Chapter 122: Rainstorm, Tokyo, Bloody Storm Auction (6) |
Xia Pingzhou walked toward Su Zimai step by step. His face revealed no emotion, but his eyes were as cold as a deep abyss.
The auction house was clearly chaotic due to the battle between Lan Duo Duo and the duo of Xu Sanyan and Lin Zhengquan. Earthquake-like noise continuously echoed, and a rumbling din never ceased. Yet, to Su Zimai's ears, the cold-faced young man's footsteps were exceptionally loud.
Her heartbeat almost synchronized with his footsteps, beating as if ten thousand tiny figures were viciously stomping on her heart.
'If I lose... I will die.' Su Zimai took a deep breath, thinking to herself. 'I can beat him... even if I cannot win, I have to stall until the commander returns.'
She silently pulled down the brim of her Magic Top Hat, observing Xia Pingzhou from the shadows like a vigilant little wolf.
At this moment, centered on himself, a circular chessboard with a radius of forty meters unfolded in Xia Pingzhou's mind, helping him perceive every detail within the board.
Meanwhile, ahead of Xia Pingzhou, the Queen Golem had already charged right in front of Su Zimai.
Stomping the ground, she leaped into the air and spun her body. The daggers in her hands rotated at high speed, slashing toward Su Zimai like a bladed spinning top.
Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Su Zimai abruptly grabbed her Red Cloak and whipped it toward Xia Pingzhou.
The Queen Golem slowly turned her head, only to see the Red Cloak that Su Zimai had just thrown soaring through the air at high speed. In just two seconds, it had flown more than twenty meters away.
The next moment, Su Zimai's figure abruptly appeared directly beneath the cloak.
"As long as I take him out, this broken rock he summoned will stop moving!"
With that thought, Su Zimai caught the magic cloak and draped it over her shoulders. She then swiftly raised her right hand, aiming the palm of her Magic Glove right at Xia Pingzhou.
She lowered her face and pressed her left hand against her right wrist, adjusting the trajectory of her palm.
It was like shifting the crosshairs of a sniper rifle.
In the next instant, spheres condensed from flames materialized before her palm. With a loud "Bang!" they launched in rapid succession toward Xia Pingzhou. The ensuing fireballs howled through the air of the auction house, causing the temperature within a ten-meter radius to spike noticeably.
The rolling flames merged into a burning curtain that rushed toward his face, reflecting brightly in the young man's pupils.
Xia Pingzhou's expression remained unchanged. Advancing like a robot, he raised his hand and pinched a chess piece from his imaginary track:
"King."
The King Colossus materialized in response, standing motionless ten meters to his side.
The rapid-fire orbs conjured by the Magic Glove were completely blocked by a black and white energy barrier. Xia Pingzhou's forward march remained unimpeded.
Su Zimai was briefly stunned, immediately shifting her gaze to the source of the black and white barrier.
She saw a faint black and white chain floating in the air. Its ends connected Xia Pingzhou and the scepter in the hands of the King Golem.
She frowned, instantly realizing something was wrong. "Is that thing the cause?"
At that moment, the Queen Golem chased her down from behind. Leaning forward slightly in the posture of a predator, she closed the distance and raised the short dagger in her right hand, stabbing toward Su Zimai's back!
The killing intent radiating from behind, alongside the rushing wind howling off the blade, served as a blaring warning to Su Zimai that a vicious demon was pouncing at her back.
She furrowed her brows tightly and shouted without looking back, "Scarecrow Demon!"
At that second, the Queen Golem's short dagger pierced into Su Zimai's back, but there was no sensation of stabbing flesh. Instead, it felt like plunging into a dense pile of straw.
Looking up, she discovered that Su Zimai's body had been replaced by a motionless scarecrow.
The scarecrow wore a straw hat on its head. Its body was made of two crossed broom handles and knotted layers of straw, with its arms stretched out to the sides.
The Scarecrow Demon suddenly twisted its head in a stiff, mechanical motion and revealed a bizarre, eerie smile.
