Chapter Forty-Three: The Second Encounter

"I can't imagine how Ace can still fight now."
After declaring his resolve with high spirits, he was met not with agreement, but with his friend's retort.

"Isn't just keeping yourself alive with a synthetic heart already your limit? Without a real heart, you can't even stand up on your own—your combat ability has gone from chicken down to…"

"An ant?"

"More like a single blade of grass."

At least use an entire patch of grass, he thought.

"What can a single blade of grass even do!"

Miss Qin pondered for a moment and replied, "Leftovers from weaving a grass ring."

"In terms of uselessness, that's truly the pinnacle."

Jokes aside, reality would not change just because of his optimistic attitude.

Gongsun Ce was in a worse state now than he had been during the Duel of Shadows. At least in the fair duel, he still had a healthy body; now, though he could speak normally again, he couldn't even move on his own.

To go into battle in this condition—not to mention countering the power Shiyu Zero revealed at the last moment—even Ying Canglan would be an overwhelming opponent.

He had to come up with a solution. If he couldn't rely on his own strength, he'd have to depend on his friends at the crucial moment…once again leaning on the power of his friends!

He'd been saved just five minutes ago, and now he could only stand with the help of a girl. At this point, he had long since stopped worrying about his pride. The gray-haired youth pressed his hands together and called out to a certain young man in a suit, "I'll pay the price—help me, Shiyu!"

"Gongsun, you look just like the protagonist of a children's four-panel comic right now," Lian Shiyu shrugged. "This mess was caused by me, so let me pay the price. Details can come later… Good luck to you both."

The suited youth gestured politely.

"Ah, thank you—wait, Miss Qin Qianbai, what exactly are you doing?!"

The battle specialist was busy securing her friend's arms over her shoulders, making the gray-haired youth look like a human backpack.

"The previous position wasn't very convenient for traveling."

He was puzzled for a moment. Even if they took the thorn-covered path from before, or the route Xu Junyi had used, surely this wouldn't be necessary.

Until he saw the perfectly round hole above their heads.

It had appeared when he'd lost consciousness—a passage connecting underground to the surface, blasted open by the dragon of glass with its beam.

"…A straight line is the shortest distance between two points, right?"

"Exactly. Well then, let's go."

The ground beneath their feet transformed into a springy, rubber-like substance.

The martial arts expert bent her knees, leaned forward, and poured all her strength into this enormous trampoline, sinking it as far as her power would allow.

With a deafening boom as the surface rebounded, the two of them shot up into the sky.

·

The wind was fiercer than when flying through the air, the pressure even more intense than when riding bioengineered birds—it struck the youth all at once.

Traveling such a distance by the strength of the body alone—was this something a normal person could do?

He knew this girl's abilities all too well. Qin Qianbai was not a physical enhancement type, nor a user of strange arts. Her superpower was potent but limited to a small range of property manipulation; besides that, she relied only on her family's martial arts.

Martial arts, techniques for close combat—meant in theory for striking others—became seemingly supernatural in her hands.

Qin Qianbai would occasionally tap her toe against the edge of the passage, softening cut pipes or the tissues inside the dragon, then leap upward again. Carrying a friend taller than herself, her movements remained nimble and swift, not the least bit hindered.

It was something he could never do, now that he'd lost his powers. With that thought, the youth couldn't help but smile wryly.

"You're amazing, young lady."

"Am I?"

"I should say it's worthy of a true heir—far stronger than those dragon-worshippers I defeated before. Once I lose my powers, just as you said, I become as useless as a blade of grass."

"In terms of combat ability, yes," Qin Qianbai's voice came through the rushing wind.

"Even so, I still think you're strong, Ace."

"This powerless state?"

"You died—really died—just a few minutes ago, yet after waking up you chose to keep fighting. If it were me, I'd be scared, maybe even crying. But you can still joke with us…"

Gongsun Ce felt her grip on his arm tighten.

She must have unconsciously held on more firmly.

