64- Amputation (4)

As he parried the strikes from the Immortal Weapons, Mason could not help but look back in the direction from which Danny had left. As the Iron Fist, Danny certainly was a powerful fighter, but that simply was not enough against something like the Wolverine. Even with the assistance of magical artefacts.

Which, by the way, begged the question of how exactly Danny had even activated those boots. To use magical artefacts, one needed to have at least taken the first step on the First Path of Magic, Egocentric Magic. Did that mean Danny had learned some magic while in Kamar-Taj?

"Growing distracted? Oh, you have no idea how much I abhor the likes of you!"

Mason weaved between the five Immortal Weapons who spoke as one, replying, "Get rekt, kid."

He zoned out the Beast, focusing on his opponents. They had split up quite naturally, with the members of the Chaste chasing after Izo while the Immortal Weapons surrounded Mason. The dynamic had visibly changed this time, though.

Mason and Danny had been the ones on the offensive, attacking their whole group. Now, Mason and Izo’s goal was to get to Danny, and the enemy forces had split solely to stop them, and not to win. It was like the Beast had said, even if all its forces died, so long as Danny died, it would win.

It was a good tactic too. Mason knew he could defeat the Immortal Weapons, but he could not leave. If he wanted to join Danny, he needed to take them out first.

The five were the Bride of Nine Spiders, Tiger’s Most Beautiful Daughter, Dog Brother #1, Fat Cobra, and Prince of Orphans. So Spider, Tiger, Dog, Cobra, and Prince. Their powers, unfortunately, were quite diverse as well.

Cobra had impressive physical strength and lightning strikes, Spider controlled spiders and had a logia-like body, Tiger had increased defence and possibly Divine Sense, Dog was the most underwhelming, with a body that barely matched Mason, and Prince could turn himself into green mist. Prince’s martial arts were also the best of the bunch.

With this in mind, Mason decided to go after Dog. However, the Immortal Weapons had not been idle either.

After a probing start, they had taken the opportunity to attack. Mason found Cobra above him, in mid-air, slamming down an oppressive lightning palm towards his head. Cobra’s palm was larger than Mason’s entire head, and might very well crush his head if hit.

The other four were blocking in every direction as well. Tiger was behind, wildly slashing with all ten of her fingers at his back. Each finger of hers was as sharp as a blade, like she had grown claws. This was the power granted to her by the White Tiger’s Chi.

In front was Dog, who, despite being the weakest, was wielding a katana, and Mason was not quite impervious to blades yet. Then, on both sides, were Prince and Spider, performing a pincer attack of their own.

But even this was not enough. Instead of moving away, Mason met the hard with the soft. It was not something he liked to do usually, because he did not like fighting that way, but they were beyond that point.

He grabbed Cobra’s descending arm by the wrist, and placed his other palm right behind Cobra’s shoulder. Using Cobra’s own arm and shoulder blade as a lever, Mason redirected the palm towards Spider. At the same time, Cobra’s large body worked as a natural barrier, blocking the attacks of the others as his palm hit Spider’s abdomen.

The power behind the strike was such that her whole lower half was blown apart, the spiders making her body blasted into bits as Cobra’s momentum carried him forward, falling on top of her.

Anyone watching would have been stunned at how easily their five-man formation had been dismantled, and by using their own force at that. And with them on the back foot, Mason flipped on top of Cobra, ruthlessly punching down at the back of Cobra’s head. He enhanced his fist with Chi, knowing that a regular strike likely would not be enough.

Even if Chi would save his life, it should scramble his brains bad enough to incapacitate him for a while. But as he punched down, two amorphous black masses appeared on both sides of Cobra’s giant body.

Spider, who was supposed to be trapped beneath him, had spread out her spiders into those two masses, which transformed into two giant stingers. It was like Mason had suddenly found himself in the mouth of a giant spider, her mandibles about to snip him in half.

But Mason was faster, and the superiority of his martial arts once more showed. His punch naturally transformed into a grab, his arms snaking past Cobra’s head. One hand grabbed at the back of Spider’s head, and the other at Cobra’s.

