At nine that night, in the abandoned textile factory complex on the outskirts of Lumina Square.
Moonlight leaked through the broken window frames, casting deathly pale patches across the dust-covered concrete floor.
The air smelled of mildew, mixed with something more pungent-the scorched tang left by Ether Corruption, and... blood.
Lin Shuo stood in the center of the factory, his black combat uniform almost blending into the shadows.
His eyes glowed dark red in the darkness-his Three-Tomoe Sharingan was fully activated as he scanned his surroundings.
[System notification: Entered a high-risk area. Numerous active Ether signatures detected-Ethereals. Number: estimating...]
The number on the interface climbed wildly.
37... 56... 84... before finally stopping at 112.
One hundred and twelve Ethereals.
The address Lao Mo had given him was correct, but the intel was wrong-or rather, the intel itself was part of the trap.
There were no missing children.
There was only a meticulously prepared slaughterhouse.
And he was the prey.
"Whew-"
Lin Shuo slowly exhaled, his white breath dissipating in the cold air.
He raised his right hand, palm up.
[System command: Summon-God Cutter]
There were no dazzling visual effects, no ruptures in space.
As naturally as lifting something out of water, the Tang-style hengdao, God Cutter, appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Its scabbard was a deep, inky black, made of something neither metal nor wood, its surface covered in fine, dark patterns resembling some ancient script.
Black leather wrapped the hilt, and a dark red gemstone was set into its pommel-at that moment, it gave off a faint glow, like a sleeping eye.
Lin Shuo gripped the hilt.
It felt cold, but a strange warmth soon spread from his palm, flowing through his blood vessels and into his entire body.
It was as though the blade had a pulse of its own, synchronizing with his heartbeat.
"Szzzt-"
The first low growl came from a corner.
Then a second, a third...
The shadows began to writhe.
White, twisted limbs crawled out from behind abandoned textile machines, dangled through holes in the ceiling, and surged out of cracks in the floor.
Their forms varied-some retained human upper bodies, while their lower halves had twisted into many-legged insect shapes; some had lost their human forms entirely, resembling monsters haphazardly assembled from several corpses; others had swollen into enormous sacs, their surfaces covered in yellow-and-black stripes.
But they shared one feature: they all had eyes.
Clouded eyes, filled with madness.
At that moment, more than a hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on Lin Shuo.
"ROAR-!!!"
The first Ethereal lunged.
It was a thing with a human face and a spider's body, its eight long, jointed legs scraping shrilly across the floor. Its upper half bore the face of a middle-aged man-his expression contorted, saliva still hanging from the corners of his mouth.
Lin Shuo did not move.
Not until that face was less than three meters away, its foul stench washing over him-
Clang!
God Cutter left its sheath.
The blade traced a silvery arc through the darkness, so fast it seemed an illusion.
There was no sound.
The Ethereal froze in midair, then split down the middle-the cut was perfectly smooth, as though made by a laser.
The two halves of its corpse fell to either side, spraying Ether-infused black blood that hissed corrosively in the air.
[Killed Ethereal (incomplete form) ×1. Experience gained: +150]
The system notification flashed past.
Lin Shuo did not look.
His gaze swept across the entire factory.
One hundred and eleven.
With a slight flick, the blade shook off the black blood clinging to it.
God Cutter shone coldly in the moonlight-its blade was slightly longer than that of an ordinary Tang-style hengdao, roughly 1.2 meters, with a curve as graceful as a crescent moon.
A narrow fuller ran along the spine, with deeper patterns engraved along its bottom, resembling pathways for conducting energy.
The most unusual part was its edge-not the silvery white of metal, but a nearly transparent pale cyan, so thin it was almost invisible.
With that last cut, Lin Shuo had not even felt any resistance.
It was like slicing through air.
"Fine blade."
A voice came from the factory's second floor.
Lao Mo crouched on the railing, his dark gray eyes fixed on God Cutter in Lin Shuo's hand, faint crunching sounds coming from the lollipop in his mouth.
When had he arrived?
Lin Shuo had not noticed him at all-although much of his attention had been on the Ethereals, Lao Mo's ability to conceal himself was genuinely frightening.
"...You knew it was a trap all along?"
Lin Shuo asked, lowering his blade's tip, though his muscles remained tense.
Lao Mo shook his head. "Suspected it. Wasn't sure."
He jumped off the railing and landed without a sound.
"The intel. Too easy."
He walked up beside Lin Shuo, his eyes still fixed on God Cutter. "So I followed you here."
"Thanks."
"No need."
Lao Mo finally looked away from the blade and scanned the Ethereals swarming toward them from all sides.
"...This many? That's excessive."
"Yeah."
"Can you handle them?"
Lin Shuo did not answer. Instead, he turned his hand and held God Cutter horizontally before him.
The dark red gemstone on the blade began to glow-no longer faintly, but pulsing rhythmically like a heart.
"SZZZT-!!!"
The Ethereals moved.
They surged in from every direction like a tide.
