Chapter 366: Sage's Move, Peculiar Ability (3K+)
The Sage's hand left Hong Chen's head. He slowly unbuttoned his mink coat and stored it in his spatial storage.
With a gentle flick, Hong Chen slammed into the ground with a bang, directly embedding himself into the asphalt road.
"Heh, it seems Tao Bai Bai didn't even put you in his eyes, Hong Chen…"
The Sage's eyelids drooped. The combat power Tao Bai Bai displayed greatly exceeded his expectations.
He had originally thought that even the so-called breaking-the-norm combat power was merely a top-tier performance among the 'strong', and with a bloodline possessing immortality and super-regeneration characteristics, it could indeed challenge and defeat some Title-level Reincarnators beyond its level.
But he hadn't expected that beneath that pink robe and ugly red avatar, a monster of such caliber was hidden.
A Reincarnator, whose deployment count was estimated to be at most close to 10 times in the intelligence analysis, in a head-on battle, in less than two minutes, overwhelmingly destroyed a Reincarnator team renowned in the third tier of the Eastern District, even though that team was missing its two strongest members.
But the Sage knew very well that even if he didn't intervene, and Hong Chen wasn't counted, the current group of Archimedes and Zuo Mou, consisting of five people, was enough to easily defeat most second-tier Reincarnator teams, kill almost any mass-produced Title-level Reincarnator, and defeat a considerable number of Title-level Reincarnators who didn't possess powerful special abilities.
Yet, a team configuration like this, with the advantage of intelligence support and a preemptive strike, was utterly crushed in less than a minute of actual combat, with morale completely gone.
This kind of combat power was simply incomparable to Hong Chen's. The Sage was well aware of Hong Chen's strength. After Inverse Universe successfully took effect, Hong Chen, possessing breaking-the-norm energy attributes, roughly had the strength of a true Title-level Reincarnator.
But even this Hong Chen would find it difficult to withstand Archimedes' magic, which could cut through anything. With the cooperation of the others, Hong Chen would likely end up severely wounded or dead after killing a few of them.
This was completely different from the overwhelming situation Tao Bai Bai currently presented.
Therefore, he concluded that none of the individuals who had appeared before, whether Hong Chen or Millennium Bug, were truly taken seriously by Tao Bai Bai.
He hadn't even used his full strength.
The Sage had originally intended to 'subdue' Tao Bai Bai, just as he had done with Hong Chen in the past, and bring him under his command. Thus, he hadn't directly intervened.
But at this moment, upon seeing Tao Bai Bai's true strength, the Sage abandoned that intention.
"Tang Sanzang, kill him. This Tao Bai Bai is probably that kind of guy."
He spoke, and then a soft laugh rang out. Hong Chen, face down, was smashed into the asphalt road, almost unable to breathe, blood streaming, but he still detected that voice.
The true main force within End Empire, the follower of the Terminus Great Sun, Tang Sanzang, had indeed appeared.
His heart turned cold. The Sage and Tang Sanzang appearing together, and Saitama and Tatsumaki coincidentally leaving this group of people.
This was probably not a coincidence.
This was a pre-arranged ambush.
Tang Sanzang wore a red kasaya, his chest bared. His skin was almost golden, even dazzling in the sunlight.
Hearing the Sage's words, he put his hands together, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
"Even an Anomaly is merely an Anomaly that hasn't grown yet. Why would both you and I need to act simultaneously?"
Then, Tang Sanzang turned to look at the Sage.
He said "looked" at the Sage, but in reality, Tang Sanzang always kept his eyes closed. When communicating and interacting with the Sage, he never relied on any external senses.
"Are you hoping this guy will exhaust me a bit, so you can go contend for the legendary Limiter fragment yourself?"
The Sage's expression didn't change. He simply turned his head, too lazy to look at this eccentric Supreme Expert attendant.
"Don't speak nonsense. Since His Excellency has already entered this world, such a thing is naturally no longer related to you and me."
The Sage unbuttoned his exquisite shirt one by one. His movements were elegant, as if he didn't see his subordinate being forced into a desperate situation by Tao Bai Bai.
That silver plot equipment shield, reinforced to +6, was about to run out of energy. The freely spraying venom had already entered the battlefield of the two monsters, Tatsumaki and ???.
There was a significant possibility of attracting attention.
"Tsk tsk, still as hypocritical as ever, Mr. Sage. Don't you get tired living like this?"
Tang Sanzang asked.
"All phenomena in life are but a skin, merely boundless karma…"
"You are attached to appearances~"
Then he pulled out a purple gourd and began to drink heavily.
The Sage's peripheral vision caught the purple gourd, and his action of unbuttoning paused slightly before he smiled, seemingly unfazed by Tang Sanzang's sarcasm.
He took off his crisp shirt, revealing a toned physique. Unlike his refined appearance, the Sage's muscles were chiseled, adorned with terrifying scars.
A flash of light in his hand, and he changed into an all-black priest's robe.
"Heh heh, Tang Sanzang, tell me, if everyone in this world stopped pretending, stopped adorning their outward appearance, wouldn't this vast human world be overrun by demons and ghosts?"
"Especially us… Reincarnators, heh…"
"Team Member CF97731144 (Archimedes) has died."
The Sage reached out and grabbed forward, as if grasping the 'picture' in front of him, then pulled.
Buzz~
Bai Cangshu, radiating Scarlet Sin, and Red Queen and Zuo Mou, who were naked and entangled at his feet, all trembled slightly.
Their bodies had appeared before the Sage and Tang Sanzang.
Bai Cangshu's eyes shifted, seeing the cut-open black car, Hong Chen smashed into the ground, and… the grotesque monk sitting cross-legged in the air, and the black-robed priest standing before him, with a benevolent face and slightly graying temples.
