From the end of the world

Chapter 43: Fallen Demon Hunter vs. Psychic 6
I looked in astonishment at the place where Zhuang Cheng fell.

The body, which was lying on the ground with its head and body torn apart, started to burn without any warning, as if an invisible person had poured gasoline on the body and set it on fire while I wasn't paying attention. Not only that, but even the pool of blood and splattered brain matter on the ground started to burn like gasoline.

Incredibly, even though it was engulfed in flames, the body, blood, and brain matter were not burnt or damaged. Far from being damaged, it seemed that these things were not ignited, but rather transformed into flames themselves.

Yes, it is transforming into the flame itself. I don't know what I am talking about, but these biological tissues with entities seem to have been transformed from flames, and are now gradually changing back to their original appearance.

Then, something happened that made me doubt my own eyes even more.

The headless body, which visually became as illusory as flames, actually crawled up slowly in front of me, the murderer, as if nothing had happened.

He touched his non-existent head in a daze, paused after finding nothing, then bent down, found and picked up the head that had fallen on the ground, and held it in his arms.

He - he can still move?
The unexpected scene left me dumbfounded: "You, you..."

He was resurrected? No, he was never killed in the first place?
Being able to survive even after having his head chopped off, what kind of superpower is this, immortality? But isn't he a flame power user? What does this power have to do with immortality?
He slightly adjusted the direction of the head in his arms so that it faced me, and the terrifying face with its eyes damaged by the slash seemed to be staring at me.

The intact mouth moved and uttered a sigh: "Just now I was lying on the ground and thinking about it, and finally figured it out... So you were acting all along, are you the mastermind behind this?"

How does he manage to speak with his head separated from his body? His vocal cords simply can't function properly, right?
No, calm down, calm down, Konda. Although this is the first time I have encountered a superpower who can continue to move after being beheaded, in this world, this level of immortality is not surprising. The opponent's power does not seem to be controlling fire, but other mysterious superpowers. But so what?
There are so many mysterious powers. Most agents and demon hunters have to face strange powers that they cannot understand no matter how unwilling they are. Real battles are not like the battle of wits in comics. There is no reason to solve the mystery of the enemy's ability in order to win. If you want to gain an advantage on a battlefield where the direction is unpredictable, there is only one way, and it is the method I have been using all along -

Get started first!
I transformed into a monster without hesitation, and charged forward with my arms that had turned into sharp blades. There were no extra words or movements. In just a moment, a moment that ordinary people probably couldn't even blink, my slashes continued one after another, landing on Zhuang Cheng's body without leaving any room for any effort.

Previously, the slashing blow with partial transformation was merely a sneak attack with concealment as the highest priority, and power was secondary; but now the slashing blow with full transformation pursues extreme destructive power.

If Zhuang Cheng thought that I was only capable of physical attacks, he was totally wrong. The slashing attacks in the monster form could not only kill physical bodies, but could also be used to kill spiritual beings.

In other words, I have the power to attack souls directly.

Especially now that I am filled with murderous intent and only want to attack the soul, the mana concentrated on the blade is even more lethal. Ordinary people without any mana will be killed just by being scratched by it, and most superpowers who do not have soul-related powers will only have the same ending.

All the slashes hit, and Zhuang Cheng was instantly torn into pieces. After completing the charge, I braked behind him and ended my attack.

I won...

Just as this thought reflexively came to my mind, Zhuang Cheng's voice came from behind me: "Physical attacks are useless to me."

As the words rang out, my right hand and legs began to burn at the same time. The intense pain made me scream uncontrollably.

I can understand why my right hand would burn, as there is still Zhuang Cheng's blood and brain on my right hand. Since the biological tissues he splashed on other places would burn, my right hand would also burn. But why would my legs burn out of thin air? He is clearly not looking at me now!

Why didn't he die before this?
As I screamed, I turned and fell to the ground, and his figure came into view.

He was standing there intact, the head in his arms still talking to me: "I wanted to show you this form before, if you hadn't suddenly opened fire... I see, the demon that attacked from behind was testing whether I could sense what was behind me..."

As he spoke, he became thoughtful and talked to himself.

