"No, you won't!" a powerful voice echoed through the rain, and Mike was thrown back, forced to block an ownerless sword coming straight for him with both his slaughter blades. A man appeared in the stormy sky, almost naked and covered in blood.
He was missing his right arm, and even more blood was running down from his back, down his legs. It didn't take Mike much brainpower to make the conclusion that this was the original owner of the robes Gu TangLang was wearing.
"Gu TangLang, you unfilial beast!" he barked at the slightly awkward Gu TangLang. On the other hand, Gu TangLang looked at the man with an expression of fear and hatred. "How dare you attack your master!" he cried out, and the pressure from the sword vanished. It had changed target, aiming for the survivor.
Mike wanted to step forward, but Gu TangLand already slapped the sword out of the air with their bare hands. The flying sword unceremoniously splatted on the ground and was momentarily swallowed by the torrential water.
"I destroyed your Tang Lang Talisman! You will never control me again!" they screeched with a somewhat inhumane undertone to their voice, almost like a hissing. Mike used the time to appraise the man in the sky.
He was a little below Mike's level, and his status looked rather humble. He didn't seem to be strong for a Spirit Severing Expert. He was about half dead and suffering a severe bleeding status on top. However, in the air, Gu Mo started laughing, despite being clearly at a disadvantage.
"Hah! Don't think you can escape my control, just because the talisman was destroyed! It can always be remade, see?" he exclaimed, raising his remaining left arm. Dark tattoos were crawling along his arm, covering it in foreign symbols.
"No! NO!" Gu TangLang exclaimed, holding their head in agony.
"Now! Kill this intruder, my loyal Gu!" he exclaimed ecstatically, laughing like a maniac. Gu TangLang suddenly looked at Mike like an emotionless predator, ready to tear apart its prey.
Their chin split, revealing insectoid mandibles. The inside of its mouth revealed rows and rows of fangs, pointing inward, while the mandibles had edges that glinted in the dim, stormy light.
The sleeves of their silken robes exploded as their arms sprang open at the elbow. Long energy blades shot out along the splayed out ulnas. The hands were actually just attached to the joints of the sickle arms.
The mantis-like beast roared at him, and the remainder of Gu Tanglang's robes were ripped apart as wings sprang up from the back. Silken rags were pulled away quickly by the water flowing around them. Underneath was a slender humanoid body, covered in green armor plates that reminded one of an insect's exoskeleton.
A low buzz was drowning out the roaring of the storm as the creature charged at Mike, boosted by the wings. At blinding speed, one of the long energy sickles aimed for the anthropomorphic lion's neck, like a sword held in reverse grip. Yet, the Champion of Maahes did not move
Mike had watched the situation unfold calmly. He ignored the manic cultivator in the sky and paid close attention to Gu TangLang's transformation, as it finally revealed what they were hiding. He didn't even blink when the sickle stopped several centimeters in front of him. Gu TangLang had frozen in place, unable to move.
"What is this! Attack him, Gu TangLang! Move! Damn it! What have you done to my human gu, beast!?" Gu Mo cursed in the wind above. Mike's mouth twisted into a smile that revealed his fang, before he started laughing. It was a deep, roaring laughter, and with every thunderous laugh, the storm intensified.
"Ha ha ha, and they said they wouldn't come in handy. Don't worry, Gu TangLan, I will finish this, and then we can leave," he told the frozen mantis, not judging them for their actions.
"Bastard! Are you ignoring me!?" At the man's words, the sword that had sunken into the muddy waters reemerged with an explosion of grime, aiming for Mike. However, the Chosen of Maahes simply sidestepped the sword aiming for him and used his Slaughter Blades to break it in two, like a scissor cutting a string. The weapon showed barely any resistance before breaking, facing the two holy armaments.
"You! What? How!?" Gu Mo exclaimed in shock and pain as he suffered the backlash of losing his connection with the flying sword. The next moment, Mike used
From Gu Mo's perspective, the giant Lion suddenly vanished, only to reappear behind him. However, when he wanted to turn and block the attack, the cultivator found that he was helplessly falling through the air. The last thing he saw was his own body, falling down beside him.
Mike had turned into the wind of the storm using
Using the
The giant mantis-like humanoid had turned back to something that looked more like a human with armor plates grown to their skin. This was now obvious, with the ripped robes stripped away by the current. It seemed like the control had vanished with the death of Gu Mo.
"I-I'm sowry..." they pressed out between their sobbing and crying. "P-Please don't leave me here... I don't want to stay here... I want to go home..." They kept apologizing and begging not to be left behind. Mike's first impression, when he saw Gu Tanglang standing in the flooded ruins, was that they seemed quite mature, maybe scheming.
But maybe it was just a child putting up a strong front. Hiding behind a facade because of the things they went through, because right now, the high-level creature simply looked like a child who wanted to go home.
It resonated with Mike as a member of Minas Mar, and he couldn't help but bend down and put his hand on their shoulder in a calming manner. Minas Mar meant something like Tower of Earth, but also Tower of Home in a language of Urth. This was something Seth had explained to them after he chose the name.
Home was a place of safety, of warmth and protection, one could always return to. The magic tower below Delta was just that for anyone invited to stay here. Maybe the blacksmith had no deeper thoughts than this in the beginning.
Later, the guild took over that role for many of the new members. Minas Mar took people in not based on their skills, their class, or their education, but on their personality and nature. People who had often suffered in society, before and especially after the world changed.
The reach of home grew even further when Minas Mar ended up encompassing all that remained of the districts. At some point. Mike and many other members understood Minas Mar as a place that would offer a home, especially to those in need.
Gu TangLang looked up to him, their eyes filled with tears.
"Don't worry, I will bring you home," the lion assured the mantis. Whether it was their old home or a new home still stood to reason, but Mike was sure there was a home waiting for them.
As if to accentuate his words, the rain stopped as a massive emerald crown unfolded over the ruins of the Great Gu family's estate. The Guardian Tree sapling shielded them from the storm, but spelled doom for the remaining survivors.