Bertekad tertentu, Lex berbicara tanpa arah, melakukan apa saja yang bisa mengalihkan perhatian Kraven bahkan hanya sesaat. Tapi di saat yang sama, banyak hal yang dikatakan Lex didasarkan pada spekulasi dirinya sendiri. Dia mempelajari sejarah alam ini, dan meskipun fokusnya terutama pada perkembangan bangsa Hum, saat mempelajari politik, dia mendapatkan sepotong-sepotong informasi tentang apa yang terjadi dengan ras lain.
Di bawah ancaman nyata dari Kraven, di balik mesin perang masif yang dibentuk oleh ras manusia, bahkan di balik gelombang tanpa akhir pencucian otak dan propaganda yang mengajarkan massa bahwa tujuan keberadaan mereka hanyalah memerangi atau membunuh Kraven, Lex merasakan ketiadaan keputusasaan yang parah. Itu bukan berarti orang biasa tidak putus asa. Tidak, kehidupan orang rata-rata dijalani di bawah bayang-bayang kehancuran yang selalu mengancam dan perjuangan tak henti untuk mengatasinya suatu hari nanti. Bahkan kelas menengah, dan beberapa golongan atas pun kehidupan mereka dicat keputusasaan. Tapi di tingkat tertinggi, tempat kebijakan dan strategi dibuat, tempat masa depan direncanakan dan arah kehidupan rayat ditentukan, Lex merasakan ketenangan yang sangat terfokus dan terhitung.
Karena latar belakangnya seharusnya dari Gristol, atau setidaknya itu tempat dia dibawa, Lex mempelajari mundurnya dan runtuhnya pasukan manusia dari sana. Cara yang sangat terhitung di mana penguatan dikirim ke perbatasan, dan bukan ke Gristol itu sendiri, dan cara presisi pasukan penting ditarik mundur sambil membiarkan bagian utama pasukan di Gristol berperang sampai mati terasa terlalu terhitung bagi Lex. Seandainya keputusasaan yang sesungguhnya ada di kalangan pemegang kekuasaan, mereka akan mengorbankan sesibuknya untuk memastikan Kraven menderita kerusakan sebesar-besarnya, bukan sekadar mundur.
Lex ingat, saat Vegus Minima belum di bawah kendali pasukan Jotun, bagaimana Chen dan Blane pergi dalam misi bunuh diri untuk mengalihkan zombie agar kawan mereka bisa lewat tanpa terdeteksi. Tekad dan keteguhan hati Lily, kepala kawan, yang mengirim saudaranya sendiri ke misi bunuh diri itu bau keputusasaan untuk berjuang dan bertahan hidup. Bangsa Hum, meski dengan semua upayanya, belum sekali pun mendekati level itu.
Ada beberapa petunjuk lain yang dia dapat di sana-sini, tapi intinya, perang masif yang meliputi seluruh alam tidak se-straightforward, atau sedire seperti yang terlihat.
Dia berharap bisa mengulur jawaban dari Kraven ini, tapi setelah semua yang dikatakan Lex, Kraven hanya menatap dia. Bukan karena tidak tertarik dengan umpan Lex, tapi dia tidak acuh menanggapi. Kebencian dan amarah di matanya itu aneh. Lebih dari sekadar diejek - atau setidaknya, itu yang dipikir Lex.
"Baiklah, bukan boneka, tapi apa…"
Lex melompat mundur sambil menggunakan Talk to the Hand dengan kedua tangan saat berusaha menghindari Kraven yang melesat. Kulit Lex merinding dan dia merasakan dengan pasti pertarungan sudah tidak sama lagi. Kalau Kraven tadi main-main, yang sayangnya untuk Lex memang begitu, sekarang tidak lagi. Lex terhindar dari benturan berkat insting yang memperingatkan dia lebih dulu, tapi membandingkan kecepatan dengan kultivator Golden Core itu keputusan bodoh.
Kraven, saat berdiri tegak di kedua kakinya, dua kali ukuran Lex tapi kelincahannya luar biasa. Lex terlalu dekat untuk gerakan besar dan tempo pertarungan terlalu cepat buat dia bertanya lagi. Kalau dulu Lex melompat jauh untuk menghindari pukulan, sekarang dia harus batasi gerakan hanya badan atas secukupnya buat menghindari pukulan langsung.
