Chapter 175: Chasing Shadows and Slaying Beasts (4)
"So it's a round-robin battle." Waklo was still looking at the painting. "But you're a little late. The previous killer is already dead."
"Is that so?" Ji Huaisu raised his eyebrows. "Then just stand there and don't move. Let me beat you to death and avenge him."
"Hahahaha, Miss Ji has a really good attitude."
"No, no, Miss Ghost Slayer's performance was also excellent."
Hahahaha. Hahahaha. The two men in the standoff let out a lightening laugh. No movement, just constant laughter. Then, the shadow needles suddenly exploded, and the fire sword shattered them all!
"Shadow Spell, Shadow Continent."
Vaklo's head twisted 180 degrees, and a thick shadow spread from beneath his robe, replacing the land within the arena with a pure, negative shadow realm. Low-quality life forms would be contaminated and corroded upon entering the shadow, instantly dying.
However, Ji Huaisu's ice armor prevented the contamination from the outside world. Dense shadow spears shot out from the omnipresent field, instantly stabbing out a thousand attacks. The knight cut off all the shadow spears with an impenetrable defensive posture. She then raised the fire sword above her head, slashing out an extremely hot flame.
"Soul-Purifying Holy Fire!"
The purifying fire's slash consumed the impending weapon, carving a path of light through the shadowy continent, charging straight towards Vaklo, the center of the shadow realm. Vaklo raised his hand toward the luminous flames, and from his palms leaped hundreds of dark canine heads. Undeterred by the burning and gnawing flames, the beasts, one after another, fought back with a desperate determination to block Ji Huaisu's slash! The two sides were evenly matched!
"Oh, that's a lot of power." Waklo smiled. "Generally speaking, the attack range of a Discipline Knight is weaker than that of a Scourge like us. You're too strong to be a Knight."
"Mutual." Ji Huaisu bared his fangs. "This is the first time I've seen a ghost slayer like you!"
Both sides simultaneously withdrew their attacks, and Waklo glided through the shadows, his movements as light as ice skating. Ji Huaisu carefully observed her enemy's movements, constantly checking to see if the brush was raised. She was wary of Waklo's attack, because the killer acting as bait had already obtained valuable intelligence. How had he transmitted it? The answer was the torch he had brought with him at the beginning.
The torch Chu Hengkong had brought remained planted in a corner of the arena, emitting a continuous stream of golden smoke visible from as far away as the settlement. This torch served not only as a provocative prop but also as a reconnaissance device crafted by Ji Huaisu himself. Chu Hengkong's entire entrance into the painting was clearly visible, and while the knights appeared to be fighting aggressively, they were actually quite cautious.
——The enemy this time is not right.
Akong had indeed injured Vaklo before his attack, but the scar was now completely gone. Vaklo's power was also strangely strong. Orek, as the offspring of the Great Demon and bound to Moonblood's supreme form, was able to rival her in power. Even in life, Vaklo couldn't have reached a rank of 7—that's the level of the Nightmare Lord Vansalar—so how could it, suppressed to such a low level, possess such immense power?
She recalled Chongming's pre-battle instructions. Since he said, "There's no way to defeat the opponent without being attacked," the secret might lie in those paintings. So, what measures would Kong take?
Ji Huaisu's mind settled. A transformation formation erupted beneath her feet, transforming the particles into a deflecting, unfixed dust. She rushed towards Waklo like a gust of wind, the high-frequency vibrations of the Infinite Sword slashing directly at the pen-gripping right hand. "How terrifying!" Waklo parried the blow with his left claw. His hand and the sword simultaneously shattered... and then regenerated! This fellow truly possessed immortality.
"My turn." Waklo launched a thrust with his five blade-like claws. Ji Huaisu slashed the claws with his backhand, and the sword's tip touched the ground, creating the pattern of a sealing formation. However, the sticky shadows within the Shadow Continent squirmed, and Waklo, with his beast-like reflexes, preemptively disrupted the formation.
Waklo slammed his claws into the ground, and the shadows in the arena surged like waves, rushing towards Ji Huaisu. "A Thousand Miles of Freeze!" Ji Huaisu released an extremely cold air, freezing the enemy's attacks into black waves... But at this moment, Waklo's figure disappeared from the spot, sneaking out of the shadows and appearing from the side of Ji Huaisu, claws piercing the knight's arm!
"——Please come into the painting."
Officially known as "Vaklo's Dimensional Degradation," it's a unique magic developed by Vaklo during his time as a False Angel. Life affected by this spell is instantly destroyed by a reduction in dimensionality. After death, Vaklo, "resurrected" as a low-level particle, can only use this spell through the murals. However, its inherent evil remains unchanged; a strike on the enemy guarantees defeat!
Ji Huaisu cautiously raised her light shield for defense, but this time her measures were ineffective. The light shield, touched by the shadow claws, became as thin as paper. Vaklo chuckled and grabbed the knight's wrist. The fatal attack was about to hit... but at this moment, Ji Huaisu took a half step back due to inertia, and the attack that was sure to kill her was inexplicably missed!
"?"
It didn't make sense. It was too bizarre. Even if his skills had deteriorated, it wouldn't have been possible for such an attack to miss. Ji Huaisu smiled, as if she had anticipated this. She took the opportunity to bypass Waklo and rushed to the center of the arena, intending to attack the mural depicting the Demon King directly. Waklo turned to pursue, but at that moment, the frozen black waves shattered, and countless ice blocks came like an avalanche, just slowing his pace even further.
