NOVEL NEXT Chapter 216: Form
"Explain in two sentences."
[Arc chutes split an electrical arc into smaller segments, making it longer and forcing it to cool faster. This cooling causes the plasma to turn back into neutral gas, stopping the flow of electricity.]
"Will it work on a lightning strike?"
[Yes, in principle, it would work on a lightning strike because both lightning and an arc in a breaker are plasma discharges.]
Smiling, Elian quickly decided to research what an arc chute looked like.
Got to make sure he doesn't find out.
Shifting his chainsaws into guns, he tried to get Gerard's attention.
"My lover had ended their fight. It's about time ours did too."
Enraged at his comment, his enemy charged at him.
As they battled, Elian began his plan.
He used Living Metal's space pocket to hide his phone and summoned it to one end of the battlefield. Creating an eye and fingers, he focused on learning the principles of an Arc chute while brawling with his main body.
Elian quickly removed his core from his Shark body and moved it to Golem Lake. Then he retrieved it and placed it beside his phone.
"There, now there should be no danger of dying. But if I wanted to win, I need to remake everything from scratch."
While Elian failed to create a 2nd body in the past, he had grown leaps and bounds since then. What was certain was that in order to be able to handle fighting lightning, his golem body,, which was made of simple metal, had to evolve.
"First, I still need to be human. So the form cannot be anything else."
In the small corner of the battlefield, a body of Living Metal rose from Golem Lake. Lying on the ground, it was nothing more than a hollow body. At least for now, Elian inserted his core into the body's chest cavity.
"Next, I need arc chutes, as many as I can fit."
Arc chutes generally looked like a block of metal that has been 90% sliced into thin strips. The general idea of an Arc chute is that an electrical discharge loses its power based on the number of things it passes through.
Rather than just one object, the thin strips acted like several objects as far as the electrical arc was concerned. So each time it jumped across the "strips," part of its power was dissipated. No lightning bolt could withstand this process infinitely.
His body's limbs, which should have been solid blocks of hard material, were shed away. Although it looked human, the insides were mostly a construct of chains and gears. He didn't need to be functionally still human; he only needed the appearance of one.
I guess, after all this time, I still cannot abandon who I am.
Apart from the central bones, Elian's arms, torso, and lower limbs were all stripped bare. His flesh turned entirely into arc chutes, with his limbs barely connected; 90% of their strength was lost.
It was so bad that if Elian punched a wall, his entire forearm all the way to his shoulder would break. But as he was fighting only against one enemy, Elian had the leeway to devote his entire being to defeating said enemy.
"Sigh, here goes nothing."
Closing the eye on the ground, Elian transferred his main consciousness into the arc chute body. The 2nd body creaked and wobbled, but like a toddler making its first steps, it rose.
The Tyrant looked at his arm and smiled. His forearm now looked like sliced ham, but in terms of the large number of chutes, Elian was sure it would work. He looked like a stick figure made of thin poles.
"Would I even be able to fight at this rate? I need a stronger skeleton."
Reforming his core limbs, he wrapped them in rubber and gave them muscles that would contract and release them at will. Chaining this process, his new body slowly gained the figure of a muscular athlete.
"Good enough. For armaments?"
Elian thought for a bit and created rifled barrels on his back. Two long guns rested on his shoulders on either side. The guns weren't all that special, but the bullets they fired were.
Rather than bullets, the projectiles they fired would be more accurately called harpoons. Long rods that had arc chutes running along the entire shaft.
"Hmm, if I had the time, I would use his own current to turn these into rail guns. But it will do for now. For close range, my own fists would do."
Grinning to himself, Elian imagined pummeling the plasma-charged body of Gerard Nobel to death, and it pleased him greatly. Only to frown just as quickly.
Elian turned his head to see his Shark body being trounced in a one-sided battle. His armor was shot and shattered by the repeated lightning bolts. His limbs and nerves were all fried and went numb long ago.
Rather than get weirded out that he was watching himself in 3rd person, he was more preoccupied with keeping his emotions in check. Humans normally responded in one of two ways in pain. Rage or fear.
And Elian only felt the former.