Adegan kayak film, atau mungkin anime, saat Lex menghindari setiap cakar Kraven sempurna, menggerakkan tubuh sebelum makhluk itu mulai menyerang. Sejenak mereka jadi kabur saat tubuh mereka menganyam pertarungan jadi tarian paling rumit, dengan masing-masing bergerak pas seolah sudah latihan jutaan kali. Bukan musuh, tapi kayak dua mesin, bekerja dengan presisi mekanis.
Dalam beberapa detik Lex sudah basah kuyup keringat, dan keringat itu mulai menguap jadi uap dari tubuhnya. Luar biasa, dia benar-benar merasakan otot-ototnya robek, tipis-tipis, bukan karena serangan Kraven tapi karena tekanan ekstrim yang dia timpakan pada dirinya sendiri. Semau dia menarik diri dan menciptakan jarak, Kraven tidak memberi waktu sama sekali.
Tapi tango yang indah tadi berakhir secepat dimulainya saat batu kecil di bawah kaki Lex hancur. Bukan bedanya cukup buat dia jatuh, atau bahkan tersandung, tapi cukup buat mengganggu keseimbangannya sesaat. Di saat itu, seolah Kraven sudah merencanakan momen ini, Lex justru menemukan bukan tangannya, tapi kakinya yang menginjak ke arah wajahnya.
Waktu kayak melambat saat Lex menatap cakar-cakar itu, berkilau di bawah cahaya biru lembut, menuju ke arahnya. Lotus atau tidak, kalau otaknya ditusuk tidak ada yang bisa selamatkan dia. Tapi bisa dia apa? Binatang itu terlalu cepat. Bahkan tahu cara bertahan, butuh waktu terlalu lama buat benar-benar menggerakkan anggota badan ke posisi. Bahkan kalau dia punya teknik yang bisa menyelamatkan dia dari situasi ini, dia tidak bisa menggerakkan energi spirit cukup cepat buat melaksanakan teknik utuh.
Jutaan pikiran melintas di kepalanya dan dia memikirkan setiap teknik, formasi, barang yang bisa menggerakkan badannya sedikit saja untuk menghindar
Saat Lex tidak bisa memikirkan solusi yang baik... dia terpaksa pilih yang buruk. Dengan telunjuknya dia mulai menggambar karakter api, lalu sengaja membuang-buangnya!
Tubuh Lex terlempar ke belakang, api oranye tua melahap tubuhnya saat dia terbang di udara. Lex abaikan sensasi terbakar yang sudah familiar di kulitnya saat dia cepat melihat sekeliling. Sama seperti dia, Kraven tertutup api, tapi api itu sepertinya cepat padam.
Dia menatap ke arah Cwenhild dan yang lain, dan nemuin pertarungan mereka masih berlangsung. Dengan erangan, dia menatap kembali ke Kraven. Bertahan murni tidak bawa dia ke mana-mana. Semau dia menghindari, dia harus menyerang.
Kraven tercengang. Bukan oleh kekuatan ledakan, atau serangan apa, tapi karena dia sudah serius bertarung tapi makhluk inferiore itu berhasil selamat. Lalu perasaan berubah jadi malu. Lalu marah.
Dia meraung, mengangkat kepalanya ke langit buat memperingatkan langit pun tentang konsekuensi melanggarnya. Semua orang di sekitar kecuali Lex terkena serangan spiritual seperti tsunami yang terbawa suaranya, tapi itu justru menyenangkan Kraven. Kalau terlalu gampang tidak seru. Dia akan melicinkan makhluk inferiore itu perlahan dan sengaja, anggota per anggota.
Lagi-lagi, Kraven berlari ke makhluk inferiore itu, kali ini kecepatan penuh. Anehnya, makhluk itu sepertinya tidak menghindar kali ini, cuma berdiri diam. Mungkin dia sudah menerima nasib.
Tapi saat Kraven sampai di mangsanya, dan hendak mencabik-cabiknya, mata makhluk inferiore itu berubah! Pupilnya jadi hitam, seolah menutupi kekosongan di belakangnya, dan dari kekosongan itu Kraven merasakan ancaman kematian.
