Build-up...

As "Holy Lonely Night" blared at full blast in everyone's minds, Hurricroak kept harassing and striking at the Marquis with everything she got and then some.

There was never a moment where the Marquis could reliably counter or block properly, because everytime he tried to, Hurricroak would just immediately fly backwards and then come crashing down in him again from a different angle.

More frustratingly, he couldn't find any rhyme or reason to Hurricroak's movements at all.

"Is it the vocals? That thing that sound like drums? Those infernal strings? What rhythm is she moving to?!," the Marquis screamed aloud in frustration.

"No rhythm this time, bastardo! This is pure and simple free style!," Hurricroak replied as she dove in for another strike. However, this time she grabbed him by the shoulders as she placed her feet firmly on his chest, pushing her wasp/frog/humanoid face up to his.

"But don't worry, bastardo. I'm just the opening act. The finale will be much more fun!," she said moments before headbutting him and causing his aether helmet to crack open like an egg. Hurricroak proceeded to fly away again after doing the deed, without a single drop of blood on her fascinatingly alien face.

The Marquis snarled with rage at the action and quickly donned his helmet again, only for it to disappear not even a second later.

"Huh?"

The Marquis attempted to don his helmet one more time, but this time it didn't even form, or rather it couldn't.

Before the Marquis's eyes, the aether that would normally condense into a helmet was being stopped by a weird type of energy he had never seen before. It didn't feel like aether, or anima power, rather it felt like something significantly more...ominous. As he stared it some more, he soon realized that this energy wasn't blocking the surrounding aether, it was eating it.

Focusing on the weird energy caused the Marquis's hair to stand on end and feel as if tiny needles was pricking at his skin.

"Wait a minute..."

The Marquis quickly stared down at his body, his eyes going wide with a horrifying realization.

"My armor! It's breaking!"

The Marquis's aether armor, the pride and joy of every Aether Grandmaster, was breaking apart piece by piece. The culprit being none other than that ominous energy.

"Foul energy, begone!"

Out of desperation, the Marquis attempted to flare up his own aether as a means to put it out.

This attempt only made the ominous energy even more vigorous and made it break his armor faster. The Marquis stopped as soon as he felt what was happening, causing the energy to slow down.

In any other situation this would be a fascinating, but in the middle of a life or death battle, this was horrifying!

'It doesn't appear to be getting stronger as it eats my armor. Where is the energy going?'

_________________________________________________

Zhen Liu stared down towards his stomach as a weird feeling came over it.

'Why do I feel like I'm getting fuller by the second? I haven't eaten since din-'

[Maestro!,] Hurricroak suddenly called out via her mental link with Zhen Liu.

'Huh? What's up Hurricroak?'

[The song will end in exactly one minute and thirty seconds. I have already set the stage for your performance, so please be prepared for the finale number, hai?]

'Uh...hai.'

[Molto bene.]

As the active connection with Hurricroak turned passive, Zhen Liu couldn't help but let his mind wonder how the hell did Hurricroak know both Japanese and Italian, if she was alive for all of five minutes.

'Wait...is she actually speaking those languages, or is it another "translation" going on?'

<Alert. Time is insufficient to add the finishing touches to the [Harmonize] interface. Only [Harmonize: Max] will be available for this battle,> Zhen Liu's brain buddy stated.

"Harmo-Wah!"

Zhen Liu's left suddenly moved on its own accord and lit itself aflame with [Chaos] energy. As it burned, a strange looking shadow could be seen floating within the flare of [Chaos].

'What the hell? It looks like a belt?,' Zhen Liu observed. The next thing he knew, his left hand suddenly palmed a bit below his belly button and a slightly constricting sensation could be felt around his waist. He looked down to see he now had a brand new belt that looked a little...familiar.

'This...why does this look like a toy?'

His new belt was surprisingly boxy in shape, with a strange looking gem embedded right in the center. For some reason, there was a lever on the right side and a little slot on the top.

<Don't blame me, that's just a personal visual and mental manifestation of an interface to help you access the [Harmonize] ability better.>

'Uh huh...'

Zhen Liu was just about to tap on Draigo's shoulder to ask him if he could see the piece of magic merchandise that had suddenly manifested on his waist, but his left hand and his brain buddy had other ideas in mind.

His left suddenly jutted forward and the rainbow colored flame that was covering it had turned red with hints of dark brown mixed in.

<Due to this being the User's first time using [Harmonize], ta-tutorial mode will be engaged. Totemizing Kaijin: Nepherage.>

_________________________________________________

"We're done. Dancing?"

"Think so..."

"By Chaos, my feet..."

Nepherage, Frosttusk and the Razor Maiden, hadn't sidelined themselves from the battle by choice.

Kaijin were unusually suspectable to music and sound based aether arts, so the moment that Hurricroak began to use [Rhythm Combo] in a non-stop manner and began to shuffle through songs, the other three were soon swept up in the sound.

They danced to the beat "Old Time Rock and Roll", bopped to "Uptown Funk" and lastly hip swayed to the sound of "Touch Fluffy Tail". It was all rather disorienting, but at least they got a decent workout out of this whole affair.

The three of them finally got a moment to stop and relax when "Lonely Holy Night" started playing. Whether it was due to the music or their own stamina giving out, they didn't know. The three of them were rather tired at this point.

"Hey...,"Nepherage began to say, "How long ya-" FWOOSH!

"Whoa!," the Razor Maiden exclaimed in surprise as Nepherage was transformed into a mote of light and firing off in a direction. She reflexively threw up her claws in a fighting manner.

"You'll never. Take...me."

[Me?]

A solid hand soon patted the Razor Maiden on the head.

"No worries... it's just...the finale...," Frosttuk said in an oddly knowing manner. The mammoth kaijin stared on as the mote of light was soon caught by their lord.

'I wonder...what my...art will...look like?'

_________________________________________________

<Incoming!>

"Bah!"

A couple seconds later, Zhen Liu's hand thrusted forward and caught the flying ball of light. It kept glowing for a couple seconds before dying down and transforming into a solid object...that looked a lot like a miniature totem of Nepherage.

[M-milord? Why am I tiny?]

'I...don't know.'

<Initiating [Harmonize: Max] first step>

Against his will again, Zhen Liu's hand proceeded to take the figure of Nepherage and insert it into the slot at the top of his new belt.

~Kaijin, set! Volcanic Valkyrie!~, the belt suddenly announced as it began to emit light.

Nepherage was suddenly summoned again by his side, as Zhen Liu felt a surge of aether and [Chaos] rush jnto his body as a variety of attack techniques went through his head in a rapid manner. It felt bit like a fortune wheel was spinning in his brain.

The belt also started playing music for some reason.

'I have very mixed feelings about this.'

<Don't think about it too much, just get ready to pull the lever for the next step.>

'What's the next step?'

[Maestro, now!]

<That.>

'Shit!'

Throwing caution to the wind, and banking on this voice in his head not wanting him hrad, Zhen Liu proceeded to pull the lever.