Yes, I did all of this!

The old crow nodded and said frankly, "However, I had some other plans, so I was still hesitant at the time."

"And now?"

Duanmu Mo laughed and looked at him, asking a question.

"Now... I have other plans."

The old man with the crow spoke calmly, his aura suddenly changing.

Chapter 248: Falling into a disadvantageous position

As soon as he finished speaking, the old crow flew backward, putting distance between himself and Neville.

—Compared to Hei Jia and Hei Shi, the Old Man Raven has been a monster for a longer time, and he has spent a lot of time developing his own abilities, not only his own abilities, but also his research on the Key to the Underworld.

The Keys to the Underworld are products of the conflict between the energies of ancient magical girls and monsters. In addition to being related to the sealing of ancient magical girls, their own energy also has its merits.

After years of research on the Key to the Underworld, the Old Man Crow discovered that by guiding the Key to the Underworld in the correct way, one can strengthen oneself by harnessing its energy.

However, this power is too domineering and has nothing to do with one's own energy, so doing this every time will put a burden on the body.

Normally, simple use and a short rest will allow you to recover, but if you were to fully unleash the power of the entire Key of the Underworld, although you would become incredibly powerful, doing so would undoubtedly cause severe damage to your body.

...And now, the old crow raised his hands, and the two keys to the underworld merged into his body.

"Well!"

His body jolted violently, but the next moment, a vast power emanated from within him.

"......oh."

Seeing this, Duanmu Mo raised an eyebrow, still with that frivolous look, but his eyes became a little more serious.

"Neville! Die!"

The crimson power spread, just as it had when the gate was first opened, quickly turning the sky over Fengchuan City deep red.

Forcefully activating the two Netherworld Keys, numerous bulging blood vessels appeared on the old man's body. His not-so-large body floated in the air, releasing an aura of fear that could not be ignored.

"Transform!"

Without any hesitation, Duanmu Mo quickly transformed, using the power of Cangyi to become white lightning and disappear from the spot.

Using the ability to blink, one can essentially perform a double jump, which should be enough to deal with the old crow in the air.

When he reappeared, he was already in the sky. White lightning rose from beneath Duanmu Mo's feet, and he disappeared from the spot once again.

Clang!

The sound of a blade slicing through the air rang out. Duanmu Mo, gripping his katana, landed heavily on the ground, turned his head to look in the direction he had come from, and frowned.

The old crow had just disappeared, causing this attack to miss its mark.

The next moment, he felt the figure of the old man crow appear above him, and a black greatsword slashed through, blasting Duanmu Mo away to a distance.

"What's wrong, Neville! Is this all the speed you can do?!"

Ignoring the old crow's roar, Duanmu Mo opened his body and adjusted his posture while flying backwards, and saw the old crow's current posture.

He was enveloped in a reddish-brown aura, and in his hand he held a black stone greatsword that seemed completely out of place for an old man, floating in the air.

"The strength of three people? Will the heads of those two grow out of your shoulders?"

"Still trying to ruin the fight with your nonsense?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old crow's shoulders began to wriggle. Insect carapaces grew from his left hand, and his shoulder formed the head of a herringbone. His right arm was covered with black stone, and a face formed from cracks appeared on his shoulder.

The next moment, the old crow disappeared from the spot.

"Oh wow, that's really true..."

Above Duanmu Mo, the black stone greatsword, raised on its right arm, slashed down on him.

His already disheveled body flew backward at an even faster speed, but was caught by Hejia's arm.

The old crow spread its feathered wings, spun in the air, and slammed Duanmu Mo hard onto the ground.

"Forehead......"

Cracks appeared in Duanmu Mo's armor. He crashed heavily to the ground and bounced back up, watching the old man crow thrust his black stone greatsword straight at him.

The sound of something cutting through the air spread, and just as Duanmu Mo's body was pierced by the black stone greatsword, he raised his hand to touch the ground, merged into the shadow, and quickly disappeared.

Lurking in the shadows, Duanmu Mo took out the Black Mist Gun and quickly moved around and fired from within the shadows.

The old man crow gripped Hejia's arm tightly and shot out several darts, aiming at Duanmu Mo's outstretched hand, but they only hit the ground.

"This ability is indeed troublesome... but it's nothing special!"

The old raven stretched out his wings and pierced the ground. Dark purple energy spread out, instantly corroding the surrounding ground and forming a huge battle arena.

Amidst the corrosive energy, Duanmu Mo immediately switched to a card, inserting the power of the demonic puppet into the card slot.

With his legs, now covered in leg armor, landing on the ground unharmed by the corrosive energy, Duanmu Mo cracked his knuckles and rushed towards the old man crow.

boom!