"What's going on..."
This was too strange. It evoked a familiar feeling. But now was not the time to dwell on this. Lord Vansalar's portrait must not be destroyed. Vaquero slipped into the shadows, using himself as a shield before the mural. He crossed his arms and slashed at the charging knight, but at this moment, Ji Huaisu, defying common sense, retreated! He seemed to be deliberately avoiding the distance!
This is so strange. It's like they knew my attack would fail. I've definitely seen this before. This is...this premise is...!
Waklo suddenly turned his head to look at the painting. The high-particle essence remaining in his body allowed him to see the truth. A colorless iron chain stretched out from the mural, tightly wrapped around his waist.
——A chain of misfortune!
"This is...!" Waklo wanted to jump. "Dust Break!" Ji Huaisu, already prepared, stretched out his hands, and crystals containing the power of light and shadow rapidly formed. The resulting chain of explosions knocked Waklo backwards, leaving half of his body submerged in the painting!
Inside the mural, Chu Hengkong tightly grasped the untied chains and read out the ending he had designated.
[Vacquelo Lokva, encountered an accident during the battle with Ji Huaisu, and was trapped in his own painting and unable to move]
"Qingye, rush out now."
"Speak clearly!"
Inside the mural, the ever-failing Han Xing swung his fist once more. He felt deeply saddened, for this time his enemy had no desire to engage him, merely dodging within the small house. Even Lord Vansalar would be angry. Suddenly, the two little figures, uncharacteristically, gathered together and began charging at him.
"Aaaaaaaa!" Han Xing yelled excitedly, striking out with his arms filled with extreme cold power. However, Chu Hengkong and Qingye evaded with agility. They stepped on the gorilla's fists and ran out of the execution platform, leaping high into the air! Still no attack! Han Xing burst into tears because of the great shock. "Aaaaaa?!"
It turned angrily, ready to reason with the trialists. "Ouch?!" But Han Xing cried out in astonishment, for it had witnessed a strange and bizarre transformation unfolding in the sky... Vaquero, who was supposed to dominate the battlefield from the outside world, had actually entered the painting on his own initiative! It was like a giant had entered the world from outer space!
"Wow, are we going to fight it now?" Qing Ye was confused by this series of changes.
"No, we wait." He tightened the chain on his prosthetic hand.
The chain reaction of misfortune continued, and the left half of Vaklo's body was submerged in the painting. He could clearly hear the discussion between the two people in the painting, but now it was too late to think further. The most urgent thing was to resolve the dilemma. If he was also trapped in the painting, no one would be able to stop the knight from destroying it. The hostage tactic might not be effective. The enemy had their own plans. In this case...
Waklo clenched his brush in his hand, but before he could take the next step, he met an eye that was bloodshot from lack of sleep! That was Vander, who had been hiding in Ji Huaisu's armor pocket!
"Hand over the brush." Vander said gloomily.
“Oh no no no no no no no!” Wacklo screamed.
The hypnosis took effect instantly, and Waklo let go of the paintbrush. Ji Huaisu grabbed the paintbrush, hit Waklo on the waist with a hammer, and drew a simple "door" on the edge of the mural. "Quick!" But for the people in the painting, this door was like a huge black hole in the sky, which was impossible to reach. "It's out of reach!" Chu Hengkong shouted. Ji Huaisu, who was holding the paintbrush, made up his mind and reached his hand through the door into the painting. "What now?!"
A hand emerged from the black hole, shrinking to its normal size as if by magic, before appearing before the two. "Mr. Chu, you first!" Chu Hengkong said nothing, shaking his partner's hand. Ji Huaisu struggled to pull the person out. Even with the aid of the paintbrush, she was not the master of the painting, and retrieving the person required all her strength. "Right away... it'll be over...!" Finally, half of Chu Hengkong's body was pulled out of the painting!
"Oh no no no no no!" The chain of misfortunes continued, and Waklo was about to be completely trapped in the painting. "This is cheating! I, I haven't really started yet! I haven't even used half of my strength! How can I lose so easily? How can I--!"
"—Then I'll just have to cheat."
Waklo's expression changed, and half of his face, both inside and outside the painting, smiled simultaneously. Then, his head split along its central axis, becoming two identical faces... His body then split simultaneously, becoming two identical individuals!
The half of its body, caught in the chain of misfortune, was as thin as paper, sinking into the painting with a weak force. It chuckled, reaching out from outside the painting and grabbing Ji Huaisu, who had just completed the rescue. "Please enter the painting." The unexpected attack hit directly, and this time Ji Huaisu was truly caught.
Before she was immersed in the painting, she barely had less than a second to think. Qingye was inside the painting, and Akong was outside. If Waklo held the paintbrush, he would have no chance of winning. She pressed the paintbrush into Chu Hengkong's hand. "Akong, I leave the outside to you!"
"So I'm unlucky too?" said Vander in the armor pocket stupidly.
"Keep going," Chu Hengkong put away his brush. Then, as a substitute for his escape, Ji Huaisu and Fander were dragged into the painting. Simultaneously, Waklo's half, which had retained most of its strength, used the split as an opportunity to leap out of the painting. Two identical figures, both inside and outside the painting, saluted simultaneously.
"Hello, I'm Waklo." said the outsider outside the picture.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Rockval." said the outsider in the painting.
"The Twins, the first messenger of the Nightmare King, come to fight you." Waklo Rockwa raised his blade-like fingers. "Please return my paintbrush to me!"
(End of this chapter)
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