Author's Notes: Hi guys. I'm back with another chapter. It's Chinese New Year! So I wish everyone an enjoyable happy delightful Chinese New Year! Even if you guys don't celebrate it, just stay cheerful for my sake in this festive season! Haha.
Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter. Alot of work was put into it ( I think so ). And please read and review! Really, reviews mean alot to me!
Here's a few translations of the chinese terms used in this chapter.
Tian Ya Hai Jiao - literally translated as "Sky Cliff Sea Corner" but i would prefer translating it as "Heaven and Earth, The Sea and the Lands". It just means everywhere under the sky. I chose to name the Bronze Stance after it because the stance attacks by surrounding the enemy and puncturing him from "everywhere".
Jian Wang Ren Wang - literally translated as "Sword Perishes, Human Perishes" but i would also prefer translating it as "The Blade perishes, Its Master perishes". It just means that the Blade and its Master's lives are interlinked. I shall not spoil you as to the full application and strength of this stance. Ming only applied a little of it in this chapter to "steal" information from the enemy. But well, it has other uses as well.
Ren Yao - translated as "Human Devil" which means one who is twisted, insane, cruel, or devil-like. Yea. I did mention earlier on in the previous chapter that Ming was slain in his previous incarnation by an Executioner disguised as a child who gained Ming's trust and betrayed him. Well, he's Ren Yao. Cheers.
Now on to the chapter! Pls R and R! Thanks!
Chapter Two – Tian Ya Hai Jiao
"Delta Zero Four."
"Yes Sir!" Ming roared out his abrupt reply.
"Zero One has failed. And he paid with his life. Zero Two has failed. And he paid with his life. Zero Three had almost succeeded and regardless of that, he paid with his life. Do you comprehend my words, Delta Zero Four?"
"Yes Sir!" Ming barked out another brief reply, a reply to someone he could never hope to perceive. Because this someone – was a supreme race of a superior dimension – an Alpha.
"What then, do you comprehend, Delta Zero Four?"
"Sir! I comprehend that if I do not execute the Silver Stance successfully – I, Zero Four shall take my own life and pay for it!"
"Very well. I shall mark your words at that."
Ming held the hilt of the Alpha Blade gently in his left hand, his palm caressing the cold metal lovingly. He knew. He knew somewhere deep down, that this Alpha Blade was the very one that he wielded three centuries before.
This Alpha Blade was the very one he had returned to the Headquarters before he was terminated.
And this Alpha Blade was masterless for three centuries before – before it was once again in his hands. And Ming thanked the Alphas for that – for reserving the Alpha Blade for him.
After all, Ming though cold, was sentimental, especially to his sword.
There was a swift break in the winds and though Ming could not hear, he instantly became aware of an attacker to his hind left. Ming did not look up. He did not look up because there was no need to.
"Bronze Stance." Ming whispered an incantation and he found it odd that he was not able to hear himself at all. "Bronze Stance," He repeated.
"Tian!"
He arched his elbow, lifting his Alpha Blade to the winds.
"Ya!"
A bout of Delta particles parted Ming's soul and gushed into the Blade through its hilt. The Alpha Blade lapped up the particles greedily and the air about it crackled dangerously as it awoke from its slumber, bursting into life and lethality.
"Hai!"
The enemy drew nearer. Ming couldn't care any less. There was only one thing he had in mind. His Alpha Blade.
"Jiao!"
The enemy's weapon crashed into a extensive collision with Ming's Alpha Blade. The Executioner thought the exchange of clashes was over and made his preparations to leapt back before coming forth with another attack.
After all, he had slain countless of Bronze Deltas – and each and every one of them had executed this stance and he had nullified each and every single execution of it.
Yet, Ming's execution did not end there.
"What is an execution, Delta Zero Four!"
"Sir, it is a stance and the carrying forth of it!"
An Alpha Blade materialized before Ming's chest and slowly pierced through it at a painstakingly slow rate. Ming could have dodged it, could have avoided it, but he did not dare to.
Ming gasped breathlessly as the pain flooded his mind. He knew that this mortal wound would not take his life, but the pain was unbearable. He felt like screaming his lungs out. Yet, he had seen the ends of those who did so.
Death was always the reward.
"Delta Zero Four. Keep this in mind."
"Yes, sir!"
"An execution is not a stance. Nor is it the carrying forth of the stance. An execution is what you comprehend of a stance – what you think it is … and no execution of the same stance is similar. The more you comprehend a stance, the more you understand its strength, the greater the power that execution wields."
"Bronze Stance – Tian Ya Hai Jiao!"
The Alpha Blade seemed to spit fire. It was a snake of particles – both Delta and Alpha. The perfect marriage of blade and execution brought about the one and only answer that a flawless attack can receive.
Death.
In the split instant Ming had executed the Bronze Stance, the Alpha Blade had fluttered, weaving itself to and fro the dimensional cloth, about the approaching Executioner.
In short, the enemy was punctured in every single combination of direction and angle one could embed a blade within a human.
There was no visible wound.
Yet, Ming knew. And the remaining twelve Executioners knew – that their comrade was gone to the world.
Somewhere by the entrance of the Headquarters, a Silver Delta had his mouth agape from awe.
