Molting the Mortal Coil

Chapter 253: Close Quarters

Around the single bend in the tunnel was a single chamber. The hallway was about an eight foot square, and the chamber was about four times that size. The room was about thirty feet long and wide, with a ten foot ceiling. For a mine it would be a massive chamber, but it was specifically excavated just for Sage to hide the Formation Machine, or to release secret troops. Sage thought about deactivating the Human Seal, but he wasnt about to go that far yet. If anyone were to escape then his secret might be revealed and that wasnt something he was eager to have happen. Instead he crouched behind a large rock and waited patiently.

Soon enough the huge metal shield clanked into the room. It didnt cover the whole hallways, but it was large enough to shield a few people behind it. The hallway met with the chamber at an angle, so they didnt see the illusion hed placed until they had already entered the room. The illusion seemed wary, swiveling the cannon back and forth as if looking for an opening before opening fire. The Fierce Tigers seemed to be discussing something. Then they pushed the shield up against the wall and slowly swung it into the room. Sage had expected them to keep pushing forward and rush the cannon, but the Fierce Tigers surprised him. Of course, he had a few seconds to ponder this, since he saw the most likely outcome before it even happened.

Instead of huddling behind the shield and inching forward, they braced themselves against the wall and extended their cover. If they had moved into the room only 2 or 3 of them might have been able to hide behind the shield. With this plan they instead filled the hallway and 4 of them prepared to attack with ranged weapons of their own. Sage saw them stand up tall and toss spears and fire arrows over their shield. When they did, they saw through the illusion. Not liking that future, he chose to act. Six of them had already gathered in the hallway, and three Hundred Spike Tigers were behind them. If he wanted to attack, the others in the hall were sure to see him.

Guess I have to reveal another secret weapon.

He brought out another of his weapons, the mail slot sized barrel swung to aim down the hallway. Sage dashed towards the group huddling behind the shield. As he did, he fired a shot from the Plate Cannon into the hallway. A spinning Formation Plate flew down the hall and the formation on it sprung to life. Given how useful the formation was, Sage kept the Plate Cannon loaded with the same vine formation he usually used. It was a far more expensive and effective version of the net gun. The Formation Plate flew down the hall and numerous large vines sprung out. They extended in every direction and wrapped around anyone they encountered. The group in the hallway was split in half. Two of them were wrapped up in vines, and the three Hundred Spike Tigers were blocked by the vines filling the hall. The other four were still free, but Sage was already upon them.

The Plate Cannon disappeared from his hand and he charged into the closest foe. The man had just enough time to turn around so that Sage could smash a shoulder into his ribs. As he did, his Twin Soul dove into the mans body and engaged him in battle. Sage pushed the man a few steps back, using him as cover from the other three. One of them had a bow, another was holding a javelin, and the last had a handful of small knives. They had all been preparing to attack him at range so none of them were prepared for the close quarters.

The man with the javelin wasted no time in using his weapon like a spear and stabbing towards Sage. Sage used his human shield to block the stab. The one with a bow took aim and fired, which Sage was only able to avoid because he saw it coming. The bow was glowing and the arrow shot out of it like a bolt of light. The third man was the most difficult to deal with. He had three knives in each hand and he quickly threw four of them at Sage. One stuck into his calf and another grazed his bicep, but the others clanked off rock. Then the man ran forward, armed with the last two knives.

Sage extended his left arm around his human shield and with a hiss, a small object flew out towards the bowman. At the same time he pushed his shield towards the man with the knives. The motion dislodged the javelin from the mans back and that same javelin came darting towards Sage. Sage dove away from the human shield and knife wielder, narrowly avoiding the tip of the javelin as he dove towards it. He rolled and came to his feet, then he widened his stance and seemed to grab hold of the air. Then he made a hard pulling motion like he was pulling a rope. The man with the bow stumbled forward and smashed into the back of the knife wielder. At the same time, the javelin was ripped from the other mans hand and blood blossomed on his hand and wrist.

Then Sage ran towards the side and whipped his arm a few times. He pulled again and the man with the knives fell to the ground clutching his throat. Sage ran up behind the stumbling bowman and waved his hand over his head. The disarmed javelin wielder pulled out a spear and stabbed it towards Sage. Sage leapt back and waved his arm around in a circle, narrowly avoiding the spear tip in the process. When the man pulled back his spear he met resistance and at the same time the bowman choked and fell down.

Sage aimed his right arm towards the man with the spear, the only one still standing. This time when the hiss sounded, the man saw what it was. A small claw flew out from under Sages wrist, fired from the bracer and trailing a nearly invisible line. It flew right past the mans head and he heard a clunk when it hit the wall. He then realized the resistance on his spear was caused by a line running from it and wrapped around the bowmans throat. Now that he knew what to look for he saw the claw stabbed into the bowmans chest and then tangled around the neck of the knife wielder. All three of them were tangled up a single thin cord.

The man dropped his spear, pulling out a javelin from his Storage Bag, he drew back his arm and threw it towards Sage. Sage flicked his right hand and the cord entangled the tip of the javelin and slashed the cheek of his enemy. These three he was facing, like most of the Fierce Tigers, practiced a body tempering art. They were all quite proud of their bodies strength and toughness, but somehow this foe of theirs was just as strong as them. He tugged on the javelin and Sage resisted him with the cord. The man just released the javelin and brought out another. He drew back his arm, but before he could throw it, he felt a sharp pain in his neck. The javelin that was trapped in the wire that hed let go of, had somehow spun around and stabbed him.

Good thing these guys rely on their bodies too much and dont know any powerful Qi techniques.

Sages two bracers were a magical tool hed invented before he had turned into a mindless beast. At that time, they merely had a spool of Steel Silk hidden inside them. Hed learned a technique from the Timeless Masters library called Spirit Strings. With it, he could use Spirit Power to manipulate wires, chains, ropes, or other objects as if they were snakes. It was a supporting technique used by some Puppeteers. It was a profession that operated combat puppets, and while the library didnt have any puppet refining techniques it did have a few supporting techniques and Sage adapted it to use as a weapon. It wasnt supposed to be a combat technique on its own, but Sage used it as one.

He used a cable as a whip or chain, snapping it. When he did, he could use Spirit Strings to precisely control the cable, making it loop on itself and drop around a neck or capture the tip of a weapon. Hed previously used it on that Grey Beard when running for his life. Combining the technique with his own web spinner worked just as well, but now that he was in his human form, he had the two bracers to supply the cable. Hed also upgraded them since that initial outing. Previously, they were just storing spools of Steel Silk. Now, they had Storage Bags built in, housing many lines of Steel Silk. Hed also incorporated his steam cannon to fire off a small claw. It also had a small flywheel engine to retract the cable, switch between lines, and the claws were magical devices of their own. They were actually quite large, but had arrays installed for sharpness, attaching to other objects, and of course a size reduction.

It was a common practice, using a larger object to reduce the difficulty of creating the array formations and just adding an additional array to change the size. It also meant using far more raw materials to refine a larger object. Effective, but expensive. Sage only had four of the tiny grasping claws. There was also a few hooks and spikes that could be launched, but they were far less versatile than the claws.

Sage pulled out a strange looking dagger and stabbed each of the four men. Then they disappeared from view. He threw them into the Universe Ring. Hed stabbed them with a dagger coated in the Twin Ringed Serpent venom. Then his Twin Soul finished each of them off, devouring their soul energy. Sage looked quite mysterious to the last two men in the hallway. As the battle ended, theyd only just freed themselves from the vines with the help of the Hundred Spike Tigers.

Sage looked towards them with a smile, Is that all youve got?