Chapter 86: Metamorphosis (Part Eight)
Zzzz—
In the center of the town, the crackling electricity made the already scorching air even more unbearable. Swordsman Carlos darted through the shadows at lightning speed, weaving between the crumbling walls, occasionally appearing near a flaming orb, slicing through the air with sword shadows, only to be met by countless bl**d-red tentacles blocking his path.
Dead smoke swirled around, twisting up like a dozen ferocious serpents, chasing after him but always failing to match the man’s pace. Even with his speed, he couldn’t break through the orb’s tentacle defenses to rescue the girl trapped in its burning bl**d; they found themselves in a brief stalemate, neither side able to gain the upper hand.
Before long, a wave of flowing flames surged from the west. A heretic named Miss Ailna burst forth from the fireball, landing right in the middle of the pockmarked dirt path, lifting her head to gaze at the electric flashes overhead. Behind her, a gigantic bl**d-red hand swung swiftly, launching a barrage of fiery projectiles.
On a partially collapsed wall, Carlos had just dodged the black mist’s attack. As he steadied his footing, a whistling sound came from his left. Feeling the temperature rise sharply, he transformed into a bolt of electricity and shot backward just as several fireballs exploded in the spot he had occupied moments before, sending debris flying in all directions.
Amidst the flying rubble, a brilliant blue arc zipped across the ground, zipping straight toward Ailna. With a flash, the tip of his blade lunged straight for her chest.
Zing!
A resonant sound echoed.
The lightning-wrapped sword darted toward her in an instant. Ailna’s expression didn’t waver, but as she prepared to dodge, she suddenly felt a faint crackling under her feet. Before she could react, electricity shot up from the ground into her body, freezing her in place. She could only watch as the sword pierced her chest, and with a “pop,” the tip burst forth from her back, revealing a bearded man’s face behind her.
“Heretic, how are you still alive…”
Carlos’s gaze was calm, his pupils widened with suppressed fury. He plunged the sword deeper into her chest and yanked it down toward her right side, tearing the electrified blade out through her abdomen, splattering burning bl**d and chunks of innards onto the ground.
“Cough!”
Ailna spat out bl**d.
“That fireball was your doing, wasn’t it…”
The man leaned to the side to dodge her bl**d spray while speaking, although his attacks didn’t pause for a second. He knew that this alone wouldn’t be enough to finish her off. He took a small step back, electric light flickering around him, and slashed the second sword toward Ailna’s neck.
“What did you do to her?!”
Thud!
The sharp blade sliced into the pale, bl**d-streaked skin of Ailna’s neck. More warm bl**d jetted out like a fountain. Yet, just as the blade was about to sever her head clean off, a hand abruptly shot up, catching the blade’s edge.
Carlos’s pupils constricted.
He saw that Ailna’s hand was now wraped in layers of bl**d-red scales, resembling the cruel claw of some horrifying beast. Black, elongated spikes sprouted from her fingertips, scraping against the sword, leaving deep grooves. As the brilliant blue electric arcs coursed into her arms, they were deflected by her scaled armor.
Not good…
Carlos decisively withdrew, letting go of the sword and transforming into a flash of lightning, retreating ten meters in an instant.
In front of him, the female heretic “crack” snapped the sword she had just caught, a scorching wind kicking up yellow dust at her feet, sweeping away her already tattered cloak.
What she wore now looked like a hand-me-down red long robe that didn’t quite fit, with baggy pant legs resembling riding pants. Her feet were bare, and her waist was cinched tightly with a belt, her white hair tousled behind her.
She tossed away the broken sword blade, and with a series of “ssss” sounds that send shivers down one’s spine, her gaping wounds at the neck and chest were rapidly healing, the bl**d ceasing amid the rising black smoke from her injuries.
With sparks exhaling from her mouth, she slowly raised her head.
Half of her already charred and shriveled face was now covered in the same bl**d-red scales as her arms, one leg fully encased, and nearly half of her body was now cloaked in that armor. The scales even crept up the monstrous bl**d hands that sprouted from her back, transforming her gruesome, skinless arms into the fearsome claws of some colossal beast, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the flames.
“Angel transformation… no, this is… half-angel transformation…”
Carlos stared at the grotesque appearance of the female heretic, a chill creeping up his spine. He muttered the new term he had heard from his teacher just a while ago, his narrowed eyes tracking her movements like a hawk: “You faced my teacher’s Absolute Decapitating Star head-on and lived to tell the tale? What kind of monster are you really?”
As he spoke, he stripped off his gray cloak and tossed it aside, revealing the silver light armor beneath. At his waist were two long swords, prepared for a battle with a heretic where weapon destruction was a very real concern.
With a clang, he drew one of the swords, positioning it slowly in front of him.
“Mase people…”
Carlos heard Ailna murmur softly, as if answering his question, or perhaps speaking to herself alone.
In the blink of an eye, she moved.
Her healed body burst into flames and shot toward Carlos. Behind her, the gigantic claw ignited, coming down on him from above. But the man was ready; as the lightning flickered, he leaped back just in time, the giant claw crashing to the ground with a violent explosion, flames and dirt shooting into the air. Ailna’s figure surged from the firelight, fiercely pursuing the retreating lightning.
In a flash, the sounds of clashing echoed throughout the desolate center of the town, electric arcs dancing amid the bl**d-red flames, unleashing an astonishing wave of chaos all around!
Unlike the brutish and unreasonable confrontation of the plump old woman Apheir, the explosive sounds of battle hadn’t ceased for a moment since it began. Carlos wasn’t directly confronting the female heretic; he wasn’t trading blows with her fire or the ferocity of her mighty claws. Instead, he relied on his extraordinary speed to dart around her, narrowly avoiding attacks while waiting for an opening. Whenever he spotted a gap, he’d strike in with a swift, merciless sword thrust.
The two figures intertwined amidst the ruins, yet after more than ten seconds, neither touched the other’s hem.
While Carlos easily outpaced her, Ailna possessed remarkable fighting skills and instincts. Every time she sensed him exploiting a weakness, she always seemed to step out of the way just in time. Even when she couldn’t dodge completely, she raised her right arm just in time, allowing the blade to strike against her bl**d-red armor, producing a dull thud that wouldn’t leave a scratch.
This wasn’t going to work…
After yet another close encounter, Carlos zipped to a corner of the ruins, watching Ailna, now enveloped in infernal flames and gearing up to retaliate. He felt a burning heat in his lungs, his face flushing, and a faint smell of singed flesh began wafting from his armor.
He understood that if he continued this drawn-out engagement, he wouldn’t just be unable to secure a result in the short term; he would likely get injured in the process, leaving Little Shay hopelessly trapped. Time and energy wasted for nothing. So he took a moment, gazed up at the position of the fireball, and with a crackle of electric arcs flashing around him, he launched himself upward.
Sword art—
Cross Slash!
The man powered up amidst the lightning, positioning the sword at his waist, and with speed almost invisible to the n*ked eye, he struck upward, executing two swift slashes. The two clashes reverberated almost simultaneously, and the electric crosswave surged forth, slicing toward the suspended fireball.