The instant the Queen Golem saw that smile, her body was suddenly enveloped by thick layers of straw. A cross-shaped pole hoisted her into mid-air, rendering her completely immobilized no matter how hard she struggled.
The two daggers slipped from her grasp, clattering loudly against the auction house floor.
The Scarecrow Demon vanished.
Meanwhile, in Xia Pingzhou's top-down perspective, Su Zimai had instantly appeared eight meters in front of the King Golem.
As Su Zimai leaned forward and dashed, she snatched the black Magic Top Hat off her head.
She flipped the hat upward, and suddenly, massive flocks of rabbits and pigeons surged out from within. The pure white animals charged forward; the rabbits sprinted nimbly across the floor, while the pigeons flapped their wings and soared through the air.
On Su Zimai's Magic Glove, invisible arcane threads connected to the backs of the rabbits and pigeons. She manipulated the threads with her glove, guiding the running rabbits and flying pigeons.
"Take out that rock man!" she commanded.
As soon as she spoke, accompanied by a comical, magical sound effect, the creatures rapidly expanded with soft popping noises.
Ultimately, the small animals mutated into adult-sized beasts with eerie red light glinting in their eyes. The giant rabbits possessed teeth as hard as diamonds, and the giant pigeons boasted wings as sharp as blades.
They uniformly swarmed the King Golem, looking as if they wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.
"Rook."
Xia Pingzhou watched this unfold and uttered the word expressionlessly.
The next moment, the Silver Rook materialized by his side, its barrel looking like an abyss ready to spew fire at any second.
"King-Rook Switch."
[Host Body Two's Tier 2 Exorcist skill activated: "King-Rook Switch" (Instantly swaps the positions of the "King" and "Rook" pieces on the chessboard.)]
At the very moment the mutated animals besieged the King Golem, he vanished...
In his place, a glowing red Silver Rook that was rapidly heating up and looking as if it would explode at any second appeared right in their midst!
"Self-Destruct."
Xia Pingzhou issued the command to the Rook Golem.
As the word left his lips, the Rook Golem's temperature hit its peak, and it immediately detonated in the center of the mutated animals. The giant rabbits and pigeons were instantly swallowed by surging flames, crumbling into ash with a rustling sound.
Following that, the arcane threads on Su Zimai's Magic Glove snapped with crisp cracks. One by one, they fell lifelessly to the floor before retracting into the seams of her fingers.
"How could this..."
She widened her eyes slightly, murmuring to herself, but she did not stand there in a daze. Instead, she raised her Magic Glove to gather mana.
With a solemn expression, Su Zimai placed the Magic Top Hat back on her head and dashed toward the King Golem, her Red Cloak fluttering wildly in the wind behind her.
Raising her Magic Glove, she pressed her left hand over her right wrist to steady her aim. A volley of massive fireballs erupted from her palm, shooting straight at the King Golem!
"Soldier Golem."
Xia Pingzhou spoke calmly, reaching out to pluck three chess shadows from the black and white track.
Three fully armored silver soldiers materialized on command. They crouched in front of the King Golem and raised their massive shields, forming a giant shield wall that spanned across the front.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The howling fireballs were completely blocked by the shields. The flames scorched the metal pitch-black, causing layers of cracks to spiderweb across their surfaces.
Immediately after, the three silver soldiers rose to their feet in unison. Amidst the rumble of heavy footsteps, they steadily advanced toward Su Zimai, like Grim Reapers approaching with their scythes.
"Refrigerator Demon!"
Su Zimai unhurriedly let out a low shout and swung out her right arm.
Suddenly, a five-meter-tall Super-Giant Refrigerator appeared right in front of her. Embedded in its doors was a face with thick eyebrows and large eyes, bearing an indolent expression.
Xia Pingzhou's face twitched slightly.
It was unclear whether he was holding back laughter or internally shaken by the Refrigerator Demon's majestic stature.
The next moment, the refrigerator doors flew open, revealing three freezing compartments. A blast of freezing air violently swept out from within the colossal appliance.
