Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 599 - 562 VS Catastrophe Demon 1

Chapter 599: 562 VS Catastrophe Demon 1

I soared into the sky, my body seemingly transformed into a genuine sun, and "sunlight" illuminated the area within a range of tens of kilometers centered around me. The post-mortem world, unable to escape eternal night, seemed to finally welcome daylight.

And along with the blaze spreading far and wide was an endless sea of fire. This wasn’t an attack, just my casual transformation of the surrounding region into my own territory. The fire sea would convert everything, including air and soil, into fuel, feeding back into my body and soul. In this process, because it’s impossible for me to whitelist the Catastrophe Demon, it would naturally be affected.

For ordinary people, or even demon hunters, and even demigods of Great Success Rank, they would be reduced to ashes in this sea of destruction. However, for the Catastrophe Demon, this fire sea merely equates to being soaked in scalding bathwater. Beyond discomfort and annoyance, it feels practically no negative effects.

Like provoked, the Catastrophe Demon roared like an ancient beast, then traversed the fire sea at over a thousand-times the speed of sound, charging at me.

I wonder if the opponent harbors the same emotions as I do for this counterpart of mine, I have a strong urge to compete. This also stems from the fact that it had hurt Mazao and hunted Little Bowl. I seek revenge for my two companions.

So even witnessing its majestic charge, I had no intention to shy away, instead revving up my speed to the maximum, crashing head-on.

Over there is the sixty-meter-tall Black Flame Demon God, over here is my light figure standing about one point seven meters, the size contrast is indeed vast, as is the color contrast. At first glance, it’s like the force of light clashing with darkness, reminiscent of classic magical tales. But what is it really?

If it is "Eclipse," then I am "Crown."

As per astronomical definition, "Crown" is the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere, also the source of the solar wind, mostly unconstrained by the sun’s gravity, possessing super-high temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius. Normally, it cannot be observed with the naked eye, but during a total solar eclipse, it becomes visible.

The source of the Third Form’s power erupts from the Furnace Slag Straight Sword, with ultra-high-density flames, a force even I cannot fully control. This unstable spread of light and heat surpasses the body’s limits, that’s my "Crown." The Third Form can also be named "Crown Form."

Actually, this is also a form of "false evolution." Though it’s an indispensable combat technique for me now, certainly powerful, it’s ultimately an unorthodox way to grow stronger by temporary forms, proving I’m still a novice lagging behind the noted Impermanence like Huang Quan and Ming Zhuo.

The ten-kilometer gap vanished in an instant, my body collided straight with the Catastrophe Demon. I seemed to transform into a bullet, aiming to pierce through its torso.

But the actual collision result was far from this.

I felt like a motorcyclist crashing full speed into a concrete utility pole, the substantial force flung me out.

The opponent’s body is astonishingly robust. Despite being like mine, a body condensed from flames, its defense is incomprehensibly high.

Speaking of flames, they should be unrelated to "solidity." Many have attempted the senseless act of "swiftly brushing the flame of a lighter with their palm," flames are futile matter. Though the Catastrophe Demon supposedly possesses the skill to "convert flames into entities with collision volume" like me, flames fundamentally have poor defense force. However, the results are contrary. I could be said to have hit with head broken and blood flowing, body "fractured," momentarily unable to distinguish north from south.

The opponent didn’t appear wholly unscathed either.

A meteor-like me would result in a cataclysmic explosion upon collision with anything. Colliding with the Catastrophe Demon was no exception. In a shockwave potent enough to sweep clean a hundred-kilometer radius, the Catastrophe Demon was also blasted away.

I could observe its soul torn with a scar. If this collision were on Huang Quan, even if not deadly, would at least inflict massive damage. But on the Catastrophe Demon, it seemed to merely incur flesh wounds. Displaying clear "bleeding" and "bruising," not impacting further battle performance.

Even this scar itself was regenerating at super-speed visible to the naked eye, likely recovering completely within two seconds.

Disregarding the recovery ability, where does it get such high defense?

This isn’t something merely justified by "high density."

From just one collision, I could ascertain solely by density, my "Crown Form" and its "Eclipse Form" stand on equal footing. How could I end up severely damaged, it barely scratched?

Could it be because the "Eclipse" forming its body is inward force, whereas the "Crown" forming mine is outward force?

I swiftly restored my injuries, meanwhile attempting to manipulate its flames, hindering its regeneration process.

This is something I had wanted to try for a long time. Since the adversary is using Flame Power, and is even equivalent to another version of myself, then its flames are obviously also my flames. There was a period of time when I even suspected that the adversary might be the "firefly" that lured me into the Doomsday Era. Although it was later disproven, I still wanted to try manipulating it once more.

My Spirit felt as if it had transformed into a computer data cable, attempting to connect to a computer beyond myself. Very soon, my plug found the adversary’s socket and entered it.

