Chapter 618 VS Great Demon Qilin 3

The Great Demon Qilin's speed is undeniable, but whether its mental processing speed can keep up with its physical speed is debatable. However, based on my actual combat experience, it managed its super speed very well. Several times I tried to dodge its attacks based on my intuition, but all my efforts were in vain. I don't know if its combat instincts were superior to mine, or if it anticipated my movements and reacted accordingly, but I simply couldn't avoid its attacks.

However, I didn't focus all my energy on dodging attacks. The same goes for defense. It's not that I didn't try, but rather that I couldn't give it my all. Because I have a bad habit: when facing an enemy's attack, I never consider dodging or defending as a necessary option.

As a fire-element user, my strength is ultimately in attack. As the saying goes, "attack is the best defense." So rather than simply dodging and defending, I should think more about how to counterattack. This is certainly one reason, but more likely it's because since my debut, I have never encountered an attack that could kill me in one blow.

This is actually quite rare in the minds of Witchers. For the vast majority of Witchers, and even most of the Great Impermanence, attack power always outweighs defense. Once they strike first or are struck first by the enemy, even if they are not killed in one hit, the balance of power often tilts dramatically, and then they will collapse like a snowball. "First-time kills" are also common in the supernatural world. No matter how many times they have won in the past, once they lose, they can never recover.

Although it can't be said to be intentional, my battles always tend to fall into a fixed and clumsy pattern: first, I absorb most of the enemy's attacks, and while repeatedly being injured and recovering, I analyze the enemy's weaknesses and flaws, and finally, I hit them with my powerful fire force to turn the tide in one fell swoop.

While this approach wouldn't exactly be considered cheating, it's not in line with my usual style and carries a hint of cunning and treachery. I myself often feel it's not very honorable. But since I genuinely possess this advantage, I won't utter any pretentious words about not wanting to fully utilize it.

This time, however, my fixed pattern has undergone a further change—it has become even more insidious and cunning than before.

The reason why the Great Demon Qilin suddenly got injured and slowed down is due to a very simple principle: the relativity of motion.

When it collides with me at a speed exceeding one-ninth the speed of light, it can also be seen as me impacting it at a speed exceeding one-ninth the speed of light. In other words, it must also withstand an impact of the same magnitude as mine.

Under normal circumstances, such an impact wouldn't cause it much trouble. When a martial artist punches an opponent in the face, no one would describe it as "the opponent punching their fist in the face." And in common martial arts performances where bricks are broken with a chopstick, as long as the brick is broken properly, the force won't all bounce back to the user's hand.

The current conflict follows the same principle. As long as you use your strongest points to attack the enemy's weakest points, and as long as you can reliably penetrate and destroy the enemy each time, the enemy will be the first to succumb.

But I'm not the kind of enemy who follows common sense. In my Third Corona Form, my very existence is an attack; I am a human-shaped star, and even if I were hit by attacks aimed at the True Spirit several or even a dozen times, I wouldn't easily succumb. And since no matter how many times I unleash my attacks, I can't catch up to the Great Demon Qilin, which is about to reach one-eighth the speed of light, and at the same time, it will actively crash into me, then what needs to be done next is very simple.

That is to concentrate all your mental energy on increasing your body density and pour in deadly poisonous intent.

In his previous life, the Great Impermanence Qilin, like the Old Fist God, was a powerful figure who walked the path of martial arts. Although I have no understanding of martial arts, I at least understand this one thing: martial arts is a killing technique that forges one's body into a powerful weapon. Even after becoming the Great Impermanence and the Great Demon, this nature doesn't seem to have changed.

Perhaps the Qilin also possesses some ranged attack techniques, such as killing enemies with punches or projecting magical power, but its greatest strength ultimately lies in its own body, forged through countless trials. In battles of equal strength, there's no reason to win without using its "main weapon," as doing so would also waste its super speed.

Before becoming the Great Impermanence, the Qilin might have been able to use weapons like swords, spears, and clubs. However, after becoming the Great Impermanence, it basically couldn't find any weapons that matched its abilities. Moreover, it's now a Great Demon; even if it had any weapons worthy of it in its previous life, it can't find them now. And for a character who engages in close-quarters combat, an "untouchable enemy" like me is undoubtedly the most vicious target.

