Night of the Black Dragon's Wild Dance (3)

The air fragments he released were transparent as well, with something extra added to them.

Several rings of pitch-black currents swirled two or three meters around him. The air compressed and took on color, forming a kind of "prototype air wall." More precisely, it was a fortress of wind connected to the spiritual world, like the Forbidden Domain where a monarch resided.

Lu Mingfei had yet to fully grasp the Forbidden Domain's true effects. His intuition told him that it was somewhat different from Word Spirit: Blood Sickle, not merely an added effect of the Word Spirit. The air wall was more like a thin outer shell of the Forbidden Domain; the inner shell protecting its core had yet to form.

In his view, the "black air wall" could only be considered a prototype of the Forbidden Domain, and a rudimentary prototype at that. It was nowhere near the flashy, overpowered effects of boss-level characters in anime.

Its tested defensive capabilities were currently rather limited. Against steel-core live rounds, it could probably only provide some resistance and slowing effect.

That was to say, when a rifle bullet entered the air-wall fortress, the fortress could not completely erase its kinetic energy. It could only reduce the bullet's spin somewhat.

Small-caliber handgun rounds with kinetic energy below 300 joules could have most of their lethality negated. Bullets from a Makarov pistol would be about right, but a Desert Eagle's rounds would be far less affected.

The air-wall fortress could not last very long, though he could cancel it at any time with a snap of his fingers. Maintaining it continuously gave Lu Mingfei headaches and made him yawn, but it was no big deal. A nap of twenty or thirty minutes would restore the mental energy it consumed.

The black air wall opened a gap, letting the hot wind flow in.

"I once guessed that this place was like a world that belonged to me alone. There were none of the troubles I had to face in high school, none of Aunt's nagging, none of that damned loneliness where the world would eventually have only me left... Well, okay, there was still some loneliness."

The heat stirred the hair over his forehead. Lu Mingfei curled his fingers slightly, the black currents assisting him as he controlled and dominated the air fragments. The wind elements in the air seemed ecstatic beyond measure, endlessly groveling for his favor.

He had always liked the evening breeze. Best of all if it came with a sunset, a warm rooftop where he could sit and swing his legs, and a humming air-conditioner unit beside him.

Drawing the silver Desert Eagle from his waist, Lu Mingfei raised his arm and blew apart the right iliac bone of a Deadpool. Blade and gun moved together, blood spraying as the "blood-drinking" air fragments streamed into the wound beneath the Deadpool's scales.

His swordsmanship truly was not very impressive, fortunately his shooting and physical abilities made up for it.

The flying Blood Sickles were meant to deepen the wounds on the Deadpools.

He had fought through Genji Heavy Industries too many times. He knew all too well how to kill. A single Blood Sickle could slice through the skin of most living things, but that definitely did not include the iron-hard black scales covering a Deadpool. Tearing through them by concentrating the attack consumed too much mental energy.

"Anyway, I once wanted to party up with you guys and run dungeons for the rest of my life, to escape reality forever. But at least I've achieved something here."

Lu Mingfei continued talking to himself, saying what he had long wanted to say.

"That was a fallacy. It was my... selfish prejudice. Again and again, I had to admit that you weren't just NPC dolls in a dungeon. Whether this game's setting is a parallel timeline or the future, you're people far more real than I imagined. You all have things you insist on and reasons for doing so."

"But what about me? What should I insist on? I'm just an orange soda, equally out of place here—" Lu Mingfei roared out the envy and resentment he had once harbored.

Chu Zihang and Caesar turned at the same time to look at Lu Mingfei, whose face was twisted with exhaustion. Startled, they wanted to speak but stopped themselves. They had rarely seen Lu Mingfei in such a state, speaking like a beaten dog while slaughtering everything in his path.

As though he had recalled something, Chu Zihang stared deeply at Lu Mingfei twice. His burning Golden Eyes reflected the youth's figure, as if separated by a lifetime.

Caesar gave a muffled grunt. Orange soda again. What does he have against it? He opened his mouth, wanting to say, "How could you be orange soda? Today, you're at least a Hennessy brewed from premium cognac."

But then he realized he could not say it. Today's Lu Mingfei was magnificent, like a man rather than a boy. A man this magnificent did not need comforting. Lu Mingfei was voicing his heart, not asking for help.

Back at Takamagahara, Lu Mingfei had indeed seemed wilted and pathetic, but the guy before him was different. He truly seemed ready to dance before the shrine like a pale cherry blossom.

