Conclave of Tyrants

'Only the foolish stand and observe while a tree falls on them.' This was an idiom passed down the Gutu population for many generations. Its meaning was simple. One must act quickly before a disaster occurs. Nhamo was in a similar situation. His disaster was in the form of a child.

By the second, Taku's aura got stronger, indicating that he was getting used to his new power.

"I can't let this go on!"

Nhamo decided to act before Taku gained control of himself. As a veteran, he would have acted sooner, but the Tyrant's Oppression Taku emitted disturbed his mind. He had royal blood within him, thus he had a little bit of resistance. The others, however, had none. They could only rely on their strong wills, which would take time.

Nhamo, like most in the royal family, was a manipulator. He specialized in weaponizing his flame. He quickly forged it into a spear which glowed brilliantly and threw it at Taku with practiced ease. The entire process was a combination of movements that blended into one seamless action, his demeanor mirroring a flowing river unimpeded by anything.

He barely made a sound while attempting to catch Taku off guard. The former even went as far as to sacrifice the usual amount of power, going for technique and accuracy instead. His target, Taku's head which was bobbed downwards as he observed his hands. The spear hit him dead on and flames instantly covered his entire body.

Nhamo was hoping for Taku's head to be blown off, after all, such an attack would have left even him dead. However his eyes were greeted with the sight of his flames being snuffed out like candlelight during a windy night. He panicked as he realized a crucial error.

"That's right! The boy is pure royalty. His body has a certain degree of immunity to the royal flame, not to mention my meager variant. If he was at his original level, at least the force could have injured or killed him, but now..."

Nhamo quickly calmed himself as he tensed his body. Although Taku was looking down, he had a complete understanding of the actions around him. Product X in liquid form was like an extra sense, giving him an omniscient feeling. Nothing within his immediate surroundings escaped his scrutiny. From smell, temperature, form and energy, especially zesa.

Product X gave Taku a unique perception of energy. Unlike anything he had ever felt. Even if he wanted to, Taku knew this could not be described.

The boy sensed the flame spear and knew it would do little to no damage. He had a far better understanding of the Imperial Nether Flame than Nhamo due to his upbringing.

"A spear huh."

Taku suddenly remembered something. In the past, he and Maka had decided on him using a spear as his weapon to make up for his combat deficiencies.

"Maka, I wonder if she is alright..."

Taku smiled and calmed himself. With a thought, some Product X left his body and formed an oddly shaped staff. One end was concave, as if something was supposed to be there.

"Now for the finishing touch."

In the center of the bowl shaped end, a hole formed. A blazing Nether Flame escaped through it and formed a blade that was a couple of feet long. The blade was curved in a manner that reminded Taku of Chinese curved swords.

"A spear is what the old Taku wanted. It is too simple. I think this is more to my liking."

This was indeed not a spear but a halberd instead! The king of the battlefield!

Taku was born and raised in the royal family up until he was six years old. He was a very intelligent child, and soaked in all the information he could. His earliest memories all being unpleasant, but there was one memory he would never forget.

Taku and Kufa were taken to a battlefield were the elite of the nation were facing a horde of powerful beasts. These elites were only a dozen, but with a single attack they killed hundreds, if not thousands of beasts. One of them in particular stood out from the rest. At that time he was only a teenager, but his might was a cut above the rest.

Every time his halberd was swung, the entire battlefield would rumble, thunder raining down from the nine heavens, razing every thing in his path. His eyes glowed while electricity encircled his body, making him look like a god of war. It was almost as if the other elites were only there to pick up his left overs. Taku knew the teenager's name, but everyone called him by his title, The Divine Thunderclap King.

Divine Thunderclap was Taku's hero as a child. He was a hero among heroes, a titan among titans. It was said that whenever he fought, there would only be two sides. Thunderclap and the rest. He didn't need an army, he didn't need tactics, all that was required was his presence, and victory was guaranteed!

Taku's memory of Thunderclap was his most treasured from this world, thus when he regained his earlier ones, he created what he had always wanted, a halberd similar to the one his hero used. Except this one was slightly different. This one had his own powers imbued into it.

Taku wanted to use his lightning power as well, but he had little to no knowledge of what it did. Taku did not want it to clash with his flame, not to mention that this body was more attuned toward using the fire anyway.

He desperately wished he could use the lightning as his hero did, but alas, now was not the time for fantasies, now was the time to secure his freedom.

