Most of Hao Xuan's clothes were in rags and he was covered in small wounds from top to bottom. Wobbling back and forth like a drunken toddler he pushed his way out of the rubble and walked a few steps forward before stopping to catch his breath.
"That…worked? Hahaha, I didn't think it would count but looks like my severs count as my own abilities, huh?"
Hao Xuan roughly inspected his body for any obvious changes and let out a deep breath when didn't found any. But then a loud beastly growl interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality.
He looked and saw Arthur, or rather what he had turned into. Both his forearms were now almost as thick as his back, bulging with hideous tumors that squirmed under his skin. He cried in a mixture of agony and indignation as the 'human' parts of him were slowly being forced out by the transformation.
Hao Xuan's cheery expression gradually disappeared as hazy memories returned one by one..
"You IDIOTS!" he suddenly turned towards the viewing platform where all the Orcs were looking at him in silence. Brow furrowed to the extreme, he glared at each and every one of them.
"What the FUCK were you thinking? Who uses dumbshit like this on their own comrades?"
Olav trembled under his booming voice and slowly stepped forward, grasping the quarterstaff with trembling hands.
"I-It was m fault, I used the curse-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! You are CHILDREN, all of you. Is this what I should expect from you from now on? None of you tried to stop either one of them while they came up with this retarded plan? You are all equally responsible for this!"
He yelled at the top of his lungs, scaring them into silence. The atmosphere was already heavy seeing Arthur's worsening condition but with Hao Xuan yelling at them like an angry parent talking down to his kids, they only felt worse.
"What would have happened if I wasn't able to come back? You need to think it through before making such dangero-"
He was so busy scolding them that he didn't even notice the hulking mass of flesh and bones that was almost on top of him. Malina stepped forward and shouted, "MASTER LOOK OUT!"
"Huh?"
Hao Xuan looked back and finally saw a fist bigger than his entire body mere inches away from him. The Orcs could do nothing but watch in horror as the fist made contact.
Only, it wasn't Arthur's fist that reached out first. Hao Xuan's hand moved faster than any of them could see and slowly flicked the fist up into the air.
*Crack*
Arthur's arm twisted at a 90-degree angle and he himself was sent hurling back. Both the Orcs and Hao Xuan himself were shocked speechless.
Hao Xuan stared at his hands while mumbling under his breath, "I knew the difference would be significant but this is a little too much no?"
*Beep*
Baracus's "on" tone suddenly sounded within his head.
'Physical mutations detected.'
'Source Unknown.'
"No, it is not unknown," Hao Xuan clarified. He pulled up the sleeves of both hands one by one and inspected the faint ring-like tattoos along his forearms.
"I just broke through the second major realm of the 'Immortal Devouring Demon Physique'. When that girl used her illusion magic on me the physique demon that I had been pushing down for so long finally overtook my body."
"I could feel what it was doing but do nothing to stop it. To be honest that was a very VERY bad aberration. I had forcefully kept the Physique Demon locked inside for so long that instead of coming out it took control of me."
"Frankly speaking, if it wasn't for Arthur I might not have been able to regain control. It was so focused on him that I barely had to do anything."
Hao Xuan looked back towards Arthur who was trying to get back on his feet. Beastly howls escaped his gullet as he held his arm in pain. It had cleanly snapped in half.
*Sigh*
With heavy steps, Hao Xuan started walking towards him. Arthur staggered back to his feet, dragging the mountain of meat lifelessly behind him as he once again targeted Hao Xuan.
"ROAAAR!"
This time Arthur lept into the air and intending to crush him with a full body slam but Hao Xuan did not wait for him to come to him.
Hao Xuan waved his hand as Law of Chaos, for the first time ever, was unleashed in its entirety. All color vanished from within the hall leaving a dull black and white scene for all to witness.
Arthur who had yet to land was frozen in time and space until Hao Xuan reached out and effortlessly plucked him out of the air. Space bent around his hand and by the time the color returned to the world Arthur's neck was already in Hao Xuan's hand.
