Between Life and Death

Between Life and Death

After the flames appeared, the spreading frost was immediately halted, turning into boundless vapor that filled the entire space. The previously clear plaza was instantly shrouded in dense fog, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.

This outcome was beyond everyone's expectations.

Hong Mo had moved away from Mu Siyu the moment she made her move. This wasn't an online game—there was no such thing as forming a party and being unable to hurt your teammates. Even Hong Mo couldn't simply ignore Mu Siyu's cold within the range of her frost.

It didn't look like there would be any result over there anytime soon. So these three were his enemies, then?

Hong Mo rubbed his nose, feeling rather depressed. He was supposed to be here to help, wasn't he? How had he ended up becoming the main force instead? Fortunately, Fatty wasn't really an enemy. When they fought later, he would probably hold back.

In the instant Hong Mo lost focus, the gentle-looking little girl fiercely stomped her right foot, clad in an adorable oversized boot, against the ground. The solid concrete floor seemed to come alive, splitting open beneath her foot as a huge crack spread toward Hong Mo. At the same time, the solid concrete on both sides of the crack abruptly rose, about to crush Hong Mo between them.

Hong Mo's eye twitched. That little girl looked so cute, yet she was actually this vicious.

Ever since awakening his superpower, Hong Mo had devoured countless novels and anime, repeatedly simulating in his mind how he would deal with all kinds of abilities from anime.

This wasn't baseless worry or paranoia. Who knew whether, after superpowers emerged in the real world, abilities from anime—or similar ones—might truly appear?

Though he had been distracted, all that did was let the little girl seize the initiative.

What a pity. It was probably an earth-controlling superpower. Her attacks were fierce, but she wasn't fast enough. As Hong Mo thought this, electric current coursed through his body, stimulating every muscle into action as he charged rapidly toward the little girl.

However, Fatty swiftly darted in front of the girl. His right hand hung at his side, and a silver-white wrist ring on his arm gave a faint click as a row of blades emerged from its inner rim.

Bright red blood sprayed from Fu Xunhong's right arm, winding and twisting above his right hand. It formed an exquisite Japanese sword, similar in style to one of the Zanpakuto from Bleach.

That damn fatty really was an otaku. He was so familiar with Japanese swords. But it wasn't really Fatty's fault. The cultural bureau was fucking tragic—censoring this and censoring that. Forget finding a cool cold weapon to use as a reference.

That damn fatty, Fu Xunhong's ability was blood control. Not only could he form all kinds of weapons from blood outside his body, but he could also drive his blood through his body at high speed, giving it tremendous power.

Hong Mo inwardly praised him. A year ago, when superpowers had first awakened, Fatty could only control blood in a rudimentary way and form rough shapes. Now, the blood-red Zanpakuto was incomparably exquisite, like a work of art. Still, why did a huge fat man wielding a Zanpakuto like that feel so utterly out of place?

Everything happened in an instant. Although Fu Xunhong stood in his path, Hong Mo did not retreat. Instead, he smiled. Fine. It had been a long time since they had met. He wondered how strong Fu Xunhong had become.

He grabbed at empty air with his right hand, and countless grains of black iron sand gathered in his grip, forming a Tang sword about a meter long. The black iron sand on its surface vibrated rapidly, giving off a buzzing hum.

Sand Iron Sword!

Misaka Mikoto's move from A Certain Scientific Railgun had been copied by Hong Mo. What else could he do? His superpower was also electromagnetic control. He was practically a copy of Railgun, so it would have been a waste not to learn such a ready-made move.

"Don't die!" Fu Xunhong suddenly said to Hong Mo as he violently swung his right hand. A blood-red, crescent-shaped blade wave slashed toward Hong Mo.

A blade wave—Getsuga Tensho? What the hell? A year ago, Fu Xunhong had only been a three-hundred-pound dead-fat otaku. Yet in just one year, he had changed this much?

Though Hong Mo had no idea how much power this move had compared to the original, he had no intention of taking it head-on.

Instant Activation!

At the very last moment, electric current burst from Hong Mo's shoulder blades, allowing him to swiftly evade the slash.

Hong Mo had crammed a great deal of anime, but there was one style of fighting he thoroughly disagreed with: directly taking powerful moves head-on just to show off one's own strength.

In Hong Mo's view, that was undeniably an idiotic thing to do. If an attack could be dodged, he would never clash with it head-on. Who knew whether he might capsize in a ditch and get KO'd outright?

What happened next fully proved that point. The seemingly unremarkable "Pseudo-Getsuga Tensho" cut diagonally through the air and struck a two-story building across from them, causing a violent explosion.

He was for real!?

Before Hong Mo could finish marveling, he caught sight of Mao Shaohui, who had yet to make a move, pulling out a handgun.

A handgun? Hong Mo found it amusing. Was something like that even useful against him anymore? Though it did look rather exquisite.

As if sensing Hong Mo's disdain, Mao Shaohui silently smiled at him and pulled the trigger. In that instant, Hong Mo's scalp prickled, and on pure instinct, he raised the Sand Iron Sword before himself.

Bang!

The gunshot wasn't particularly loud, but a golden bullet reached Hong Mo's eyes almost instantly. At the last possible moment, Hong Mo's eyes widened as he shifted the Sand Iron Sword upward, placing it directly in its path.

The instant the bullet collided with the Sand Iron Sword, the originally sturdy, sharp blade began to collapse from the point of contact, turning back into fine iron sand. After piercing through the Sand Iron Sword, the golden bullet continued toward Hong Mo's glabella.

I'm... going to die!

Hong Mo had no idea how fast his thoughts were moving. Countless fragments flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. In that instant, the world seemed to stop, and he could clearly see the rapidly spinning golden bullet.

Dodge, dodge it!

Hong Mo roared inwardly, but his body was like a puppet with tangled strings—slow and sluggish.

Get out of the way!

The fear of death filled Hong Mo's heart. He refused to believe that he would die just like this, to an ordinary bullet. Between life and death lay a great terror!

Trickles of blood seeped from between Hong Mo's eyes, while a thread of electricity appeared between his glabella and the golden bullet.

The electric current crawled forward like a snail, wrapping around and tugging at the bullet. Meanwhile, Hong Mo struggled to tilt his head backward. Yet the golden bullet relentlessly continued toward his glabella.

To outsiders, the instant Mao Shaohui pulled the trigger, Hong Mo raised the Sand Iron Sword in front of himself to block it. Then the bullet sent his entire body flying through the air, violently smashing him into a distant wall.

A violent explosion erupted from the sturdy wall above Hong Mo's head. It looked as though the bullet had pierced through Hong Mo's skull before striking the wall.

Hong Mo fell from the wall without making any movement.

Dead?

Fatty's heart skipped a beat.

Boundless pain radiated from Hong Mo's forehead, and his thoughts were still somewhat muddled. In that instant just now, he had used electric current to pull the bullet, slowing it down and shifting it upward, while he himself had struggled to tilt his head back to evade it.

In the end, he had only felt an intense pain in his glabella. He didn't know whether he had truly dodged it or not.

He probably had dodged it. Otherwise, he should already be dead.

Blood slowly ran down from Hong Mo's forehead and eyes, covering his entire face. Slowly, Hong Mo raised his right hand and touched his forehead. An indented mark had appeared at his glabella.

"Ha, ha, hahaha!" Hong Mo laughed, one word at a time. Tears mixed with blood, filling his eyes.