Fallen Demon Hunter vs. Superpowered User 5 (Fourth Update)

Unlike the special ability users I had encountered in the past, I could not sense any high-quality soul aura from Zhuang Cheng, nor could I sense any fluctuations of magical power. He was like an ordinary human one could find anywhere.

This level of feedback was not enough to prove that Zhuang Cheng really was an ordinary person. There had never been a shortage of anomalies skilled at hiding themselves. Perhaps the power Zhuang Cheng possessed was one of them.

I planned to send a substitute to probe Zhuang Cheng. At the same time, I also had to investigate the room on the Fifteenth Floor.

Actually, I did not think the cave in the Fifteenth Floor room was an entrance leading to the future. It was more likely an entrance to another dimension. Its form was completely different from the effect a ritual formation was theoretically supposed to produce. It was probably the result of the ritual formation being activated incorrectly.

But even an incorrect activation was still an activation. Zhu Shi would deal with the ritual formation the next day, so I had to figure out why it had activated before then.

Actually, if possible, I did not even want to tell Zhu Shi about the ritual formation's existence. But I could not do that.

After all, it was Zhu Shi who had commissioned me to investigate the room on the Fifteenth Floor. I could not lie about what I had seen and heard, because Zhu Shi could learn the truth from Zhu Changan and Zhuang Cheng. Silencing those two on the spot would only bring trouble down on me. As an Agent of Luoshan, I also could not avoid submitting a request to Zhu Shi to deal with this anomaly. That would violate my duty and appear highly unnatural.

Therefore, after submitting the request, I could only suggest that Zhu Shi delay dealing with the matter. When she rejected that, I suggested that she send someone else to handle it.

An anomaly like the cave was not something a combat specialist like Zhu Shi, the "Black Wuchang," was good at handling. Leaving it to the "White Wuchang," who was more skilled in such matters, would be the reasonable choice. And if the obstructer were replaced by the White Wuchang, I could easily eliminate him while also absorbing a high-quality soul.

Unfortunately, Zhu Shi regarded the danger of anomalous incidents too seriously, and she possessed an excessive amount of kindness and responsibility. Whenever danger appeared in her jurisdiction, she refused to let someone else bear the burden. Similar things had happened several times in the past. The moment I saw her expression, I knew my plan was doomed, and I could only give up struggling.

To be safe and ensure my alibi, I waited until after I met Zhu Shi that night before sending out the substitute. But when the substitute reached the floor below the room on the Fifteenth Floor, I saw through its linked senses that Zhuang Cheng had walked out of the room.

Clearly, Zhuang Cheng, who was obsessed with anomalous objects, was also interested in the room on the Fifteenth Floor. This time, he had truly walked straight into the tiger's den. I immediately ordered the substitute to test Zhuang Cheng's abilities first. The substitute already had a grudge against him and eagerly revealed itself.

Because I suspected that Zhuang Cheng possessed anomalous power, I had the substitute proceed cautiously. It took my advice and carefully probed Zhuang Cheng. In the end, however, it still made the mistake of being too aggressive. The moment it discovered that Zhuang Cheng was a Flame ability user, it rushed forward impatiently.

Calling the substitute reckless was not quite fair. Even I had not expected Zhuang Cheng to be different from most Flame ability users. He could ignite his opponent with nothing but his gaze.

Even after he revealed his power, I still could not sense any fluctuations of magical power from him... No, more precisely, I could sense extremely intense fluctuations of magical power from his flames, yet there were no such signs from him, the source.

Magical power was a general term. Whether it was the energy required to cast a spell or the power of the spell itself, both could be considered magical power. Even superpowers fell within the definition of magical power in spellcraft. Although the sources of magical power varied greatly—some came from soul power, some from life force, and some were even kinetic energy, thermal energy, electrical energy, and so on—as long as power was being circulated, fluctuations would inevitably appear. It was impossible for there to be none.

Could the source of the flames not be him, but some external object he carried? But even if it was an external object, I should have been able to sense it as the source when it activated. Those flames were like water without a source, appearing out of thin air and leaving me utterly bewildered.

I could only temporarily accept this as a fact: the anomalous world simply contained that many inexplicable things. Perhaps this was also one of Zhuang Cheng's traits as a special ability user. I had no choice but to accept it.

After being struck, the substitute wanted to escape through Shadow Transfer. I still wanted it to probe more information about Zhuang Cheng's abilities, so I forbade it from using Shadow Transfer. It seemed to lose control from fear after being burned, however, and actually ignored my verbal order and fled on foot. I had originally intended to force it to turn back and attack Zhuang Cheng, but at that moment, I discovered something new.

Even after leaving Zhuang Cheng's field of vision, the flames continued to cling to the substitute. It took me a while to finally conclude that there seemed to be a mental connection between the flames and Zhuang Cheng. I did not know whether the connection could extend his perception, but he could continue to add fuel to the flames through it.

Unfortunately, that was all the information the substitute managed to uncover. After Zhu Shi arrived at the battlefield, I remotely retrieved the Seed of the Heart to prevent it from falling into Luoshan's hands.

Actually, this information alone was extremely valuable. Judging from the overwhelming power Zhuang Cheng had displayed while defeating the substitute, swallowing him would be enough to let the Seed of the Heart break through to the next stage.

Not long after, I received new intelligence from Zhu Shi.

Zhuang Cheng had personally entered the cave in the room on the Fifteenth Floor. The entrance and exit had unexpectedly vanished, and he had nearly been trapped inside to die.

Yet he had used his own power to find a way out of his predicament and survived...

-

I had experienced a similar desperate situation.

