There wasn't a moment where those deep, amethyst eyes devoid of emotion weren't looking at him; from every angle, Ash watched him.
"Cutting Smoke."
"Scathing Billow."
"Mist Pulverization."
Three skills were invoked at once, coming from three of the variations of the Winged General that faced off against him; by this point, he'd long since lost track of which was the original Ash.
Three skills? Hah! No mercy! He thought.
Burrowing towards him, a tunnel of smoke that sliced up the lifeless soil hissed with malice from his front; to his right, a bountiful sphere of the black smoke erupted in his direction, unleashing heat waves that caused the wilted grass to be carried off as ash.
Worse, the third skill was born from behind him from the clone of the Winged General that had somehow gotten behind him.
Crap…! He thought, he wasn't lying about this poison–it's slowing down my movements…It's certainly killer. I won't last five more minutes like this. But! Just how dazzling would it be if I won in spite of it all?!
"Neptune: Nova!" He roared.
Holding the goliath of a blade, forged of mystical ice with regional shapings around its form, he slammed it directly into the dirt. In an instant, the smoke was contested by a storm of icy winds; hail spiraled out intensely as frost stretched over the field.
"--!" Ash watched, holding his arms up to shield against the frosted tempest.
The technique caused the planetary blade itself to break down and shatter, but it gave way to creations of ice being born in an instant; walls rose from the ground, built of reinforced ice that surrounded the man with their glacial protection.
Even the malicious spells of smoke were stopped by the barriers, though breaking through some, they were ultimately stopped.
"...Huff…" He caught his breath with a smirk.
As the storm of ice settled down, having quelled the smoke-born mysticisms, the doppelgangers of Ash gathered.
"It doesn't matter how well you resist, your fate was decided the moment you crossed my path," Ash said.
"That's right," a doppelganger added, "A mere scaleless human is nothing."
From all sides, they blinked over to him, surrounding him in an inescapable gauntlet of blades that neared his flesh.
Yet, the man smiled.
You're underestimating earthlings, aren't you? He thought, I've survived Hell being thrown at me, all alone in those mountains…In solitude, my sanity didn't drain. I spent months, alone, surviving by myself–yet look at me! I'm still the most dazzling man alive!
Before any blades could touch his skin, he looked up with his radiant eyes that almost seemed to be smiling.
VRRRRM.
The space around him contorted as in an instant–he was gone.
All of the doppelgangers were left in shock before the man returned, manifesting a cosmic pole into his hand, spinning it around as its length extended, allowing him to blow the smoke-born assassins back.
As the dozen clones rushed him, each utilizing their own skills through the abyssal smoke that reshaped itself into killing forms, he continued warping around the battlefield with a fearsome smile worn across his lips as if saying "Come at me!"
Hydras of black smoke stretched around, snapping their gastly jaws as he continued flipping around and warping, bending space to his will with each movement while spinning his cosmic spear around to generate a lofty wind.
Surrounded by the suffocating smoke, he kept it at bay with the wind pressure of his mighty pole-spins, smacking the doppelgangers around as smoke bullets shot towards him, unable to land as he warped past them, sinking his knee into the gut of one of the doppelgangers.
One of these doppelgangers leapt right towards him, dropping their blades to instead allow the dark smoke to pour from their sleeves, forming into massive jaws of a formless beast that attempted to ensnare him.
"Die!" The doppelganger of Ash yelled.
He tossed his pole away with a smile, holding his hand forward as he focused with his strained body:
[Celestial Forger: Infinity]
It was a split-second manifestation of true space; infinitely folding a miniscule section, yet spreading it apart and pushing it outward to create a devastating, repelling force that slammed against the doppelganger with such intensity that it was entirely wiped from existence.
"Not bad," one said.
"But you're only delaying the inevitable," another finished his sentence.
"If you think that was our best, you're sorely mistaken," one of the draconic assassin clones said.
"We're only buying time until the poison drags you to the underworld," another finished.
Still, Tsukikage stood tall as he raised his hand, once more manifesting something of imposing presence as the poison's affliction was visible; various spots on his body were turned purple from the lethal substance.
This time, the Celestial Forger System user didn't craft a weapon into his hand, but instead pointed his finger towards the gathering of clones.
"I wanted to settle this in a flashy way, but I guess those cards are off the table," he said, closing one eye as if aiming his finger like a gun, "...I'll have to end this in a boring fashion."
"Hm?" Ash raised an eyebrow.
