Chapter 94 - The Beast Emperor Return
"Get ready for the last act. The curtain is about to fall, you, The One Who Hides Behind The Curtain."
That was what Bao Bei said. Both had taken their Domains out, which were their strongest cards at their disposal and activated their bloodlines. It wouldn't be the same as before.
"Spider Run, Aerial Mode."
Suddenly, all fifty Bao Beis began to move at an insane speed. Instead of using the normal flight that was linear but continuous, they were using Spider Run in the air to traverse several meters at high speed in a straight line.
The procedure consisted of forming a cushion of spirit power on her legs’ tips to use it as a support point to project herself in the desired direction. Although Bao Bei wasn’t able to continue to move forward in the chosen direction after completing several meters, unlike the usual flying, this way was faster and allowed to surprise the enemy.
Along with the displacement of the fifty Bao Beis, the Shé Family head also moved. The snakes generated by his Domain hissed viciously and bared their teeth. Then, like an enormous cloud of green color, producing a metallic sound similar to a rattle, they fell forward against the advance of that spiders’ army.
Spider vs. Snake. Who was going to win?
But as soon as the snakes' army moved, the gigantic spiderweb dome's filaments, in which the two fighters were, began to thin out into space inside. Like thin needles, an unknown number of threads slipped into that green cloud and pierced the snakes, binding them with their bodies.
However, when these filaments created a hole in the snakes' body, the reptiles snapped and divided their bodies in half. They used the hole that had been built into their bodies as a separating line. Then, the front part became smaller as it formed a tail, and the back one became smaller in turn to create a head.
And like that, for each snake killed by the silk filaments, two other serpents would be created, increasing the density of that green cloud.
"Nagaraja, Poisonous Knife Rain."
Taking advantage of the space not occupied by his snakes, the Shé Family head ordered his Artifact Spirit to attack him. Therefore, in the portion of space where the man and the strange figure were, sharp daggers created with spirit power appeared. Each of them contained a crazy amount of Poison Law.
At that point, an incredible number of these daggers flew against the Bao Beis army that was continuing to advance.
"Chaos Spiderweb."
Bao Bei noticed that the snakes weren’t being blocked at sufficient speed and that a shower of daggers was also coming. So, she activated another of her techniques.
The filaments of her spiderweb dome that had so far stretched out in an orderly manner began to lose control and scatter in bulk throughout the area inside. With such chaos, they couldn't miss the snakes and the daggers.
However, some of the snakes and daggers, commanded at a distance by the human martial artist, dodged the protective layer of the spiderweb, creeping into the empty spaces, and advanced towards the Bao Beis’ army.
The figures of Bao Bei, therefore, began to be pierced one by one, disappearing after contact and finally leaving the original Bao Bei that was still undamaged.
"Poisonous Cloud Explosion."
The remains of snakes and daggers pierced by the spiderweb’s filaments, and those that had destroyed the false copies of Bao Bei began to tremble and produce a disturbing sound before they burst completely. From that outbreak, an immense poisonous cloud spread like an enormous wave in the sea, swallowing everything it encountered.
"Cocoon Spiderweb."
As the cloud approached, Bao Bei secreted more silk from her spinneret to create a circular sphere similar to a cocoon around herself. That cocoon then underwent the full impact of that poisonous cloud, slowly starting to melt as it came into contact with that toxic gas.
"Nagaraja, go! Embrace of Death."
The half-human and half-snake figure derived from the Artifact Spirit residing in the weapon of the Shé Family head leaned forward at high speed, taking advantage of Bao Bei’s momentary ‘blindness’ in her cocoon.
His poisonous cloud had not only an attack function but also created a disturbance in the enemy's ability to detect spirit power through their spirit sense. This was because the poisonous cloud allowed his spirit power to spread everywhere in the space occupied by the cloud.
As far as the spirit sense was concerned, it was an ability of beings endowed with spirit power to detect the spirit power around them. It was like a kind of detector, but it recognized only spirit power. Consequently, if a martial artist should momentarily cancel their spirit power and advance without activating it, they wouldn’t be detected by the enemy’s spirit sense.
This technique was also used by every being able to perform it. Because the function of detection could also be used during fights, making it perfect when you lose sight of the enemy.
But as it always happened when techniques were invented, techniques that could influence or cancel that detection function were later created. But for Bao Bei, it wasn't a problem at all. She didn’t only use her Spirit Sense to fight.
"Spider Hair."
The hairs on her body began to rhythmically sway as they caught the slightest movement out of the spiderweb cocoon where she was. The amount of sound perceived was monstrous. An ordinary being would go crazy just to hear such a high quantity of noise inside their heads. Nevertheless, Bao Bei didn’t flinch and continued to detect the sounds, quickly isolating the useless ones, one by one.
And so, with Spider Hair, she felt the approach of the half-human figure and half a serpent created by her enemy.
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That being made of spirit power began to wrap its tail around the cocoon, which was now beginning to show signs of collapse as the upper human part prepared to attack as soon as the cocoon would be destroyed.
And after a short time, that happened. Under the action of the poisonous cloud and the tail’s crushing of that being, the barrier-like cocoon of Bao Bei was eventually torn to pieces, sowing filaments of melted silk everywhere.
And yet, as soon as the cocoon broke, a silver-white figure emerged from inside. It was wrapped in the grip of the half-human and half-snake figure’s hands.
"Spider Bite."
Slash!
The head of that hybrid figure was cut in half while the rest of the body precipitously fell to the ground.
Thud!
The head and the body crashed against the surface of the lake, generating an imposing spray. Then they disappeared like grains of colored dust in the air.
Above where the crash had occurred, there was a five-meter spider covered entirely by silvery-white silk as if it was armor.
"Spider Carapace, Spiderweb Mode. Silk Armor!"