Spider tried to dematerialize, but found herself unable to as Mason’s Chi blocked her off. The powerful Chi from the Mountain Spider, her Immortal Beast, should have overwhelmed Mason’s, but because the Beast had already appropriated it, all that these Immortal Weapons had left were the special qualities their Chi offered, and little of the power.

The two tried to resist, but Mason overpowered them. Cobra could put up a fight despite the bad positioning because of his powerful body, but Spider could do nothing as Mason pressed their heads together.

Cobra’s physical toughness was Spider’s undoing as Mason crushed her head against Cobra’s, rupturing her skull, then splattering her brains.

Chi might be the energy of life, there were still some things it could not save someone from.

With Spider’s death, all the spiders that made up her body also died, the two mandibles on Mason’s sides crashing harmlessly against his skin.

The other three tried to attack, but Mason now grabbed Cobra’s head with both hands, pulling himself into a handstand and split-kicking Prince and Tiger. Prince tried to phase through it, but Chi once again ignored it, hitting him like he was corporeal.

Mason’s kicks sent both of them several steps back, and he also pushed off them, landing his feet onto the back of Cobra’s head, once more slamming his face into the hard rock ground while he freed his hands.

For just a moment, that left only Dog facing him, and a moment was enough.

Mason deflected the incoming blade the first time, blocked it on the second strike, and there never was a third strike as Mason’s palm found Dog’s chest. And a single hit was enough to shatter his rib cage, utterly destroying any chance he had of fighting back.

But Mason still threw three more quick palms, shattering his heart, brain, and kidneys, just for good measure. Shockingly, however, as Dog fell to the ground, a hound suddenly leapt out of his shadow, merging into a perfectly healed but naked Dog Brother #1. The one on the ground turned into a messed-up hound, covered in broken armor.

Although the Immortal Weapons clearly did not stand a chance, it did not stop them from attacking, as Tiger and Prince went for another pincer attack, with Prince even picking up Dog’s fallen sword. Even Dog, who had just revived, and Cobra, still face down, tried to resist.

Mason dodged their attack with a step back when Prince suddenly teleported behind him, slashing down at his shoulder. At the same time, Tiger went for a second attack, reaching forward with a blade palm. And beneath, Cobra suddenly grabbed both of Mason’s ankles, locking him in place.

Mason had to give it to them, that was a pretty good one.

Calling upon the Fire Dao, Mason ignited his legs with the Concept of Eruption. Cobra still did not let go, however, letting his hands burn. But Mason did not think Cobra would be releasing him anyway.

Reinforcing his shoulder with all the Chi available to him, Mason simply tanked the incoming blade as he leaned forward and reached for Tiger.

Tiger’s Most Beautiful Daughter would most certainly have tried to dodge, had she been independent of thought, but under the influence of the Beast, she welcomed the exchange of injuries.

Tiger’s palm and Mason’s fist clashed, and like a real blade, Tiger’s palm sliced through the side of Mason’s fist, cutting up to his elbow. A long line had been gouged through Mason’s forearm. It could be considered a rather serious injury.

But in exchange, Mason slammed his fist into her throat. Despite her reinforced body, her throat collapsed on itself, killing her instantly.

Cora tried to hold Mason as long as he could, ignoring the flames, but he did not hold on for a second strike. Mason ripped his legs away from Cobra’s grasp, taking away half of Cobra’s burnt palm with him as he dodged Prince’s second strike.

The first had barely cut into his shoulder, and the second had been aimed at his neck, but it missed.

Looking at his bleeding forearm, Mason pursed his lips for a moment. He had leaned his arm to the side so it would not cut his veins, but it had still gotten pretty deep.

Looking up at Dog, who had picked up Tiger’s fan weapon, and Prince, still with Dog’s sword, Mason clenched both fists, forcefully stopping the bleeding on his right arm by flexing his muscles. It was time to finish this fight.

With a final burst of speed, his hands, like those of the Grim Reaper, grabbed a head in each, and he did not slow down.

His muscles reinforced with Chi, Mason spun around, twisting their heads off.

As if unaware they had lost their heads, their bodies finished their attacks, which hit nothing but the air, before collapsing as well.