Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The sudden flames limned Constantine’s slightly pale face. The shadow from an incoming fist, gradually increasing in size, rapidly spread across the side of his face. Even before contact, it exhibited a horrifying power and promised an impact that could easily shatter a thick steel board.
At the same time, Ren Li stabbed three times. The green wind blade, thin yet sharp, went out horizontally, threatening to split her enemy into four.
In such a scenario, Constantine dared not hesitate. He decided at once. A dark, glowing gas, thick and sticky, sprang up around him. The black gas permeated the air and enveloped him.
Bam!
Lou Cheng’s Jet Spray Punch landed on the dark glowing gas on Constantine’s side. The gas dispersed quickly, splattering black blots everywhere. The clangor from the rapid collision sounded like construction work.
Pom, pom, pom! The three sword strikes landed on Constantine, shaving the dark glow into fluttering, black butterflies. In exchange, the sword lost its momentum and power.
In a breath’s time, Constantine’s dark glow and black gas dissipated completely, revealing his ragged tuxedo and dusty collar shirt, exposing his miragelike body.
His face was as white as a sheet, almost transparent. The finger fell from his mouth. As though deprived of all weight and existence, he glided rapidly into the distance.
Just as Lou Cheng and Ren Li were about to give chase, the surrounding dark light and black blots spiraled suddenly, like countless, alerted bats in a cavern. They were clearly dangerous, with their fangs bared and a dark sanguine glow. The two were compelled to act while chasing. Lou Cheng threw heavy, burning punches, rising rings of flames around him. Ren Li weaved her sword around her, advancing like a rampant tornado. Still, they were both hindered.
Swish, swish, swish!
The numerous tiny Dark Night Bats rapidly gathered and crawled within Constantine’s body. It gave him substance, taking away the mirage’s qualities. Color began returning to his face.
Reassembling Night!
It was a brilliant move from Constantine to negate Lou Cheng and Ren Li’s attack, all while repositioning himself into a safe spot.
Constantine saw Ren Li striking with her sword and fireballs circling around Lou Cheng. A dark light flitted across his pupils. He suddenly snapped with his right hand.
Pa! Lou Cheng fell into darkness. He lost sight of the lingering sparks from the explosion, of the dangling moon and scattered stars, and of his enemy. He stopped hearing guns and cannons from the nearby military base.
It was as though he was stripped of his senses. He couldn’t see, hear, smell, or touch anything. Even his Ice Mirror was impaired, its reflection range reduced to one meter around him.
Thinking quickly, Lou Cheng channeled his Qi and blood and formed a ‘starry sky’ to amplify his danger premonition ability. He then began inspecting.
Constantine, at the edge of this absolute darkness, heaved a sigh of relief. He didn’t have the luxury of time to make his exit with a graceful bow, so he immediately turned to flee.
His ability was known as the Dark Sect’s “Moonless Final Curtain” in China, and Blood Race Territory in the Samanno Royal Family. It was capable of draining a small area of light and sound, and causing hallucinations by meddling with human senses. A person caught in it would be stuck running in circles.
That was when a green, metallic luster flashed across Constantine’s eyes. Ren Li, eager with her sword in hand, had dashed out of the darkness and was lunging at him. She had a vacant look in her eyes, which was quickly replaced by pleasant surprise and confidence.
She has scary instincts, thought Constantine. Behind Ren Li, Lou Cheng ran out in large strides, the white-hot, blueish fireballs ready to be launched.
Narrowing his eyes, Constantine ignited his blood. Suddenly, he squatted down and punched at the ground.
Bam!
The earth before him, like seawater, was sliced apart by an invisible sword. A crack of about four inches formed and stretched forward in a tapering fashion for about a hundred meters. The air above the crack was split in two as well as the balconies for several levels up.
Lou Cheng and Ren Li immediately dodged to the side. The attack missed by hair’s breadth. The wind from Ren Li’s swordplay split apart and dissipated quietly. The fireballs around Lou Cheng stopped moving, then crackled from within like damp squibs. Ultimately, they were reduced to sparks.
Constantine’s fist recoiled from the ground. Crossing his arms, he grabbed his flesh and ripped two chunks off, throwing it at his opponents on both sides.
The two bloody lumps of flesh seemed to contain life. Squirming, they expanded into two sanguine skin-shaped figures mid-air. They went towards Lou Cheng and Ren Li like target-seeking parasites. The vivid blood drops seemed to be a warning of its evil nature and danger.
