Chapter 7172: Impact Damage The Dark Apostle had done the impossible. He had shook the Unshakeable King. This should have been impossible. The Unshakeable King embraced his new name in every way possible. He had tried his best to become both a physical and mental bulwark. He was supposed to become the most solid backbone of the Ascended Giants, the leader who could endure every horror the Red Ocean could throw at them and remain completely unaffected in response. The man’s background led up to this evolution. From starting out as an ordinary footsoldier, to discharging and becoming a law enforcement officer, the man formerly known as Keirzan Hoslin followed a different trajectory than most of his fellow Ascended Giants. He had spent the most formative years of his life working to police the rowdy and heavily urbanized capital planet of his home state. It was there that he became exposed to the hidden depth of human nature. Keirzan Hoslin came into contact with the most degenerate and rotten humans. From gang enforcers with the blood of innocents on their hands to deranged nihilists who thought that life was futile enough to go on a murder spree, his understanding of humans had sunk to the bottom. He also became exposed to the corruption and sin that took place in the gleaming halls of power. He learned of the indifference of bureaucrats and politicians who may talk a nice game, but actually did precious little to serve their constituents. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 Though Keirzan Hoslin still tried his best to cling to his duty as he had been taught when he served in a military organization, the complexities and ambiguities of law enforcement in a flawed society gradually filled him with pessimism. In the end, he gave up on humans at this point. He declared his fight to maintain the law and uphold order to be an exercise in futility and surrendered his badge. It was at this point that self-interest began to trump duty in his mind. He chose to enter the private sector, working first as a bodyguard to rich and vain clients who wanted to have a strong body between themselves and anyone who wished them ill. These gigs paid much better, especially when Mr. Hoslin was able to leverage his prior experience and qualifications for better pay and conditions. A part of him even believed that he should have entered the private sector much sooner. Whatever the case, he earned so much that he eventually started his own security company. With his understanding of the people who served his previous employers, it was easy for him to connect to younger soldiers and law enforcements. Hoslin had met with many different people over his career, and he learned what made the tick. That enabled him to succeed in recruiting more qualified employees, those that possessed records that looked good when skimmed over and could command better rates. Yet even as his business was doing better and better, he still couldn’t dig himself out of the hole he ended up in. Once he had recognized and gotten caught in the darkness of the human race’s heart, he found himself bereft of any meaningful hope and joy in his life. There was only so much that money could fill this gaping void. He emigrated to the Red Ocean in a desperate search for a light to dispel the darkness. Though it had taken a few twists and turns, he had finally found what he was looking for after becoming a part of the Phase Lord Department. He could finally distance himself from his dirty human roots and assume the identity of an Ascended Giant, a new and pure race that had yet to be stained with the sins and ugliness of humanity! Much like the other Ascended Giants, the Unshakeable King despised the phrase ’human phase lord’. It was too mundane. The very act of attaching the word ’human’ to his new race was an affront to his sensibilities! He refused to allow the filth of the human race to defile his new divinity! He also became offended by his progenitor’s foul words! The strategos of the Ur-Titan Phalanx had encountered many foul-mouthed humans over the course of his mortal career, but the fact that the first Ascended Giant not only refused to distance himself from the human race, but actively embraced their filth and degeneracy completely violated his bottom line! Ves Larkinson or the Dark Apostle had to be killed! Not because the mech designer childishly questioned his manhood, but because he defiled the Ascending Giant race with his human flaws! Seriously! The Unshakeable King was not the fastest of phase lords, but his speed upon bursting into movement still caught the Dark Apostle by surprise! The Dark Apostle did not ignite the plasma blade yet, preferring to rely on the shaft of his polearm to meet the incoming attack. As two powerful Impact Hammers swung straight into the red-clad phase lord’s direction, the Dark Apostle put his new skills to good use. He evaded one of the hammers entirely, which was still possible due to the good range of motion of his mutated Flame Lord Raiment. The Dark Apostle was even able to force the Minor Demon locked into the raiment to lend a hand by activating an impulse booster embedded in the torso that gave his true body a small but helpful push to the side! This movement not only helped him evade one hammer, but also granted him a bit more force to redirect another hammer! In the end, the second hammer veered off just enough to skid off the surface of the Dark Apostle’s spatial barrier. Though the energy barrier still took a mean hit, the damage was mostly undone. At this point, they began to separate again, but neither side had any intentions of backing off. They circled each other, displaying both speed and power as they began a rapid exchange of blows. "FILTH." The Unshakeable King no longer acted pretentious and masked his rage anymore. "I AM ASHAMED THAT YOU ARE THE PROGENITOR OF OUR RACE. YOU DO NOT DESERVE THIS