Tidak ada sinar cahaya, tidak ada gelombang kejut, tidak ada suara yang menandai serangan yang datang dari mata hitam Lex, kecuali mungkin raungan menggeram Kraven saat tubuhnya hantam ke tanah, badannya ditarik momentum yang tersisa ke kaki Lex.
Lex masih berdiri tegak, seperti pemburu di hadapan mangsa yang jatuh, tapi kepalannya yang tiba-tiba pucat mengisyaratkan sesuatu lebih. Dia muntah darah, tapi dia menyapu mulutnya saat menatap efek Evisceration.
Itu serangan jiwa sangat kuat yang dilancarkan dari mata. Yang dibutuhkan cuma Lex menatap siapa yang ingin diserang. Serangan itu tidak bisa diblokir dengan cara biasa, dan butuh alat atau teknik khusus yang fokus mempertahankan jiwa. Lebih jauh, tidak peduli seberapa dekat atau jauh musuhnya. Tanpa indikasi atau peringatan apapun, teknik itu akan mendarat di target begitu digunakan. Lagipula, kebetulan, meski Kraven cuma punya satu kelemahan fisik yaitu core di dada mereka, jiwa mereka rentan seperti orang lain.
Di bawah alam Nascent, di mana kebanyakan makhluk tidak punya cara melindungi jiwa mereka, serangan seperti ini paling berbahaya. Tapi ada alasan baik kenapa Lex tidak pakai teknik ini dari awal. Dia belum benar-benar menguasainya, dan akibatnya, dia juga kena kerusakan parah setiap kali menggunakannya.
Getaran melintas di tubuh Kraven saat dia mengangkat kepalanya menatap Lex dengan niat membunuh di matanya.
To a degree, Lex was speaking randomly, doing whatever it took to distract the Kraven even for a moment. But at the same time, a lot of what Lex said was based on his own speculations. He had been studying the history of the realm, and while it was mostly focused on the development of the Hum nation, while studying politics, he gots bits and pieces of what was going on with the other races.
Under the very real threat of the Kraven, behind the massive war machine that the human race was morphing into, beyond even the endless waves of brainwashing and propaganda that taught the masses the very purpose of their existence was to fight off or kill the Kraven, Lex sensed a severe lack of desperation. That was not to say that the common man wasn't desperate. No, the life of the average person was lived under the shadow of an ever impending doom and a relentless struggle to do absolutely anything to overcome it one day. Even the middle, and some of the upper classes of society had their lives painted with desperation. But at the highest level, where policies and strategies were made, where the future was planned and the direction of the people's lives were decided, Lex sensed a very focused and calculated calm.
Since his background was supposed to be from Gristol, or at least that's where he had been brought from, Lex had studied the retreat and eventual fall of the human forces from there. The very calculated way in which reinforcements had been sent to the border, and not Gristol itself, and the precise way in which important forces were withdrawn while letting the main part of the army in Gristol fight to the death felt all too calculated to Lex. Had true desperation been present among those in power, they would have sacrificed as much as they could to ensure the Kraven suffered the most damage they could inflict, instead of just retreating.
Lex remembered, back when Vegus Minima had not yet come under control of the Jotun forces, how Chen and Blane went on a suicide mission to distract zombies so that their caravan could pass through without being detected. The will and determination of Lily, the head of the caravan, to send her own brother on a suicide mission reeked of the desperation to struggle and survive. The Hum nation, despite all the efforts it was putting into it, had not yet come even close to that.
There were a few other hints he picked up here and there, but the basic gist of it was, the massive realm encompassing war was not as straightforward, or dire as it seemed.
He was hoping to extract some answers from this particular Kraven, but after all that Lex said, the Kraven simply looked at him. It was not that it didn't get baited in by what Lex had said, but that it just did not bother responding. The hate and anger in its eyes though were unusual. It was more than just being taunted - or at least, that's what Lex thought.
"Alright not puppets, but what…"
Lex jumped back while using Talk to the Hand with both hands as he tried to avoid the hurtling Kraven. Lex had goosebumps all over his body and he felt with certainty that the fight was no longer the same. If the Kraven was taking things lightly before, which unfortunately for Lex it had been, it was no longer doing so now. Lex narrowly avoided the clash due to his instincts warning him in advance, but comparing speed with a Golden core cultivator was a stupid decision.