Taku's formation of the halberd only took a few seconds. Nhamo marveled, his mouth agape. The oppressive aura coming from the flame tip made it hard to breathe.

"There is no doubt about it. This lad is true royalty."

Nhamo steadied himself and decided on his next course of action. He was a manipulator, but he was also well trained in martial skills from other fields as well, especially reinforcement. Nhamo decided against using his flames for now. They would not yield any advantage.

"I have to drag this out until the effects of the pill wear off. That's my best bet."

Nhamo immediately changed his plan. He knew that the greater the benefits the pill brought, the worse the backlash would be.

Taku was also aware that he had little time. So he decided to take the initiative, launching himself at the soldiers that were still alive. With a swing of his halberd, heads flew, leaving smoldering bits. The overbearing nature of the Imperial Nether Flame were truly a sight to behold.

"Oh sh*t!"

Nhamo's plan to bide his time immediately went down the drain. Six men had lost their lives to a mere single swing of the halberd. Absurd, absolutely absurd .

The Tyrant's Oppression was in full swing, so the soldiers were still muddleheaded. Nhamo knew that if he didn't take action, all his men would die. So he did.

Nhamo reinforced his body and leapt at Taku. He aimed to strike the boy's head, but Taku bent backwards and swung his halberd at his opponent's back. Nhamo thought that he would only meet the shaft as the distance between the two was short. The weakness of a halberd was displayed at this moment.

Taku snickered in his heart. This wasn't a true halberd, this was a weapon made from liquid Product X!

Taku made the halberd curve so that the flame blade aimed for Nhamo's head. Nhamo reacted quickly and jumped away in response. Taku did a flip and balanced himself.

Nhamo snorted and grabbed a sword from one of the charred remains on the ground. With a shout, he charged toward Taku. Now that he knew that the halberd could bend according to Taku's will, he became more cautious.

The two exchanged multiple blows. Nhamo's objective at the moment was to gauge Taku's power and his abilities with the new weapon. The results made him quite happy.

Taku fought as if he had eyes at the back of his head. No matter which angle Nhamo attacked, Taku would always take measures to counter. But the measures he took would always be evaded by Nhamo, and the cycle repeated itself.

"This brat is powerful, and his senses are sharp, but he barely knows how to use that weapon of his."

Nhamo's eyes squinted as he caught onto Taku's greatest weakness. The halberd was a powerful weapon, but it required a lot of training. Martial skills were the one area Taku was lacking, and Nhamo used that to his advantage.

"Boy, give up! You are unworthy of using that halberd. Its too big for your little hands."

Nhamo taunted Taku but he remained weary. He wasn't quite sure what the boy could do with his flame which made him anxious. All he could discern was that Taku's control over the flame was quite good. The higher the quality of the flame, the more difficult it was to control. Taku's control over his top class Nether Flame was a testament to his skill in flame manipulation.

Suddenly the battle stopped. Taku jumped back and created space between himself and Nhamo. He then extinguished the flame and absorbed the halberd back into his body. Nhamo became even more cautious. Just what was the boy going to do now?

Nhamo's objective was to stall for time, so th less they fought the better. He would not take the initiative to attack unless Taku attacked his men.

Taku started to try as best he could to control the liquid Product X around his body. He made it disappear until only around a fifth of the original amount remained. Then he forced the remainder to cover his body, spreading it thin. At first, Nhamo was confused, but then he figured out Taku's intention. Body armour!

Taku made Product X into a shell that covered him from the neck down. Yet oddly enough the armour was only thick around his feet, knees and elbows. The armour around his feet created pointy shoes that gave the impression of a sharp arrow.

"What is he up to?"

Taku's reasoning was simple. His understanding of weapons was poor. Nhamo was an expert in Martial Skills, so Taku had to bring out what he was best at.

Taku quickly raised his hands into a boxing stance, while one leg was raised with the knee jutting out. There was a red sheen around the areas that were thick, with Nether Flame energy coursing through.

"What kind of skill is this."

Taku knew next to nothing about weapons, but hand to hand combat was a different story. On earth he was a muay-thai and taekwondo master. This world's magic had made him forget what he was good at, so he had not focused on his greatest assets. He was not going to make that mistake any longer.

Nhamo didn't know why. But Taku's current stance made him weary, or to be more specific, scared.