Ming's eyebrows were raised and held in that position for a long time. He was impressed – impressed by his marvelous execution of the Bronze Stance.
So …. That was what the 83 synchronization rate was about?
To have a synchronization rate of above 50 with one's container was considered extremely lucky for a Delta already. In his previous incarnation, Ming had a rate of 77.
He looked away from the ground and finally turned to the remaining Executioners.
"Who's next? Perhaps you would prefer ganging up against me? Whatever … Your deaths are definite."
He was confident. Absolutely confident that he would win. Snuffing out the lives of these lowly-ranked Executioners … was all too easy.
His world was silent. Utterly silent. He wasn't used to it. His previous incarnation had hearing, though it had lost the sense of thought.
The moving of the enemies' lips pulled Ming back into reality. His eyes darted about their lips as he struggled to lip-read.
"You." One of them started. "You – don't get so stuck-up and look down on us because you killed three of us. Listen to me – they were the weakest, and you were just in luck. Luck, that's all. Get that in your –"
A flick of Ming's Alpha Blade decapitated the ignorant fool. He looked to the few Executioners left. The ends of his lips lifted into a sinister smirk.
"Say. I would like to inquire from you youngsters. Answer my question and you may leave this place alive. Is – is Ren Yao still alive?"
There was a huge murmur about the eleven Executioners. It was slight and minute at first, yet the anger among them grew as the discussion heated up and finally one of them stepped forth. It was a woman into her twenties, dressed scantily in a tight leather gear.
"Are you prepared to answer my question at last? I am growing impatient –" Ming breathed in deeply. Three hundred and fifteen years. He was terminated for that long a time. He needed to pay it back.
The lust for revenge spurred him forth.
"Yea. We are prepared to answer." The female Executioner replied, tossing her head backwards as she unbuckled two revolvers from her belt. Without any hesitation, she fired both of them.
"Insolent fools." Ming sighed.
"I will not allow you, a filthy monster, to cry out our dear Bishop's name in full!"
The bullets sped towards two vital points upon Ming's frame – his head and his heart.
Bishop – Bishop? How high has he risen now?
It shouldn't be time for him to think. In front of a series of gunfire, no mortal would pause and think that calmly.
Apparently, Ming was no mortal.
His hand moved. And so did his blade. Both flesh and metal flew into a blur as they neatly sliced the bullets into halves.
"For making such a foolish decision, ten of you will die." Ming declared. "Silver Stance!" And he began the execution of it with an incantation.
"Sil – Silver stance … stance? A – a bro – bronze Del … Delta?" One of the Executioners cried out. They had underestimated this monster before them.
"Looks can be deceiving. Didn't they teach you that before you became an Executioner? Now shut up. Jian!"
Time seemed to have stopped for the eleven Executioners that were still alive in battle within the trench.
"Wang!"
The Alpha Blade in Ming's grip began to move. And so did Ming. Both advanced upon the Executioners swiftly, yet somehow, it wasn't …. it didn't appear to be fast at all. They … they should be able to dodge it.
Yet they couldn't.
Looks are deceiving. And so would be appearances. Mortal eyes should judge neither the speed of a blade nor the strength of its wielder.
"Ren!" Ming continued.
The entirety of Ming's existence appeared to have merged with the Alpha Blade …. They were still distinct in form, yet the aura about them …. Blade became man …. Man became blade ….
"Wang!"
The world about all eleven Executioners exploded into a spur of sensations. All that happened next was too fast, too swift, too intense for even them to comprehend. It was going to be their last as well.
"Silver Stance – Jian Wang Ren Wang!" Ming finished triumphantly. Unlike the Bronze Stance, the execution of the Silver Stance incurred material mortal wounds upon the flesh and blood frame of the humans. Not only did it destroy the container of the Beta Particles of the human, it allowed the Alpha Blade to feed upon the blood of the enemy and its Beta Particles as well.
Of course, the wielder of the Alpha Blade would be able to access whatever knowledge and memories the slain human held in his soul.
Ming removed the Bronze Mask from his face andclosed his eyes as he silently drank in all information of the world about him that he had recently brought back into – all that happened in the past three hundred and fifteen years; the deaths of his comrades he had left behind in battle when he was terminated; and even …. Even Ren Yao …
"Ren Yao …" Ming's eyelids parted abruptly to reveal bloodshot eyes. He cast a hateful glance at the fifteen dead Executioners, at the barren battlefield, at Tsi by the Headquarter's entrance, at the Headquarters.
Then finally at the evening Sky.
And then he cried out a long, sorrowful, mournful roar – one that his ears would never hear.
"Ren Yao! REN YAO!!! You're fucking gonna pay for it! You're fucking gonna pay for what you did!!! I will – I WILL KILL YOU!!! I will kill you! I will kill you! I will …."
Ming roared and roared. And roared till the sun had finally set in the horizon.
He could not recall when he had stopped crying, or when he had slumped down onto the earth wearily. But he knew one thing – this battle, this battle would be coming to a closure.
And Ming would see himself to it personally.
The Delta retrieved the Bronze Mask from the dirt by his feet, dusted it and replaced it upon his face. Turning his back to the Headquarters, he began his trek into the human world – the world of the Betas.