"Amitabha, Tao Bai Bai, it seems you are also a person of strong character."
Tang Sanzang saw the fate of the two Chaos Sage women and offered his evaluation. As Reincarnators, they were already uninhibited, and he most despised hypocritical people, especially those from Azure Sky, a bunch of fools who couldn't distinguish their own stances.
The Sage, meanwhile, observed the scene and nodded, saying,
"This is the first time I've seen such a scale of Great Sin power on a Scarlet Sin of Sequence Two."
"You are indeed an Anomaly."
The Sage seemed to praise, but quickly his tone shifted.
"It's a pity this space can no longer tolerate the appearance of more Anomalies."
At this moment, the Greed Cocoon around Bai Cangshu had become terrifyingly thick. He had continuously absorbed the power of lightning, magic, and swordsmanship from the fear of the Chaos Sage and others, and later was even soaked in venom, then used the Heart of Slaanesh to make the two female Reincarnators sink into desire, greatly absorbing their life force.
If he were to fight Hong Chen again now, that blade aura would be almost unable to break through the Greed Cocoon's defense.
"Tsk, stop with the useless talk."
Bai Cangshu spoke, and a blood-mist-like aura spewed from his mouth, carrying the poisonous mist, instantly spreading hundreds of meters and enveloping everyone.
Hong Chen, lying on the ground, instantly felt like he couldn't breathe oxygen, his vision began to darken, and his consciousness was about to dissipate.
After approaching Tao Bai Bai, the Sage directly felt that thorough wildness and the almost explosive physical ability.
It was within his expectation that Great Sin Reincarnators possessed the ability to plunder others' information and generally had stronger attributes, but…
"You have suffered the effect of Evil God's Omen: Arrogant Vision. Power judgment is being performed…"
"You have suffered the effect of Evil God's Omen: Heart of Slaanesh. Mental judgment is being performed…"
In just an instant, accompanied by the surging malice, some kind of attack had occurred.
The Sage's eye twitched. The blood mist in front of him vanished instantly. A huge, blood-red figure stretched to its limit, already appearing before him. In front of its palm, spiral-shaped scarlet air rotated like a sharp blade.
Emitting a strange shriek.
Pfft!
With a single palm strike, the sonic boom cloud was instantly shattered, and fine gusts of wind scattered like razor blades.
The Sage's head trembled for a moment, and large cracks instantly appeared on the asphalt ground behind him.
His eyes were calm as he raised his hand and held it vertically in front of him.
"Martial arts… I also know a little… uh…"
Before he could finish his sentence, a distorted surge of energy struck from behind. The moment he lowered his head to dodge, he suffered a violent impact from the front.
A knee struck his body violently.
Bang!
A blinding white shockwave spread, and the Sage was instantly sent flying.
Bai Cangshu's figure solidified from the blood mist, his High-level Shunpo already activated. He glanced at Tang Sanzang, who seemed to have no intention of moving, and sneered at the flying Sage,
"Nice physique, Mr. Sage~"
The Sage's feet stomped on the air, sliding hundreds of meters before stopping.
He looked at his twisted hands and slightly sunken chest, shaking his head.
"Martial arts, such a boring thing."
"Come and play something interesting with me, Tao Bai Bai…"
"In the upcoming fight with me, if you dodge my punch, you will die."
Bai Cangshu's heart suddenly sank slightly, as if instinctively uncomfortable after hearing some ominous curse, or perhaps some restriction had been placed within his body.
"Based on your Mental attribute, you have gained the following information:"
"You have been affected by an unknown Reincarnator's special ability."
Buzz!
The air was instantly torn apart. The Sage, in a grand posture, traversed hundreds of meters, his body stretched, and he threw a punch at Bai Cangshu.
This punch was not particularly fast; Bai Cangshu could easily avoid it, but a burning pain shot through his nerves—a warning of danger.
Bai Cangshu instantly took a step forward and also threw a punch.
Boom!
Fists collided. The Sage's force quickly softened before the Greed Cocoon. In contrast, Bai Cangshu's punch speed was terrifyingly fast, striking the Sage dozens of times in an instant.
Senluo Death Intent appeared instantly.
Pfft!
The Sage's body instantly exploded.
Bai Cangshu looked at the shattered corpse in mid-air, feeling that something was wrong. He looked down and only saw the corpse of the woman with long bangs covering her eyes.
The Sage's figure reappeared in the distance. His face was calm as he raised another finger.
"Tao Bai Bai, in the upcoming battle, if you block my punch, you will die."
"Based on your Mental attribute, you have gained the following information:"
"You have been affected by an unknown Reincarnator's special ability."
Tang Sanzang sat in the air, sensing the Sage's battle with his Mind Communication, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He noticed that one of the two Chaos Sage women had died, but in his perception, the one fighting Tao Bai Bai was indeed the Sage himself.
That was not some kind of illusion or hypnotic ability.
So, it was some kind of substitute or damage transference ability. What were the trigger conditions?
Tang Sanzang knew very well that to defeat the Sage, intelligence was essential, but how could intelligence be obtained against a Reincarnator who could interfere with perception…
Haha, Tao Bai Bai, try harder, don't die so soon! Let me watch a bit longer!
Bai Cangshu looked down at his fist. The sensation of hitting the opponent's flesh and the feeling when Senluo Death Intent erupted were both normal.
He also quickly realized that the Sage likely possessed some special ability to transfer damage.
Looking at the Sage, who was once again imposing some ability on him, Bai Cangshu licked the corner of his mouth, his heart rate still rising.
"Good, truly good… Mr. Sage, I'm quite fond of you…"
Screech!
Intense lightning began to erupt from within the Evil God's Omen phantom, and a wild surge of lightning began to course.