Would this usually expressionless girl also cry at the thought of death?

In the world of superhumans, relying on extraordinary power can bring miracles in the short term. But once a certain limit is passed, life can never return.

Just like the family Xu Junyi lost ten years ago, just like the lives that perished in Supebia three years ago.

Memories you don't want to forget, cherished possessions—after death, all meaning disappears. If you asked this youth, who had just died once, to describe it, death was nothing but pain, with no beauty in it at all. Power drains away, the world goes dark, and in the end, there is nothing—thought itself ceases to exist.

Thinking of it like this, death is truly a terrifying thing.

Gongsun Ce recalled the enemy he'd defeated just minutes ago, the leader of the dragon-worshippers. That man must have been driven by grief and fear over losing someone close, leading to his obsession with the dragon phenomenon. And as for Shiyu Zero, who betrayed them at the last moment—what was it that she desired?

…

Lost in thought, the youth returned to himself to find his friend silent, as if waiting for him to speak.

"I've always had a good attitude—I'm naturally optimistic, you know."

That was a lie.

"There you go again with those flimsy lies—just like this afternoon."

The lies from earlier today…

Did she mean pretending to have amnesia in the fast-food restaurant, or the lies about dreams on the way home?

It was only a few hours ago, yet now it felt like a century had passed.

"You know. If I didn't tell meaningless lies from time to time, I couldn't put myself at ease."

He heard his friend laugh softly.

"Now that Ace has returned to normal, I can relax too."

Their conversation paused there.

The battle specialist finally carried him back to the surface. The two of them leapt out into the middle of the main road at the boundary of the district, causing a commotion among the panicked citizens fleeing the dragon phenomenon. "The dragon of the skies has returned from the dead!" "Mom, I promise I'll never take weird medicine again!" "People are flying out of the ground!"

Even Gongsun Ce, who prided himself on his composure, was momentarily choked by these exclamations. After living here for years, did these people really have to get so worked up over something like this? Hadn't they ever seen a street-side superpower brawl?

"Where's Yan Qi?"

"On the rooftop over there. Look—this is a handy grappling hook."

A cable shot from Qin Qianbai's sleeve, the metal claw latching onto the edge of the rooftop and pulling the two of them through the air toward their target.

A man in a black coat was pounding the rooftop impatiently and shouting, "Get to work, Gongsun!"

Gongsun Ce shouted back, "Once this is over, you owe me an explanation, Yan Qi! Tell me what's going on now!"

Yan Qi jerked his chin toward the giant in the sky. "Did dying once make you go blind too? See for yourself!"

The ten-winged, single-headed dragon was imprisoned in a pitch-black cage. Its golden body gradually merged with the catastrophic image in his memory, bringing back the events of three years ago.

Back then, the dragon didn't look like this. Its body was flawless, golden scales unscathed, and the light from its three heads could bring down even the invincible giants. Irresistible colors swept the city…

Until two of its heads were severed by a blade.

Gongsun Ce slid off his friend's back, steadying himself on his knees. "What about the sword?"

"It's inside the glass dragon's body. I just broke the seal, and blasted it with the sword formation for good measure. One more strike and it's over."

"What's the plan?"

Yan Qi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Shiyu Zero is still on the dragon. I separated that idiot from the dragon earlier, otherwise it'd be a pain to have mixed targets. I can handle the spread of the void field and the dragon itself. To be safe, have the girl take you up to grab the sword and finish the dragon. Remember, you only get one strike. If something goes wrong and the sword goes berserk, the city will be doomed. So take out Shiyu Zero first, then the dragon."

"Got it."

After quickly responding, Gongsun Ce spoke inwardly: (Can you hear me, Shiyu?)

The suited youth's voice echoed in his mind.

(About her manifestation—unfortunately, I haven't grasped the whole picture either. Her attacks can't be avoided or blocked, nor can you approach or attack her true self. That's all I can see from my perspective.)

Gongsun Ce recalled the helplessness he'd felt with "Alice."

Shiyu had left something out.

