?446 Spirit Weapon Switch
"Fool your enemy, fool your spectator, and you'll avoid a hundred battles." —An excerpt from the Book of Bullshit, by Sir Inala.
From start to finish, Inala had fooled everyone. To Virala, he was a mysterious individual with the drive to target Virala and the means to keep the latter's attention engaged for a significant duration.
But to the Brimgan Royals, he was a hero who was brave enough to face the infamous villain, Loot who had the strength of an Empyrean Tusk. As a result, they were happy to see him succeed. Best of all, he didn't even take the gains for himself and instead placed it in their custody without any hesitation.
First, it showed his nature of seeking justice. Second, it factored in his lack of strength that couldn't retain the treasure against Virala's attacks. Third, it was a display of his significant trust in the capability of the Brimgan Royals.
"Two more, go and accompany him." The Fentan City Lord said as a couple more Royals split off and rushed to join the Royal being sent away on a Spirit Weapon operated by the Royal standing beside him.
He then turned around to face the rushing Virala and caused a Spirit Weapon to hinder his path, "Where are you going?"
Bang!
"Get lost!" Virala punched in fury and dented the Spirit Weapon. His figure flickered as he swerved around it and continued his sprint, watching the chakram flying in the sky, carrying three Royals on it. One of them held his two Nature Weapons.
The Royal operating the chakram was at the 6-Life Stage, boasting an effective Spirit Weapon range of 7.2 kilometres. It was more than enough to transport the three Royals close to Fentan City, from where they could board a railway and make a beeline towards the Capital.
And if need be, in case Virala manages to catch up to them, then one of the Royals could use a similar means to transport two of them and increase the distance between them and Virala by a few kilometres.
"Defend!" The Fentan City Lord shouted upon seeing Virala unleash an artillery strike. As his Spirit Weapon defended against the spikes, he was stunned to see it begin melting off at parts, 'It won't be able to tank more than three or four of such shots.'
It wasn't too much of a problem though as he had eight such Spirit Weapons in total. This was only in terms of Spirit Weapons he had refined to the peak of his capability. He could instantly condense multiple non-refined Spirit Weapons. They would barely be able to tank an artillery strike each but should do the trick in case of emergencies.
'Then, I'll use the regular Spirit Weapons to defend and my refined ones to attack.' The Fentan City Lord thought as he wielded a second Spirit Weapon that acted as a spring to send his body flying away. He used this to evade Virala's spikes when he had the freedom to manoeuvre past them.
He had the experience necessary to wield two Spirit Weapons without a drop in efficiency. His method wasn't similar to the Skill of Puppetry used by Inala where he could divide his mind into four to control four Spirit Weapons.
The Brimgan Empire was an Empire driven by Spirit Weapons. They had researched the Spirit Weapon technology the most intensely. And obviously, they had created numerous means to wield more than one Spirit Weapon.
But the problem always stemmed not from the limit of Spirit Weapons but from the mind's capability. For an average cultivator, using a second Spirit Weapon brought their psychokinesis efficiency down to almost twenty percent, making it no longer worth using a second Spirit Weapon.
The Brimgan Empire had multiple means to bring the efficiency to eighty percent and beyond. But the problem was the mind's endurance.
The cultivator would be burning their mental capacity at an exponential pace. Suppose the cultivator could control a Spirit Weapon for eight hours before running out of Prana. Theoretically, he could control two Spirit Weapons for four hours. But practically, considering an efficiency of eighty percent, that number drops to 192 minutes, a bit over three hours.
However, in actual practice, it would be a wonder to cross two hours. The problem stems from the mind getting exhausted. Therefore, to keep it functioning without problems, Prana would have to be expended to heal the mental fatigue, which increased the Prana expenditure.
This was the reason that despite having the Skill of Puppetry, Asaeya only employed it when she fought seriously. In contrast, Inala never spared a thought in that direction as once he activated his Prana Blood Skill, he could rely upon Prana Hands and Life Hands to keep his body and mind fresh to work nonstop.
Something that troubled the Brimgan Empire and had been researched for thousands of years was never an issue to Inala due to his recovery means.
Hence, to combat over-expenditure, the Brimgan Royalty used a special technique that they had perfected over the years.
Gold Kinesis Art—Spirit Weapon Switch!
After giving a Spirit Weapon some momentum, the cultivator would focus on another Spirit Weapon. He would only maintain contact with the former Spirit Weapon without unleashing psychokinesis through it.
Upon giving a push to the second Spirit Weapon, he would shift focus to the first Spirit Weapon. This attention switch would be done instantaneously, making it seem like the Brimgan Royal was controlling two Spirit Weapons, when in truth, he was only controlling one at a time.
The Spirit Weapon Switch Skill had multiple variants, depending on the skill level of the user. The weakest variant allowed one to switch ten times in a second, limited to two Spirit Weapons.
Powerhouses such as the Brimgan Emperor were capable of performing over four hundred switches in a second and could freely switch between ten Spirit Weapons. He was an absurd existence.
The Fentan City Lord could switch up to a hundred times a second but was limited to two Spirit Weapons, as he primarily focused on the number of times he could switch in a second over controlling multiple Spirit Weapons.
As a result, he was able to micro-adjust his two Spirit Weapons and ensured they functioned just as he intended, smoothly in their function.
Boom!
The spring underneath his legs vanished and was replaced by a wheel that accelerated the Fentan City Lord to the side, allowing him to dodge Virala's lunge. As Virala unleashed an artillery strike, the Fentan City Lord condensed a Spirit Weapon to tank the attack.
Primary Nature—Kinesis Deity!
The Fentan City Lord transformed into a 10-metre-tall humanoid golden giant and grabbed Virala, grinning in response, "Where do you think you're going?"
As he spoke, a chakram slammed into Virala and caused blood to drip out of his body, having shaved off a good chunk of his exoskeleton.
"You're annoying!" Virala growled and transformed into an Empyrean Tusk to jump once, unleashing a quake that cratered the region and caused Karuta Hill to crumble in response.
But in response to his attack, the Fentan City Lord brought out a Spirit Weapon in the shape of a long spring and hovered high above the ground. The spring expanded and contracted according to the quakes, absorbing all the shock generated by the rumbling ground.
He had brought out a second Spirit Weapon in the shape of a rope that had coiled around the other royals and made them hover in the air at an altitude of four kilometres. And from their vantage point, they rained down attacks on the massive target.
Against Virala's human form, the Fentan City Lord would take charge of attacks while the rest would only serve to hinder his movements. But once he becomes an Empyrean Tusk, they'll attack without mercy, for it was easier to aim in this situation without hindering the Fentan City Lord.
Every single Royal had Gold Grade strength. For them, Virala was merely a ridiculously tough opponent. But no matter what he did, he couldn't escape their range, which meant they could take their time to wear him down before capturing him.