The advancing steps of the soldiers were frozen solid. Layers of frost condensed over their bodies, and the ground beneath their feet gradually turned into a sheet of ice.
Then, three pitch-black chains shot out, one from each of the three freezing compartments.
The chains were blindingly fast. In the blink of an eye, they tightly ensnared the bodies of the three silver soldiers and viciously dragged them toward the freezing compartments.
The soldiers' swords and shields clattered to the ground. Their armor-clad bodies were twisted into chaotic tangles as the chains forcefully hauled them inside.
With a loud thud, the refrigerator doors slammed shut. The Super-Giant Refrigerator, along with the silver soldiers locked inside, vanished entirely.
But at that exact moment, the Queen Golem finally broke free from the Scarecrow Demon's curse.
The Queen collapsed to her knees. The continuously sprouting straw on her surface disappeared layer by layer, and her body slowly regained mobility. Her right hand gradually gripped the dagger that had fallen to the floor.
She lifted her head, grim flames burning within her eye sockets, overflowing with chilling killing intent.
"I have to hurry, that thing will be able to move soon!"
Su Zimai caught a glimpse of the Queen Golem out of the corner of her eye. She raised her palm once more and fired a volley of fireballs at the motionless King Golem.
Xia Pingzhou summoned the Shadow Demon, which immediately dragged the King Golem down into the Shadow Lake beneath it.
"Shadow Demon?" Su Zimai faltered for a second.
Snapping back to reality, she quickly raised her glove and pivoted to fire the spheres of flame at the now seemingly isolated and helpless Xia Pingzhou.
She soon discovered that even while the King was hidden within the shadows, his Authority continued to shelter Xia Pingzhou. The fireballs were intercepted by the black and white barrier, scattering into a wildly dancing curtain of fire that brushed harmlessly past Xia Pingzhou's serene face.
The next second, the Queen Golem forcefully stomped the ground. Her figure vaulted from the floor like a hunting cheetah, lunging at Su Zimai. Her daggers stabbed right at the girl.
Su Zimai's Magic Glove flashed. A massive Magic Wardrobe suddenly materialized behind her. The doors opened automatically, and she took a step backward, stepping inside.
The Queen Golem plunged both daggers into the wardrobe simultaneously, yet found no resistance of flesh. By the time the Magic Wardrobe's doors swung open again, Su Zimai's figure had completely vanished.
The interior of the cabinet was entirely empty.
At the same time, another Magic Wardrobe appeared directly behind Xia Pingzhou. Su Zimai pushed the doors open and dropped out.
Seeing that the King Golem was still hidden underground by the Shadow Demon, Su Zimai knew that launching an attack on the shadow would be useless.
Thus, in this fleeting moment, she shifted her focus and unleashed her ultimate killing move against Xia Pingzhou, who was now close at hand.
"Execution Cabinet," Su Zimai declared, her gaze turning frosty.
A massive Magic Wardrobe abruptly formed behind Xia Pingzhou. Like a giant, man-eating beast, it swallowed his figure into its belly and slammed its doors shut. Immediately after, phantom magicians materialized outside the cabinet, each wielding a bayonet. They violently thrust their blades into the wardrobe from all directions.
But the very next second, the magicians' bayonets shattered simultaneously. Shards of the blades rained down through the air like a sudden downpour.
The King's Authority had blocked everything for Xia Pingzhou inside the wardrobe.
"How is this possible..."
Su Zimai muttered, her face turning pale. Even her strongest ultimate move was utterly incapable of breaching the King's barrier.
At that exact second, Xia Pingzhou pushed open the doors of the Magic Wardrobe and stepped out without a shred of emotion on his face.
Simultaneously, the Shadow Demon reached its maximum duration and faded away. The King ascended from the Shadow Lake, holding his scepter high and standing stock-still in place.
"Rook."
Xia Pingzhou summoned a second Silver Rook. The Rook pivoted its barrel and fired an artillery shell directly at the dumbfounded Su Zimai.
