58 Chapter 57: Monster (1/2)
”Hah…hah…hah…fu fu fu fu fu!”
After wheezing and panting heavily for a few seconds, Ba Yun barked out in harsh, guttural laughter.
”Kill me?” he snarled. ”I would like to see you try!”
I said nothing and merely watched as he retrieved an item from his pocket and slapped it onto his chest. At first I thought it was some sort of ornamental plate, but after a few seconds it became clear that it was a Spirit Armament. Black tendrils of disturbing qi burst out of the plate, resembling some sort of abysmal demon clawing its way out of Hell. The dark shadows crept over his body, forming some sort of armor that protected his body. An armor-type Spirit Armament, then.
Ba Yun's spirit armor was pretty ugly, though. Then again, what did I expect from a Spirit Armament possessed by one of the demonic members of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect? I wasn't surprised to see those dark, almost ooze-like armor give him a demonic visage.
”Oh, how scary.”
I sighed and shook my head before pretending to quiver in fear.
”Gr….argh!”
Ba Yun was growling incoherently, his mind completely lost to rage and vengeance. He raised a hand, where a cluster of black tendrils lengthened and sharpened into a thick, solid spirit blade. His current demeanor kind of reminded me of Venom. What a creepy Spirit Armament. I had never seen anything like it before.
”Ku ku ku ku ku…”
Ba Yun chuckled as he crouched down on the ground for a moment, as if waiting for the shadowy armor to take hold and fully form. Then he straightened up and grinned at me. I stared back at the demonic visage, half-expecting a forked tongue to flick out. But too bad the black qi wasn't some sort of alien symbiont.
”Earlier, you used Shadow Steps, didn't you? A footwork technique.”
Snarling, Ba Yun glared at me from under that shadowy qi helm. But his mouth was still clearly visible, and twisted into a toothy grin.
”I shall throw those same words you said to me back at you. Shall I demonstrate to you how to use a real footwork technique?”
Smiling, I beckoned him forward. ”By all means.”
Ba Yun's legs tensed, the sheer force of that movement crunching the ground underneath his feet and reducing concrete into rubble.
And then he disappeared.
The dark shadow blade sliced down toward me, a clear intent on Ba Yun's part to cleave me into two.
How slow…
”Demonic Shadow Strike!”
And he still even has the idiocy to yell his technique's name as he unleashes it. Should have spent that energy into increasing his speed instead.
As the black blade slashed down toward me, it was my turn to disappear.
CRUNCH!
”!!”
Even as the ground exploded into rubble from the tremendous impact, and even as debris showered him, Ba Yun spun around to slash above. His instincts were good, and he almost got me. However, I twisted my body in midair and dodged his shadow blade by a hair's breadth. Tapping my foot on his shoulder, I propelled myself away.
Damn it…thanks to his counterattack, I wasn't able to use Seismic Step again!
Ba Yun had learned from his previous mistake and was relying on intuition to guess where I was, spinning around to slash me when I dodged to the space behind him. Once again, I evaded his shadowy strikes by the thinnest of margins.
”Kuh!”
Kicking off the ground, I retaliated by springing at him and slicing with my frost swords. Each ice blade swept in from different directions, sliding under his shadowy blade and sinking deeply into his torso. Or so I believed, until I found the frozen blades lodged within his Spirit Armor.
That's one tough Spirit Armor…
Worse, I wasn't able to pull my ice swords out, and was forced to abandon them when Ba Yun countered with another sweeping slice of his shadowy sword.
”FEI WU!”
Roaring, Ba Yun went berserk and lashed out blindly. Even though I had only dealt him superficial wounds, it was clear that they went through and he was hurting pretty badly. Blood dripped from his wounds where my ice swords remained embedded within his flesh.
”KILL YOU!”
I twisted around to dodge his shadowy strike and slid to the side, seizing an opening to launch another attack of my own.
”Heh!” Ba Yun chuckled, despite realizing that he was wide open. ”What are you going to attack me with?”
The bastard evidently thought that I was disarmed because I was forced to abandon my swords. Unfortunately for him…
Shing!
I froze two new ice swords and slashed him from the side, drawing up a geyser of blood. Ba Yun bellowed and staggered back from the impact.
”You were saying?”
And then Ba Yun's grimace turned into a sneer and I realized that his taking the full brunt of my attack was a feint.
Wham!
”Kuh!”
Despite blocking his shadow sword with my ice swords, which I crossed instinctively, the frozen blades shattered instantly and I was hurled across the room. As blood leaked out of my mouth, I swore under my breath.
