Five minutes ago! Inside the explosion site...
BOOOOOOM! An earth-shattering explosion occurred as the core, the Annihilation, struck the face of that disfigured person.
"Yes! Did I finish him?!" Xiaobing opened his eyes and looked towards the remaining head in front of him... Xiaobing had managed to activate the mobile shadow ability of the Abyss Pistol, but he felt he wouldn't be able to maintain it for long... The side effects of wielding the Abyss Pistol had also begun to appear; he felt as if he loved the darkness around him and began clinging to it as if it were part of him.
"Alright! The side effects are already starting! But I won't deactivate this ability until I'm sure that person is dead! Thinking about it, how did that person survive the Black Bolt attack? But I wasn't hit by any fatal wound or injury like him? That's really strange!" Xiaobing muttered to himself, looking at his shadowy body floating inside the explosion... Then he looked ahead towards the smoke cloud.
"Kekekekeki!" He heard laughter from within that smoke cloud.
This caused Xiaobing to retreat a step back, then he activated his Essence Eye ability. Suddenly, numerous silver threads appeared within his eyes, and he saw that inside the colossal explosion, there was a giant square of silver threads pressing down on him.
"What is this?!" Xiaobing thought to himself, looking around inside the explosion site, then looked towards that smoke cloud from which the laughter came.
His abilities pierced through that black smoke, and he saw that many threads had stretched out, pierced the roof of that square, and entered the smoke cloud. Those threads were vibrating in an organized yet strange manner.
Xiaobing didn't spend much time concentrating on those threads. Instead, he looked towards the center and saw that those threads connected to a body and were reconstructing it like sewing, where a thick, bloody red thread was moving side to side in a straight line like a sewing machine. The strange thing was that with every movement to the right and left, a part of that person's body was restored.
"Damn it!!!!" Xiaobing swore loudly and felt the atmosphere change into something suffocating because of those bloody threads!.. "You're not human!" Xiaobing shouted and tried to gather energy in his hand, but he couldn't. Not because it was depleted from his body, but because of the side effects and scattered thoughts in his mind from using the Polished Artifact, preventing him from moving or flying in the darkness or shadows. He was prevented from activating two different abilities at once... And due to his low level, he couldn't handle more than two abilities. This, if he could even continue like this!
"And you too!" He heard that person's cold voice continue, "The question is for you... I don't know what to call you? But what I know is that you're not human either!"
"I don't care if I'm human or not! What matters here is only who you are!" Xiaobing replied hysterically and continued, "You look like some kind of puppet? Is there really such a Path? This is interesting!"
"I also don't care what I am, but I don't know whether to pity you or thank you for my pointless praise!" That person replied while stepping out of the smoke cloud and appearing before Xiaobing.
The upper half of his body had been reconstructed, and that bloody thread was completing the lower half.
"Hahaha, I don't want your pity! What I want is your death!" Xiaobing laughed while his green eyes gleamed with a cold and strange light. For some reason, he had shed his previous tension and showed that there was no need for anxiety or fear of that puppet in front of him... He felt no regret about accepting James's suggestion to gain experience by fighting someone stronger than him in both levels and experience.
"Kekekekeki, why do you want me dead? Did I kill someone close to you? That's truly pitiful. Are you the same person who said: 'I chose power, to tread upon loved ones, the pyramid, and the entire world, and do as I please!'? But that's extremely pitiful!" That person laughed in a demonic manner and looked at Xiaobing. His strange purple eye had been restored, and his long crimson hair had returned.
"Are you asking why I want to kill you?" Xiaobing asked while remembering that girl in the church. He clenched his darkness-covered fist tightly and felt contradictory thoughts swirling in his mind, but he continued, "I don't know if I'm a fool, or if you're pretending to be foolish! I told you I don't need your pity. As for my philosophy... as I said, I do what I want! And that doesn't bind me to those words I said to you! But for me, I believe you're the only pitiful one here!"
"Kekekekeki! Is that truly what you say? You keep raising my estimation of you more and more! But why do you think I'm the only pitiful one here?" That person asked while narrowing his eyes at Xiaobing.
"Because you're chasing after revenge! Right?" Xiaobing asked while looking at that puppet and continued, "You're just a person seeking revenge! But in a cowardly and clever way, you control your puppet from behind the scenes, and we are just puppets waiting for strings to be attached so we can move!"
"Yes, you're right! I am chasing revenge, and I gained power only to avenge her!" That person shouted in a cold, loud voice. He continued, "I truly am a coward for controlling puppets from behind the curtain! But I don't care if you call me a coward, because I chose this kind of power, and I'm aware of everything!"
'Her? Just as I expected! He's seeking revenge, otherwise he wouldn't have stopped me earlier from finishing my speech! His emotions control him completely, and this is the best opportunity to control anyone! Should I exploit this? Or not?' Xiaobing thought to himself while his eyes gleamed and he said, "You're wrong, you haven't realized everything!"
"I don't think so!" That person opened his hands and a small whirlwind appeared in his palm... He looked at Xiaobing before saying, "I was aware of every inch of this event, just as you were previously aware that the point of this whirlwind is its center!"
