Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 46 - 43 Fallen Demon Hunter VS Supernatural Power User 6

Chapter 46: 43 Fallen Demon Hunter VS Supernatural Power User 6

I stared in shock at the spot where Zhuang Cheng had fallen.

The headless corpse lying on the ground spontaneously burst into flames, as if an invisible person had poured gasoline over the body and ignited it while I was not paying attention. Not only that, even the blood pool spreading on the ground and the splattered brain matter caught fire like gasoline.

Incredibly, despite being engulfed in flames, the charred body, along with its blood and brain matter, showed no signs of damage or charring. Far from being damaged, on closer inspection, it seemed they were not so much burning as transforming into fire itself.

Yes, transforming into fire itself. I wasn’t quite sure what I was talking about, but these materially real biological tissues seemed as if they were originally illusions made of flames, now gradually returning to their original form.

Then, an even more incredulous scenario unfolded before my eyes.

The headless torso, which visually started to resemble ethereal flames, slowly rose up right in front of me, the murderer, as if nothing had happened.

He groggily felt for his non-existent head, paused after grasping at air, then bent down, found his severed head on the ground, and cradled it in his arms.

He—he could still move?

The unexpected scene rendered me speechless, "You, you..."

Had he resurrected? No, had he never been killed from the beginning?

How could he survive a beheading? What superpower was this, undying? But wasn’t he a Flame Ability User? How could that ability be related to undying?

He slightly adjusted the orientation of the head in his arms, facing it towards me, and the terror-stricken face with the damaged eyes seemed to be staring at me.

His intact mouth moved and issued a reflective sound, "Just now, as I lay on the ground, I had time to think it through... So, you’ve been acting all along, eh? Are you the mastermind behind this?"

How could he speak with his head and body separated, with no functioning vocal cords?

No, calm down, Kong Da. Although it was my first time encountering a supernatural power user who could continue to move after being beheaded, undying of such level is not unusual in this world. His power seemed not to be controlling flames, but some other mysterious superpower. But what does that matter?

Mysterious powers abound, and most agents and demon hunters, no matter how reluctant, must face forces of the strange which they do not fully understand. Real combat is not like a tactical manga, where deciphering the enemy’s abilities is necessary to win. The only way to gain the upper hand on an unpredictable battlefield has always been the method I’ve used—

Strike first!

Without hesitation, I transformed into my Monster Form and with my arm transformed into a blade, I launched my assault. There were no superfluous words or actions. In just an instant, too fast for a normal person to even blink, my slashes consecutively landed ruthlessly on Zhuang Cheng’s torso.

The slashes I previously delivered in partial transformation were stealthy sneak attacks prioritizing concealment; their power was secondary. Now, in complete transformation, my slashes pursued devastating destruction.

If Zhuang Cheng thought I could only perform Physical Attacks, that would be a huge mistake. The slashes in my Monster Form were not only capable of annihilating physical bodies but also designed to destroy spiritual beings.

In other words, I possessed the power to attack the soul directly.

Especially now, with my heart full of murderous intent and solely focused on attacking the soul, the mana concentrated on my blade was lethally powerful. Ordinary humans, devoid of mana, would have their souls scattered by even a mere scratch, and most supernatural power users lacking soul-related powers would meet the same fate.

All my slashes hit their mark, and Zhuang Cheng was instantly torn apart. Having completed my charge, I braked behind his body and ended my attack.

I had won...

Just as this thought reflexively surfaced, Zhuang Cheng’s voice came from behind, "Physical Attacks are useless against me."

As his words sounded, my right hand and both legs burst into flames on their own, the intense pain making me cry out involuntarily.

I could understand why my right hand was burning, as it still had Zhuang Cheng’s blood and brain matter on it. Since the biological tissues he splattered elsewhere burned, naturally, my right hand would too. But why on earth would my legs spontaneously combust? He wasn’t even looking at me now!

Before this, why hadn’t he died?

While I screamed, I twisted and fell to the ground, his figure coming into view.

He was standing there perfectly unharmed, holding a head in his arms that was still talking to me, "This form, I had originally wanted to reveal it to you earlier, had you not suddenly fired your gun... So that’s it, the Demon that attacked from behind earlier was to test whether I could sense something behind me..."

