Manifest War: The Weapons Within

“Let’s get em Nioh! Rip 'em to shreds!” The girl screeched with a devious grin.

Nioh roared as he took aim at Asiah, now pouncing in her direction. With one swift motion, Asiah quickly took out a long polearm weapon and hopped on Vera’s back, bracing herself for the fight. The two beasts collided and the women riding on top were blocking each other’s attacks, trying their best to force each other backwards.

“Who are you!? Are you the ones responsible for this town’s destruction?!” Asiah yelled out, wanting answers from her new foe.

“The name’s Mallie! I am one of the five great generals serving under Lord Briddle! And so what if I'm the one responsible? Not like you can do anything about it!” Mallie replied with a crazed cackle, not caring one bit about what happened to all these people.

She then exerted her Core Energy outwards, pushing back Asiah and Vera with ease. Vera slid along the ground, her paws digging in and leaving behind a long trail. She finally caught her grip and halted their backwards progress, letting out a loud, angered roar towards Mallie and Nioh in the process.

Zalthia ran over to provide assistance, but was suddenly stopped in her tracks by a new opponent. He had a muscular build with four arms, big eyes, extremely sharp teeth, and pale skin. The man donned a shiny black armor with various runic symbols etched on it, covering every inch of his body.

“No no no, Moku can’t let you interfere. Moku wants to have some fun too!” He said with a toothy grin. Zalthia glared at the Boundless man, sizing him up before splitting into five clones of herself. The clones twirled their scythes in unison before assuming different positions, ready to fight alongside Zalthia.

“Oooh, cool, cool!! Moku, impressed!” He clapped his four hands together as he applauded her theatrics, finding them very interesting. Zalthia didn't accept his praise and instead, she dashed forward with incredible speed to begin her assault.

She and her clones swiped and slashed at him from all angles, looking for any kind of opening. Their speed and graceful movements were incredibly coordinated, highlighting the control that Zalthia had over her abilities. Despite the skillful display, Moku blocked his face and body with his four arms while they sliced and diced around.

Even though she was putting a tremendous amount of effort and energy behind her blows, Moku remained relatively unscathed. His armor was immensely solid and felt as though she were trying to cut diamonds with how hard it was. She kicked him in the chest before doing a backflip, forcing herself away and creating distance between them.

“Man, that’s a hard shell. I assume that armor is his Manifest, otherwise there's no way it would be this difficult to crack.” Zalthia thought to herself with slight concern, trying to come up with a better way to approach this fight.

Before she could gather her thoughts, Moku went on the offensive. He crouched down low, flexing his leg muscles more and more the closer he got to the ground. Then with intense force, Moku leaped into the sky, crushing the terrain underneath his feet like shattered glass.

Zalthia looked up with a confused expression until she realized what he was about to do. Her eyes went wide and she quickly leapt out of the way as Moku dive-bombed in her direction. Zalthia had gotten to safety in the knick of time, but two of her clones weren’t so lucky as they were destroyed by the blast.

“What the hell was that!?!” She thought to herself, panting heavily and feeling uneasy about who she was currently fighting. The dust settled and she noticed Moku standing within a small crater, cheekily smiling at her and clearly urging her to continue the match.

Zalthia glared at him as she took hold of her scythe, summoning forth two more clones to replace the ones from before. The wind blew heavily as these Vesta’s sized each other up, waiting patiently and carefully for whoever made the next move.

On the other side of the field, a fierce battle between creature Manifests was being waged. Vera swiped and gnashed at Nioh, trying to quickly subdue him with her superior speed. Nioh’s size made up for his lack of speed allowing him to be more defensive and reactive, using his immense strength to block her advances.

Their ferocity could be felt by all and neither were giving an inch to the other. Vera bolted forward and as Nioh braced itself, she quickly sidestepped and found herself behind the brutish bear. Vera bit down onto his back with her sharp fangs, gripping down with absurd amounts of pressure.

Nioh roared out, feeling the pain from the feline's razor-like teeth. He eventually shook his back vigorously and tossed Vera off of him, despite her grip. She was flown towards the nearby treeline and just as she landed, Nioh dashed over and swiped his massive paw at her face. His long claws cut her face deeply, causing Vera to squint and writhe in pain.

The roars and snarls from these two beasts could be heard from miles away, filling the air with loud and brutal tension. Opposite to Vera and Nioh, Asiah and Mallie were now going toe to toe, blocking each other's attacks with great precision.

“My, my, you seem awfully upset about that town. Why do you care that a few humans perished? They were nothing more than rodents for my companion to feast on!” Mallie yelled out with a laugh, her expression looking absolutely deranged and crazed. Asiah scowled at her, showing great irritation towards this Boundless woman.

