Chapter 1138 – Eight Shots, One Kill -unedited
Knowing that it could be in danger, Orochi had finally pulled all its moves to fight against the Titan Knight. Stopping Jin from releasing his Maqi was the most important task at hand and Orochi did not hesitate to go full force. Even though it was connected as one particular body, Yamata no Orochi had the capability to split his serpent heads equally into eight pieces.
The lore stated that Orochi could be seen with eight heads and tails was not a lie as that was his form when all eight separate serpents emerged as one. It was one of the reasons why no one suspected how Genbu was hiding the eight headed serpent for so long and how the serpent always seemed undying in nature, providing the turtle with the ultimate offence and defensive capabilities one could ever wish for.
So, with the help of Genbu who manipulated his Yin Energy to create spatial distortions, Orochi used those distortions to jump through time and space so as to ambush Jin's Titan Knight.
"If you think my Titan Knight is just a chunk of metal waiting to be destroyed then it means you did not see the improvements my team had made for it!" Jin said as the Titan Knight pulled a two handed sword from the shadowy depths of its half body. It was ready to slice any of the serpents that approached it into half.
But Genbu's use of his spatial distortions and Orochi's ambush attacks was a work of beauty from a third party's perspective. They had been together for so long that the turtle and serpent had mastered the ideal combination of attacks that would put any team combi Jin ever saw to shame.
Orochi's serpents restrained the Titan Knight from moving its arms and begun to spew their elemental attacks against the huge chunk of metal although their targets were mainly Jin and Byakko. However, as the protector of his creator, its duty to keep Jin from harm had forced the Titan Knight to move its entire half body right under the duo to shelter them from the barrage of elemental attacks. At the same time, it pressed a trigger on its two handed giant sword, causing a compartment to appear within the core of the sword.
A series of missiles emerged from the giant sword and haphazardly targeted the serpents restraining the Titan Knight despite knowing that it would also damage itself. Yet that was not the only surprise that the snakes received. They initially thought those missiles would be the only threat they would be encountering and thus tightened their restraints against the Titan Knight.
Little did they know that Byakko had sent out a terrifying amount of electricity from the bottom of the Titan Knight, shocking all eight serpents trying to penetrate through the defences of the duo's protector.
"Jin! You better hang in there and hurry as well!" Byakko exclaimed as it seemed Jin was taking some damage too since the Titan Knight was connected to him. However, the Astral Panda Cultivator did not mind at all since this counterattack was the perfect opportunity to retaliate.
Previously, he was worried since the one shot he had against all of the eight serpents was indeed the one and only the chance he possessed. Even if he could shoot them out simultaneously, the serpents might have the chance to evade them entirely. But right now, they have estranged themselves onto the broken Titan Knight, paralysed from the surprise thunderbolt attack from Byakko.
Not to mention, his Astral Alter was somewhat an extension of him and he could sense which particular elemental based serpent was coiling the Titan Knight. And thus, a split second after Byakko's comment, Jin released all he had within him, countering every single serpent that was on sight.
Six shots of elemental Maqi were shot out furiously from the insides of the Titan Knight while Byakko intensified his electric Maqi and refocused it against the water elemental serpent after Jin pointed to him where it was situated.
And as those seven serpents decimated from their countering elements, the Titan Knight was finally free from its restraints and grabbed the final one that was lingering from the shock on his helmet. His pull was so strong that even knight's helmet fell off from the sudden strike. Although that did not stop the knight's movement since Jin was partially controlling it with his will.
The headless Titan Knight then picked his sword up and the serpent could finally see its demise in slow motion.
"Hahaha…what a change of events and the irony at play. I am going to serve from one Headless Demon Master to another." Orochi thought to himself as flashbacks of Dullahan flew past his eyes when he saw the headless Titan Knight sending its blade towards its throat.
However, at that moment, a spatial distortion emerged right in front of the serpent and the upper portion of the sword disappeared. It instead popped right behind the Titan Knight and before it could perform any evasive manoeuvres, the upper half of the sword had already sunk its blade right into the Titan Knight's armoured torso.
"We can stop here." Genbu's tone was harsh and ordered Jin to let go of Orochi. As much as he thought it might be a threat, Byakko echoed Genbu's request to Jin, telling him to do as he said. The Titan Knight, while broken, was still capable of receiving commands and thus followed Jin's word to release the serpent.
Orochi fell to the ground, momentarily gasping for air before giving a brief eye contact with Jin and disappeared into the shell of Genbu. "So, have I passed the test?" Jin asked as he released his Astral Alter and the shape of the Titan Knight dispersed in midair and Genbu's shell vibrated a little to pull Orochi into his core.
"Old Man, I am surprised you did not pull out everything in your arsenal." Byakko snickered and they heard Genbu give out a stifled laugh.
"If I did, you would not be around the second we start the battle. Have you forgotten that you are standing on my shell?"Genbu replied like a spiteful old man.
"I do not care about any of that… for now. Thank you for the trial but right now, all I want to know is if I passed the test since I would like to understand what the hell is going on. The number of questions in my head increased as the trial went on." Jin asked while he caught his breath. His legs were trembling and the Maqi particles around him were rather messy. Byakko quickly cast a healing spell to stabilise Jin since it was quite the norm when someone had been exposed to a large amount of Maqi and release that much at the same time as well. Most would have fainted but Jin managed to stay conscious.
Genbu sighed and while slightly irritated, he does have an obligation to answer them since Jin passed the trials. But as he was about to open his mouth, Byakko and Jin heard heavy footsteps behind, walking through the heavy snowy path.
"I shall do the answering as usual. Genbu, mind sending us back to my lovely adobe?" Ming mysteriously appeared and Genbu obliged his request instantly by creating a spatial distortion.