"Oh, you discovered that! I didn't know you were both intelligent and strong at the same time, you surprised me with this!" Xiaobing praised the puppet controlled before him and said, "But you're mistaken! You didn't realize everything because I was here! And that makes your awareness of this event impossible with my presence!"
"You're truly arrogant. It seems madness has taken you now that you know you'll die soon!" That person replied coldly.
"You talk too much for a puppet!" Xiaobing spoke and continued, "Let me ask you a question! Did you kill someone a few days ago?"
"Hah! What kind of unreasonable question is that!? Of course I did! That's what I love most!" That person replied while licking his fingers.
Upon hearing those words, Xiaobing remembered that girl's face again. But once again, his mind was filled with contradictory emotions without explanation. 'Didn't I say I wouldn't get entangled with emotions? So why do I see myself in conflict?' Xiaobing wanted to activate the Abyss Pistol again and blow that puppet's head off. But he found his other hand wasn't moving properly, and when he turned and saw what was happening to it... he saw that a shadowy entity was embracing his left hand.
'Is this a shadow creature? Are these the effects of using the Polished Artifact? But I didn't summon any entity! Is that possible?!' Xiaobing didn't panic but acted calmly and looked at the puppet before him, which was wearing a demonic smile.
"You! Whatever you are, why do I feel such deep hatred emanating from your body? Is it possible that you hate me? Ah, so you're fighting me for revenge! I'm sorry to miss another battle with you, but... perhaps we'll meet again, you strange entity!" That person's eyes cooled as he looked at Xiaobing.
"Where are you going? I'm not done with you yet!" Xiaobing shouted upon hearing the puppet's words. The shadowy entity was still holding Xiaobing's hand, which was under the influence of one of the Polished Artifact's abilities, and it didn't budge from his grasp.
"Kekekekeki! Don't try to boast about power before me, you strange entity! I know there's a limit to using that artifact's abilities, and also, you don't deserve my attention despite everything you did against me to kill me, or even if you are interesting. You're still a Level One entity! And also at the bottom of the pyramid you mentioned before!" A bloody thread moved, and immediately after, that puppet's hand rose towards Xiaobing.
"Hahahahaha, so you've discovered that! And despite you saying those things about me, I will still kill you!" Xiaobing said while deactivating his Essence Eyes and gathered energy in his right hand, ignoring the shadow creature on his other hand.
"I admire your persistence, but I've truly lost the passion to kill you!" That puppet's eyes gleamed... and it suddenly lowered its hand and looked at it. Its hand was slowly disappearing.
"This changes nothing! Don't try to escape! You'll die today," Xiaobing shouted while an excess of energy suddenly erupted in his body, but he lost control of it, causing the energy to scatter in his right hand.
"No, it changes a lot, to be fair!" That puppet said while looking at Xiaobing for a moment. The bloody smile disappeared from its face, and it continued, "My time is already up! But there might be a chance for us to meet again, and that will be at the next Crimson Eclipse! So catch this!" One of the bloody threads moved, lifting that puppet's hand, and at the same time, it threw something swiftly towards Xiaobing.
Xiaobing raised his hand and caught that thing with great speed, but he didn't look at what it was because he removed the darkness ability from his coat pocket to put that thing inside and restored the darkness ability over his coat pocket once more... Then he looked at that puppet and said, "So your showtime is over! I won't ask why you gave me this hint, but I'll just tell you: wait until I get your head only!"
"I'll wait for that! You strange entity!" That puppet said while its body faded away, but before completely disappearing, it showed a strange smile to Xiaobing.
'Did it smile? I don't know why, but I feel like I'm fighting villains of the same type I've seen in some show! And they were advocating for peace behind all the evils they fabricated in their world. But there's a fundamental difference between them and this person, which is that he doesn't advocate for peace and does this from behind the curtain under the pretext of revenge! For a woman, according to his previous words. There's also something strange; he left me intentional hints in his words! And also, he didn't kill me knowing I was about to reach my physical limit! And he gave me a hint about his previous location! Is all this just a coincidence? No, this is something bigger than that, and there's something hidden manipulating all these events that happened to me today only!' Xiaobing thought to himself and felt that his left hand was no longer restrained as it was.
"And now, let's get out of here! But I haven't tried using this before! Should I imagine myself moving in darkness? Hmm... maybe that's the case. I need to get out of the explosion site and also from that square trying to contain me... Let's try this!" Xiaobing said while completely turning into a dark substance, merging with the darkness of the explosion site, and moving within it.
Surprisingly, he quickly exited the explosion site with little effort, thanks to the enhanced abilities of the Polished Artifact. But the greater challenge awaited: getting out of that giant square before him. Xiaobing imagined himself as a rocket and launched at high speed towards that square... prepared for impact, but the surprise came when he passed through it with complete ease.
But at that moment, his shadowy body froze in the sky... not because he reached his limit, but because of that immense aura that overwhelmed his shadowy form.. He looked to the side and was shocked to see a gigantic, closed eye, with James screaming towards it, saying, "Can you hear me?!"
'What is that idiot trying to do?!' Xiaobing shouted internally and swiftly moved towards James's back, intending to hit him. But that gigantic eye opened and looked towards James and Xiaobing... causing him to freeze in place.
....
End of Chapter ~ To Be Continued