After that move, Constantine immediately turned without looking back. Like a floating light in the night, he made a dash for it and swerved into a street nearby.
Lou Cheng punched at the “monster” spawned from flesh and blood. White-hot, blueish flames condensed on the surface of his fingers, continuing until saturation.
Boom!
White light flared and lighted up the surroundings. The tossed flames and shockwaves swallowed the skin-shaped figure, burning it to a crisp.
On the other side, Ren Li swirled her sword, stirring up a green tornado that went upwards.
Whoosh! The sanguine skin was caught in it. As though thrown into a blender, it was reduced to countless blood droplets in seconds, spraying in all directions and landing as far as ten meters away.
Neither Ren Li nor Lou Cheng wasted a moment. One cast the Attainment Formula while the other used Wind Step. They hastened across the road and entered the street where Constantine’s presence lingered.
They chased on for a few hundred meters before reaching a crossroad. They stopped at once and exchanged puzzled glances.
At that place, Constantine’s presence had split into two; one went straight while the other turned right. Both trails seemed authentic, shored up by shreds of evidence.
After using their tracking techniques respectively, they deduced that he could have gone either way. Lou Cheng’s danger premonition wasn’t of use either, since there wasn’t any direct stimulus.
“We each take one way, then backtrack back here once we can confirm it’s fake.” Lou Cheng trusted that they could both withstand a desperate bout of attacks from Constantine until the other arrives.
The tricky part was whether Ren Li can never find her way back...
However, since Constantine had left his presence along the way, she would have something to guide her, so most likely she wouldn’t lose her way.
Hopefully...
If they dragged any longer, the enemy would have fled too far. He would even have the leisure to cover his tracks and presence. That’s the reason why Lou Cheng didn’t waste time on that issue and put his full trust in Ren Li. Pushing off from the ground, he turned right with howling wind around him.
Ren Li—looking motivated with bright eyes—ran forward, raising a blinding green gale.
After almost a thousand meters, Lou Cheng encountered another three-way road. Constantine’s presence and tracks had, once again, split in opposite directions.
Which way should I go... He felt a little lost.
The Dark Night Bat is extraordinarily tricky!
Not one Physical Invulnerability Mighty One is easy to kill!
“Guess I’ll have to leave it to luck and pick blindly...” muttered Lou Cheng. He chose left out of habit.
At a time like this, making a wrong decision was better than stopping!
If he made a wrong decision, he could at least determine which side was real. He would have only wasted some time. If he stopped completely, he would not only be wasting time, but also be none the wiser!
Just as Lou Cheng was going to move off, he heard a loud howling wind approaching. Ren Li had caught up after finding out she was on a fake trail.
“He used his blood and flesh to fake the presence and trail,” said Ren Li, her ponytails bouncing up and down.
Enlightened, Lou Cheng made a quick decision.
“He used it again here! We split up once more!”
Ren Li didn’t move. “I have a way to track him down!” she declared smugly.
“What way?” asked Lou Cheng, surprised and overjoyed.
Ren Li opened her left fist, revealing a portion of Constantine’s squirming blood and flesh. Smiling, she said, “It’s a method from the Plague Sect!”
“It’s hard to place a curse with only flesh and blood, but it’s easy to track him down within ten kilometers!”
“Impressive!” Lou Cheng raised his thumb and said no more.
Ren Li smiled smugly. She clenched her left fist and began visualizing. A poisonous light shone in her eyes.
After a few seconds, the flesh and blood spontaneously combusted, turning into crimson ashes. The ashes fell to the ground, moving as though they were alive and formed a red arrow that pointed to the right.
Lou Cheng and Ren Li began chasing at once, deploying tricks of their own. They were in hot pursuit like high-speed rails.
After a few crossroads, with the guidance of remaining ashes, they managed to overcome Constantine’s diversion techniques. After three minutes of chasing, they found their opponent, who was slowing down and attempting to heal himself.
Constantine’s eyes gleamed.
“You will all die!” he said hatefully.
When he said that, a milky light surrounded him. He seemed like a deity on Earth. All of his wounds and exhaustion disappeared rapidly. In a matter of seconds, he was back to his peak form.
Doing so took a toll on the powers he gained from absorbing the Savior’s blood, which would permanently weaken him!