White, twisted limbs, frenzied howls, the scorched stench of Ether corroding the air-
Lin Shuo moved.
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
He pressed his left hand to the ground, and blue arcs of electricity erupted around him, instantly spreading across the floor like an electric net.
The dozen or so Ethereals at the front stiffened, their Ether-infused muscles spasming and twitching in the current.
But those behind them trampled over their companions' corpses and kept charging.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Lin Shuo drew a deep breath, his chest swelling, and then-
"WHOOSH-!!!"
A massive fireball over three meters in diameter spewed from his mouth, its crimson flames instantly engulfing the Ethereals ahead.
The scorched stench grew stronger.
But there were too many Ethereals.
The fireball cleared only a temporary path, and the Ethereals on either side immediately filled the gap.
And-
"ROAR-!!!"
An exceptionally tall Ethereal leaped down from the ceiling.
It stood over three meters tall, its body pieced together from the limbs of four or five different humans. At the very top was a woman's head-long hair hanging loose, an eerie smile on her face.
Lin Shuo's gaze grew grave.
"Lao Mo."
"Yeah."
"Help me clear the field for three minutes."
"...All right."
Lao Mo drew two military daggers from behind his back-their blades were matte black, reflecting none of the moonlight.
He moved.
Like a ghost merging with the shadows, he appeared instantly on the Ethereals' flank.
His daggers traced simple arcs, every strike precisely hitting the Ether cores in the Ethereals' necks.
"Shhk-shhk-"
Black blood sprayed.
There was nothing superfluous in Lao Mo's movements. Every step, every strike, was like the execution of a preset program.
Efficient. Lethal.
But there were simply too many Ethereals.
Lin Shuo drew a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly-
Then the pattern changed.
Mangekyō.
Pinwheel-shaped patterns slowly rotated in his pupils, the dark red light almost spilling from his eyes.
Orange-red energy surged from Lin Shuo's body, enveloping him like flames.
Then the energy began to condense, taking shape-
Bones.
First came the outlines of ribs, then a spine, then a skull...
An orange-red skeleton five meters tall enclosed Lin Shuo.
Susanoo: First Form.
Dark red flames burned in the skeleton's eye sockets, its empty eyes "looking" at the surrounding Ethereals.
"ROAR-!!!"
Sensing the threat, the complete-form Ethereal roared and lunged first.
Its arm swelled and deformed into a massive bone hammer, which it smashed viciously toward Susanoo's head.
CLANG-!!!
A deafening crash rang out like colliding metal.
The bone hammer struck the skull, leaving only a faint white mark.
Susanoo raised its skeletal arm-the movement was slow, but carried irresistible force.
BAM!
One punch.
The complete-form Ethereal's chest caved in, and its body flew backward like a cannonball, smashing through three abandoned textile machines before stopping.
But it was not dead yet.
Its twisted limbs struggled to get back up.
Lin Shuo gave it no chance.
Susanoo's right hand curled around empty air, and orange-red energy condensed into a massive spear in its palm.
"Go."
The spear flew.
"SHHK-!!!"
It pierced the Ethereal's head with perfect accuracy.
The complete form's death caused a brief stir among the other Ethereals.
But soon, their frenzied instincts overpowered their fear.
They lunged even more wildly.
The white tide engulfed Susanoo's skeletal frame.
Bone hammers, sharp claws, corrosive fluids-all manner of attacks rained down on the orange-red bones.
Crack...
Fine fractures began to appear.
Susanoo's defenses were powerful, but maintaining it consumed enormous amounts of chakra and ocular power.
In Lin Shuo's current state, he could maintain the First Form for ten minutes at most.
He had to finish this quickly.
He drew a deep breath, and the patterns in his Mangekyō Sharingan spun even faster.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
This time, it wasn't a fireball.
It was a sea of fire.
What erupted from Susanoo's mouth-or rather, from the skull's eye sockets-wasn't flame, but a crimson torrent.
Like magma bursting through a broken dam, it instantly engulfed the sixty-degree sector ahead.
The heat was so intense that the air began to warp.
The Ethereals charging into that area vaporized before they could even scream.
But Fire Release had a limited range.
And-
"ROAR-!!!"
Heavier footsteps came from deep inside the factory.
Three... no, five fully developed Ethereals emerged from the shadows.
They were larger, with stronger ether activity.
This was trouble.
Lin Shuo could feel his chakra draining rapidly.
The cracks in Susanoo were multiplying.
Lao Mo was struggling too-he had abandoned his dagger and drawn a folding, suppressed submachine gun from his waist.
"Ratatatat-!!"
The special ammunition blasted bowl-sized bloody holes in the Ethereals.
But the fully developed ones regenerated too quickly.
"Lin Shuo." Lao Mo's voice came through the communicator-this was the first time he had initiated contact.
"...Go ahead."
"The roof. The hole."
Lin Shuo looked up.
There was a massive hole in the factory roof, revealing the night sky outside-
Dark clouds were gathering.
It was time.