Just what kind of flower-arranging enlightenment had this guy attained at Takamagahara? Could being a host really benefit the bloodline awakening of an S-Rank Mixed-Blood?

Covering his constantly splitting wounds, Gen Chisei, pale-faced, silently killed a Deadpool with a severed tail. His injuries were even more severe than Chu Zihang's. In such terrible condition, he could not do much.

If not for Emperor's Blood, he would not even have been able to maintain consciousness.

He had been listening all along, but could not find a way to join in.

"Later, I came to understand something. This place is not a fantasy game unrelated to reality after all."

"There's a chance I'll meet you all in the future. I have to push open that door."

The Desert Eagle had run out of bullets. Lu Mingfei stepped over Deadpool corpses and fallen shrines, pulling one famed samurai sword after another from behind the murals. He drew blade after blade and cut down his enemies, replacing them whenever they chipped, until the battlefield was completely reduced to a sea of blood and fire.

"Damn it, I'm not the kind of person who gives up on friends easily. I hate tragedies. I'm scared of them to death."

As he swung his blade, Lu Mingfei glanced at the Muromachi masterwork sword in his hand, like these weapons that had once been ground, polished, and engraved by swordsmiths.

If they were not drawn today, no one in the world would ever know they had been hidden behind the murals of an ancient temple, left there to rot away.

"From now on, I'll try to get a happy ending in every dream dungeon! I'm already cheating this hard in my dreams—if I still can't make things fantastic, I might as well smash my head into tofu until it turns into minced meat!"

Amid the blazing inferno and sea of blood, Lu Mingfei finished his declaration to himself.

The dragon blood in his body left him so exhilarated he could barely restrain himself. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to roar at the world.

Some words would suffocate him to death if he did not say them.

"Give me a hand. Are you really trying to make mapo tofu out of Deadpools, Master Lu? The elevator doors are open... Let's go. That chain explosion you mentioned seems about due," Caesar called from behind him, baring his teeth in a ragged grin.

"If we keep fighting, we'll die together—a violent, romantic death worthy of Sicilian mob songs."

The elevator had arrived, and howling cold wind poured from the shaft.

"With pecs that size, if you were a blonde beauty, I wouldn't mind some kind of Sicilian lovers' suicide... Relax. We won't die."

Lu Mingfei almost head-on forced the Deadpool horde back, but Deadpools were such greedy creatures. After circling around, they closed in again. Caesar, coming to assist, shoved a gun barrel into a Deadpool's gaping mouth before firing and blasting it away.

Caesar maintained Blood Rage as he ran. His Golden Eyes burned with frenzied intensity despite his grievous injuries, and he carried a bloodstained white shirt in one hand.

Of the three people by the elevator shaft, he was the only one still capable of strenuous movement. Naturally, he had to run over and assist his teammates.

The other two wounded men had both lost too much blood. If this continued much longer, they might not even be able to withstand the recoil of a gun. They staggered with every step, and going forward would only burden Lu Mingfei. Since he still had some strength left, he had to do something.

Even though Lu Mingfei did not seem to have reached his limit, the Deadpool horde exerted far too much pressure. Caesar's pride would not allow him, fully able to run and jump, to hide at a distance firing a gun while his friends bled in the trenches.

His assistance was undoubtedly useful. More accurately, what made the difference was the bloodstained shirt in his hand—it had been stripped from Gen Chisei.

Clothing soaked in Emperor's Blood could draw away many of the Deadpools currently besieging Lu Mingfei.

Caesar hurled the bloody shirt with all his strength toward the distant sea of fire, then immediately drew the Desert Eagle and opened fire. A little Emperor's Blood had stained his hands as well, and two greedy creatures that did not want to run far fixed their eyes on him.

A new round of explosions was about to begin. If they were held up, they were finished.

Lu Mingfei, who was still frantically finishing off the Deadpools around him, came back to his senses and leaped toward Caesar.

Kicking away the Deadpool on his left, he tackled Caesar to the ground, avoiding the bite of another one behind them. The two rolled into the elevator, filthy and disheveled.

Chu Zihang fired fiercely at their pursuers while Gen Chisei swiftly hit the elevator button.

The old freight elevator made a strange creaking sound, but fortunately, its doors still shut with difficulty.

The second round of explosions abruptly detonated. Blinding light burst forth like an exploding sun and flooded the corners, while a heat wave at hurricane speed swept through the hall, instantly igniting the remaining explosives.