Chapter 463: Three Seconds Is Way Too Fast
Chapter 463: Three Seconds Is Way Too Fast
Fang Cheng didn’t follow immediately. He landed on the rooftop and approached Kamikawa Takumi. Placing his hands on the man, his palms emitted a faint glow.
“If you heal him,” Isis’s voice suddenly cut through the air, “I’ll kill him. And everyone you care about.”
She didn’t fear Fang Cheng and Kamikawa Takumi teaming up against her—this was purely about teaching the rude man a harsh lesson.
Fang Cheng didn’t doubt her threat. He healed only Kamikawa Takumi’s critical injuries before stopping. “Rin and the others are safe,” he reassured quietly, then turned to leave.
Kamikawa Takumi’s hand shot out, gripping Fang Cheng’s collar. His lips moved soundlessly, words slipping directly into Fang Cheng’s ear. A flicker of surprise crossed Fang Cheng’s eyes before he patted Kamikawa Takumi’s hand. “Thanks, big brother,” he murmured, then rose to follow Isis.
Kamikawa Takumi watched Fang Cheng’s retreating figure before pulling a bloodstained painting from his coat. Isis’s likeness stared back, lifelike and haunting.
…
Fang Cheng flew after Isis beyond Mechanical City’s borders, stopping at the suburbs where plains met rolling hills. Isis surveyed the patchwork of farmland and factories. “A fine place,” she remarked.
“Like it that much?” Fang Cheng kept his distance. “If you die here, I’ll build you a fancy grave nearby.”
Isis turned. “The undead need no graves.”
After a pause, Fang Cheng said, “You’ve noticed—I’m not a vampire anymore. Why bother devouring me?” He’d never been one to begin with, just wearing the disguise. Dying over this charade felt absurd.
“True,” Isis acknowledged. No vampiric scent clung to him, no predatory urge stirring within her. Either he’d transformed into something else or never been turned at all.
“Does it matter?” Her gaze locked onto his Blood Combat Suit. “You wield vampire power. You remain undead. That makes your strength worth taking.”
“What if I stop using it?” Fang Cheng countered. “Pretend we never met?”
“Not possible.”
The two seemed to be out not for a life-or-death battle, but for a casual stroll.
Yet this ease was granted by Isis; Fang Cheng bore constant pressure, far from relaxed.
“Since you’re determined to oppose me, let’s begin.”
Seeing Isis’s blatant disregard, Fang Cheng dropped all pretense: “Last time, I stabbed your nostrils. This time, I’ll show you I can pierce any hole—and settle that billion-debt with you!”
Isis smiled faintly: “I await it.”
Thud!
Flesh tore as Fang Cheng’s blood revolted, morphing into blades from within, turning him into a colossal hedgehog.
The blood then writhed into a living monster, engulfing him into a sphere. A bone-chilling crunch echoed from within.
Life: -1
Remaining: 501
The abrupt attack stole one of Fang Cheng’s lives instantly.
Crack!
The blood sphere burst. A ten-meter giant erupted from the ground, swinging its clubbed arms at Isis.
Invisible blades flashed. The arms severed mid-swing, cleaved into segments.
Next, the giant’s legs, waist, chest, and head splintered. Blood gushed from the wounds.
The blood glowed, then detonated.
Boom!
The giant’s body became a bomb, unleashing a blast rivaling a cluster bomb’s fury, scorching everything within two hundred meters.
Scorching heat and shockwaves devoured the surroundings. Flames and tremors reached even the distant Mechanical City.
Naked, Fang Cheng shot from the inferno. The Blood Combat Suit reformed as he landed outside the blast zone.
He stared at the lingering flames, face grim.
Never had he imagined his blood—once his weapon—would betray him.
Yet here it was. Isis commanded all blood nearby, her dominance absolute.
She could seize his blood anytime, forcing him to suicide. No defense sufficed.
As flames faded, Isis hovered unharmed—clothes pristine, hair unruffled—above the smoldering crater.
Fang Cheng’s self-detonation hadn’t singed a single hair.
He wasn’t surprised.
“This must be the ability big brother mentioned.”
Fang Cheng muttered. Though Kamikawa Takumi lost to Isis, he’d uncovered a clue:
Her power, mistaken for mental prowess, surpassed it entirely.
The monster archives named it Idealism.
As long as she wished, she could achieve it, limited only by her own power. Within these limits, she became like God. The earlier displays of creation, teleportation, and mind reading all likely stemmed from her Idealism ability.
While Fang Cheng was still figuring out how to counter this near-unbeatable power, Isis teleported right before him.
“Shit!”
Fang Cheng instinctively tried to flee, but Isis’s gaze instantly caused his blood to rebel again.
Yet having learned from past errors, he knew repeating tactics wouldn’t work against this opponent. Instead of fighting Isis for blood control, he activated Tide of Blood to flood his system with fresh blood.
