Volume One: Intrigue and Deception in the Imperial Capital - Chapter 84: Black Moon
I don't know how much time passed—maybe a second, maybe an hour—before I regained consciousness.
Looking around, I found myself in a cube-shaped "iron" box about 5 meters long and wide. This "iron" was, of course, the dyed air. The air, imbued with the property of "tenacity," bound me and Haoyue, causing us to sink to the bottom of the river.
"Um..."
A soft groan came from beside me. Looking down, I saw Haoyue lying next to me with a bitter expression, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and her left leg bent in an odd direction, clearly broken.
"Haoyue, Haoyue, your legs..."
"It's okay... sob"
Haoyue struggled to sit up, and a familiar halo appeared beneath her. A rune emitting a soft silver light floated out from the first silver ring and covered her fractured bone.
"Silver Moon, Healing Moon..."
The talisman, emanating wisps of silver light, seeped into her left leg. With a click, her leg visibly straightened and healed. A moment later, she let out a long breath and carefully moved her left leg.
"Your superpower is truly omnipotent..." I couldn't help but exclaim.
"Yu Yue can only treat simple injuries and illnesses; repairing fractures is its current limit. It can't compare to a true healing ability," Hao Yue shrugged. "More importantly, we must find a way to break through."
Just then...
"It's so hot!"
I jumped up suddenly, leaving the iron wall I was leaning against, and an astonishing heat emanated from it!
"That guy... damn it, he must have turned the river into lava! We have to think of something quickly, or we'll be roasted alive!"
"What should we do... We can't just use the same combination technique again. Even if we've recovered some of our strength, we'll still be affected in this confined space."
"Well... then we can only leave it to fate. If things don't go well..." Haoyue narrowed her eyes slightly, "This might be the last time we have left in our lives."
"The last bit of time...?"
"So, since it's already the last time, why not..."
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of clothes rubbing together.
"Hey... what are you going to do--" I looked at Haoyue as she gently removed her cheongsam, almost speechless. Her fair and beautiful body was gradually exposed before my eyes, her dazzlingly smooth skin pressed against my cheek, her round and full breasts clung to my arm, and the alluring scent of a virgin filled my nose.
"Why don't we get this done here, so we can die without any regrets?"
"..."
"How about it? Is it not okay?"
I sighed softly.
"Alright, Haoyue, stop hiding it."
"Oh?"
"You haven't shown any particular panic since the battle with I. B. started. I bet you're still hiding some trump card!"
"... cut!"
Haoyue clicked her tongue in annoyance and slowly got dressed.
"I thought I could take this opportunity to finish things off, but I didn't expect you to see through me so quickly... Okay, I admit it, I do have a trump card, and I haven't shown it to anyone yet. You'll be the first audience member, but..."
"But?"
"My trump card is extremely physically demanding, and could even be fatal. Regardless of the outcome, you'll be left to deal with I. B. alone from now on. Be prepared."
One person against I. B?
This... is no joke!?
But there's no other choice right now...
"Alright, leave I. B. to me, you don't need to worry about anything!"
"I knew you'd say that... Fine, move aside a bit!"
I immediately endured the scorching heat and shrank to a corner of the iron box, leaving Haoyue standing in the middle. She took out a vial of Spiritual Medicine to replenish her strength and drank it, then took out a snow-white longsword, pointing the tip upwards, and muttered something under her breath.
The orange first, second, and third rings appeared one after another beneath her feet, followed by three silver rings—the silver third ring containing only one rune, which, if I remember correctly, should be "Moonquake".
"Each time my ability advances, I gain one more rune. Every three runes form a ring, and above silver is gold, but I haven't reached that level yet..."
Haoyue explained that after six layers of light appeared beneath her feet, the runes stopped increasing, and then—
A dark fluctuation seemed to emanate from beneath Haoyue's feet, causing the surrounding air to tremble violently, and I felt a sudden, inexplicable unease.
The six-layered halo, shimmering with orange and silver light, seemed to be suppressed, its radiance growing dimmer. A faint, eerie aura emanated from Haoyue, chilling even a single glance. This eerie aura gradually merged into the halo beneath her feet, and the six layers began to merge on their own—six layers becoming three, three layers becoming one, and the final layer also dimming until finally...
"Black..." I couldn't help but murmur.
Beneath Haoyue's feet was a jet-black, ink-like ring, the liquid darkness flowing and churning silently, emitting a dark halo. There were also runes on the black ring, but there were two of them, still in purplish-black, each more mysterious and complex than the orange and silver runes, giving me a splitting headache just from looking at them.
"Did you know? The moon isn't just Gold Silver Orange. During a lunar eclipse, the moon is... black." Haoyue's face was slightly pale, and her voice was a little weak. It seemed that this black halo was a great burden on her.
The Black Moon during a lunar eclipse corresponds to a new phase of the Black Moon cycle.
"When the moon is dark, the last light in the night sky disappears, darkness encroaches on the earth, and the light of the stars is simply obscured by the darkness."
A purplish-black rune clung to Snow Moon, instantly staining the snow-white sword black. The blackness spread, even creeping onto her hands and beginning to erode her fair and delicate skin.
"Without light, without ignorance, without birth, without death, only the waves of darkness pouring down from the sky, hence the name—"
With great difficulty, Haoyue raised the sword above her head and swung it down forcefully towards what should have been the sea!
"Black Moon - Eclipse Devour!"
On the bridge spanning the river, I. B. looked down at the river below—no, it should be called lava now. The zombies obediently gathered around him, not daring to make a move.
"I thought scalding them would make them scream 'Mama mia--' and come running out, but there's been no movement for so long. Could they have just died at the bottom of the river? Don't do that, it's so boring!"
How about replacing the lava with something else? Like cement, strong acid, juice, or salad dressing? That sounds like a lot of fun, so let's not hesitate and get started...
"--Eh!?"
I. B. suddenly felt a jolt and stopped what he was doing.
He looked down and carefully examined the area under the bridge.
The orange-red magma emitted hellish temperatures and flowed slowly, seemingly no different from anything else.
But something definitely happened underneath.
Just a moment ago, the ripples emanating from the bottom of the magma made even I. B. feel a chill.
"Hmm~? Is it just my imagination?"
As if to answer him--
Centered on the spot where the iron box had sunk, liquid darkness erupted like a volcanic eruption. It broke through the scorching magma, tore through the murky air, and shot hundreds of meters into the air! Countless dark droplets splashed onto the bridge, spreading the instant they touched it, like black cracks covering the bridge surface. The blackened bridge surface rapidly crumbled and decomposed, eventually turning into coal ash-like debris that scattered in all directions!
The zombies on the bridge were not spared either, all tainted by the darkness and turning to ashes. Only I. B. acted decisively, using his "Speed Line Acceleration Method" to quickly retreat and leave the darkened part of the bridge.
"The erosion of darkness... Even I would find it difficult to achieve this..." I. B. muttered to himself. Then he saw a girl carrying another girl leap out from where the darkness had just opened up.
"Finally out...?" Excited, I. B gripped her paintbrush tightly. "Then let's keep fighting! What surprises will you give me next~♪?"
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The next chapter will be over 4000 words, and every chapter from now on will be high-energy, with both explicit and implicit plots being resolved. My lunchbox is already itching to be filled!