As he spoke, he seemed to ponder, talking to himself.

How could this be? My blade clearly slashed through his body, so why were there no new wounds on him? More importantly... the soul attack had no effect! More than that, he didn’t even realize his soul was being attacked!

I can’t, I must deal with the flames on my body first!

I hastily swung the blade in my left hand, quickly severing my right hand and both legs. The intense pain was nearly unbearable, but it was preferable to letting the fire spread to my torso. Given time, the monstrous body would regenerate the right hand and legs.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and I no longer planned to continue attempting to kill Zhuang Cheng at that moment. Battling an opponent whom no matter how you attack can’t be killed was simply a waste of effort; if really necessary, I would find a way to assassinate him later. I needed to escape, by transferring through the Shadow Power!

Under the control of my consciousness, the surrounding shadows surged like a tide. I had to escape quickly; Zhuang Cheng’s attacks were not slow, and their power was unmatched. If I delayed even by a mere tenth of a second, I would be burnt to a crisp on the spot.

However, I was still a moment too slow, and Zhuang Cheng’s flames reached me instantaneously.

The flames appeared internally, without any visible direction, and not even starting from the surface of my body. I felt a terrifying heat emitting from deep within my chest and abdomen, as if someone had transported a large amount of boiling water directly into my stomach. The pain and internal pressure from inside out made me involuntarily open my mouth.

Suddenly, my vision plunged into darkness and I could hear nothing; almost immediately, I felt something crazily rushing out from my mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

No, I understood – it was the flames... the flames had appeared directly inside my body and sprayed out from within!

At the same time, it seemed like every muscle in my body had been damaged, leaving me completely immobile, with only one thought left in my mind—

He could actually summon his flames directly inside my body? Impossible!

Still... I hadn’t died. Based on his firepower, I should have been dead instantly. In fact, I felt nearly close to death, with pain tormenting my consciousness to the brink of collapse. But I hadn’t died; he had shown mercy. That was his biggest mistake.

The surrounding shadows continued to follow my earlier command; as the flames burst forth from my orifices, the shadows on the ground also opened a portal for transmission, allowing me to fall into it by obeying gravity.

"Shadow Transfer" successfully activated, and I entered the world of shadows.

Very different from the colorful real world, the Shadow World had neither light nor sound, resembling the depths of the ocean. It wasn’t just because my eyes and ears were burnt that I said this; it was naturally monotone here. I couldn’t even perceive directions; I could only sense that "I seemed to be moving somewhere."

Without the relevant abilities, one wouldn’t even be able to think or survive here, as this place was devoid of concepts of time and space. Even for a user like me, it was extremely dangerous and one could easily get lost and never return to the real world. The places I could go through Shadow Transfer were limited to places I had been in the real world.

Zhuang Cheng had mentioned, he had a spiritual connection to his flames. But beneath the room on the fifteenth floor, in a cavern, this spiritual connection had been severed once.

Why it was severed was easy to guess, because beneath the cavern lay a Different Space that didn’t exist in the real world.

The space-time I entered through Shadow Transmission was also a Different Space that didn’t abide by the laws of the real world. Here, no form of electromagnetic signals could reach, and the connection between Zhuang Cheng and his flames would certainly be the same. As proof, the flames smoldering inside me quickly extinguished as I entered the shadow space-time. Finally, my tormented consciousness regained a bit of calm.

I concentrated my Mana on my eyes and ears. Before long, I felt that I had probably regained my sight and hearing, then, like surfacing from water, I left the space-time of shadows and arrived at a location I had previously visited.

This was a deserted construction site that I and Zhuang Cheng had once investigated; I directly transferred to the upper levels of the unfinished building. Since construction had stopped, only the skeletal part of the upper levels of this unfinished building remained. From the ground I was standing on, looking up, there were no ceilings or walls on the upper floors, only layers of interlaced gray steel rebar and concrete.

Escaping here, I should be safe... I took a temporary breath of relief.

The shadows transformed into tangible materials forming prosthetic limbs; I obtained a temporary replacement for my right hand and legs, allowing me to stand.

Suddenly, a fluctuation of Mana appeared nearby.

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