He erupted like a burst dam, torrents of blood gushing forth – including the contaminated portions Isis had seized. Though Isis swiftly reclaimed control of all blood, the momentary distraction let Fang Cheng escape.
Activating his War God Bloodline granted him short-range teleportation too. But while Isis flew overhead, Fang Cheng could only teleport along the ground by kicking off surfaces. Their chase spiraled across the endless plain through rapid jumps.
Fang Cheng circled nearby, afraid Isis might turn to slaughter others if he fled too far. He launched Blood Eagles backward as suicide strikes, but all failed upon entering Isis’s sphere of influence. Her blood dominion nullified every vampiric ability he’d stolen. Even effective attacks became useless if Isis willed them so through Idealism.
Yet Fang Cheng remained undaunted. He noticed his Blood Eagles failed within 100 meters of Isis – suggesting her control range. He suspected her blood manipulation itself derived from Idealism, which clearly had distance limitations.
Isis’s superior teleport speed steadily closed the gap. Risking capture, Fang Cheng spun and unleashed a non-vampiric technique.
ROAR!
An ear-splitting bellow shook the plain as if from some primordial beast. An invisible shockwave shot toward Isis… only to vanish upon entering her 100-meter radius.
Fang Cheng’s eyes narrowed. So her Idealism had range restrictions, explaining why she closed distances through teleportation. To strike effectively meant attacking beyond 100 meters – but anything entering that zone became neutralized.
Unless it was an attack that couldn’t be seen or touched, but Fang Cheng lacked such means.
Wait, I do have it!
Fang Cheng suddenly recalled he possessed this kind of attack method, though its power was limited.
“Iyaya! Boost paradise’s effectiveness against Isis!”
He mentally shouted while using Teleportation to flee, as Isis closed the distance.
Iyaya didn’t ignore him this time. “Requesting divine power demands a price.”
“What price?”
“Guess.”
Fang Cheng nearly choked but kept retreating – Isis had entered his 100-meter danger zone.
“I’ll pay! Just do it!”
Iyaya’s chuckle echoed as cold energy shot up his spine, like foreign objects invading his body.
The upgraded Word Spirit Technique activated. Fang Cheng spun to face Isis, arm extending into her lethal range.
Instead of severing, his entire arm exploded into blood mist.
“PARADISE!” Fang Cheng roared, locking eyes with the approaching monster.
This ultimate illusion severed all external senses, trapping victims in wish-fulfilling fantasies. Greater joy meant weaker will to awaken – without outside help, victims became vegetables.
Previously useless against strong mental powers, Iyaya’s upgrade now worked on disaster-level foes. Isis froze mid-air, confusion flashing across her face.
It worked! Fang Cheng Teleported 500 meters back.
His triumph died as Isis shook off the effect in three seconds.
“Damn! Three seconds? Should’ve named it Premature Skill!”
He cursed, realizing he’d been scammed.
Iyaya guaranteed the skill paradise would work on Isis, but didn’t specify how long the effect would last.
An hour counted as effective, three seconds also counted.
When Fang Cheng saw Isis regain consciousness, he immediately turned to flee rather than stay.
Isis’s gaze instantly locked onto his fleeing figure.
In the next heartbeat, Isis crossed 500 meters like a phantom appearing before him, making Fang Cheng’s heart nearly stop.
Wasn’t her Idealism’s range supposed to be 100 meters?
He tried to counterattack but found his body paralyzed – unable to move or use any ability under absolute suppression.
“Clever of you to keep distance,” Isis remarked, “but my ability’s range adjusts as needed.”
Her Idealism normally covered 100 meters, but being reality-warping meant no fixed limits.
She could expand it to 1000 or even 10,000 meters temporarily through sheer will.
Tired of their cat-and-mouse game, Isis stretched her range to 1000 meters.
“Game over.”
Her finger lightly pressed against Fang Cheng’s chest.
Where she touched turned to ash, spreading rapidly across his torso.
Frozen in place, Fang Cheng watched his body crumble to dust carried by the wind.
Only his pulsating heart remained, caught in Isis’s palm.
She devoured it in three bites, then dabbed blood residue from her lips with a handkerchief.
“Hmm?”
Confusion flickered in her eyes.
The digested heart yielded no power. Impossible!
Though mutated from a vampire, Fang Cheng retained vampire abilities – their essence should’ve been in his life essence.
After several seconds, she glanced where Fang Cheng’s ashes had scattered.
The particles coalesced into human form, reconstructing an unharmed Fang Cheng.
“Fascinating power,” Isis observed, studying him.
“Agreed.” Fang Cheng touched his intact chest, gaze hardening. “That finger hurt. My turn to poke you now. Ready?”
Life: -1
Remaining: 499