I don't know if I've gotten used to its speed, or if its speed has decreased to a point where I can easily detect it, but I vaguely saw afterimages of the Great Demon Qilin as it moved. Its body, which resembled black steel armor, had developed multiple cracks of varying sizes, and showed signs of melting and turning red-hot.

Its trajectory as it moved at high speed also changed from invisible to an orange-red light path, which wrapped around me like a ball of yarn.

If it retains enough sanity, it would likely employ different tactics, or perhaps simply retreat. Or perhaps it would lengthen the intervals between attacks, catching its breath and recovering while continuing its assault. While this is merely speculation, I believe all great demons possess the ability of super-fast regeneration, much like the Great Demon Xuanwu. In any case, it would certainly be far superior to maintaining the existing high-frequency offensive pace.

Unfortunately, the mad demon lacks any tactical thinking; otherwise, I wouldn't have been unable to absorb even a trace of combat wisdom from its mind. The Great Demon Qilin's grasp of timing and distance in attack is more like an instinct etched into its unconscious than a genuine capacity for thought. It's either attacking the enemy or on its way to attack the enemy—it only has these two states.

Collision, collision, collision—we clashed together endlessly. Now, my physical aggression has risen to a level greater than all my techniques combined. This is only natural, because the flames of Corona Mode erupt from the slag weapon that is fused with my body. Just as the epicenter of a nuclear explosion has the greatest destructive power, my epicenter possesses a similar property.

In this respect, I am somewhat similar to the Great Demon Qilin. Our own bodies are each our most powerful form of attack, which is why I used to always charge into the enemy.

The contest is no longer about speed and strength, but about endurance. My body is certainly more "fragile" than the Great Demon Qilin's, but repeated "resurrections" have rendered this weakness insignificant. I only need to destroy the Great Demon Qilin's body and soul to win, while the Great Demon Qilin needs to go beyond that, using its power to penetrate my soul before destroying my true spirit. This is not a contest on the same level at all; there is absolutely no fairness involved.

Before long, its body seemed to finally succumb to the accumulated damage, and the section from its left shoulder to its chest exploded and shattered. Its speed also became unsustainable, rapidly decreasing to a level that I could detect with my senses.

"--it's over."

This time, it was my turn to actively crash into it at high speed.

The Great Demon Qilin made no sound, but I seemed to faintly hear it let out a silent, angry roar. It increased its speed again, entering a region beyond my sensory perception. But even without consciously sensing it, I could tell its trajectory was a straight line.

It still seemed oblivious to the concept of yielding, and its knee strike hurtled towards me.

After the collision, I was pierced again, while its right leg exploded and shattered on the spot. As I recovered, I turned and charged at it, and it attacked again without flinching. Two more collisions followed, and its left leg exploded as well, its right side of its body shattered, and its speed decreased to roughly the same level as mine.

In the final round, I clenched my right fist tightly. The power of the divine seal fragment—the power of the true spirit—flowed from my consciousness and poured into my fist. I charged forward, unleashing a final blow towards its head.

Even if it were completely irrational, its predecessor was a master of martial arts, and theoretically, my amateurish attacks wouldn't be able to hit it. However, it has lost its limbs, and if it wants to continue attacking, its only weapon is its headbutt.

Its headbutt collided with my fist.

The next instant, my fist could not withstand the impact and shattered on the spot, while its head also exploded at the same time.

Destroy the Great Demon Qilin.

I let out a breath. However, the battle wasn't completely over yet, and it wasn't time to relax. I regained my senses, then turned around and headed straight for the direction where Fazheng was fighting the other two great demons.

At the same time, I briefly checked my current condition. Having taken so many attacks head-on, although my soul could still recover to its full state and wouldn't affect my mana output efficiency, my true spirit was already close to being severely injured.

If the enemy hadn't been the inflexible Great Demon Qilin, but rather the Great Impermanent Qilin with complete rationality and combat wisdom, who knows what the outcome would have been?

As I approached Fazheng, his battle with the other two great demons was drawing to a close.

(End of this chapter)