Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 163 War! Heaven and Sea!
Zheng Zha followed the sound of the waves toward the elevator, but the further he walked, the more he realized something was wrong.

Although he was almost used to this strange feeling... Zheng Zha wandered around for a long time but still couldn't find the elevator he had seen in the distance, which annoyed him a bit.

Zheng Zha burned through another useless fire door, then walked around behind two load-bearing pillars, only to find himself back at the starting point.

"How annoying! Why do you have to keep me in suspense?" Zheng Zha cursed under his breath. The red flames on his body suddenly erupted, and the temperature of thousands of degrees centered on him no longer held back, enveloping the space in scorching heat.

Through his mastery of the Crimson Flame, Zheng Zha discovered some facts… even using the lowest quality Crimson Flame, one could easily reach temperatures far exceeding those of ordinary flames, making it effortless to insulate against external high temperatures. Therefore… the true potential of the Crimson Flame definitely doesn't lie in this; as a core spell of the vampire race, it's far too simplistic!

Through his own training and with Mu Xiang's guidance, Zheng Zha discovered an important function of Hongyan. This technique was actually quite crucial in the match against Saigeya.

Zheng Zha knew that even the same type of energy could have different magnitudes. And when different energies clashed, the magnitude of their energy levels would affect the outcome. As a form of energy application for the vampires, high temperature and the ability to isolate high temperature were merely superficial, just the most basic applications.

If we were to delve into the essence, Zheng Zha's answer would be that the crimson flames are a manifestation of the vampire's energy interfering with the outside world. Whether it's used to insulate against high temperatures, to burn the spirit body, or in Zheng Zha's recent outburst, the essence is the same: using one's own power to interfere with the outside world. This interference can also resist external interference, making it a two-way street.

This interference is also related to their relative magnitudes... When Zheng Zha first possessed the Crimson Flame, he could actually cause great harm to spirits; however, in the current distorted spacetime, that was absolutely impossible. But now, Zheng Zha can completely use the Crimson Flame to counteract the Old Ones' erosion of him and burn away the eerie environment.

In fact, Zheng Zha had gradually reached a new level in the use of crimson flames. The reason he unleashed the crimson flames was not to show off, but because within the range of the crimson flames, these strange tricks could not interfere with him.

Zheng Zha had a vague feeling that if he could further improve his use of the red flames, he could cover a large area with negligible consumption, and within that area...

He could conjure crimson flames from anywhere at will; anyone who opposed him would be interfered with and suppressed within this area. If he were to advance the fusion of his body and the crimson flames a few more steps, perhaps he himself could move freely within this area. Because, within this area, the crimson flames suppressed everything, and he was the crimson flames!

This was the path Mu Xiang had outlined for him before; this was roughly what a domain expert was like… Zheng Zha truly felt that Mu Xiang was unfathomable, often able to point out his misunderstandings with just a few words, and then help him discover new possibilities. Techniques like the Crimson Lotus Transformation during the battle with Saigeya were developed through mutual exchange and refinement between Zheng Zha and Mu Xiang. The spiral-shaped movement technique was also something Mu Xiang shared with Zheng Zha.

Moreover… the name "Red Lotus Transformation," which is both poetic and characteristic of red flames, was also given to Zheng Zha by Mu Xiang. Zheng Zha himself thought about it and realized that his memory had been distorted, which was why he thought he had named it himself… In fact, this was beyond Zheng Zha's abilities. Zheng Zha didn't consider himself to have any talent for naming things; in fact, the only thing he came up with was the "explosive" technique of red flames.

If it were up to him, the Crimson Lotus Transformation would probably be called "Full Power"... Even with the most amazing technique, he would probably only be able to name it something like "Explosion" or "Destruction." So Zheng Zha felt incredibly fortunate to have Mu Xiang's help, from developing the skill tree to naming the skills, it was a complete one-stop service.

In fact, if you were to interview Mu Xiang, he would be completely bewildered... I just said it offhand, and you actually brought up the field for me?

As the crimson flames spread, Zheng Zha felt something was missing from his ears… Yes, ever since he entered this eerie underground parking garage, an almost inaudible frequency had been echoing throughout the space. To ordinary people, this sound was as if it didn't exist, but it could subtly influence their psychology and behavior.

Therefore, many people in such environments will gradually hear voices calling to them and driving them, and the content of these voices varies... Some are what they desire, while others are what they fear, and ultimately these voices lead them to a dead end.

But what's truly at play is what they can't hear, and the influence of various environmental factors. Otherwise, would everyone be destined to face a customized predicament?
The interference in this space seems to be of a considerable magnitude... otherwise, Zheng Zha should have noticed it long ago, instead of only realizing the difference after it disappeared. Although he wasn't truly affected, his momentary unawareness speaks volumes about the other party's level.