Su Zimai yanked off her Red Cloak and swung it forward with a furrowed brow. The oncoming explosive flash was swallowed whole by the cloak in an instant!
The cloak was then incinerated, but the fiery light of the artillery shell vanished completely.
Two seconds later, an explosion detonated behind Su Zimai instead. Her high ponytail was blown upward by the howling tempest.
But right at this moment, the Queen Golem was already marching toward Su Zimai step by step.
She twirled the daggers in her hands, switching to a reverse grip. Within her slightly narrowed eye sockets, grim blue flames blazed fiercely.
Su Zimai stared blankly at the Queen, a glimmer of panic quivering in her eyes.
Her arsenal of tricks was completely exhausted, yet she had failed to deal even the slightest damage to Xia Pingzhou. She could not even manage to destroy the King...
"Stay away, stay away... stay away!"
Su Zimai mumbled dazedly as she backed away, the shouts from her throat growing louder and louder.
She then raised her Magic Glove, launching fireball after fireball at the Queen Golem.
Both the size and quantity of the fireballs were far smaller than at the beginning, as if she had truly exhausted all her ammunition and provisions.
The Queen Golem could not even be bothered to dodge the oncoming flames. Her body turned ethereal in that moment, welcoming the fiery blasts head-on. The fireballs passed harmlessly through her form, striking the auction house floor and burning scattered, scorched pits into the ground.
Su Zimai shuddered, her pupils constricting.
She froze for a second, weakly taking two steps back before shrieking hysterically,
"Stay away—!"
Not far away, Xu Sanyan, who was tangled in combat with the Anecdote Fragment Headless Horseman, heard Su Zimai's scream.
He flinched, then opened his Umbrella to deflect the long spear thrust by the Headless Horseman. His body was sent flying backward. He completed a mid-air somersault before barely steadying himself and landing on his feet.
"Mai!"
Xu Sanyan whipped his head around. He glanced at the Queen Golem, then at Xia Pingzhou. Between the two, he decisively selected Xia Pingzhou as his target.
'As long as I kill that man, his Celestial Drive will also deactivate!' Thinking this, Xu Sanyan gritted his teeth, his gaze turning icy. He abruptly raised his black Umbrella, aiming the tip straight at Xia Pingzhou's silhouette.
Perhaps witnessing this through his top-down perspective, Xia Pingzhou turned his head unhurriedly at that moment, casting an expressionless glance at him.
The gun barrel concealed in the umbrella's tip was aimed dead center at Xia Pingzhou's face.
Yet there was absolutely no fear in his eyes. His tranquil countenance seemed to be taunting Xu Sanyan:
"You can fire a shot and try."
Xu Sanyan pulled the trigger. A mist-explosive bullet blasted out of the umbrella tip, screaming directly toward Xia Pingzhou's skull!
With a loud "Bang—!", the bullet detonated in mid-air, transforming into a scalding cloud of white mist that engulfed Xia Pingzhou. However, it was completely walled off by the black and white barrier, unable to touch a single inch of Xia Pingzhou's body no matter what.
The white mist swept past, but Xia Pingzhou remained rooted to the spot, standing tall like an unyielding reef amidst a raging tide.
He then shifted his gaze away from Xu Sanyan's astonished face, turning his head back to cast a frigid stare upon Su Zimai.
The Queen Golem was closing in step by step on the girl with the high ponytail.
"Stay away! Stay away! Stay away—!"
Su Zimai's entire body trembled. She kept backing away while screaming, gnashing her teeth as she raised her shaking right hand.
She aimed her Magic Glove at the Queen Golem, but was entirely unable to squeeze out any more flames.
The arcane patterns on the glove flickered on and off, on and off. Ultimately, not even the slightest sliver of light remained, dimming completely—just like her final shred of hope.
The Queen was getting closer and closer.
The cold footsteps of this silver creation were distinct and audible. The blue flames dancing in her eye sockets swayed in the wind, brimming with murderous intent.
Death...
Am I going to die?