HONOR! I SHALL CLEANSE THE STAIN THAT YOU HAVE PASSED ONTO US BY SLAYING YOU MYSELF!" The Ascending Giant fought as furiously as his words. His twin Impact Hammers constantly sought to land on his adversary’s spatial barrier, seeking to shatter it through concussive force. As much as the Dark Apostle attempted to redirect or evade the frustratingly fast hammers, it was difficult for him to defend against two weapons at the same time. The Unshakeable King may not be the best dual wielder in the Red Ocean, but he was still far more skilled than ordinary soldiers! The Dark Apostle had to wring out the most out of the weapon skills he had learned to fend off these strikes, but the impact technology incorporated into the hammers made that so much more difficult! A powerful but silent concussive blast occurred just as one of the flat hammer faces struck the side of the Teragon Plasma Spear’s shaft. The force was so powerful that the polearm threatened to get wrenched out of the Dark Apostle’s armored grip! If not for greater strength and mass bestowed by the lesser Marigal organ and the mutated spikes giving the Dark Apostle an unexpected source of leverage, the Unshakeable King may have succeeded in shaking the plasma weapon out of red-clad human phase giant’s hands! As it was, the effort to maintain hold over the weapon was so great that it left the Dark Apostle open to a follow-up attack from the other Impact Hammer! Boom! A huge concussive blow took place as the impact hammer struck directly at the Dark Apostle’s spatial barrier! The blow was so much that the dust, dirt and ice crystals of Jotunheim exploded in every direction, causing optical sensors to become obscured for a short period of time. The two giants quickly rocketed out of it as they continued to clash against each other. The Unshakeable King had firmly taken the initiative and sought to overwhelm the Dark Apostle with an unending tide of empowered hammer blows. His armored true body fought against the bulk of his heavy armor. Phasewater organs strengthened his muscles and made him move faster than he should. It was all the Dark Apostle could do to fend off most incoming blows. He had yet to light up the plasma blade, knowing that it was not a good idea to allow its relatively fragile head to get struck by the Impact Hammer. Despite suffering a few more powerful blows to his spatial barrier, the Dark Apostle did not appear desperate to reverse the situation. He even had enough concentration left to taunt his phase lord adversary. "Heh, so much for the vaunted ’Unshakeable King’. You are as honest and sincere as a puelmer. To think it would take so little to break your composure. How do the Ur-Titans regard their leader now that they have seen you in their state? They must have assumed they completely misjudged you. To think that their supposed unflappable leader has hidden so much rage and shame." The Unshakeable King let loose a cry of fury and dramatically accelerated for a moment! This was a highly uncharacteristic move that he had never shown before! It was probably a trump card that he had held in reserve to defeat the Oscillating Fist or fend off a challenger who assumed that he was as slow as a turtle. Instead of saving this capability for a more opportune moment, the Ascended Giant chose to tap into its power early for the purpose of ending the progenitor’s life as quickly as possible! Though the Ur-Titan leader’s decision was reckless, he had timed it exquisitely. The Dark Apostle was in the middle of recovering his chance from the latest exchange of blows and could not stop the Unshakeable King from landing both of his Impact Hammers against his spatial barrier! Much more particles threw up into the air as the simultaneous collision of two Impact Hammers produced a much more blow than expected! The twin concussive blasts somehow resonated with each other, causing them to amplify each other and inflict a much stronger combined impact that significantly weakened the Dark Apostle’s spatial barrier! By now, it had probably reached half-strength, which was bad because the Unshakeable King’s defenses had barely suffered any strain since the start of the duel! Yet strangely enough, neither Ves in possession of Blinky’s manifestation nor the Dark Apostle seemed all that alarmed. They studied their adversary with great attention and scrutinized him in different ways. The Dark Apostle took the measure of the Ascended Giant’s personality and motivations. The more they clashed, the more the split personality gained insight into what made the Unshakeable King tick. Ves meanwhile paid great attention to the Unshakeable King’s gear. He was a mech designer, so he understood far more than these ignorant human phase lords how their technology worked. He could even deduce the overall thought process behind every significant design choice. The powerful twin impact attack had clearly overstrained the Unshakeable King. Though he clearly wanted to press on the offensive, he deemed it better for him to pause and allow his abused body and phasewater organs a small period of recovery. No matter what, the Unshakeable King was still a defensive specialist. Offense was not his forte, though he had clearly proven his competence in this aspect. "You know nothing, Larkinson." The Unshakeable King spat back. "The Ur-Titans stand behind me, especially once I have claimed your head from your soon-to-be-ruined body. Already your spatial barrier is about to go into shambles. Your edgy excuse of a raiment will follow suit soon enough. By ending your life, the Ascended Giant shall no longer be kept in bondage by your existence! Red humanity shall no longer lay claim to our race! Instead, we shall join our divine brothers in arms across the border and begin our reign as gods in earnest! No mortal sin or weakness shall taint us evermore! For this, I shall gladly have your blood in my hands!"