The gauntlets and the greatsword collided, their forces spreading outwards and creating a massive airburst.

Although they appeared to be evenly matched, judging from the ever-increasing aura emanating from the old man crow, Duanmu Mo was gradually losing ground.

. . . . . .

On the other hand, if Duanmu Mo can manage to hold his own against the enemy for a few rounds, then the magical girl's situation is not so optimistic.

"what--"

Ten floating cannons fired beams of light, blasting towards the final form of the Striker.

But before it could hit, the beams were blocked by the black mist surrounding the final form.

"It's happening again..." Wind Chime flew in the air, data flashing in her eyes as she analyzed, "These black mists might be pure energy entities, different from the final form last time."

"No wonder it can't be moved by the wind."

Lingyin's breathing was a little rapid, and her brows were slightly furrowed.

"My sister's wind is also an energy body, which can neutralize the black mist, but it's not very efficient." Wind Chime observed the entire battle and analyzed it calmly.

"Can we hack it into the system again?"

As the sun struggled to dodge the devastating bombardment of the final attack, he asked her, panting heavily.

“I’ve tried it, but the difficulty has increased significantly, and I also felt strong negative emotions during the hacking process, which would have been a burden for me to continue.”

Wind Chime raised her hand, assembling the floating cannons into a giant floating sword cannon, and continuously fired at it:

"I have 45% energy left. If I don't launch a more effective attack..."

As she dodged the final missile, Wind Chime suddenly detected something amiss about the Striker Final.

"Ok?"

—When the black mist wasn't so dense before, they managed to attack the final form of the Striker, but its body was clearly much tougher than the previous final form, and even with all their might, they could only manage to inflict damage on the back of its shoulder.

As the wind chime tried to dodge, the wound on its shoulder was seen once again.

"This is..."

The data flashed before her eyes, and Fengling understood immediately.

"The black mist that my mother transformed into, the final form of the Striker, was more accurately a kind of nanomechanical energy-added energy, which is why it was able to repair its own body. However, although this one was improved overall, its body's regenerative ability was gone."

Upon hearing this news, everyone's spirits lifted, and they gritted their teeth and continued their attack.

. . . . . .

Chapter 249: The Power of Unity

Boom boom boom...

The battle between Duanmu Mo and the Old Man Crow has moved away from the original ruins and crashed into the mountains and forests of Fengchuan City.

For people of their strength, a casual leap can take them from the ground floor to the rooftop, making their combat range incredibly vast; nothing can stop them.

Deafening explosions rang out continuously. Duanmu Mo moved swiftly, punching, charging, and swaying to counterattack... Every movement was difficult to see with the naked eye, and each move left a trail of black shadows.

The demonic puppet's heavy punches slammed into the greatsword, each impact causing a noticeable airburst that shattered everything around it, leaving behind semi-circular craters.

However, even wielding the heavy black stone greatsword, the old man was as agile as He Jia, attacking even faster than Duanmu Mo, constantly thrusting with the blade on his left arm.

"Is that all? Neville, think about the people you killed back then, why aren't they as swift as they used to be?! Get your fighting spirit up and fight!"

As his fist clashed with Duanmu Mo's, the old man crow suddenly raised his leg and kicked at him with his leg covered in black stone.

bump!

With a kick, he sent Duanmu Mo flying into the air. Suddenly, the old man convulsed, and his posture changed again.

Its body was covered in black stones, yet they formed an insect-like shell shape.

The old crow raised his left hand, and countless flying insects gathered in his hand, forming a serrated blade on his arm, as huge and dangerous as the arm of a mantis.

"--what!"

Driven by the two Keys of the Underworld, the Old Raven painfully spread his wings, staring intently at Duanmu Mo in the air:

"You are fighting against us Gatekeepers! I will use their power to kill you and create the world I desire!"

As he spoke, he suddenly shot crows from his wings. These crows had now transformed into the texture of black stone, crashing heavily into Duanmu Mo's armor before exploding and releasing corrosive energy.

"Hmm—those are truly righteous words."

After barely kicking away a few crows in mid-air, Duanmu Mo replaced his card again.

call--

The black flames of the setting sun spread, burning the crows and turning the entire mountainside black with flames.

Duanmu Mo landed on the ground, gripped the black iron greatsword burning with black flames, twirled it with a flourish, and then suddenly thrust it at the old man crow.

But the old crow simply raised his weapons without offering any resistance, using his body, now turned to black stone, to withstand the blow. The next moment, his greatsword and mantis blade slashed down simultaneously.

boom!

The loud noise spread again, and Duanmu Mo quickly blended into the shadows to dodge the attack that almost shattered his body.

"I'm really surprised... You old man, aren't you afraid of straining your back from moving around so much?"