Chapter 314: Resolution Comes With Old Age

Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion

After all the battles she had experienced, this current battle made her feel the most fl.u.s.tered. She would even describe it as exasperating.

“It’s me!” Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help yelling out when as she raised her wings horizontally to block a flurry of dancing Chinese characters. “Look carefully! Soulsqn is over there!”

This time there weren’t as many Chinese characters. As they tumbled, Lin Sanjiu only recognized the character “Adhere”. That character hit her skeletal wings. Just as she uttered “s.h.i.+t” inwardly, her wings sunk downward. It was as if it had suddenly be burdened by a tonne of weights. Shortly after, it froze in the air.

Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and tried to move her wings with all her strength. Her wings wavered a bit and suddenly stopped moving altogether. Just like the meaning of the character that Jade had aimed at her, her wings were now stuck. Two other Chinese characters struck her and were immediately activated. The Chinese character for “Soft” struck her bones and that feeling coursed through Lin Sanjiu’s body. Before she could react, her leg suddenly gave way under her. She fell with a thud, half kneeling on the rocky floor. She could not feel any energy in her body.

The other character hit her and was activated next was “Fat”.

Even though Lin Sanjiu knew that her body was still powerful and that she still had her streamline figure, she couldn’t help feeling like she had suddenly gained many pounds. She felt heavy and clumsy. Just as she was trying to stand up, the difficulty of this task suddenly increased by countless folds. Both her knees trembled badly as it supported her body which felt extremely heavy. She even had to rest a few seconds. She felt as if her body was wrapped by layers and layers of fat making it very hard for her to breath. She had to catch her breath before she could even speak, let alone fight.

After the three Chinese characters had been activated, they fell to the floor with a few clanks before disappearing.

“Hey, can you hear me. I’m not Soulsqn…”

As expected, Jade Zhang’s ability was related to her blabbering mouth. [Fearsome Hearsay] was an ability which was very odd and difficult to defend against. After Lin Sanjiu had only exchanged blows with Jade a few times, she had already been hit by the ability a couple of times.

Unfortunately, the panting woman with bloodshot eyes couldn’t hear a single word she said.

Jade’s dress had been badly torn by the rocks and hung on her body in strips. There were blood, sweat, and tears on Jade’s face. There were white foams frothing from her mouth. She bit her own cheeks. In her consciousness, Lin Sanjiu was already dead and she had been surrounded by the Souls like a trapped prey.

Under Soulsqn’s command, all the other Souls, except AYU who was carrying her fleshy comrade, dispersed outward surrounding both Lin Sanjiu and Jade loosely. They blocked all possible escape routes. It was very apparent that though Soulsqn could “create realities”, it did not hinder her ability to create illusions. Even though Lin Sanjiu wasn’t affected, Jade Zhang was already spellbound.

From her previous experience, Lin Sanjiu knew that the effect of each Chinese character didn’t last for long. They lasted only around 30 seconds. However, Soulsqn had been glaring at Lin Sanjiu with a predatory stare and she did not give Lin Sanjiu any chance to catch her breath. She suddenly raised her finger and pointed to the sky.

“It’s here!”

Just when Lin Sanjiu looked up, Mrs. Manas shrieked her warning. A white lightning bolt which was almost 100 meters long lit up the gloomy skies. It broke through the clouds without any warning and struck the spot where Lin Sanjiu was just standing moments before. The scary lightning bolt came out of nowhere. Even though Lin Sanjiu closed her eyes, she could feel the bright light in front of her. The humid air suddenly became scorching hot. Even the hairs of Lin Sanjiu’s back stood up due to the static in the air.

Lin Sanjiu twisted her body, along with her frozen wings, violently away from that spot so she managed to avoid the fate of being struck directly by that bolt of lightning. Despite that, a layer of black soot covered the front segment of her white wings.

Wrapped in a layer of fats—even if it was just an illusion—made Lin Sanjiu’s movement much slower. The imaginary “fats” on her thighs and arms wobbled and slapped against her body as she moved. Her body was c.u.mbersome and “soft”. There were a few times when she nearly lost her balance.

“Words! Words!”

With Mrs. Manas yelling at her, Lin Sanjiu panted exhaustingly while she watched another flurry of Chinese characters flying toward her.