In Shiyu Zero's presence, you can't tell a lie.

(I can guess the rest. How long can I fight?)

(Ten minutes is the limit.)

(More than enough.)

(The price is that you'll lose all supernatural abilities for ten minutes, in exchange for ten minutes of full combat power. Good luck, Gongsun.)

Lian Shiyu cut off contact—or rather, having paid the price, Gongsun Ce couldn't use his powers for the moment.

Then, strength flooded his body once again.

The gray-haired youth began to float upward. He raised his left hand, taking Qin Qianbai with him into the air.

The expressionless girl waved lightly as she soared. "I didn't quite catch all that—so we're going to fight on the dragon, right?"

"Yeah. Let's go!"

Physical damage, mental exhaustion—these aftereffects of overusing his powers were all brushed aside by the superhuman's abilities. Invisible forces propelled the two of them, carrying them like birds toward the giant in the sky.

Forty-five seconds later, they reached the side of the glass dragon. At fifty-six seconds, they landed on the dragon's neck, stretched out like a bridge between its heads. They raced toward the head where Shiyu Zero waited—

"Kill!"

A man's furious shout stopped them in their tracks.

Standing at the center of the golden bridge was a man in a long coat, his eyes blazing red. He clutched his chest with a twisted expression, glaring at them with hatred—as if facing the murderer of his family.

Gongsun Ce frowned, remembering the rights he'd won in the duel.

"No sudden moves—"

"You'll never command me again! I don't care about the Manifestation Realm anymore!" Xu Junyi tore off his coat with a roar, revealing muscles swelling by the second. "And now I'll use my Transcendence to tear you both to pieces!"

It sounded like he'd crippled his own cultivation to break free of his power's restraints.

The superhuman couldn't be bothered to talk to such a sore loser.

Qin Qianbai stepped forward.

"He used to be an imperial agent and learned your family's secret techniques. The ones I've seen are Piercing the Mountain, Sinking the Land, and Hidden Strike."

"Got it. I'll come help you after this."

The superhuman shot into the air. The man on the bridge roared, "Get out of my way! Wild Form: Transcendence—Iron Beast King!"

Xu Junyi's hair bristled, black strands forming a mane around his head like a lion. His fingers grew claws, his muscles turned iron-black, and his already burly body swelled to six meters tall!

Transformed into a steel beast, Xu Junyi leaped skyward, intent on stopping the superhuman—

Only to feel a slender arm pierce through his abdomen.

"Qin Secret Art: Piercing the Mountain."

The beast's face hadn't even registered shock before the martial artist unleashed her next move.

She didn't withdraw her arm, but instead lifted the enemy's massive body with it.

"Sinking the Land."

She slammed him down onto the dragon's neck as if wielding a weapon.

"—Ah!"

As he crashed to the ground, the wild-form user finally let out a cry of pain. If Gongsun Ce had been fighting him, he would have exchanged words in the midst of battle.

But this time, his opponent was someone else.

When this expert fought for real, she didn't waste words.

The martial arts girl withdrew her right hand, the blood she drew hardening into a short blade by her power. She gripped it with her right hand and struck down with her free left.

"Hidden Strike."

Her fist crashed into his chest with force enough to shatter mountains, the power reverberating through the wild-form user's body. Xu Junyi screamed in agony once more.

Fear filled the man's eyes. Only now did he realize just how vast the gap was between him and this girl…far greater than the one between himself and his opponent in the Duel of Shadows!

·

One minute fifteen seconds, atop the glass dragon's head.

The superhuman stood on golden scales, a black-haired woman standing ahead with her back to him.

She wore a black hunting jacket and fingerless gloves, looking every inch the huntress of the woods.

The "huntress" turned, gazing at him in astonishment.

"Didn't expect we'd meet again, did you, boy?"

She emphasized the word "boy," as if mocking the immaturity of her opponent.

Gongsun Ce tapped the white material over his heart, answering without expression.

"Round two begins, Miss Shiyu."