Countless black-and-red flames fell from the heavens, eating downward like a torrential storm. The barrier formed by the water sphere instantly turned into billowing clouds of scalding steam, obscuring the three women's vision and searing their bodies.
Before La Signora's shower of sparks could burn through the barrier, they would suffocate in the sweltering heat inside.
Ah Yin dragged the sickly Kokomi outside, whose face was already flushed red from the unbearable heat.
"Idiot!"
Bibi Dong glanced sidelong at Kokomi and sighed helplessly.
Then her expression sharpened, and her fourth Soul Skill lit up. The scales covering her body instantly thickened severalfold, taking on an eerie, ferocious appearance. She stamped down hard, and her External Soul Bone, the Six-Winged Purple Light Wings, appeared behind her. Her entire body shot forward like a cannonball.
[Fourth Soul Skill: Thorn Spider Armor]
Through the curling white mist, the monstrous silhouette Bibi Dong had become lunged at La Signora. Before she reached her, countless pitch-black webs shot forward. Bibi Dong thrust out her hand, an eerie black-and-purple radiance spreading across her palm as she aimed straight for La Signora's abdomen.
[Third Soul Skill: Death Spider Web Restraint] [First Soul Skill: Touch of Death]
The elegant girl with long pinkish-purple hair went all out, unleashing Soul Skills in succession and bringing every trick she had to bear.
"Oh? So eager to throw yourself into the net?"
La Signora merely sneered. Before the Death Spider Web Restraint could reach her, the flames surrounding her burned it away. With a flick of her delicate hand, the fire condensed into a long whip. A casual swing sent it lashing viciously at Bibi Dong with several sharp cracks through the air.
Whoosh!
Bang!
The flaming whip slammed heavily into a massive shield that appeared out of thin air.
The shield was deep black, its surface covered in coarse, twisted spikes. Each thorn jutted outward unevenly like a lurking spider's leg, shimmering with a dim purple-black glow. Every barb carried the Death Spider Emperor's deadly poison; an ordinary person would die from even the slightest touch.
[Fifth Soul Skill: Thousand Blades, Ten Thousand Shields]
Unfortunately, La Signora's fire whip clearly did not fall into that category.
"Paltry tricks!"
La Signora laughed delightedly. Spreading her hands, she conjured a flaming whip in each, striking from both sides. With a sweep of the two whips, she tore apart the massive shield formed by Bibi Dong's Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill in an instant.
Yet Bibi Dong was nowhere to be seen behind it.
A shadow suddenly appeared above La Signora's head. The half-human, half-spider figure bearing the Six-Winged Purple Light Wings came crashing down. All six spider legs straightened into venomous spears, simultaneously targeting six vital points: La Signora's throat, heart, lower abdomen, both knees, and the junction of her shoulder and neck.
Every one of Bibi Dong's Soul Skills carried deadly poison. Naturally, the half-human, half-spider body manifested through her Martial Soul Possession was also steeped in venom, every barbed spider hair bearing a potent toxin.
"Plenty of tricks, but none of them useful!"
La Signora's red lips curved upward. She beckoned with her delicate hand, and the black-and-red wings behind her spread wide. Like a raging storm, they forcibly held the descending figure aloft. The spider legs stopped half a meter short, unable to advance another inch.
But the rolling heat radiating from La Signora had already traveled through her wings into Bibi Dong's entire body, scorching her crimson. Even with multiple Soul Skills reinforcing her, Bibi Dong was merely a Soul Emperor. She could not withstand the flames that naturally surrounded La Signora.
"No! I've got you!" Bibi Dong broke into a smile.
[Sixth Soul Skill: Blood-Sucking Spider Thorn]
Eight more spider legs suddenly shot from her back, becoming pitch-black shadows. With a series of sharp whistles, they pierced La Signora's chest, abdomen, thighs, shoulders, and other spots before her disbelieving eyes. Venom instantly flooded her body. The effect of the first Soul Skill, Touch of Death, activated at the same time, inflicting weakness and drastically reducing all her attributes, while Blood-Sucking Spider Thorn ravenously drained her Soul Power.