At that moment, the thought struck Su Zimai's mind. She suddenly realized: in the past, she had always been under Ke Qirui's protection. She had smoothly slain many demons and had been respectfully hailed as a genius by the Exorcist Association. Thus, she had naturally assumed she was omnipotent.
But all of that had been mere child's play...
Because from beginning to end, she had never fought alone away from the commander, much less experienced the sensation of gambling with her life in a brutal deathmatch.
If I lose, I'm really going to die...
No, I don't want to die...
I don't want to die here...
There are still so many things I haven't done...
The world seemed impossibly quiet in that instant. Su Zimai's face was as pale as paper, her thoughts running wild. She could no longer even hear the footsteps of the Queen Golem.
"Xu Sanyan, Lin Zhengquan, hurry up and help..."
Su Zimai turned her head tremblingly. She looked at Lin Zhengquan, who was tangled with the Mountain Yeti, and then at Xu Sanyan, who was engaged in a fierce struggle with the Headless Horseman.
Both of their faces were pale. They both shot her anxious glances and were screaming something at her.
But she could not hear them.
She could no longer hear anything at all. All she could perceive was the approaching steps of the Queen Golem.
The entire world plunged into silence. Only the Queen's footsteps grew louder and louder, sweeping over like an icy tide that was on the verge of drowning her entirely.
"Commander... Commander, save me, save me..."
Su Zimai murmured to herself as her body continued retreating slowly, step by measured step.
But suddenly, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud. The black Magic Top Hat drifted lightly from her head, revealing a Luster Hat still resting on her crown—the very one Ke Qirui had placed there earlier.
Su Zimai gasped heavily for air. Lying frantically on the floor, she kicked the ground to scuttle backward inch by inch, screaming "Stay away!" without pause.
Yet the Queen Golem was like a cold-blooded executioner, never once halting her advance.
The giant shadow drew nearer and nearer.
Su Zimai was completely out of room to retreat. Her back soon hit the solid wall of the auction house.
Leaning against the wall, she stared upward in a daze. The image of the Queen Golem reflected clearly in her quivering pupils.
At that second, the Luster Hat on Su Zimai's head also slipped off.
She hugged the hat helplessly, her entire body shuddering. Her lips parted, letting out a hoarse, sobbing wail:
"Commander... Commander, Commander, where are you? Hurry up and save me..."
Slowly, the Queen Golem stopped right in front of her.
The colossal statue looked down at the girl from above, its towering shadow completely engulfing her small figure.
This proud girl finally lowered her head.
This single second seemed to pass incredibly slowly, so slowly it felt like a century. Countless thoughts flashed through Su Zimai's mind.
The first thing that surfaced was Gu Qiye's sorrowful face.
She thought absentmindedly—if she had obediently listened to her Big Brother the night before last, if she hadn't thrown a casual tantrum but had instead chosen to go home with him, would things not have ended up like this?
If only she had been a bit more obedient.
Would she have avoided this death?
Her brother truly cared for her, yet for the sake of her own pride, she had refused to admit her mistakes and had hurt him instead...
The image of Gu Qiye suppressing his anger and speaking to her in a low, humble tone played on a loop in her mind. In this moment, she suddenly felt that her brother's face was drifting further and further away, on the brink of leaving her forever.
I'm sorry, brother...
Thinking of this, Su Zimai's eyes suddenly reddened.
She wanted so badly to see Gu Qiye one more time. There were still so many things in her heart she had never told him.
As her thoughts drifted, Gu Wenyu's face suddenly materialized in her mind. Her punchable, cheeky, but fiercely protective second brother.
Su Zimai suddenly remembered how, when she was bullied by other children in kindergarten, Gu Wenyu would always charge over screaming and hollering to chase the other kids away.
Then, he would take her hand and bring her to play at the small park near the kindergarten.
As the sun set in the west, they would sit on the swings and watch the crowds come and go. When everyone had left, Gu Wenyu would raise his hand, rub the top of her head, and console her in a very awkward tone:
"Little sister, you big idiot. You can't beat them, yet you have to act so stubborn. I can't come to save you every single time."