"Could it really be CEO K?" Zheng Zha muttered to himself. Although he was lost in thought, he never stopped walking. The elevator he had seen earlier wasn't far from here. As the Crimson Flame Space advanced, pieces of distortion were burned into nothingness, revealing the simplest path.

Zheng Zha walked to the elevator in a few steps. Without even raising his hand, the elevator door softened and collapsed silently into the boundless sea.

Outside, however, was a dark sky and a gloomy sea.

The sea was not calm; in fact, it could be described as turbulent. Yet, amidst the oppressive atmosphere, the sea still gave Zheng Zha a sense of deathly stillness.

A churning, deathly silence...like that of a living dead. Zheng Zha looked up and saw the profound mystery where the sea met the sky...a colossal city that obscured everything, a mixture of solemnity and blasphemy, splendor and filth, from afar. Just as Mu Xiang had said, the structure of the building was entirely abnormal, the massive stone, impossible to have come from on Earth, twisted into such a structure.

What is clearly the convex side of a rock appears concave without needing to change the angle...

But Zheng Zha remained calm. He glanced at his watch; time had returned to normal. There were only a little over twenty-four hours left before returning to the Main God Space. The time he had spent in the underground parking garage had left Zheng Zha somewhat bewildered.

"So, is the main god going to increase my strength or not?" Zheng Zha asked, somewhat puzzled. "At that speed, I could just have a smoke in there and then go back."

Although Zheng Zha had oversimplified the situation, he wasn't one to shy away from trouble or be lazy. He took a step forward, dark red flames rising beneath his feet. Bat wings covered in dragon scales tore through his clothes once more, and with each step, a trail of red flame appeared, as if flowers were blooming with each step, as he traversed the sea, which was either churning or deathly still, towards the distant R'lyeh.

Zheng Zha appeared to be strolling leisurely, yet in the blink of an eye, he had traversed an immeasurable distance. In his eyes, R'lyeh had already blotted out the sky. With each step he took, an aura far stronger than that of Seygia emerged from the sea fog.

"You're the one who got smashed to pieces by the steamship?" Zheng Zha said somewhat flippantly, but his eyes were already blank, and his hand unconsciously touched the bridge of his nose.

“So that’s what the main god meant…” Zheng Zha said calmly, “Then I just need to kill you, and leave the rest to him.”

A silent, colossal shadow emerged from the sea, its octopus-like head appearing behind the sea mist. Its tentacles began to writhe, rubbing together and uttering incessant, chattering sounds.

"You're not waiting for me to get on top of you, are you... to get on top of your head?" Zheng Zha muttered, raising his right foot to stomp on Cthulhu's massive head.

The seawater suddenly boiled, not from the scorching red flames, nor from the churning of the enormous body before him… Countless scaly claws emerged from the sea, more numerous than the waves, reaching straight for Zheng Zha's ankles. Two auras, slightly weaker than Saigia's, rose from the sea behind him, echoing each other, yet both firmly locking onto Zheng Zha.

Above the colossal city, countless humanoid figures with octopus heads poured out from one dark, seemingly indistinct opening after another, falling from the sky and rushing towards Zheng Zha with chaotic yet identical murmurs.

The next moment, the boiling seawater, enveloping the deathly silence, exploded in all directions, the terrifying impact blasting countless Starkin and Deep Ones to dust. But the former continued to murmur, while the latter danced gracefully to the chants of Father God Dagon and Mother Goddess Hydra, singing in harmony amidst the raging seawater and surging flesh.

Their common god rose, his towering figure reaching higher than the highest point of R'lyeh. His bloated green body and tattered, redundant wings blocked out the last remaining ray of light, leaving only three glowing red eyes watching Zheng Zha.

A faint spiritual fluctuation enveloped the sea, silencing the frenzied Star Familiars and Deep Ones for a moment. Then, they surged towards Zheng Zha from all directions in an even more frenzied state.

At this moment, the sky and the sea belong only to this magnificent existence... everything combines into a world full of madness and malice, and in the middle of this world, there is only Zheng Zha.

"Very strong, but it's just a smokescreen." Zheng Zha chuckled as he hovered above the sea, the crimson flames beneath his feet and around him pulsating in a strange way, dispelling the approaching mental fluctuations. The next moment, the crimson flames exploded in a violent spiral, like an endless red cloud stretching across the sky and sea.

Originally, only a few dragon scales covered the bat wings, but now they have grown even larger, forming dragon scale bat wings!

Two balls of red flame, filled with overwhelming fighting spirit and insane killing intent, emerged from his shoulders, and four dark red spiral streams of energy unfolded on his sides, giving him three heads and six arms!
The boundary between flesh and red flames blurred at this moment, yet it was unclear whether Zheng Zha was red flames or red flames were Zheng Zha... The dark red figure was just a small dot in the gray sky and sea, in the roaring torrent of fire, yet it seemed to have become the absolute center.

"Red Lotus Transformation!"

(End of this chapter)