Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 610: All-Weapon Intent II
CH610 All-Weapon Intent II
***
Sword birthed Sword Intent.
Blade birthed Blade Intent.
Bow birthed Bow Intent...
Each weapon possessed its own Intent— a mystical force born from a wielder’s dedication to their weapon.
A force that strengthened their mastery in ways that defied conventional understanding.
There was no singular path to awakening a Weapon Intent, each individual arrived at it through their own unique journey.
Yet those who succeeded were, without exception, extraordinary— for it was a recognition of their prowess.
Typically, one could only awaken a single Weapon Intent.
Though rare, some individuals —especially those who had transcended mortality, Legends and above— could possess multiple.
However, there existed one Intent that stood far beyond mere rarity.
To call it rare... would be an understatement.
All-Weapon Intent!
An all-encompassing manifestation of weapon mastery.
If the wielder held a sword— it became Sword Intent.
A blade— blade Intent.
An axe— axe Intent.
No matter the weapon, their Will would adapt, and their Intent would align.
A supreme force that allowed its user to impose their mastery upon any weapon they wielded.
And more importantly, the defining hallmark of a true Weapon Master.
Alex’s followers exchanged wry smiles.
Previously, they had been celebrating their own breakthroughs— awakening their respective Intents through the Heaven-Earth Concordance trial.
They believed they had taken a step closer to their leader.
Yet now, that very same leader had returned, and overwhelmed them completely.
And as if that wasn’t enough—
’...He’s a mage!’
Their thoughts echoed in silent despair.
It wasn’t that mages couldn’t awaken Weapon Intent. After all, even a mage could wield a weapon.
But it was exceedingly rare.
Weapon Intent required dedication, time and an intimate understanding of the weapon itself.
Mages, by nature, devoted themselves to magic.
They studied, refined spells and practiced cast.
At most, they used weapons out of necessity— to conserve mana or as a last resort.
To truly dedicate oneself to a weapon —to the point of achieving enlightenment— was something most mages would never consider.
And yet, here stood Alex.
A mage, who wielded multiple weapon types fluidly and naturally that he had reached a level of comprehension others could only describe as myth.
True Weapon Masters were already rare, even within Pangea.
But according to the legends surrounding them—
’The birth of a true Weapon Master... is heralded by a thousand weapons.’
The Pangeans looked at one another in awe.
A statement once dismissed as mere myth was unfolding before their very eyes.
Alex had made it real.
The weapons struggled to pay homage to the birth of a true Weapon Master.
Below, Alex seemed to have fallen into a trance.
His mind was empty— save for a single thought.
’How to kill... as efficiently as possible.’
His movements grew tighter, sharper and more refined.
At the same time, the mana surrounding his weapons expanded —flowing seamlessly— perfectly mimicking the characteristics of each weapon archetype as his draconic baton shifted forms.
More and more corpses paved his path, leaving behind a trail of death.
His overwhelming presence quickly drew attention, from the truly dangerous berserk humans— the unique Fourth Order berserk humans.
Nearly twenty of these uniquely evolved creatures turned toward him.
They abandoned their feeding, turning instead toward the walking mass of high-quality energy that was Alex.
The corpses of their kin littering the ground around him did not deter them. If anything, it only sharpened their hunger.
Seeing this, Alex’s wives and followers immediately realised they could no longer remain spectators.
And so they moved.
"Stay here. Be ready to retreat if necessary," Udara ordered.
The group surged down the mountain—
Aiming to intercept the Fourth Order berserk humans before they could converge on Alex.
But, they weren’t the fastest to act.
Neigh—!
A towering, obsidian-black warhorse burst through the horde, charging forward with unstoppable momentum, scattering berserk humans in its path.
Behind it, a direwolf surged through the opening it created.
While above it, a massive eagle swept across the battlefield, releasing razor-sharp energy beams that cleaved through the stronger berserk humans.
Alex’s three beast companions had arrived.
Together, they carved a path straight toward him.
[Flame Wave]!
Sensing Dread’s presence, Alex unleashed a sweeping wave of fire —incinerating the nearest enemies and forcing the rest backward.
Without hesitation, he sprinted forward.
Using a berserk human’s head as a stepping point, he launched himself high into the air.
Vaulting over the horde, before landing cleanly onto the saddle atop Dread’s back.
"Let’s go," he commanded.
The nightmare steed surged forward.
Alex’s draconic baton extended, transforming into a lance, reinforced with condensed mana.
He lowered it, aligning the spearhead just ahead of Dread’s charge— like a knight preparing to joust.
[Flare Brand]!