The Weapon felt everything. The body wearing the shark chainsaw armor, the one Bianca gave him, was special. Even without his core, moving it felt natural, but it was clear that it had already reached its limit.
"HAHAHAHA! TIME TO DIE, ELIAN REED! LAMENT YOUR ARROGANCE AND STUPIDITY! DAWN OF LIGHTNING!"
Gerard raised his hands up to the sky and roared in ecstasy. Despite there not being an atmosphere, clouds formed up high and peals of lightning and thunder came crashing down. Like a lightning rod, the Shark armor was struck again and again.
Each thunder bolt collapsed and charred the armor, turning its once dashing silver color black. Enraged by the pain he felt, Elian's 2nd body raised his hand as it closed its eyes.
At the same time, his will caused Golem Lake that covered the ground to respond.
"You have done enough; it's my turn."
Immediately, the Shark Armor body was swallowed up by the ground. The event was so fast it looked like Elian's body was disintegrated by the lightning strikes. Gerard, enraptured by his premature victory, was still channeling his skill.
Not intending to allow him to recover, Elian's new Arc chute body moved.
"System, register this body as Lightning Breaker."
[Understood. Charade's fifth form registered.]
Fifth form huh? I wonder how many forms I will amass before this war is over.
With such thoughts, Elian lowered the gun onto his shoulders and aimed. Like giant crossbows, mechanisms pulling the harpoons back whined. Before Gerard could settle on his victory, Elian moved.
Swoosh.
Without gunpowder, there was no explosion. Just a loud swooshing sound as the arc chute spears flew through the air. Elian charged after them, gliding on golem lake silently like a figure skater.
"ACK! W-Wha—"
Denying his opponent a chance to respond, Elian shot out arc chute spears without pause. Each one acted like a spoon shaving off a sandcastle. The holes they created took longer to fill, and Gerard Nobel's over-the-top grin vanished in an instant.
"Just what the hell are these?!"
Unlike before, he began to use his speed to evade the coming projectiles. Faster than even sound, none of the arc-chute spears landed after the first two.
Tsk. I guess it couldn't have been that easy.
It was obvious to everyone that, should Gerard wish to prolong this battle by running circles around Elian, it would be possible. So Elian did the next best thing.
"Raise arc chutes. System, create a skill; create a cage of arc chutes around us as fast as you can."
[Understood. Skill, Lightning Prison, has been created.]
To stop his opponent from noticing, Elian roared at the top of his voice.
"All that arrogance, and you can't even kill me, you lightning bastard! I am right here!"
"HA! I WILL END YOU, THEN KILL YOUR LITTLE WEAPONS! I WILL BECOME THE TYRANT OF EARTH!"
The two men, high on adrenaline, charged towards each other. For all their status, achievement, and influence, both men used their fists.
Bam!
A powerful lightning charge crashed into Elian's face. And his fist smashed into the side of Gerard's cheek as well. But on both occasions, the winner was Elian. The lightning-powered breaker's fist lost its form as it punched the arc chutes on Elian's helmet.
In contrast, the weapon's fist tore off a part of the plasma making up his opponent's body.
"H-How? W-What did you do?!"
Gerard's face warped. From a position of absolute strength, their situation was now reversed. He couldn't hurt his opponent, but Elian could.
With his opponent's despair, Elian's smile grew wider. He grabbed his opponent's arms and lowered his shoulder rifles to Gerard's torso.
"More where that came from!"
Like the sound of a spear jamming itself into water, Elian's anti-lightning harpoons stabbed Gerard. More and more of his plasma was lost with every strike. Elian could see the electricity making up his body grow thinner and thinner as if his life was running out.
But Elian did not stop.
Taking advantage of his opponent's confusion, he pummeled the leader of the Ascendancy with his fist and shot him with his harpoon launchers. By the time Gerard regained his wits, he no longer had a way to escape.
"No! Since when…"
Gerard's face paled when he saw his entire surroundings filled with arc chutes. A dome covered their battleground. Even the floor had somehow turned into a lightning trap.
And through it all, Elian smiled, "Welcome to your tomb, you lightning bastard. Let us enjoy ourselves while we still can."