The Kraven, when it stood up straight on its legs, was twice the size of Lex but its nimbleness was remarkable. Lex was too close to it for large maneuvers and the tempo of the fight was too fast for him to ask any more questions. While Lex would have jumped completely out of the way before to dodge a punch, now he had to limit himself to moving just his torso just enough to avoid a direct hit.
It was a scene out of a movie, or perhaps an anime, as Lex dodged each of the Kravens claws perfectly, moving his body before the creature had even begun its attack, For a time, they became a blur as their bodies wove the fight into the most intricate dance, with each of them moving just right as if they had practiced the performance a million times. Instead of enemies they seemed two machines, working with mechanical precision.
In the few seconds Lex had become completely drenched in sweat, and then the sweat started rising from his body as steam. Incredibly, he could actually feel his muscles rip, ever so slightly, not from the Kraven's attacks but from the extreme duress he was putting them under. As much as he wanted to pull away and create some distance between them, the Kraven gave him no time at all.
But the seemingly splendid tango ended just as swiftly as it began when a small rock under Lex's foot crumbled. It was not enough of a difference to cause him to fall, or even stumble, but it was enough to affect his balance for a split second. It was in that split second, as if the Kraven had planned for the moment, that Lex found not its arms, but its leg kicking towards his face.
Time seemed to slow as Lex looked right at the claws, gleaming under the soft blue light, heading towards him. Lotus or no Lotus, if his brain was punctured there was no saving him. But what could he do? The beast was too fast. Even knowing how to defend, it would take too much time to actually move his limbs in place. Even if he had a technique that could save him from this situation, he could not move the spirit energy fast enough to perform a whole technique.
A million thoughts ran through his head and he thought of every technique, array, item that could move his body just slightly to get out of the way just
When Lex could not think of a good solution… he settled for a bad one. With his index finger he started drawing the character for fire, and then screwed it up!
Lex's body was flung back, deep orange flames licking his body as he flew through the sky. Lex ignored the uncomfortably familiar sensation of burning skin as he quickly took a look around. Much like him, the Kraven was covered in flames, though they seemed to be dying out quickly.
He looked towards Cwenhild and the rest, and found that their battle was still ongoing. With a groan, he looked back towards the Kraven. Purely defending was getting him nowhere. As much as he wanted to avoid it, he had to attack.
The Kraven had been stunned. Not by the strength of the explosion, or some attack, but by the fact that he had taken the fight seriously and yet, the inferior creature had managed to survive. Then the feeling changed to shame. Then to anger.
It roared, lifting its head to the sky to warn even the heavens of the consequence of crossing it. Everyone in the vicinity save for Lex was affected by the tsunami-like spiritual attack carried in its voice, but that pleased the Kraven. It would be too easy otherwise. It would slowly and purposefully rip that inferior creature limb from limb.
Once again, the Kraven ran towards the inferior creature, this time at full speed. Oddly enough, the creature seemed not to be avoiding this time, and only stood still. Perhaps it had accepted the inevitable.
But just as the Kraven reached its prey, and was about to dismember it, the inferior beings' eyes changed! His pupils turned black, as if hiding a void behind them, and from the void the Kraven felt the threat of death.
There was no ray of light, no shockwave, no sound to mark the attack that came from Lex's black eyes, except maybe the guttural cry of the Kraven as it crashed into the ground, its body dragged by its remaining momentum to Lex's feet.
Lex was still standing straight, like a hunter before its fallen prey, but his sudden paleness hinted at something more. He vomited out some blood, but he wiped his mouth as he looked at the effects of Evisceration.
It was an extremely potent soul attack launched from one's eyes. All the attack needed was for Lex to be looking at whoever he wanted to attack. It could not be blocked using normal means, and would require tools or techniques specifically focused on defending the soul. Furthermore, it did not matter how close or far the enemy was. Without any indication or forewarning, the technique would land on the target as soon as it was used. Moreover, as it so happened, while Kraven had only that one physical weakness of the core in their chest, their soul was as vulnerable as everyone else's.
Under the Nascent realm, wherein most creatures lacked a means to protect their souls, such an attack was the most dangerous. But there was a good reason Lex hadn't used the technique right from the start. He had not yet completely mastered it, and as such, he would also take a lot of damage whenever he used it.
A tremor ran through the Kravens body as it lifted its head to look at Lex with murder in its eyes.
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