A dense concentration of solar mana gathered at the tip, sharpening its penetration to terrifying levels.
With the spell-enhanced lancehead and Dread’s Class 3 speed, Man and mount became a living ballista bolt, tearing straight through the horde of berserk humans.
Behind and above them, Fen and Senu followed in perfect coordination, cutting down anything left in their wake.
Skree—!
Senu’s sharp cry rang out.
Alex’s wives and followers had managed to hold back several of the unique berserk humans—
But not all.
Some were still advancing toward him.
Alex’s gaze shifted forward, locking onto a grotesque abomination.
A massively bloated berserk human trudged toward him.
Its form was swollen beyond recognition. Its skin stretched thin over a body teeming with unnatural vitality, showing traces of its likely evolution from a vitality-type berserk human.
As it moved, it casually grabbed weaker berserk humans, stuffing them into the single gaping orifice on its head and chewing them apart.
Each step it took left behind a trail of bubbling, acidic pus.
"Don’t worry," Alex said calmly, as though responding to Senu’s warning. "I haven’t forgotten about them."
He raised a finger, pointing to the sky.
High above, the massive spell formation of [Heaven’s Punishment], cast at the beginning of the battle, still surprisingly hovered...
Still gathering mana.
’That should be enough.’
His eyes turned cold.
[Grade 8 Special Warfare Spell
Extinction Lightning Style — Heaven’s Fury]!
With a silent command to OmniRune, a colossal pillar of reddish-purple-black lightning descended from the heavens.
BOOM!!!
The strike obliterated everything in its path, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that swallowed the battlefield.
For a moment, nothing could be seen.
Then, the dust settled.
The weaker berserk humans were gone.
And even the grotesque vitality-type —with all its regenerative prowess— had been erased completely.
Not even a trace remained.
The overwhelming display of power sent a ripple of fear through the remaining unique berserk humans.
They hesitated—
Then turned to flee.
’No... you don’t.’
Drawing upon his vastly expanded mana reserves at the Elite rank —at least ten times greater than before— Alex issued another command.
A second spell formation appeared—
This time oriented vertically above him.
From it, beams of light shot out.
Each one precisely locking onto a retreating unique berserk human.
The beams struck true.
Yet, contrary to expectation, they caused no visible damage nor impact.
Instead, each beam condensed into a tiny, intricate glyph, imprinted silently onto its target, unnoticed by all.
Then, the spell formation hovering vertically above Alex flipped, turning horizontal as it rose to merge with the earlier formation still suspended in the sky.
The two formations fused into one.
At once, a massive surge of ambient mana was drawn into it.
[Grade 8 Great Warfare Spell — Heaven’s Judgement]!
The combined formation transformed, becoming a vast cloud brimming with multi-coloured lightning.
Moments later—
It descended.
Lightning after lightning struck down, mimicking the ferocity of Heavenly Tribulation itself.
No matter how far the unique berserk humans had fled, the bolts locked onto them, relentlessly and unerring, striking them down at blinding speed.
"Argh..." Alex clutched his chest.
A painful throb pulsed from his Mana Heart.
The rapid expenditure of mana had pushed it to its limits.
Yet, he did not regret it.
"The strikes won’t kill them!" he barked through the comms. "Finish them off—now!"
His command snapped the others into action.
His wives, his followers... all of them unleashed their strongest techniques, rushing to eliminate the surviving unique berserk humans.
Strangely, the lightning strikes had not been uniform.
Those who had fled the furthest were struck by the most powerful bolts and perished instantly.
Meanwhile, those closer to Alex and his party were struck by weaker variants.
Not enough to kill them, but more than enough to cripple.
This was no doubt a deliberate and calculated move on Alex’s part.
Zora, Udara, Fen, Senu, Havel, Mogal, Kavakan and Silver— All moved swiftly, finishing off the incapacitated survivors.
Watching from above the mountain, the remaining Fortuna members —especially the barbarians and orcs— could no longer restrain themselves.
With roars of excitement, they charged down the mountain, joining the slaughter.
At this point, Alex did nothing further.
He remained seated atop Dread —enduring the lingering pain in his chest— and watched as his party swept through the remaining berserk humans.
With Fen on the ground and Senu dominating the skies, there was no longer any need for him to act.
Nor could he, actually.
’I went too far and overdid it,’ Alex admitted wryly.
Yet, as he glanced around, he saw the looks directed at him.
Awe, fear, reverence...
’It was worth it.’ He determined.
With that, the Fortuna party wiped out the berserk horde.
And in the process, eradicating a significant portion of the berserk human population roaming this region of the Wildlands.
***
