Chapter 12: The Lightning God and Wood God

"Ready when you are Mason." The confident Harper said with a wide grin.

"Copy!"

Mason rushed towards the ghastly Heavenly General twins with the ferocity of a cheetah, a trail of blue lightning being left behind his wake.

He twisted his body and hit the larger body, Durma with a reverse kick, sending him flying through trees.

"Kuack!" Durma coughed up blood from the attack. He was able to at least block the attack with his right arm, but the damage was still severe.

"Ugh…" In the midst of recovering, his vision was flooded with…numerous Harpers?

The Harpers attacked the twins from all angles at differing tempos, slowly whittling down on their nerves. However, the cheap trick wouldn't last. A Heavenly General couldn't be merely average after all.

Unleashing their cleavers, they released waves of wide slashing attacks that instantly eviserated the Harpers, revealing them to be mere wood clones.

Using the brief opportunity, Harper landed a surprise attack with a wooden fist. The blow barely made the twins tumble as they let out shit eating smirk.

"Caught you~"

Durma caught his arm and Daka sliced it in two with a cleaver. Blood sprayed out from his missing limb, yet Harper seemed to keep his composure.

The Heavenly Generals exchanged blows with Harper on an uneven playing field. It was clear that Harper alone couldn't handle them. His hand-to-hand combat skills weren't nearly as refined as Pam's were, so he could only keep up a distraction.

-BAM-

A second strike from the lightning god had crushed the right arm of Durma. "Urgh, away!" He howled in pain and released dozens of hairs as sharp projectiles to slow their advances.

"We must fall back, Durma."

"Yes Daka…"

They hid among the obscurity of the trees and set their trap around the entire barrier.

"Mix mix mix…"

The ability of the twin Heavenly Generals was [Spider Visage]. It was a transformation type skill that gave their bodies the properties of a spider. The hair projectile attack was just an application of a spider's natural traits.

"Ugh…the hairs are venomous!" Mason ripped out the hairs and revealed a purple substance making its way through his bloodstream.

Harper quickly thought up a solution and protected Mason in a thick wood barrier. "Wait until the sap from the wood is released and drink a few sips. You'll be back to good in no time."

Due to his plant-like physiology, he is strongly resistant to all types of poison, even those he has never experienced before. By processing ingested poison throughout his bloodstream, he can create incurable poisons and life-saving antidotes in a flash.

Mason sat down in exhaustion from his back to back ability activations. "How long will it take to concoct?"

"3 minutes at minimum."

"Can you last 3 minutes against them?"

"I'll have to try."

The twin Heavenly Generals snicked behind a veil of cowardice, the darkness of the forest covering their vile smirks. "Fast one is down…weak one is next~ how will we kill him Daka?"

"Death by a thousand arrows! Thousand arrows Daka thinks!"

"It shall be done."

The brothers spun a thin thread of silk from their pores embued with Magic. It contorted and shrank into a small ball before the strands flared out among the thick branches.

The duo moved fast, much faster than what Harper could keep up with. He thought to himself, 'I guess I'll have to draw a little more out, Solomon'. It was time to pull out a trump card that would give him the edge in battle.

He weaved his hands together in the form of a flower lotus and tilting his hands downward. As he began the incantation, the devastated earth beneath him bloomed beautiful moon flowers.

"Imaginary manifestation"

"Great Divination"

"Perched upon the tree of life"

"Call of the Canary"

"Grant me thy wisdom"

[Communion]

The act of Communion allows the User to heighten their unity with Magic itself in the form of a medium.

Through the use of specific hand signs and phrases imbued with blessings, the unrefined power of a contract has a medium by which to transfer the energy to the user, generating exponential power.

Harper's particular ritual elevated his synchronization rate from 40% to 55%, giving him power beyond what a human can typically achieve.

"KYAH." Durma roared a beast's roar and unleashed thousands of needles aiming directly at Harper. With 360 degree range, there want no possible way for him to escape.

However, the empowered Harper never meant to escape to begin with.

With a swift gesture, he raised the enormous roots from the earth and they swung wildly about. The ensuing shockwave destroyed the needles and blurred Durma's vision.

"Durma! Be steady!" Daka warned.

Harper had already closed the gap and spread small floating balls of wood in the air. They suddenly expanded upon contact and pierced Durma's arm.

"Che!"

"1 minute and 30 seconds remaining…"

"Die!" Daka wailed. They exchanged blows at a blindly fast pace. As the twins attempted their escape, Harper followed them with extreme vigilance among the advancing vines.

They cut away at his body again and again, his arms, legs, eyes, and chest being torn to sheds. However, his body would reshape itself by draining the energy of the land. In the forest, Harper Sow was the strongest.

"30 seconds…"

The ravenous plants attacked the twin generals to no avail. They effortlessly cut through the hostile plants as though they were made of paper. The next obstacle were the enhanced wood clones that rushed towards the twins to their deaths.

"Tsk, Durma grows tired of games!" He hacked away at the clones again and again, but their power couldn't overcome the sheer number of clones.

"Would you like the closing shot, Mason?" Harper stood beside his comrade with a smug expression.

"Gladly." Mason replied.

A massive amount of electrical energy was gathering in his fingertips, the oscillating metal nail completing the circuit.

"Shit! Brother, the fast one has recovered! We must run!"

"Stuck stuck stuck! They won't let go of me!"

As Daka and Durma continued to struggle, the wooden clones would only tighten their grip.

-BRRRROOM-

The nail was propelled at well over 4500 miles per hour, easily breaking the sound barrier. It was a definite kill shot that even Malery could not survive head on.

Without any chance to even react to the shot, Their entrails were splattered and blown away upon impact with a rain of blood following suit.

"Kill you…"

"We'll…kill you…"

They took their final breaths before their bodies had completely faded. The terrifying Twin Heavenly Generals were at last put down.

[You have defeated a Heavenly General!]

[Status obtained: "Imperial Privilege"]

"We've wasted enough time with these guys, let's regroup with Malery as planned." Mason's contract had expired and he returned to his timid self.

"It's a shame really, they weren't all that strong to begin with!" Harper maintained his arrogant attitude.

It was now time for the final act.