"Bang," Tsukikage said with a smirk, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"What–"
Just as Ash announced his confusion, the air contorted and rumbled within an instant before one of the doppelgangers was split in half, or rather bore through by an unseen force that had drilled through it in an instant.
Dispersed, much of the abyssal smoke that had suffocated the field was moved in the wake of the condensed, invisible blast of harrowing force.
The clone faded into smoke after having been eliminated, leaving the other clones of Ash, and the original himself wary as they all jumped away swiftly, putting distance between one another.
"Celestial Forger: Anti-Matter Technique: Railgun," Tsukikage announced the true nature of his deadly ability.
In the face of a power sitting beyond the boundary of the unknown, the wary smoke-summoner stayed within his smoke alongside his diligent clones–
"Bang."
The air parted once more with the smog being erased in absolution through the path of the destructive force–another doppelganger was completely decimated by the railgun that manipulated imaginary forces.
Ash exuded sweat as his tail flicked, witnessing what could've landed against him before he looked forward, disgruntled.
"I'm not arrogant enough to think I can win without forfeiting my own life," Ash said, telling his opponent, "I'm retreating–for now."
Tsukikage smirked, pointing his index finger towards him, "Bang–"
Just as the invisible railgun shot, the draconic general within the smoke absorbed the mass of the abyss into himself, disappearing in an instant before the attack could hit him.
"Damn," the pink-eyed man clicked his tongue with a smile.
Just then, all of the undead returned to dust as the lesser lich crumbled away in front of the members of Gangcheori fighting on the other side of the deathly field.
"Wah!" Sol yelled out.
"Calm down…" Xiaodan said, "Still…it's over?"
–
As the poison still coursed through the veins of the man, darkening his complexion as blood leaked from his pores, he held his hand out in front of him.
"Alright…let's get this done quickly," he mumbled to himself.
[Celestial Forger: Solar System: Earth]
In his hand, a greatsword was born, formed of rock that was covered in overgrowth with a river running down the middle of the stone-made weapon representing the eradicated world.
I was holding out on this one. If he figured out what "Earth" could do, he'd change his approach, he thought.
Slamming the blade into the soil, he released it with a command: "Gaia!"
The blade broke down, reaching out and embracing him with glowing veins that stabbed into his flesh at various points, causing him to wince slightly. It was a tranquil energy emitted directly into him; a verdant glow that gently swirled. Golden pollen filled the air, easing the stench of smoke and inhabiting the field with the smell of nectar.
"Ghh…" He quietly groaned.
The poison running through his veins was washed away by the nurturing of [Gaia], easing the substance from his body before the vines pulled away, disappearing and leaving the man sighing out in relief.
"Phew," he sighed out, glancing back.
The others were already heading back towards him, with the two others that were strangers to him. Still, despite not knowing the two new women that had shown up, the man simply smiled.
"I take it you're friends of these two brats?" Tsukikage asked.
Ma-Ri nodded, extending her hand, "Thank you for watching over them. I'm grateful."
Tsukikage had a slight tint to his cheeks as he looked at the woman's hand for a moment, to whom he stood almost twice as tall, but accepted her hand.
"You didn't tell me you had such a beauty for a leader, Sol," Tsukikage said with a smile.
Sol sighed out, "...Yeah, well, off-limits!"
"Huh? Why?!" Tsukikage said, looking at him.
"W-why? Ma-Ri doesn't need a sleazy bastard like you getting all mushy with her!" He barked.
"...Sleazy? That's rich," Tsukikage rubbed his chin.
In a contest of looks, Sol had little ammunition when compared to Tsukikage, who had the looks of a man who modeled for the covers of magazines.
"Either way! The more the merrier!" Tsukikage laughed.
Ma-Ri smiled slightly, "There's more coming."
"Oh? I suppose that's true," Tsukikage said, "These two were talking about a scar-faced boy and a redhead."
"Jeong-Hui and Yeong-Un," Eunji answered, adjusting her glasses.
Snapping his fingers, the man with cosmic-painted nails smiled, "That's them! Onward, then! I've got a belly that needs filling!"
As the man announced such, he patted his abdomen before moving forward, though Ma-Ri naturally walked ahead of him. Tsukikage raised an eyebrow at this, but it was just the natural competition between those who saw themselves as leaders.
The two kept trying to surpass the others' walking pace, leading to Tsukikage and Ma-Ri nearly sprinting while walking, forcing the others to follow.
"...Gah! I was not in the mood for cardio!" Sol whined.
"I'm with ya'!" Xiaodan added.
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