letter now?” Leinor blinked his eyes slowly, placing his hands on Ren's waist.

“No. But if everything he wrote comes true, then we may trust him in the future. That is why I am going to make you melt right now~” She whispered into his ears. “You need a relaxed mind to deal with the upcoming days~”

Chapter end