[Holy crap! They recreated her second phase too! Now that's a boss with presence! You playable characters really ought to learn a thing or two!]
Ji Feng was beside himself with excitement.
[Nahida! How strong is La Signora now?!]
[I don't know, but she's already far stronger than that Ling Yuan Douluo. She's the strongest person in this city now. She originally seemed to be restricted just like Kokomi and me, but her Witch Transformation lets her absorb elemental energy directly into her own body, bypassing that restriction. That's why her strength increased so much.]
Nahida explained.
[Right now, it's as though her actual body came straight from Teyvat to the Douluo Continent.]
[She's already stronger than a Titled Douluo! If I'd pulled a combat character, couldn't I have been mowing down enemies ages ago?! Huh?! You two desk jockeys, speak up!]
[Vision holders as strong as La Signora aren't exactly common! Take Kujou Sara, for example. Even if her actual body came to the Douluo Continent, I feel she'd only be as strong as a Soul Saint,] Kokomi argued.
[Wait! You've led me off track! The problem now is how we get out of this! Ling Yuan definitely can't beat her! La Signora actually came to ambush and kill a Spirit Hall prodigy, so she obviously won't want word getting out. She'll probably kill the witnesses. How are you and Ah Yin planning to fight her?]
[What are you talking about?! Water beats fire! Kokomi, I believe you can defeat La Signora! Hurry up and get over here!]
Ji Feng began giving orders.
[I'm fighting La Signora?!]
[That's right. My identity is rather sensitive, so you should do it, Kokomi.]
Nahida chimed in as well.
[Huh? Are you two serious? I'm a strategist! How can I be on the front lines?]
[You're not chickening out, are you?]
[I just don't want to face a battle I'm certain to lose... fine! She's only La Signora! I'll do it. And no using this as an excuse to bully me!]
"Little turkey, why aren't you crowing anymore?"
Elsewhere, La Signora, who had transformed into the Crimson Witch of Flames, had condensed her blazing flames into a whip and already inflicted grievous injuries on Ling Yuan Douluo.
"Run!"
Ling Yuan Douluo glanced toward Bibi Dong and struggled to signal for her to flee.
"Admirable loyalty. Sadly, it's all in vain."
The battle had changed in the blink of an eye. Against La Signora's second phase, Ling Yuan Douluo couldn't even fight back. La Signora mercilessly planted a foot on her chest, driving her slender, flame-wreathed high heel down hard. Savage fire battered her delicate body, instantly burning away most of her dress and exposing broad stretches of skin. Her whole body was a pitiful sight.
"Ugh!"
Ling Yuan Douluo could no longer even speak, her face twisted in pain. La Signora was in no hurry to take her life. With a teasing half-smile, she said, "Why make that face? Don't worry, I'll spare your life. I happen to need a maid to run errands, and I think you'd be just right."
"Ji Feng, run. She's after me. She won't bother with you."
Seeing this, Bibi Dong quietly warned the idiot beside her. With life and death hanging in the balance, she simply didn't want any needless casualties.
Rather than retreat, Bibi Dong then advanced, walking toward La Signora of her own accord as six Soul Rings circled her.
Her First Martial Soul, the Death Spider Emperor, possessed her body.
Bibi Dong's figure abruptly twisted and mutated, a layer of bizarre, pitch-black armor rapidly covering her body. A carapace concealed most of her face. Beneath her eyes, four additional small eyes with vertical pupils emerged. Below her waist, her body became a huge, round sphere, with eight thick, long legs extending from it. Dense green hair bristled along the legs, which dripped with nauseating, viscous slime.
The once holy and graceful maiden instantly became sinister and uncanny. Bibi Dong disliked this appearance, but at this point, she had no other choice.
"Oh? Instead of running away, you're coming toward me?" La Signora seductively licked her red lips and spoke with interest.
It wasn't that Bibi Dong didn't want to flee. She simply knew that exposing her back to a Super Douluo left her no chance of escape. Taking the initiative to attack, on the other hand, might let her fight for a sliver of survival.
"You don't even dare give your name or where you're from. You're nothing but a rat hiding your head and tail, so what do I have to fear? Didn't you come here to ambush and kill me?" Bibi Dong retorted. "Now that I've walked right into your net, you must be pleased."