At that time, Su Zimai would wipe her tears, grit her teeth, and look up to retort unreasonably,
"B-but... you still came, didn't you?"
"What if I'm not around in the future?" Gu Wenyu had rolled his eyes at her helplessly.
"I can do it all by myself!" Su Zimai had shouted loudly, tears of indignation welling in her eyes.
"You better not regret it, then!"
Gu Wenyu had shouted back just as loudly. He was huffing madly and about to storm off, but at that moment, Su Zimai grabbed his arm. Gu Wenyu paused, turning back to look at Su Zimai's lowered face.
She hadn't spoken a word.
But in the end, Gu Wenyu hadn't left. He silently sat back down on the swing and quietly accompanied her for a while.
At that time, night fell like a curtain, quietly enshrouding the tranquil park.
In the darkness, the boy's gentle voice sounded softly by her ear:
"Alright... I was just tricking you. No matter how many times, your brother will always come to save you."
"So, stop crying."
The chilling flames were still crackling and burning.
The Queen Golem lowered her head. The blue flames swaying in her eye sockets yanked Su Zimai back to the icy reality.
Trapped beneath the massive shadow cast by the golem, the girl hung her head and curled into a trembling ball.
She murmured silently,
"Brother... save me."
For some unknown reason, the Queen Golem raised her dagger, yet left it hanging in mid-air, refusing to strike.
Just then, Lan Duo Duo's somewhat exasperated voice drifted over from afar. "Newbie, what are you doing? Hurry up and kill that minnow, then come help me!"
Xia Pingzhou's back remained entirely motionless.
Without warning, another shadow suddenly emerged from behind his own.
Dressed in a pitch-black ninja outfit, Oda Takikage appeared behind Xia Pingzhou and asked in a lukewarm tone,
"Mr. Xia Pingzhou, do you require assistance? I have already disposed of all the bodyguards on the fifth-floor corridor."
He paused and looked at Su Zimai in the distance. "If you are not adept at striking down girls, I can do it for you."
Xia Pingzhou shook his head and replied expressionlessly,
"There's no need."
The moment those words fell, the Queen Golem moved. Her dagger cleaved down toward the top of Su Zimai's head.
Su Zimai stared at the shadow on the ground. The behemoth in the shadow swung its arm, and the sharp object descended upon her head. But her throat was already so hoarse she could not make a sound; she couldn't even manage a sob or a scream...
Slowly, she squeezed her eyelids shut.
However, no sensation of pain arrived in the darkness... The Queen's dagger did not seem to land on her head.
After freezing for a good while, Su Zimai slowly raised her head and looked forward.
Then, she witnessed an incomprehensible scene. The Queen Golem's arms were tightly bound by layer upon layer of pitch-black Restraining Bands, leaving her utterly immobilized. The dagger hung suspended a mere foot from Su Zimai's forehead, reflecting clearly in her pupils.
The blue flames in the Queen's eye sockets flickered wildly, a sliver of sheer astonishment bleeding into her expression.
The next second, both the Queen Golem and Su Zimai looked up simultaneously.
At this exact moment, a figure wrapped entirely in black Restraining Bands was hanging upside down from the ceiling, holding a Japanese light novel titled "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute."
Black Cocoon kept his eyes lowered on the book. As he flipped a page, he spoke in an eerie, lingering tone, "Oh, you bastards from the White Raven Brigade... this young lady is my collaborator. I really can't let you kill her."
Within the auction house, Lan Duo Duo, Xu Sanyan, Lin Zhengquan, and Oda Takikage all caught sight of this from the corners of their eyes.
They all froze in unison.
At the same time, Su Zimai lifted her moist, red-rimmed eyes. The face of Black Cocoon was slowly reflected in her tear-blurred pupils.
For some reason, she was suddenly reminded of the cheeky, grinning face Gu Wenyu used to make when they were young.
Clutching the hat in her arms, she stared blankly at Black Cocoon's figure and whispered soundlessly,
"...Brother?"