"Welcome to the Xianzhou Yaoqing my friend!" Taigong was met with a greeting as he entered the room.
"So how did someone like you find yourself in the midst of a battlefield?" Yueyu enquired.
Taigong had nothing to hide so he spoke the truth. "I simply awoke in the midst of the battlefield with no memories of my past nor my name.
Even my current name is something I came up with myself. Perhaps I should count myself as lucky that I still retained core memories regarding our cosmos."
Yueyu narrowed her eyes before breaking out into a large grin as the sound of a notification came, "Well how about that? Would you like to join the Xianzhou Yaoqing? I'm sure someone of your talents would be greatly appreciated."
Taigong looked stunned, the offer came so suddenly and considering he was about to ask about his situation he could only think about it before coming to the only viable conclusion.
"Very well, I hope there's some good food and sights to see." He replied.
Yueyu grinned before secretly celebrating victory, "I finally have collected a pair." Taigong's ears caught on as he raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, nothing it's just my doctor looks very similar to you in some ways. I'm sure you would make great friends." She grinned before leaving her contact details and exiting out the door.
"Wait... I'd like to go back to the battlefield." Taigong requested. While most would run away, he knew he couldn't afford the luxury of continuing to lounge about and hope for a good life. He needed enough power to act as a deterrent.
Yueyu blinked again before sighing, "I believe if I were to reject your request, you would still find a way to join the war by yourself."
Taigong nodded as Yueyu approved before sending him a few files and coordinates.
"Knowing you and your reasons, I will send you to the front line. But I've noticed you do not carry weapons." Yueyu enquired.
He simply nodded and explained, "Anything I can get my hands on is a weapon. But if you would be so kind to provide even a single spear or sword I would be greatly appreciative."
"I'll have someone provide you with arms when you arrive." She soon left after leaving the message as Taigong looked forward to the future battles.
~~~~
Meanwhile, on the battlefield...
Tragic scenes continued to unfold. The army of borisin continued to tear the Yunqi Army apart one by one using their overwhelming strength advantage.
Meanwhile, the Cloud Knights relied on their well-organized teamwork to encircle and annihilate the borisin in turn.
A slow push and pull back and forth was occurring on the battlfield.
But there was one exception...
Taigong moved through the sea of bodies with swift speed and brutal precision. His clothes were faintly soaked with the blood of the borisin. If he had wore white instead of black and red, he would have long died his clothes in red.
With his increasing strength per kill and his non-reliance on weapons, he sifted through the borisin like butter.
Encounter him and you will die.
Numerous objects were flung around and discarded after breaking. Some retained use even after breaking and were used as daggers.
He only focused on one objective and one objective only. Kill as many borisin as possible to get stronger.
In the midst of his focus he had unknowingly found himself in the middle of enemy territory.
100,
140,
211,
275
He shuttled through the battlefield recklessly engaging and slaughtering borisins left and right. Each battle making the subsequent battle easier.
The borisin could do nothing but attempt to swarm him with numbers.
Their fear only grew when they realised borisin who came to close to the man only ended up being used as weapons and tossed like nunchucks or spears. Each battle sharpened his mind and his instincts.
His dream and ideals slowly emerged, he wanted to live and see the world. He wanted to travel across the world and witness different scenes and events. He wanted to learn more about this world and a new dream bloomed within.
"I want to know the limits of combat."
Like a tireless beast he continued to tear holes in the borisin army. As long as he could kill enough within a time limit he would not get tired due to the small recovery bonus.
For the borisin who were the deliverers of fear, they began to experience their own medicine.
The borisin held exceptional olfactory senses, they did not need to see the man. But they smelt if from a distance away.
The stench of that man was overwhelmingly filled with the blood of their brethren.
Each borisin could only flee in fear as the intense smell grew closer and closer and the sight of that tiny speck soon began to grow in size.
From afar, in the command room, Yueyu and her advisors simply stared at the reports and live feed.
"Amazing, he's getting stronger the more he fights. Such technique and mastery over every weapon..." Yueyu breathed with admiration.
"General, was that a trashcan?" An peach haired foxian with similar shut eyes questioned with incredulity.
Yueyu chuckled, "Yes Jiaqiu that was a trashcan he grabbed from a wreckage of a camp nearby. I must admit, he is the strongest weapons master I have ever seen.
In terms of pure technique I would arguably say that none are stronger than him in that aspect."
Jiaoqiu simply stilled as Yueyu grinned, "Anyways are you amazed I found your brother?" A choking sound spluttered beside her as Jiaoqiu glared at her.
"We look nothing alike." He muttered.
"Sure~" She teased.
"But sure is amazing, wherever he walks becomes an empty barren field. But now I'm aware of why he wished to go to the battlefield."
"Such a pity, if only he were a pathstrider."
Yueyu had long noticed that Taigong's power was increasing as the battle grew on. But such a strong absurd developmental speed, imagining even a random Aeon glancing at him sent shivers down Yueyu's spine.
~~~~
"1200!"
That was the amount of borisin he had killed.
A pile of bodies were scattered about. Each having died in a near unique way. Some had cans lodged in their heads, throats. Teeth piecing them like voodoo dolls. Some had necks broken by curtains, some had their eyes gauged out with chopsticks.
His breathing faltered as he grew weary, sure enough the little recovery boost was not enough anymore. His sustain was slowly reaching it's limits.
Even worse, they were sending pathstrider borisins at him. Possessing no imaginary energy he could only sustain more intense wounds that would fail to heal with the bonus recovery.
And yet, his mind had only one thought, "Survive, become stronger to survive."
He had long reached his limits as he watched the surrounding borisin increase. It seemed they were fine with killing him at the cost of many.
He stood up on the pile of corpses before slowly making his way down.
Help would not come in time, but he had a strange feeling he would not die just yet.
A golden glow from within the depths of his skill Eternal Grandmaster at Arms a sub-skill had been triggered, Last Stand.
[Chapter Lightcones]
[In Refusal of Death]
"The borisin smelled him long before they saw him — the stench of their fallen, soaked into his clothes, his hands, his breath.When the tide finally closed around him, too dense to slip through, too many to kill one by one, the man simply raised his head from the mound of corpses under his feet and smiled.It was not bravery.Not hope.Only a single thought, bright as gold and sharp as a blade:"I don't think I'll quite die yet."And as the world narrowed to claws and teeth, something awoke deep within him — a radiance that ignited not to protect life… but to deny death.
It was here that an answer was found, survival is not given, it is taken. And in his last stand..."