Jade Zhang had evidently planned the sequence of her attacks. After her opponent had lost half her mobility, the next series of characters show the true potential of the damage that her ability could deliver. With a sweeping glance, Lin Sanjiu already saw the word “Rend” and “Injure”. However, as she couldn’t move her wings and she was in a confined s.p.a.ce. Just as the series of Chinese characters were about to hit her directly, Jade even heaved a small sigh of relief.

Yet, the next second, a strong gust of wind suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It whistled as it spun, creating a mini tornado. The gra.s.ses along the path of the tornado were uprooted. The wind picked up the rocks, mud, and gra.s.s as it took the Chinese characters head-on. All the Chinese characters were pulled into the tornado and tossed into the sky. At the same time, once Lin Sanjiu felt that her wings had been released, she immediately leaped up and regained the freedom to move.

She knew that was a fluke as she held her [Tornado Whip]. If she didn’t notice the Chinese characters falling to the ground like rocks, she wouldn’t have thought of this idea. Luckily, she made the right gamble. The words created from [Fearsome Hearsay] were tangible.

After escaping Jade Zhang’s attack, Lin Sanjiu rushed toward Soulsqn without even batting an eye.

“I already warned you,” as Soulsqn spat out those words, the cliff islet began to quake. The large rock formation suddenly burst forth, as if it had a life of its own. It formed a barricade between Lin Sanjiu and Soulsqn, “You don’t have the ability to stop ‘reality’.”

Other than that bolt of lightning, Lin Sanjiu paid no heed to these rock formations. She roared angrily and accelerated. Her shadow flashed erratically as the air particles vibrated along with her trajectory. With that sort of speed, it was nearly impossible to catch a glimpse of Lin Sanjiu’s whereabouts, let alone defend against her attack. The rock formation and strong gale missed her over and over again. The Chinese characters which had escaped the tornado fell straight into the rocky ground. Yet, this obstructions did little to hinder her speed.

Her opponent might be the Queen of the Souls, but her physical combat ability and const.i.tution wasn’t that much stronger than her kinspeople. After all, those weren’t the strengths of this species. Lin Sanjiu was very confident that once she was in close proximity, she had quite a few ways of maiming Soulsqn.

When Lin Sanjiu was right in front of Soulsqn, the latter only had the time to shake her head, as if she had not even processed the fact that Lin Sanjiu was right in front of her.

When Lin Sanjiu activated her [Mosaic Censors.h.i.+p], she felt her hands pressing lightly on Soulsqn’s lower abdomen.

AYU had mentioned that after they eat a human’s innards, they would grow into a similar shape. In other words, their heads were the most important and vital part of their bodies, just like humans. Lin Sanjiu had intentionally avoided the creature’s head as she still wanted to interrogate Soulsqn to get more answers.

Unfortunately, her [Mosaic Censors.h.i.+p] which never failed her suddenly didn’t seem to work. It was so unexpected that she even froze for half a second, thinking that pieces of skin would burst open in front of her. However, she found a dark gaze peering through Walter’s eyes, looking calmly at her.

“I created a reality where you can’t touch me,” Soulsqn said softly. Her cheek muscles were raised, Lin Sanjiu couldn’t even call that expression a smile. “Haven’t you realized?” Soulsqn asked.

Lin Sanjiu looked down blankly. There was a fine gap between her hand and Walter’s waist. No matter how hard she tried to get closer, her hands wouldn’t move forward. It was as if the gap between them was filled with just molecules of air but a huge mountain.

“I am now creating a reality where your body is deteriorating from old age.”

Lin Sanjiu who had just recovered from “obese” state, suddenly felt as if her body had been emptied. The strength and energy surging in her body disappeared as if they had evaporated into the air through her pores. She blinked her eyes slowly, this was the first time she felt a little tired while fighting.

“You are growing older and older. You are growing weaker and weaker. Your body is in a state which spells your death in one week’s time,” Soulsqn spoke as if she was just narrating an irrelevant story.

Lin Sanjiu’s leg muscles withered away, her dry shriveled skin clung to her calves. The weight of her body was supported only by her skinny leg bones. Her joints hurt badly as they rubbed against each other. She wanted to take a few steps backward but the wings on her back never felt so heavy before. It had never been so difficult to just stand straight. Lin Sanjiu blinked her eyes again. Now, she couldn’t even see anything clearly.

“How is it? Do you still want to fight?” Soulsqn extended her hand with a grin. She touched the skin on Lin Sanjiu’s face. Even though her senses had become dull due to age, Lin Sanjiu could still feel the gooseb.u.mps on her back. “I am the only one in our species that have gender awareness. I need a corresponding female body… It is truly convenient now that I have you.”