”Not powerful enough, huh?”
Flipping myself in midair, I skidded across the ground in an attempt to halt my momentum. Generating a new ice sword, I stabbed the ground to arrest my backward slide, even as the shattered ice sprayed me.
”!”
Unfortunately, Ba Yun wasn't going to wait for me to stabilize myself. He was suddenly in front of me.
Even as I raised my sword to protect myself, he kicked me in the gut and sent me flying across the room. This time, I couldn't right myself. I was flung across the air, helpless and unable to do anything. Before I knew it, I crashed into the opposite wall with a thunderous thud.
”Kuh! Ugh…!”
A cobweb of cracks expanded rapidly underneath my body, the impact leaving a large dented crater in the reinforced concrete. Blood dribbled from my mouth and I swayed, dazed and winded, before sliding down the wall and crashing onto the ground in a cloud of dust.
”...”
Blood streamed down my head, and my body hurt all over. But this pain was nothing compared to the excruciating agony that Ba Yun put me through during the past two weeks. Something of this level…I could still stand. I could still endure.
I could still fight.
Rising shakily to my feet, I created another new pair of ice swords and watched Ba Yun from a safe distance.
Ba Yun is much stronger than me, physically. And he has more qi than I do. But I have the advantage in speed…and perhaps intelligence.
It would be foolish to engage directly in a head-on battle. I would surely lose if I tried to contest him in strength. He would undoubtedly overpower me with his brutal Demonic Shadow Strike and Demon Shadow Sword.
In contrast, my Ghost Shadow Sword depended on speed rather than power. The Ghost Bear might be physically strong, but I wasn't. I had to rely on my superior speed and agility to overcome an overwhelmingly stronger foe.
”You know…your footwork is disappointing. I thought you wanted to show me 'real' footwork, but all you've done so far is rely on brute force and raw strength. You're so slow.”
”Guh…gah! Fucking brat!”
Ba Yun took the bait and bellowed at me. I merely smiled and lowered my ice swords, inviting him to charge.
”What, did I touch a nerve?”
”I'll show you! Shadow Dash!”
Another inexplicable instance of Ba Yun shouting the names of his techniques out when he used them. I merely shook my head and then disappeared right before his charge carried him right through the space where I was standing on a millisecond ago.
”?!”
Snarling, Ba Yun turned around while flailing aggressively, hoping to somehow slash me with his shadow sword.
”Where did you go?”
”So this is your so-called 'real' footwork technique?”
I cut his back open, sending another spray of blood gushing high into the air. Then I frowned. The damage wasn't as much as I would like. The Spirit Armor was doing its job and protecting him from suffering a fatal wound.
”How disappointing.” I shook my head as I stepped back. ”If this is your demonstration of a 'real' footwork technique, then I'll be happier learning a 'fake' one that's vastly superior.”
”Gah! Bastard!”
I stepped back and allowed Ba Yun's shadow strike to sweep past in front of me, narrowly missing by a few millimeters. But no matter how close he was to hitting me, a miss was a miss. That said, I couldn't afford to get hit by him.
Boom!
Jumping up, I used my footwork techniques to disappear once again before Ba Yun pulverized the ground I was standing on, his massive shadow blade utterly crushing the concrete into a pool of broken debris.
I can't let him hit me…if I receive a direct hit from that, it's over. He has an overwhelming advantage in a short-range fight. He's too strong for me to trade blows with. And that Spirit Armor is protecting him from the worst of my attacks.
In other words, if I wanted to defeat him, I had to find a way to break through that Spirit Armor first. Otherwise I could shave away at his defenses all day and still not bring the huge bastard down.
The question was…how?
Speed. That's the only advantage I have. And my footwork techniques.
I was so glad that Teacher Jiao taught me all those footwork techniques. Duo and Tui had been integral to me escaping so far.
And now…
”KILL YOU!”
Bellowing ferociously, Ba Yun dove toward me again. As usual, he was so slow…
Eh?
I could see his movements, almost as if he was in slow motion. I could see the currents of qi raging around him. I could see the trajectories of his movement, how he would move and where he would be if he continued doing what he was doing right now.
So that's how it is.
Liu. The fourth footwork technique that Teacher Jiao taught me. I could finally put it into good use now.
Stepping into Ba Yun's path, I disrupted the qi flow and blocked the trajectory of his movements. Ba Yun's eyes widened when he suddenly found himself losing his balance and toppling over into an undignified heap.