“You will pay for what you did to those innocent lives, this much I promise you!” Asiah closed her eyes and then began to conjure up her Core Energy, unlocking powers deep within her. She finished her preparation and the surrounding atmosphere filled with beast-like pressure.

Asiah rushed towards Mallie with incredible speed and suddenly, she started to glow a light yellow color as a long tail grew near her lower back. Asiah’s eyes turned cat-like, looking similar to golden marbles with a thin slit in the middle. The tribal tattoo on her arm shifted and covered her body entirely, giving Asiah similar markings to Vera. Lastly, cat ears formed at the top of her head, curiously poking out from her curly black hair.

While still appearing as a Human, Asiah now had many similarities to that of a cat. Even her mannerisms had changed during this transition as she now sprinted forward on all fours.

She collided with Mallie and the two were at a stalemate, trying to force one another back yet again. Her polearm clashed with Mallie’s dagger over and over, sending sparks flying in multiple directions. Asiah glared at her foe before roaring loudly, sending Mallie careening backwards with a massive burst of energy. She crashed into some nearby rocks and slowly got up, brushing black colored blood from her lip.

“Geez, why does this stupid human not give up? Seems I need to take this more seriously...” Mallie remarked as she noticed Asiah’s increase in power.

Mallie looked over at Nioh and swiftly called for him. Nioh suddenly halted his match with Vera and quickly trotted over to her side. She smiled as she touched his snout gently, appreciating his obedience. The two started glowing blue and Mallie’s resonance levels skyrocket as her Core Energy builded.

Moments later, Mallie’s body became bigger and her posture proceeded to hunch over. Her front teeth transitioned into long fangs, growing sharper with each passing second. Her skin shifted from pale to a dark blue and even Mallie’s hands made a change, becoming more akin to dangerous claws.

The transformation had completed and she no longer looked like a Boundless, but more like a hybrid beastman of some sort. While Asiah’s transition maintained elements of her usual appearance, Mallie’s completely stripped away everything. Her power had risen incredibly, and this put Asiah on edge, causing her to feel nervous about what was to come.

Mallie shifted her gaze toward Asiah and Vera, growling at them with an eerie deep tone. Then, with tremendous speed, she bolted forward and grabbed Asiah’s head in a near instant. Mallie gripped with her large claws and slammed Asiah’s face into the ground, brutally dragging her along. She tossed Asiah off to the side and leapt on top of her with her full body weight.

Mallie punched and sliced at Asiah’s body with massive force, not letting her get a moment to breathe. Asiah desperately tried to block the heavy blows, holding her arms up to cover her face. Vera jumped into the fray to provide support, but was immediately stopped by Nioh. The two beasts continued their clash from before and the fight drew on, continuously trading powerful blows with one another.

Multiple moments had passed and Zalthia wasn’t faring much better. She was still trying to find a way to get through Moku’s defenses. He continuously crouched down before leaping into the sky, taking aim at her from above. Moku’s dive bombs were getting stronger and stronger, causing bigger craters with each terrifying collision. Despite Zalthia’s swift dodges, she was now down to just two clones.

“Damn, why is this man so reckless!?” She thought to herself, feeling beyond annoyed by this man’s unconventional fighting tactics.

“He never attacks me back when we fight and when I back out, he does those careless divebombs. What is he trying to do? Tire me out? This is so stupid!” Moku lowered his arms and showed her his signature toothy grin once more before posing a question to her.

“What are you waiting for? Come on, are you going to hit Moku or what?” In that exact moment, Zalthia remembered the conversation she and Azhane had with Carmen after they came back from Siestro.

“After he absorbed all of my attacks and I had him on the ropes, he said it was time for him to go kaboom.” Carmen said when recalling the events prior to them teleporting back to the castle.

“Hmm I see... His Manifest must have the ability to absorb damage and then transfer that damage into energy for an attack. It would explain why he only blocks my advances and when I don’t fight him, he purposely does damage to himself with those reckless dive bombs. He’s been building up energy this whole time, preparing to wipe this entire area with all of us here.” Zalthia smiled as she had finally figured out what he was doing.

She looked at the scythe in her hand and sighed, knowing a crafted weapon would not be enough to defeat this Boundless general. She collected herself before calling back the two remaining clones, quickly absorbing them into her body. Zalthia then tossed her scythe to the ground as she glared at Moku, who was still standing at the center of the small crater.

“Are you tired of playing with Moku? Please don’t give up.” He asked with an almost saddened tone, not wanting this fight to end just yet.

She gave him no response, instead Zalthia rolled up the right sleeve of her uniform. She then raised her right hand upward, clenching every finger tightly besides the index and middle finger, which remained extended. Zalthia closed her eyes while tracing a symbol in the air with her two fingers, drawing with swift and precise motions. Moku looked on with great intrigue as she continued her sudden theatrics, eagerly awaiting what was to come.