"Lao Mo, fall back."
"...All right."
Lao Mo leaped back without hesitation, rolling several times to put distance between them.
Lin Shuo dismissed Susanoo.
The orange-red skeleton dissolved into motes of light.
He landed back on the ground and dropped to one knee, panting.
He had used over sixty percent of his chakra, and little of his ocular power remained.
But it was enough.
Sensing an opportunity, all five fully developed Ethereals lunged at once.
Lin Shuo didn't dodge.
He formed hand seals in front of his chest.
Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
This time, the Fire Release wasn't aimed at the Ethereals.
It was aimed at the roof.
A crimson torrent of flame surged skyward, blasting through the hole and straight into the night sky.
The scorching flames met the freezing clouds-
"RUMBLE-!!!"
Thunder.
Heated by the flames, the dark clouds churned with violent convection, and electrical charges began to accumulate.
Lin Shuo raised his head, his Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on the clouds.
He could "see" them-the leaping charges, the flowing electrons, the power of nature on the verge of eruption.
Not enough.
"Again!"
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!!!"
A second torrent of flame.
This one almost drained all his remaining chakra.
The clouds boiled in earnest.
Lightning darted between them, and thunder shook the factory.
The five fully developed Ethereals had already reached him.
The nearest one's claws were less than half a meter from Lin Shuo's throat.
But Lin Shuo smiled.
He raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at the sky.
Blue arcs began dancing at his fingertip.
No, it wasn't Chidori.
It was a lightning rod.
"Come on-"
Lin Shuo spoke softly.
Then-
"BOOM-!!!!!!"
Heaven and earth turned white.
A thick bolt of lightning struck down from the clouds-not one bolt, but dozens, hundreds-
They converged in midair, twisting, taking shape-
Finally, they became a massive beast formed of pure lightning.
Kirin.
The lightning Kirin threw back its head and roared-though it made no sound, everyone "heard" it.
It was a rumble that acted directly upon the soul.
Then it plunged.
Target: the entire factory.
"Lao Mo!!!" Lin Shuo shouted.
"I know!"
Lao Mo had already retreated to the edge of the factory, pressing himself against the wall, his entire body almost blending into the shadows.
Lin Shuo also darted backward, forming hand seals at the same time-
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Three earthen walls rose from the ground, forming a triangle that sheltered him in the center.
Then Kirin descended.
"CRACKLE-!!!!!!"
It wasn't an explosion.
It was annihilation.
The torrent of lightning swallowed everything.
The Ethereals' howls, the sounds of ether corrosion, the crashing of the building-all were drowned out by the thunder's roar.
White light filled his vision.
Lin Shuo closed his eyes, but his Sharingan could still "see"-
The Ethereals broke apart in the lightning, vaporized, and vanished.
The fully developed ones desperately raised ether shields, but before the might of nature, they were as fragile as paper.
The entire factory was collapsing.
Yet the lightning seemed to possess awareness, deftly avoiding Lin Shuo's and Lao Mo's positions.
Three seconds.
The lightning lasted three seconds.
But to Lin Shuo, it felt as long as three hours.
When the white light faded and the thunder ceased-
Lin Shuo opened his eyes.
Most of the Earth-Style Wall had collapsed. He knelt on one knee amid the rubble, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
His chakra was completely depleted, his Mangekyō Sharingan had deactivated on its own, and his vision was somewhat blurry.
But he was still alive.
The factory... no longer existed.
All that remained of the abandoned textile factory was a scorched clearing.
The ground had melted under the intense heat into glasslike crystals, still trailing wisps of smoke.
The Ethereals?
Not a single one remained.
All had been reduced to ash in the lightning.
In the distance, Lao Mo emerged from the shadows.
He looked a little better off-just a few extra scrapes on his face and some scorching on his combat uniform.
He walked over to Lin Shuo, his dark gray eyes sweeping across the scorched earth.
Then he looked at Lin Shuo.
"...What was that?"
For once, his voice carried a trace of... shock?
Panting, Lin Shuo struggled to his feet.
"Kirin."
Lao Mo fell silent.
He looked at Lin Shuo for a long time, then nodded.
"...You've gotten stronger again."
"I nearly died."
Lin Shuo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave a bitter smile.
Lao Mo said nothing. He took a lollipop from his pocket-half its wrapper had been burned away.
He unwrapped it and offered it to Lin Shuo.
"...Replenish your sugar."
Lin Shuo took it and put it in his mouth.
Strawberry. Very sweet.
The two stood amid the ruins, looking over the land that had been scoured by lightning.
Moonlight spilled down once more, shining on the scorched ground and reflecting an eerie purplish-black sheen.
"The intel was a trap," Lao Mo said.
(P.S. My income has been falling lately, and I've been short on inspiration, so progress has been a little slow. If any dear readers have suggestions, you can click on my profile. There's a ZZZ family group there that you can join through QQ.
Also, please leave comments, send update nudges, and send the free "Generate Power with Love" gifts-please.)