I, too, had been trapped in what seemed like an absolutely inescapable predicament. I could understand that fear, that despair... and the regret that came in an amount as vast as the sea.

So I could sympathize with Zhuang Cheng's feelings.

Although Zhu Shi had sighed over the phone about Zhuang Cheng's calm attitude toward anomalous incidents, it was obvious that, unless someone was a complete madman, no one could remain calm under those circumstances. Neither could I. Neither could Zhuang Cheng. He must have spent a great deal of effort calming his own panic, and when he described his experience to Zhu Shi, he had also struggled to suppress the lingering fear in his heart.

If I had been in his place, I would have wanted to put on a brave front before Zhu Shi as well. Zhu Shi was a woman with an outstanding appearance and figure, so it was perfectly understandable for a man to put on airs before her. If I were ten years younger, perhaps I would have pursued Zhu Shi too.

At the same time, I greatly admired Zhuang Cheng. In the past, I had not even been capable of maintaining such a superficial composure.

Moreover, I had not escaped from my predicament through my own strength. Perhaps it was precisely because Zhuang Cheng had the confidence that came from overcoming the crisis himself that he could barely maintain his dignity. From that perspective, alongside my admiration, I also felt somewhat jealous of him.

His unknown fear had been hidden beneath his dignity. Perhaps I was the only person who could understand him.

Thinking of this, I could not suppress the indescribable sense of closeness I felt toward Zhuang Cheng.

Around midnight, I finished keeping watch on Zhu Changan and went to the room on the Fifteenth Floor again. Although agents were guarding the area, they had no wariness toward me, their colleague. I entered the room easily and tried to use the new information Zhuang Cheng had provided to open the cave.

But I failed again. The formation itself had indeed become complete, yet opening the cave successfully still required an enormous amount of luck. Zhuang Cheng had probably succeeded because of an additional factor even he had not discovered. I had no more time to continue exploring and could only give up for the time being.

After Zhu Shi and Zhuang Cheng arrived one after another, I approached as though I had just gotten there myself. Then I brought Zhuang Cheng to an abandoned construction site near Xianshui University, hoping to use the evil spirit there to probe more details about his abilities.

Understanding Zhuang Cheng did not mean I would not kill him.

To make the Seed of the Heart break through to the next stage, I would not let this opportunity pass.

Unfortunately, there seemed to have been no evil spirit at the abandoned construction site from the beginning. I had no choice but to switch to my second plan: summoning shadow clones myself to attack Zhuang Cheng and observe him using his abilities at close range.

That night, Zhu Shi had already written and submitted her report on Zhuang Cheng. Although it mentioned his ability, it only said, "It is merely an ordinary flame ability." This was probably meant to help keep the details of Zhuang Cheng's ability confidential. When I displayed excessive knowledge of his ability while talking to him on the way, I was merely probing him.

Even if he asked why I knew those things, I had already taken the time to prepare an excuse. But it seemed Zhu Shi had not taken credit for it before him. What an utterly tactless girl. All my careful preparations had been wasted.

There was only one piece of information I truly wanted to investigate: whether Zhuang Cheng had a countermeasure against attacks from behind.

Since Zhuang Cheng could ignite his opponents with his gaze, and his attack power was so overwhelming, attacking from behind was naturally the correct solution. During the battle between the substitute and Zhuang Cheng, I had tried launching a surprise attack from behind with a shadow, but he had avoided it.

I could not tell whether Zhuang Cheng had merely been lucky or could truly sense what was behind him. Moreover, that shadow thrust had changed its attack path midway to avoid Zhuang Cheng's flames, shifting from an attack from behind to one aimed at the left side of his foot. Perhaps Zhuang Cheng had reacted because of that change.

In my combat experience, nothing was more taboo than vague explanations such as "perhaps." I had to obtain a definite answer. So I had one of the clones ambush Zhuang Cheng from behind while I attacked that clone with a pistol. The latter was meant to prevent Zhuang Cheng from wondering why I had merely stood by after he successfully dealt with the ambush.

The probe succeeded. Zhuang Cheng had shown no reaction whatsoever to the attack from behind, and by saving his life, I also increased his trust in me.

I had not expected him to have concealed his strength during the previous battle. His firepower could actually reach such a level, enough to turn my clone to ash in an instant.

Yet even with such powerful firepower, his weakness remained pitifully small.

The moment a blade reached his neck, it would make no difference whether he held a pistol, a cannon, or even a missile. None of them would be of any use.

Thus, while he turned around and relaxed his guard,

I partially transformed my arm, turning it into a blade in monster form, and severed his head.

Even after a human was decapitated, the head would retain consciousness for several seconds.

To prevent him from igniting me with his gaze before dying, I swung the blade again and drove it into his eyes, directly crushing his brain tissue.

-

The fluctuations of magical power produced during Zhuang Cheng's earlier battle with the clones had certainly attracted Zhu Shi. She would arrive here soon.

I could not stay here for long.

I turned around and planned to leave immediately.

What I had told Zhuang Cheng earlier—that I would be transferred to another area—was not entirely a lie. I really did plan to leave Xianshui City after completing my breakthrough.

From now on, I would no longer be Agent Kong, an agent of Luoshan, but Kong Da the monster.

However, after taking only two or three steps, I sensed that something was wrong.

Normally, after killing a human, I should be able to sense the soul entering my body. The soul of a superpowered user should feel especially obvious. But now, I felt no sign of having devoured a soul at all. It was as if...

As if Zhuang Cheng were not dead yet.

At that moment, I felt the air behind me grow hot.

The sound of burning came from where Zhuang Cheng had fallen, and flames spread toward me.