The fact that I could enter meant that this direction was not wrong, and the enemy’s power could be considered as mine.

But immediately, I was taken aback.

It was completely different from what I imagined. Since I am a "computer," then so too should the other me be a "computer." Even if there is a huge divergence in "configuration" (evolutionary paths), the basic principle framework should be similar.

Taking a step back, I had actually prepared myself mentally for huge differences between us. After all, the other is a Doomsday Demon summoned by the Naraku Gospel, and I, rounding off, consider myself still human, and things like Mana based on the Spirit surely must appear significantly different.

Moreover, it’s uncertain if the Naraku Gospel could reproduce my "Manifestation" nature. It is a Dream that Shan Liangyi had pursued for countless ages without being able to glimpse the door, also closely related to the legend of "self-confirmation of True Spirit." I don’t believe that would be something casually simulated.

These are the thoughts I had, but the difference with the opponent emerged in a completely unanticipated area.

First of all, the power used by the Catastrophe Demon was not Flame Power at all.

I already knew its power was a wrongly evolved product deviating from the main theme of flames. But even a falsely evolved flame should still branch off from the main trunk of "flame," so how could it become something fundamentally different?

Similar seeds planted under different cultivation conditions may yield different results, akin to the ancient saying "Oranges grown south of the Yangtze are oranges; north of the river are trifoliate oranges." However, whether they are oranges or trifoliate oranges, they share the same botanical essence. It’s impossible for an orange tree in the south to yield an orange while in the north it turns into an orange cat.

Yet the deviation of the Catastrophe Demon’s power from my flames was precisely to such an extent.

If not for the ability here to connect normally past this... no, even if the connection here was normal, I couldn’t help but question once more "is the Catastrophe Demon truly another me?".

While I was in shock, the connection between us suddenly severed. The "data cable" inserted into the opponent’s "socket" seemed to be discovered and brutally torn away by them in time. This isn’t surprising; regarding the authority to manipulate flames, the relationship between me and the Catastrophe Demon is equal. Since I can attempt to intervene in it, it can naturally reject my intervention. It stands to reason that only my side can unilaterally impose influence.

The Catastrophe Demon launched another grand-scale assault. It charged towards me at lightning speed, simultaneously swinging its arms to manipulate black flames that swept towards me like a curtain enveloping the heavens. Reflexively, I wanted to dodge, yet felt myself ensnared by a powerful locking force.

The black flames were akin to the "Eclipse," both possessing a profound gravity. It was more than mere physical gravity; it was a destiny-bound gravity. As if saying, "I am fated to be consumed by the black flames," it bore the attribute of "Guaranteed Hit and Kill."

In a strange alignment of circumstances, I associated it with the celestial concept of "tidal locking."

It’s said that under the influence of the gravity of a star or planet, satellites orbiting it often end up with only one face forced to face the celestial body that captured them. This occurs because the gravitational forces on the front and back of the satellite are inconsistent. It’s why humanity can’t observe the far side of the moon, why Mercury always presents only one face to the sun, due to this tidal locking effect.

Although Impermanence can simulate binding forces of destiny, the destiny-locking force unleashed by the Catastrophe Demon was somehow extraordinarily strong, enough to rival the blessed state of Little Bowl that I was endowed with.

In my normal state, evading this strike would be impossible, forcing me to take the hit squarely. Fortunately, the blessing of Little Bowl lingered still, granting me not just an additional hit rate, but a strong enhancement to my evasion rate, sufficient to counteract the Catastrophe Demon’s lock. In a critical moment, I gathered my thoughts, flew full speed, and narrowly escaped outside the sweeping range of the black flames.

There was something amiss with the Catastrophe Demon’s destiny-locking force. I understood this power likely had a significant part from the gravity of the "Eclipse," but the gravity of the "Eclipse" should merely be a byproduct of the skill. It’s like how when I manipulate flames, the air heating and cooling convection generates strong winds nearby, but it doesn’t mean I have the ability to directly control those winds.

Of course, I could use the Power of Word Spirit to command the winds, but ultimately that adds a layer in between. A being like the Impermanence, who can control the wind directly, could theoretically extend such "wind" concepts into more abstract properties; I cannot achieve such feats. And the Catastrophe Demon should not inherently have the power to directly manipulate gravity, much less extend this to locking in the fate of others.

Reflecting on its previous inexplicable restraint towards the Great Demon Xuanwu, the formidable defense it now displayed, and the fact that it seemingly was not employing Flame Power, an at first glance absurd possibility, reasonable in light of certain truths, slowly crystallized within my mind.

The Catastrophe Demon swung its giant claws, akin to a monster’s, towards me ferociously. This time, I did not collide with it once more.

To verify my hypothesis, I retreated at maximum speed, heading towards the vicinity of a mountain range.