How is it possible? My sharp blade has clearly cut open his body, why is there no new wound on his body? More importantly... the soul attack actually has no effect! Not only that, he didn't even realize that his soul was attacked! No, I must deal with the flames on my body first!
I quickly swung the blade in my left hand and cut off my right hand and legs. The intense pain made me feel like dying, but compared to letting the fire spread to my torso, this degree was acceptable. As long as I gave this strange body time, my right hand and legs would be able to regenerate later.

Everything happened in a flash, and I didn't plan to continue trying to kill Zhuang Cheng for the time being. It was a waste of effort to deal with an opponent who couldn't be killed no matter how hard I attacked. If it didn't work, I would find a way to assassinate him later. I wanted to escape and transfer through the power of shadow!

Under my control, the shadows around me immediately surged in like a tide. I had to escape as quickly as possible. Zhuang Cheng's attack speed was not slow, and his power was unparalleled. If I was even a fraction of a second late, I would be burned to death on the spot.

However, I was still a moment too slow, and Zhuang Cheng's flames arrived instantly.

I still couldn't see where the flames were coming from, and this time they weren't even burning from the surface of my body. I felt a horrible heat coming out of nowhere from deep in my chest and abdomen, as if someone was sending a large amount of boiling water into my stomach. The severe pain and internal pressure from the inside out made me open my mouth involuntarily.

My vision suddenly fell into darkness and I could no longer hear any sound. Then I felt something rushing out of my mouth, nose, eyes and ears frantically.

No, what I understood was flames... flames appeared directly inside my body and gushed out from the inside out!

At the same time, the muscles all over my body seemed to be destroyed, and I was unable to move. There was only one thought left in my mind -

He could actually summon his own flame directly from inside my body? Outrageous!

But... I'm not dead yet. Logically, I should have died in an instant with his firepower. In fact, I feel like I'm almost dead now. Even my consciousness is tormented by the severe pain. But I'm not dead yet. He showed mercy. This is the biggest mistake he made.

The shadows around me were still following my previous instructions. When flames gushed out of my seven orifices, the shadows on the ground also opened the teleportation portal, allowing me to fall into it under the force of gravity.

"Shadow Transfer" was successfully activated, and I directly entered the world of shadows.

The shadow world is completely different from the colorful real world. There is no light or sound, and it is like the deep sea. I am not saying this because my eyes and ears are burned. It is just so monotonous. I can't even feel up, down, left, right, front, and back. I can only barely feel that "I seem to be moving somewhere."

People without relevant abilities can't even think or survive here, because there is no concept of time and space here. And even for me as a user, this place is very dangerous. If I'm not careful, I'll get lost and can never return to the real world. The only places I can go to through shadow transfer are the places I've been to in the real world.

Zhuang Cheng once mentioned that he had a spiritual connection with his flame, but under the cave in the room on the fifteenth floor, this spiritual connection was once severed.

The reason why it was cut off is obvious, because under the cave is a different space that does not exist in reality.

The space-time that the shadow teleported into was also a different space that did not follow the common sense of the real world. Here, any form of radio signals could not reach, and the connection between Zhuang Cheng and his flame was certainly the same. As evidence, the flame burning in my body quickly extinguished after I entered the shadow space-time. My tortured consciousness finally regained some calmness.

I concentrated my magic power on my eyes and ears. Not long after, I felt that I had regained my sight and hearing, and then I emerged from this shadowy space and time as if I had emerged from the water, and came to the place I had been before.

This is the abandoned construction site that Zhuang Cheng and I investigated before. I was directly transferred to the high-rise part of the unfinished building. Due to the suspension of construction, the high-rise part of this unfinished building only has the skeleton part. Looking up from the ground where I am, the upper floors have no ceilings and walls, only the gray skeleton formed by the crisscrossing layers of reinforced concrete.

If we escape here, we should be safe... I breathed a sigh of relief for the time being.

The shadow transformed into three-dimensional matter and formed prosthetic limbs. I got temporary replacements for my right hand and legs and was able to stand up.

Suddenly, a wave of magical power appeared near me.

(End of this chapter)