Volume Four: Withering in the Mortal World - Chapter 359: Angel Hunting Grounds (II)
It is often said that bystanders and those involved always exist in two different worlds; those offstage have no idea how tiring it is to be onstage.
This is especially true during battle; what appears as a relatively acceptable intense attack and defense as an observer is entirely different once you are in the thick of it.
That's who I am.
High in the sky, divine lightning, holy flames, and holy light continuously gathered in Tianlu's hand, like an enormous wristband. Being hit by this thing...
"Holy Spirit Battle Wheel!!!"
With a whoosh, a massive halo of light, over two hundred meters in diameter, pressed down on me! The intense light radiating outwards made my skin burn unbearably. You must know that since consuming the Yan Yi Ming Hua, my tolerance for high temperatures has reached its peak. However, this halo of light was already making me feel so uncomfortable even when it was still some distance away. If it were to hit me head-on, I would be crippled!
"Six Blazing Wings..."
Blazing Blood Flame erupted from behind me, but this time it wasn't a pair of Flame Wings, but three pairs. This wasn't just for dramatic effect; it was practical—one pair for propulsion, one for steering, and one for balance. After all, it was just a mimicry of a jet aircraft, not real wings.
Don't think you can defeat her by yourself, and don't think that the combined strength of the three of you can bring her down. My goal is simple—just to create an opening. As long as I can make her careless for a moment and create an opening, then the rest is up to Haoyue and Xiao Wu.
"... injection!!"
Three Flame Wings on my left side violently spewed out, propelling me rapidly to the right, narrowly missing the light wheel! In the instant we passed each other, my clothes turned to ash, and even my left arm was covered in horrible scorch marks! But I dared not stop. The moment I dodged, I rapidly ascended, while a deafening explosion, like an earthquake, resounded below! A wave of heat shot up from below, getting closer and closer. I had to grit my teeth and increase my speed. When I reached the height of the clouds, the heat wave finally disappeared.
Look down--
"Hey, hey, hey... is this really okay...?"
It looks just like the marks left by a volcanic eruption.
The stone used for buildings and street facilities was completely melted, turning into orange-red lava. The center of the light wheel's fall had become a small lava lake. It was fortunate that the Revolutionary Army had already taken Nid Si Nan Ying with them and evacuated; otherwise, this alone would have turned them all into hot pot.
Speaking of which... what about the Heavenly Law?
--Lean back!
A gigantic Light Sword, hundreds of meters long, grazed my nose, shaving off a few strands of hair. Under the frenzied barrage of Flame Wings, I quickly distanced myself from her, trying to get out of her effective attack range!
"All you do is run away? Cowardly sinner!!!"
"It's crazy to argue with you!"
"Holy Crossbow Hurricane!"
A flash of golden light illuminated the entire night sky for a moment! The dense whistling sound behind me sent chills down my spine, and my blood rushed to my head!
"Blood Raven Swarm!"
Thousands of bird-like Blood Beast were created in an instant, scattering behind me like locusts. The continuous explosions behind me indicated that the Blood Beast had blocked most of the light arrows, but a few still managed to slip through the air, fortunately only causing minor cuts. I took advantage of the brief pause between Heavenly Law's attacks to accelerate once more!
Even with the blood crystal protecting my vitals and soft areas, I'm already nearing my speed limit. Any faster, and neither my body nor my mind will be able to withstand it! I glanced back against the strong wind and saw a blurry golden shadow streaking through the air, closing the distance at an astonishing speed—
"Promote him!"
The upper pair of Flame Wings sprayed fiercely, abruptly slowing the forward momentum. Enduring the excruciating pain that felt like my body was being torn in two, I increased the output of the lower Flame Wings, tracing an arc as I ascended! I could see Tianlu's rapidly approaching figure out of the corner of my eye; she was simply too fast! If this pointless chase continued, she would take me down in less than two seconds!
The night clouds looked like large, gathered shadows, or like cotton candy covered in a layer of gray. I took a deep breath and plunged into them!
Now it all depends on my ability to control the Blood Flame. The so-called clouds are nothing more than a collection of water droplets or ice crystals formed when water molecules gather around dust particles when the water vapor is supersaturated. If I accidentally let the high-temperature Blood Flame spread, these clouds will disappear in an instant, and then my hiding will be meaningless!
The clouds below parted, and she was now within reach. I had finally broken through to the top of the clouds.
"Pfft--Ha!!!"
Above the clouds, with nothing to obscure the view, the beautiful three-sided full moon and a sky full of stars unfolded before me, seemingly within reach. Unfortunately, I had no time to appreciate the scenery. I let out a deep breath, stopped accelerating, and looked down at the clouds, figuring that guy should be catching up by now...
"Flame Cut Bloodline-- "
I shook my arms, stimulating the veins that extended from them.
"--Round Red Glow!"
Then, countless red lines that had just passed through the clouds and spread out into various parts of the clouds under the cover of the clouds, fragmented the clouds and the entire sky.
Amidst the fragmented clouds, countless fine red lines shimmered with dazzling light, layer upon layer, resembling a vast expanse of magnificent rosy clouds from afar. Outsiders could never imagine the deadly danger lurking beneath this beauty.
Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of blood vessels, brimming with hellish heat, formed a giant spider web, enveloping the celestial law that had just broken through the clouds. Even she found it difficult to transition from extreme motion to extreme stillness in an instant, and thus crashed headlong into it!
Seizing the moment, I clenched my outstretched fingers.
"Polymerization!"
Countless lines of blood tightened amidst the swirling flames, and a spiderweb covering the sky coiled around its prey, leaving no blind spots or loopholes!
--Of course I wouldn't be stupid enough to think that way.
In fact, almost at the same time I gave the order to retract the line, I once again activated Flame Wings and shot out.
I'm not stupid enough to think that this will do anything to her.
"Divine Strike - Hundred-Crack Fist!"
A straight punch, now as lustrous as a diamond, was thrown out, its sheer force enough to obliterate the clouds in the sky! The space in the straight line from which the fist struck visibly distorted, the incredibly sharp wind slamming into the countless blood vessels pressing down upon her. Upon contact, the wind was instantly severed by the blood vessels! However, the unparalleled impact still tore hundreds of blood vessels apart in one go. The blood gushing from the severed wounds began to burn intensely as soon as it approached the Heavenly Law, but this Blood Flame was immediately dispersed by the wind from the punch!
And this was only the first punch.
The Hundred-Fist Combat Fist, as its name suggests, is a series of punches delivered like a machine gun, without any fancy moves, relying solely on pure speed, power, and quantity to defeat the enemy.
A full one hundred punches.
Each punch ripped and destroyed hundreds of blood vessels; the sound of the punches colliding with the atmosphere was as loud as thunder. In less than a second, all one hundred punches were delivered, and then there was that final punch—
Tian Lu squinted, staring at the tiny dot, no bigger than a sesame seed, in the distance.
"Snort..."
She gave a soft hum, then a slight smile played on her lips.
Foolish sinner.
Do you really think you can escape like this?
It's utterly ridiculous.
The sinner used to fly in all sorts of twists and turns, but now he's probably focused on escaping, so his route is now a straight line, making him much easier to aim at.
Silently chanting Divine Word, I extended a finger, aiming in the direction where the Black Ghost disappeared.
"Holy Silver Sky Sever!"
"--!?"
As I was rapidly moving away from Tianlu and widening the distance between us, I was suddenly jolted.
It felt like the unease of being targeted by a venomous snake.
I want to hide—but I can't always succeed.
A sharp pain shot through my right thigh, and several silver, needle-like objects pierced through it.
The excruciating pain caused me to stop abruptly, as if I had hit a wall.
My first instinct was naturally to pull them out, but the needles seemed to have taken root in my thigh and wouldn't budge!
"Gurgle—Accelerate!"
My Flame Wings lit up, but the expected acceleration didn't happen. Instead, a tearing pain shot through my thigh where it had been pierced, like my bones and muscles were being violently pulled! I tried to move my thigh in surprise, but found that I couldn't move at all! It wasn't because I was severely injured from being pierced, but because I was immobilized by some external force!
These are the light needles that I can't pull out! They've forcibly "nailed" me to this space!
Then, using them as a medium, a beam of light with a large cross in the center appeared on my thigh.
"Blood Blade!!!"
A flash of blood, and a crescent-shaped Blood Blade severed my right leg at the root, then immediately created distance!
Use your abilities to stop the bleeding--
Allow blood to enter the nerves to relieve pain.
Forms a crystalline layer and a buffer layer to protect the wound.
As I quickly moved away, I began treating the massive wound. My thigh, pierced by the light needles, was now unrecognizable due to the corrosive holy light, and the light magic circle was complete! Amidst the surging golden light, a figure appeared on the magic circle—
It turned out to be a small teleportation array!
Without a second thought, I raised my hand and fired a blood bullet at the magic circle. A figure easily broke through the fire and mist created by the exploding blood bullet. I only saw a blur before my eyes, and Tianlu's crystal-clear fist was already in front of me! Lightning was surging in a place higher than the sky, and all the divine lightning that struck down poured into her fist! Such a huge amount of violent energy was compressed into a single point, and the divine fist did not adapt at all. Instead, it became even more crystal clear!
"Have you truly repented, you sinner!"
A straight punch without any fancy moves, simply unleashing a sense of utter despair that instills a sense of certain defeat. Patterns of holy light coiled within it like blood vessels, compressed to their extreme like liquid thunder plasma, radiating a terrifying divine might that could shatter one's liver and gallbladder. This punch was undoubtedly an absolute weapon capable of killing anyone!
"Divine Strike - Heavenly Punishment Crushing Fist"
Boom!!!!!!!!
This punch was a true divine punishment.
Centered on us, the space within a hundred miles above the clouds fluctuated violently, like a vibrating rubber membrane! The Divine Punishment Thunder burst out in all directions, and the blue-green lightning danced wildly in the air like silver snakes. Even after it finally disappeared, it left the air with a tingling static charge.
"..."
Tianlu was very unhappy.
"... What kind of trick are you playing now?"
"Don't put it so harshly..."
Oh no, this is terrible.
I was forced to exchange a punch with her just now, and as a result, my internal organs feel like they've been turned inside out. My throat tastes sweet, and every part of my body aches. I'm so sore that I'll scream if I relax even slightly.
Even so, I still took her punch.
With those dark red claws covered in barbs.