"I... I'm actually going to... die at the hands of a weakling like you..." La Signora's face turned deathly pale, and even her aura seemed to weaken considerably.
Bibi Dong had honed this combination of Soul Skills through countless battles. Even a Soul Douluo would suffer grievous injuries the instant she landed it. Meanwhile, the poison and debilitating effects would give Bibi Dong an overwhelming advantage in a prolonged fight.
"I won!" Seeing her reaction, Bibi Dong could not stop excitement and joy from appearing on her lovely face.
But-
"I was only teasing you! How could something this feeble possibly work on me? You idiot!"
La Signora suddenly flashed a vicious smile. Her pallor and frailty vanished in an instant, replaced by naked malice and sinister charm.
"If you like sucking my blood, you can just say so! I'm very generous!"
Scalding, blazing energy surged backward through the spider thorns into Bibi Dong's body. The venom clinging to them was instantly burned away by the flames, but the fire continued into her meridians, boiling through every limb and bone and erupting without restraint.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed from Bibi Dong's mouth. Fire burned her from the inside out, roasting her flesh into a horrific state. Her Martial Soul Possession collapsed, the half-human, half-spider form dissipating. She returned to her girlish appearance and fell helplessly from the sky.
"Hmph!"
La Signora gave a cold snort.
Judging by Bibi Dong's current condition, she had no chance of surviving even if left alone.
La Signora lowered her head and surveyed the bloody holes the spider legs had punched through her body, her expression darkening.
Then she slowly descended to the ground, drawing Pyro around her wounds. Roaring flames scorched the injuries, gradually burning away the poison remaining inside her as the wounds slowly healed. Only the weakening effect of Touch of Death lingered, refusing to fade. It irritated her, and for the moment, she could find no way to remove it.
So this is... how it ends for me?
The searing pain left Bibi Dong without even the strength to speak. Her vision blurred, and weightlessness enveloped her body. She could feel the sky growing ever more distant as she fell. Everything from her childhood until now flickered before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
Am I... going to die?
How can it end here... is this my fate?
I don't want to die... I... still haven't...
As though answering the girl's prayer, a firm embrace awaited her at the end of her fall.
Bang!
Bibi Dong fell from high in the sky, but instead of crashing into the ground, she landed against something soft and frail.
Cool, soothing Hydro energy slowly nourished her body, driving out the flames raging within. Bibi Dong's vision gradually cleared, revealing a beautiful, delicate face now twisted and overflowing with sorrow. Its owner seemed to be screaming something at the top of his lungs.
Kokomi... no, Ji Feng.
Her mind had only just begun to emerge from its daze when the buzzing in her ears receded, allowing her to hear the cries coming from the girl's form.
"No! No! No! How can you die here? You can't possibly die here! You won't die, you absolutely won't! You're supposed to become the Supreme Pontiff! You're supposed to become the Rakshasa God! Why? How could you possibly die here?"
What is he even talking about...?
This idiot.
Bibi Dong, who had felt somewhat sorrowful, instead found herself a little at peace in that instant.
Making this guy show an expression like that... doesn't feel so bad.
"Ji Feng, what... what exactly did you see? Who are you, really?"
Bibi Dong tried to sit up. Only then did she notice out of the corner of her eye that, to catch her as she fell from such a height, both arms of the girl's body had been all but snapped apart. Blood poured down in streams, lending Sangonomiya Kokomi's appearance a heartbreaking beauty.
Only at that moment did Bibi Dong realize what Ji Feng had done.
"...Why would you go this far for me?"
A sudden sting rose in Bibi Dong's nose, and crystalline tears welled in her beautiful eyes. She gazed at Kokomi's grief-soaked face, trying to understand the thoughts in Ji Feng's heart, but she could not comprehend them at all. This sacrifice made no sense to her.
"This is only our second meeting, at most. Why did you... why did you... why did you save me? Why didn't you run? You had plenty of time to escape, didn't you?"
"Ji Feng, answer me!"
Before you continue