An innocent expression appeared on La Signora's alluring face. She winked playfully and teased, "Don't make me sound like some murderous maniac. Killing you isn't strictly necessary. If you're willing to forsake Spirit Hall, I'd be delighted to become your new teacher~"
In other words, if she refused to join, she would be killed without mercy.
Anyone could hear that unspoken threat.
"Dream on! I, Bibi Dong, swear loyalty to Spirit Hall until death!" Bibi Dong refused without the slightest hesitation.
"Hmph!"
La Signora gave a soft snort and said unhappily, "What a shame. It seems I'll have to resort to some bloody, violent methods."
Just then, Ji Feng suddenly reached out and blocked Bibi Dong's path.
"Idiot, do you want to die with me?"
Bibi Dong looked at him expressionlessly. At this point, nothing this unbelievable fellow did could stir the slightest emotion in her. It was merely another reckless attempt to get himself killed. Bibi Dong thought that sort of behavior was perfectly normal for an idiot like Ji Feng.
"Let me make this clear first. Even if you're fantasizing about playing the hero and saving the beauty, I won't feel a thing."
"You think rather too highly of yourself. I just want to solve my own problem. She may indeed have come here for you, but her very presence here is most likely because of me. I have to resolve this myself."
With his back to Bibi Dong, Ji Feng looked at La Signora and asked gravely, "La Signora, Eighth of the Fatui Harbingers, how exactly did you get here?"
"You know her?!"
Bibi Dong was stunned.
"I told you. She's in this world because of me."
La Signora was equally astonished. Her lovely face turned frosty. "How could you possibly know me? Who exactly are you?"
"Then let's change appearances!"
[Wait! You're making me enter like this?!] A girl's startled cry rang out in his mind.
Before Ji Feng had finished speaking, his figure instantly transformed into a petite, graceful girl in a shrine maiden's outfit, with long blue-and-pink hair and delicate, lovely features.
"Sangonomiya Kokomi, Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island. Am I worthy of your notice, Lady Harbinger?"
Seeing Ji Feng turn into Kokomi with her own eyes, Bibi Dong's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died. Before, it had only been a possibility. Now, it was a certainty!
She felt an urge to strangle Ji Feng first!
You lustful scoundrel who took liberties with me! You've earned your own death!
At the sight, La Signora's expression immediately relaxed again. She said with amusement, "And here I thought it was someone important. So it's Inazuma's little mermaid. I thought... what, does Watatsumi Island want to oppose the Fatui too?"
"Snezhnaya is short-handed at the moment. I suppose catching a clever little mermaid would give us something to work with."
La Signora said no more. She soared high into the air, enormous black-and-red wings spreading behind her as though blotting out the sky and sun. Then she shook loose a skyful of sparks, which hurtled toward the three of them like countless meteors.
Hydro energy erupted around Kokomi, instantly forming a rainbowlike robe of water that wrapped around her. Then she lightly tapped the ground with her delicate foot and rose into the air, actually beginning to swim through it. Accompanying her beautiful swimming motions, countless streams of Hydro energy condensed into enormous globes of water, enveloping all three of them.
Ah Yin extended her hand and activated her fourth Soul Skill, Myriad Grass Converging.
Blue-green light shone over the three of them.
Kokomi instantly felt her stamina and mental energy surge. Both the strength and recovery speed of her Hydro energy increased greatly, and the water globes' defenses grew more solid. Bibi Dong received the same protection.
Bibi Dong glanced at Kokomi's fair, tender neck and, with barely any hesitation, activated her second Soul Skill, Bloodthirsty Dance, sinking her teeth into Kokomi with a vicious bite.
"Eek!" Kokomi trembled all over and looked at her with a flushed face, asking in a soft voice, "What are you doing?!"
Secretly pleased, Bibi Dong licked the blood from the corner of her mouth and explained with feigned indifference, "Activating my Soul Skill. It can only be activated after I drink blood."
After consuming a target's blood, Bloodthirsty Dance greatly increased all of the user's attributes according to the blood's strength and compatibility, continuously consuming Soul Power for the duration of the enhancement.
At the same time, Bibi Dong felt somewhat disgusted. She thought Ji Feng was truly a pervert; when he pretended to be a woman, he was even more delicate and soft than she was.
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