Chapter 46

  I didn’t realize the true devastation and brilliance of Julius’s attack until it happened. It also opened up even more for me to consider, and learn, when it came to Mun battles. Especially high leveled ones.

  Mikael’s lips went thin as he watched what happened, waiting the few seconds for Fortoise to fall back down, before he made his move. The tank-sized creature turned over in midair, so its shell faced downwards, its legs flailing, as gravity had its way with it. The landing spot, was far too precise to be an accident, and made me question if you could pass intention through your commands with your Muns. Or maybe Julius and his Muns had simply battled together for so long, become so skilled, that this was the result.

  Either way, I watched, eyes wide with surprise and wonderment, as the tank sized creature came crashing down onto the legs of the Brutalist, crushing its legs beneath its giant mass, while missing the Gembra Stallion. The Brutalist let out a loud roar, it’s grip releasing on its prey. The power pylons on its back discharged a burst of electricity when the Fortoise crashed atop it, which shocked the massive creature, causing it to twitch and jolt even as it thrashed about, trying, fruitlessly, to right itself.

  Mikael still said nothing, and merely answered Julius’s quirk, with a finger point. Ignoring the cries and cheers from the crowd, people celebrating the Keeper’s attack, Mikael made his next move. His AX-olotl once again rolled into its ball like death wheel form, and acted. Unlike last time, the Herculean Diamond Bettle didn’t have its massive shell pieces to protect it. The AX-Olotl’s bladed edge glowed with light as it neared the Beetle, and I watched, eyes going wide with surprise, as it’s body sliced deep into the creatures horn. The glowing edge flashed on contact, and a terrible grating sound filled the arena. I winced at the sound, but watched as the AX-Olotl’s pace continued, past the beetle’s horn, which now had a cut halfway through the trunk of its massive diamond horn, towards the Gembra Stallion. The AX-Olotl’s glowing form cut over it, leaving a foot-long gash in its side, causing the creature to neigh in displeasure. After hitting its two targets, the AX-Olotl Primus unrolled itself, and landed on all fours, once again, waiting to strike.

  “Apparently you are full of surprises, Mikael,” Julius said as the turn order reset once more. “I knew its kind could use the Sawmill move. But I didn’t realize yours had the rare version of the skill.” He grinned, “I can see you didn’t challenge me out of hubris.”

  Mikael said nothing. He didn’t seem like he planned to speak at all. Instead, he had a small frown on his face as he looked at the battlefield. Could he make his Ancient Fortoise do anything from its back like that? Was there any skill it could do while flipped like that? Not to mention, as it was, the poor Brutalist was trapped beneath it. I was learning so much about how Mun battles could go. Not only did the moves have different effects depending on the Mun and their targets, but apparently you could create special effects or combine moves and actions in unique ways. It was much more versatile and engaging than the turn-based games I’d played on Earth.

  A moment of thought longer, and Mikael let out a sigh. Then… just as it had earlier, the fortress on its back started to rotate. Only… because it was upside down, the fortress portion stuck into the ground and partly on the Brutalist, it was the turtle body portion that started to spin… like a top. Faster and faster, which caused it to begin to wobble about, until it was spinning fast enough the creature’s legs and head looked like a blur, giving very much the appearance in some ways to a Beyblade. Huh.

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  “That’s… a first.” Julius said as he looked at the rapidly spinning, yet stationary, Fortoise. "A unique forced move. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time someone’s flipped your turtle then.”

  “A forced move?” I asked Guy, while still watching the battlefield intensely, waiting for Julius to make his move.

  “It’s a term for when you use a move in a way that it wasn’t intended. There are some really common ones out there that people like to use or abuse. Essentially when you use a move, but the Mun can’t actually make it happen, the result, if its beneficial or actually useful, gets referred to as a forced move.”

  “Got an example for me?” I asked as I took a drink. Julius was going to make a move any second now.

  “Well, if you have a Bullow use its Blast Furnace skill… but for some reason it’s mouth is shut… the forced move is an explosion that takes out the Bullow and does a ton of damage to any Muns within about fifteen feet of it.”

  “So, a self-destruct?” I asked. “That’s not that unique.”

  I felt Guy’s gaze, but didn’t look away. I couldn’t look away.

  “Your world must be truly terrible if you’re that calloused about such a move.”

  I was immediately reminded of how I’d been judged for making three Gear Pups battle up to level 15, and remembered that, while I was used to monster taming games… some of the strategies and things I’d grown accustomed to while playing them, likely weren’t as…er… normal when the creatures were living, breathing things.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty fucked up,” I said instead. I was going to add a bit more, but at that moment, Julius made his move.

  “I know it will become a problem sooner rather than later,” Julius said, “but, for now, I need to finish what I started.” He pointed at the Ancient Fortoise, which continued its ridiculous rotations. And, more importantly, I realized, the trapped Brutalist underneath it.

  “King’s Mane Blast.” The mane of the Lion King glowed with power as it pointed its face and body in the direction of the spinning, toppled, Mun. It’s claws dug into the ground, it’s tail pointing upwards. The diamond at the end of its tail glowed with power, drawing in extra light, which seemed to channel into the main. The crown atop its head flashed with power, as the energy continued to buildup, before it launched forward, a massive ring of brilliant, condensed power. As the attack rushed outwards, a ring of destruction on a direct path towards the Ancient Fortoise, it left the Lion King devoid of its brilliant color, the creature’s gems losing the glow, as if it had expended all of its energy for that attack.

  Was that a skill like the charge attacks in some of the games I’d played? One that would take a turn to recharge from? It had to be extremely strong if so.

  This time, Mikael was the one who smiled, as the attack rushed towards his Mun, and the Lion King wobbled, apparently worn for a moment from its attack. Even as the Lion King sunk to the ground, breathing heavily, unable to keep its own weight up… the attack collided with the outer spinning edges of the Ancient Fortoise. And yet, instead of erupting, instead of exploding brilliantly, devastatingly… the attack was cut in two, the bottom portion erupting underneath the Ancient Fortoise with enough force to once again flip the creature onto its side… which resulted in it rapidly shooting off, over the Bolt-Charged Brutalist, and Gembra Stallion, before it collided with an invisible wall in the side of the arena, and the other half up into the sky, erupting against a similar invisible wall, with enough force to cause a flash so blinding the arena turned white for a moment.

  Once I’d blinked away the spots, and my vision returned, I saw the Ancient Fortoise, still spinning, uncontrollably from the looks of it, around the edges of the arena, the Bolt-Charge Brutalist, missing a leg, and the Gembra Stallion…gone. Returned to its crystal form, leaving a smirking Mikael, and Julius with, for just a moment, a very shaky look on his face, before he wiped it away with a smile.

  “Well,” he said, as he touched a crystal on his wrist, summoning a new Mun to replace the defeated Gembra Stallion, “that backfired.”