The winds of the Cosmic Mountain whipped around the battlefield. The moment the gates of heaven opened war had broken out among the wills! The cosmic mountain was alighted with killer Intent. Powers, all fighting each other in groups of two or three, there were of course larger groups of aliened wills of five to ten. Qi attacks whistled through the air of frozen starlight like a storm of shattered diamonds. Jinmen Ju's claws flexed, arcs of molten lightning snapping between his fingers. Each footstep lit up and melted the icy ground beneath him, steaming in hissed clouds as he took battle stance.
Dor'mon'du advanced, his form swelling with the gravitas of forgotten ages, eyes like obsidian eclipsing the horizon. "Strike, beast," he growled, the vibration of his voice twisting the air, "and I will carve your fire into memory."
Shakina's wings spread wider, the crystalline sigils along her limbs thrumming with harmonic resonance. The harp in her arm lifted of its own accord, notes trembling the air in golden threads of energy, as she activated her first skill, she strummed her gold harp as she shouted ''Crystaline Shield!'' instantly two empowerment icons flashed into existence over Herself and Jinmen Ju, it was a mystic block damage buff! Good for two turns!
Receiving a buff triggered Jinmen Ju's passive ability ''Eye of the Tiger'' activated, and a 15% attack buff icon shimmered into being over the hundreds of feathered white hair spikes that crowned his head. His tiger stripes glowed like molten gold. He and Shakina were much faster than the pair of wills that opposed them and they had the inititive, Jinmen-Ju growled and launched himself into the air, his spikey feathered hair and it's length looking like a silver comet sailing through the sky.
The air grew thick and rarified as he unleashed his opening attack into Dor'mon'du, "TRIBULATION LIGHTNING!" Jinmen-Ju shoved his palm forward and massive arcs of crackling orange tribulation lightening exploded out with a ''KA-BOOM!''
And explosion of divine yellow damage glyphs exploded out of Dor'mon'du as a brief yelp escaped his lips.
Dor'mon'du stumbled back, the jagged shards of ice around his feet shattering under the force of Jinmen Ju's Tribulation Lightning. The explosion of molten arcs illuminated his colossal frame; the primal orange arcs seared his tectonic skin. His guttural yelp rolled through the chaotic battlefield of Wills, but the attack that Jinmen Ju had unleashed made the mountain itself tremble at the impact.
Jinmenju landed back beside Shakina, hair and stripes alive with cataclysm qi, the Eye of the Tiger icon pulsing brightly as the 15% attack buff surged through him for one more turn. Every muscle coiled, ready to strike again.
However, according to the established rules and battlefield etiquette that decided battles between powers, it was Ka'rink'kas turn now. And the only action that Jinmen-Ju and Shakina could legally perform was to strike a defense stance or to ''defend.''
Ka'rink'ka hissed, as her tentacles writhed, "I will have you for my own desires Siren Sylph!" She lunged at Shakina, intent on shattering the shield and breaking their bond. But the Mystic Block absorbed the brunt, and the golden sigils glimmered as the assault washed harmlessly over Shakina's radiant form. However Ka'rink'kas strikes where toxic and a ''curse'' debuff icon appeared over Shakina's head!
Shakina gasped; "She's locked me out of my special abilities for two turns!
Dor'mon'du recovered and began his first action...Dor'mon'du's massive form rumbled as the impact of Jinmen Ju's Tribulation Lightning faded. His obsidian eyes glimmered with tectonic wrath, fissures of ice and magma racing across his frame. Slowly, deliberately, he raised a massive, clawed hand, summoning the raw fury of the Forgotten Continent.
"Your lightening burns, beast," he growled, his voice a rolling earthquake. "But stone endures!"
The frozen ground beneath them shattered as Dor'mon'du slammed both fists into the ice, sending a shockwave of jagged shards racing outward. The air vibrated with raw force, and even the clouds above the Cosmic Mountain seemed to recoil. "TETONIC SLAM!"
The shockwave slammed into Jinmen Ju and Shakina. Sparks of molten cataclysm qi flared from Jinmen Ju as he absorbed the hit with his defensive posture, but no damage glyphs came as he was still under the protection of Shakina's Crystaline shield, and the Eye of the Tiger buff was still active for one more turn. The ground cracked under his claws, but he remained upright, muscles tensed, ready to strike.
Shakina's radiant form wavered slightly under the force, a soft gasp escaping her lips as the curse debuff glowed ominously above her winged head. Her Crystaline shield held, and she received no damage.
Dor'mon'du bellowed, fissures spreading across the battlefield like veins of a living planet. "The mountain does not bend… it crushes!"
Shakina inhaled sharply, the curse debuff locked her out of her special abilities for 1 more turn, in the mean time she would just have to attack, She strummed her harp "Turbulent Waters!" A massive tide of golden water swirled forth from the plucked notes of the harp! Shakina's base attack was an AoE! She could hit every one at once!
The golden waters surged forth like a deluge when it met the two wills on the other side of the battlefield red damage glyphs erupted from them!
Jinmen-Ju harumphed, "HMPH, Shakina didn't crit because Shes a defense support type, but this raises her value to me even more." Jinmen-Ju thought to himself as he watched the holy firewater attack.
Jinmenju's golden eyes gleamed as the echo of Turbulent Waters faded, the battlefield still steaming from Shakina's holy deluge. The swirling vapor shimmered gold and blue across the fractured ice. Above him, the Eye of the Tiger icon pulsed one final time, signaling the last turn of his 15% attack buff.
He flexed his clawed hands, molten veins lighting up like rivers of magma beneath his skin. "My turn."
The beast's grin widened as he crouched low, then launched himself forward with explosive speed—lightning arced across the battlefield, and the storm above cracked open in answer.
"ROAR OF BEASTS!"
Jinmen Ju's roar tore through the air like the heavens collapsing. Golden shockwaves of tribulation energy burst outward from Jinmen Ju's diaphragm, sweeping across Dor'mon'du and Ka'rink'ka. Divine orange damage glyphs exploded into being across both enemies, the impact slamming into them with cataclysmic force.
The shockwave of Roar of Beasts tore through the sky — arcs of golden lightning and molten force crashing against the opposition. Dor'mon'du and Ka'rink'ka both reeled as the roar echoed outside the gate of the pillar of heaven, fracturing the sound, and even making other battling wills pause and look in their direction.
But Ka'rink'ka's resistance level twisted and dispersed the roar energy, the mountain giant was not so fortunate. The lightning rippled through his frame, freezing him mid-motion. A stun debuff icon shimmered into being above Dor'mon'du's head!
Dor'mon'du's roar cut off mid-growl, his enormous body locked in place, eyes wide and unseeing as molten light pulsed from within. The mountain's power turned against him — stone trembling, unable to move.
Ka'rink'ka, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes with predatory delight. The energy seethed across her scales but failed to take hold, dispersing into sparks around her. She hissed with satisfaction, "How delicious, I must have you both!" her tentacles writhed in lust for the couple she saw before her.
Jinmen Ju landed lightly beside Shakina, his aura blazing, fangs flashing in triumph. "One down."
Shakina, still shimmering beneath her Mystic Block shield, gave a small, grim smile. "Not yet," she replied, her harp lowering. "He'll rise soon. The curse fades in one breath more—then I play the next verse."
Overhead, the aurora of the Cosmic Mountain rippled with the clash and warfare of hundreds of wills. And they hadn't even entered the gates to officially compete with one another yet. Such was the level of competition to climb the pillar of heaven and reach the next world or ultimate grounds.
— one giant locked in stasis, one serpent-will coiling to strike.
Ka'rink'ka's turn had come.