Chapter 1156: Special Abilities
The Patient One's attack caused the river water to explode into a flurry of dark red ice crystals that shot toward Hong Xi, who revolved in mid-air and made use of that momentum to wave her fan. Her sword glinted with moonlight, and she shot forward once more, pushing the ice crystals back.
The ice crystals condensed into a whirlpool that tore apart the moonlight from her sword and coalesced into a long javelin. The Patient One tossed the javelin forward.
"[The Hidden Moon]!" The sword slash split the air, sending an argent veil fluttering forward and clashing into the blizzard of dark red ice.
The javelin tore apart the veil and shot toward Hong Xi.
.
Hong Xi's spirit-fox robe's automatic defense system activated, giving off flames as bright and colorful as the freshest flowers. The dark red crystals were obliterated into powder that burned away in the heat.
From The Patient One's body came countless nightmares, each draped with shiny, oily skin like that of a whale. They each had a pair of horns that curved inward, and their batlike wings flapped without any noise. Their claws were ugly but perfectly suited to grabbing objects, and they had an annoying, spiked tail that swished back and forth meaninglessly.
Most uncomfortable was the fact that they could neither speak nor make any expressions, because they had no faces. Where their faces would have been, there was nothing but smooth skin.
Zhang Hanxiang watched the fight with worry for her friend. She couldn't help but ask, "Just what exactly are those faceless gargoyle-like creatures?"
The witch of dreams had appeared by her side at some point without her realizing it. "Those are nightmares."
Zhang Lie commented, "Any relation to Nightdemon, the king of chaos' clone?"
The witch of dreams replied, "They're similar in name only. Nightdemon's far stronger than these mindless, unintelligent creatures."
Zhang Lie turned to her. "Why are you standing with us so naturally? Aren't you supposed to be with the other side?"
Nightdemon shrugged. "There's only so much space in the hall. It doesn't matter where everyone's standing, does it?"
Zhang Lie turned to Nightdemon next. "And what are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to participate in the banquet."
Nightdemon was unbothered. "Just because I'm not participating doesn't mean that I can't come watch the fight."
"[Syzygy]!" Hong Xi's eyes glowed. Her left eye morphed into a black sun, and her right eye into a silver moon. To her back, a pitch-black sun and a silver moon rose into the air. Their light illuminated the hall. They were linked by a golden thread, which brought the two of them into proximity with each other.
The black sun and silver moon began to merge. The black sun turned a deep red, and the silver moon a rusty red. As they overlapped perfectly, they formed a bright-red wheel of fire, and their corresponding energies combined as well.
The wheel of flame shone with light. Energy coalesced behind Hong Xi's back and formed a crimson sun.
The red light was as bright as blood. The light scattered with Hong Xi as its center, enveloping the nightmares and greatly restricting their movement.
Even The Patient One could sense his strength waning. Meanwhile, the energy of thousands of nightmares was transferred to Hong Xi. Her blood-red light flared and illuminated the hall even more brightly.
With the fan in her left hand, Hong Xi summoned a twister. The blood-red flames of a blood sun burned around her, glowing with heat and blinding light. The blistering temperature caused the ground to turn to lava, and the twister on her left hand sucked the flames up.
The long sword in her right hand gleamed with a red edge, imbued with concentrated scarlet light. Behind her, multicolored light flared. The blood flames merged with her sword energy, causing each of her strikes to leave behind a long trail of fire.
As the flaming, blood-red light swept through the hall, the nightmares screeched and perished. The Patient One flung his arms out, forming a dark-red blizzard—only to have it be melted in an instant by the blood sun's flames.
"[The Hidden Moon]!" Hong Xi's sword arced through the air in a slash of bloody light, bisecting The Patient One and setting him aflame.
Quickly thereafter, The Patient One's body exploded into dark red fluid, which Hong Xi began to evaporate before it could approach her.
Subsequently, the dark red snow and fluid combined to form The Patient One anew.
Everyone appeared to be shocked by this development, even the members of Team Zenith, let alone Hong Xi.
The witch of dreams tutted. "Your companion was truly unlucky to have selected The Patient One as an opponent."
Zhang Lie turned to her. "Is he problematic?"
Yang Ze wondered, "What sort of trick did The Patient One use? Hong Xi's attack did land, but he was able to revive..."
The witch of dreams answered, "Because that isn't his main body."
Nightdemon explained, "The Patient One attacks with his blood. That polluted, dark-red river, along with the flurry of dark-red snow in the air, are all composed of The Patient One's blood. You can think of his 'body' as you see it as a separate entity, though one tethered to his blood."
The witch of dreams added, "If you don't simultaneously destroy his blood and body, you won't be able to kill him in truth."
Yang Ze gaped. "It's that troublesome?"
The witch of dreams nodded. "Without some sort of special ability, no one here could be recruited to the halls of chaos."
Every companion that the king of chaos selected had to have some outstanding capability. Even with sufficient strength, without a unique ability, the king of chaos wouldn't be interested. The guests in this hall had to be the strongest entities among the three thousand worlds, and any of them were stronger than Hong Xi.
The witch of dreams sighed. "She should give up. Your companion might be strong outside, but not within this hall. It's not as though surrender will kill her, either—she'll just have to join the halls of chaos."
Zhang Lie shook his head. "Victory hasn't been decided yet. There's no rush at all."
The witch of dreams frowned. "No matter how she struggles, all your confidence in your companion will turn into despair. Against The Patient One, how does she expect to win?"
"We'll see, won't we? There might be a miracle."
Zhang Lie was fully confident in Hong Xi's abilities.
The witch of dreams roared in laughter. "Haha, a miracle, you say? I never expected to hear that from you. We'll see what sort of miracle occurs, won't we?"
As the nightmares were killed, Hong Xi's strength went down a few levels, but she hadn't contemplated ever giving up.
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