“No way…” Even her thoughts were becoming slow. Lin Sanjiu held on to these words in her mind.

“If Soulsqn could really create any reality that she wanted, why would she need my body? Could she just create a body for herself?”

“Walter” grasped Lin Sanjiu’s wings with one hand. The grin on his face grew wider and wider. Lin Sanjiu wanted to retaliate but just after she called out her [Vibroblade], it fell to the rocky ground with a thud because her frail hands couldn’t handle its weight.

Another thought surfaced in her mind slowly, as if even that thought needed its own walking cane.

“If this is really ‘reality’, that would mean that Soulsqn would have to wear an old woman’s body that is more than a hundred years old… Would it even make sense for her to wear this body?”

The muscles on Walter’s face suddenly quivered abnormally. His head suddenly became soft and floppy. It made Lin Sanjiu feel sick just looking at that. A smooth, moist dark red flesh slipped out from the back of Walter’s neck as if it was taking off its clothes.

Compared to the normal Souls, Soulsqn’s appearance was even more… terrifying.

It looked like an amalgamation of multiple skinless muscles. That dark purple-red blob of flesh was at least one size larger than the other Souls. It had a humanoid face. There were two black dots where a human’s eye socket would usually be. As Walter’s face hung flaccidly over his neck. After each part of Walter’s skin lost its structure, it became formlessly. Soulsqn shook her fleshy body in the air excitedly, flinging a few drops of body fluids everywhere.

“She… wants to eat me alive…” Lin Sanjiu’s thought as her body turned icy cold.

Lin Sanjiu waved her hands trying to swat Soulsqn’s arms. However, she lost her balance instead and fell to the rocky ground with a thud.

The dark red piece of flesh had already taken off her skin around her waist. If the punctured head was strange, one glance at her body was vomit-inducing.

“It’s great! It’s great…” AYU’s voice came from afar. Lin Sanjiu turned her head strenuously to look at the woman. She saw AYU carrying two Souls in her arms, that woman was so excited that her voice was trembling. One of the Souls was the one that possessed Redhead Ol’ Jack and the other was the Soul that had fallen out from the chips tube. Jade Zhang was kicking her legs and swearing crazily behind AYU but she was still subdued to the ground by two Souls. Her screams were very sharp but Lin Sanjiu could only hear her hazily due to her aging ears.

With Lin Sanjiu current body condition, she couldn’t retaliate physically. She turned back and saw that a purple-red strip of flesh was touching her neck.

Soulsqn seemed extremely delighted. Her body quivered non-stop, the moisture on her body glistened.

“If you can… you can make me age instantly,” when Lin Sanjiu spoke, her voice was so deep and hoa.r.s.e that it even shocked herself, “why do you have to manipulate those rock… rocks and lightning…”

Soulsqn stopped for a second.

“Look. Look. I can’t even hold a knife…” Lin Sanjiu gasped for a mouth of air. Her chest was like a bellow, making loud wheezes as she breathed. She was betting her life and Jade’s life on this, “but I can hold this…”

The purple-red stripe of flesh, the queen of Souls, couldn’t resist looking at Lin Sanjiu’s right hand.

There was a red card lying silently in Lin Sanjiu’s right hand. Under the overcast skies, the card had a deep, dark red color, as if it had been soaked in blood and decorated with little dazzling dots of light.

[Nostradamus’s Card]

Note 1: When a particular “doomsday element” is a living organism, this card cannot absorb them like radiation.

Note 2: However, when the card user is affected by any ability generated by this organism, the card can absorb the effect like radiation.

Soulsqn froze for half a second, it was like she couldn’t comprehend what that card was. Lin Sanjiu wasn’t going to explain anything to her. When Lin Sanjiu’s [Nostradamus’s Card] flashed, the small battery on it showed a 29%. Lin Sanjiu’s body was immediately filled with her usual seemingly boundless energy and strenght—

All the Souls stopped moving when they heard a sharp shrill. They turned their blank gaze to their queen as if they couldn’t understand what they were seeing. Just a few seconds ago, their queen was just about to wear that human…

Numerous white sharp bones surrounded that piece of flesh like a cage. Soulsqn’s “head” was firmly stuck within that small area. Lin Sanjiu stood up and looked down at the card in her hand before smiling faintly.

“I already figured out your bulls.h.i.+t reality,” she smiled icily. “Do you have any other techniques?”