The supreme defensive technique possessed by Bao Bei.
Combining her already hard body with Spider Carapace and her spiderweb, Bao Bei was able to create this kind of armor. In this way, her defensive power would skyrocket, making her an unstoppable machine.
"You should know that the weapons Artifact Spirits are created with fragments of the user’s soul. Even if you take over the body, it will still be able to perceive the presence of a stranger and won’t generate all of its power."
The words of Bao Bei were like a veiled arrow that pointed straight to the enemy’s pride. However, he answered with a laugh.
"So? What does it change? It's just a weapon that didn't accomplish its task. I have plenty of other techniques to use in its place."
Then, he leaped forward into the region devoid of snakes and spiderwebs’ filaments. The dome of Bao Bei also had extensive damage and could barely stand up, let alone attack as before.
"Law of Space, Instant Displacement."
The body of the Shé Family head disappeared before the eyes of all those who were watching the battle. The next instant, he appeared next to Bao Bei. His nine snake heads behind his back were still there, and they prepared to strike.
"Law of Time, Arrest."
It was as if the flow of time itself had stopped. The hairs on Bao Bei's body, as well as her movements, were still as if they were frozen in time. Taking advantage of that arrest, the nine snake heads behind the back of the Shé Family head gathered forward with their mouths wide open.
"Concept of Destruction, Law of Poison, Hydra Destruction Cannon!"
From each of the snake mouths came a ray of spirit power of enormous power. Just being hit by one of those rays was inconceivable, let alone nine. Yet, this was what happened. The nine beams merged into one, increasing their overall power before heading against the immovable Bao Bei, which at that point couldn’t possibly block the attack.
"It's over, you lousy monster! Die like that snake asshole!"
The Shé Family head screamed with a face distorted by the negative emotions he felt. There wasn’t even the slightest trace of elegance and grace existing before. All he wanted was to see that hated spider destroyed in front of him.
Boom! Screech!
A roar, louder than all those heard before, broke out where the two fighters were. Then it spread throughout the entire lake. Those who were watching from the lake shore, despite Gaiya’s protective veil, couldn’t help but all collapse on the ground, covering their ears because they couldn’t bear that deafening sound.
No, it wasn't correct. Not everyone was down to cover their ears. Two people, no, five beings were standing, unconcerned about how loud the noise was.
Besides Gaiya, Hei, Ye, Xing, and Lian stood motionless in their place. Their eyes never lost sight of Bao Bei for a moment. Not even the tears or their eardrums’ rupture or the excruciating pain that was gripping their hearts. No, none of this mattered. The only thing they cared about was the purple spider that was fighting in the sky with a strength never seen before.
It was because Bao Bei was the strongest being of all!
Therefore, there was no way that she would have let herself be defeated. And their absolute trust towards Bao Bei wasn’t disappointed because, despite the impossible situation, the divine beast spider, the Empress of all the Divine Beasts, wasn’t a being that would have gone down even for a blow that seemed impossible to avoid or block.
"Concept of Reality, Projection of the Dream."
When the glow from the titanic ray descended on Bao Bei, she said these words. Then she closed her eight eyes to see more clearly the image she wanted, not at all worried about the incoming ray that swept her a moment later.
But Bao Bei hadn’t been swept, though. In front of her, a snake with pitch-black scales had suddenly appeared. Its whole body was pitch black, even its eyes, its tongue, and its teeth. Every visible part of this snake was of that color.
After resisting the attack, that snake that initially had a size similar to that which Bao Bei was assuming, meaning five meters in length, began to grow larger.
10 meters, 50 meters, 100 meters, 150 meters.
At 150 meters long, the pitch-black snake stopped growing. Then it threw a hiss that reverberated throughout the lake region.
Hiss!
No, it wasn't just the Crossroad Lake. The whole Rainbow Island was within the range of that hiss, making everyone who listened to it scare. However, it was different from the attacks of the Shé Family martial artist. Those who heard that hiss, whether they on the lake shore or elsewhere, weren’t damaged by the sound's out-of-scale intensity.
Yet this wasn’t the case for the spirit beasts of the island. But rather than damaged, they were instead influenced by this hiss. Each of them began to kneel on the ground while they issued calls to respond to that cry.
It didn't matter if they were birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, or amphibians. It didn't matter if they were vertebrate or invertebrate species. All of them were bending down to the ground. And this was because they could perceive it. Even if they didn't know why, inside their hearts, they knew.
It was as if it were engraved within their very essence. The supreme existence of their species. The pinnacle of the final evolution that had been denied to them countless years ago and which they so desperately longed to achieve.
Their Lord and Sovereign, the Emperor Beast, had returned.
And when the hissing finally ended, the black eyes of that pitch-black snake lingered on the human flying high in the sky that until a moment before was laughing pleased, convinced that he had finally achieved victory.
"And so, we meet again. The One Who Hides Behind The Curtains."
Authority. It was the most immediate feeling you felt when you listened to that voice. Not an authority derived from fear or from oppressing others with your strength. Not at all. It was an authority derived from trust and hope that those who followed him had towards their lord.
For his enemies, his voice would have been like the cold blade of a dagger on a dark night. For his allies, it was instead like a spiderweb's thread lowered to save the souls in pain that were in Hell.
"HEI AN!"
The Shé Family head’s face became even more contracted and deformed than it had done up until now. This time, in addition to anger and hatred, there was a slight nuance of fear in his voice and expression. And it was because he couldn’t help feeling fear before the appearance of the snake that he had become even more furious.
"HEI AN! YOU! I! WILL! KILL! YOU! "
The human screamed violently with all the breath he had in his body. The being that had being occupying his thoughts for a hundred thousand years had appeared before him. The being that most of all, he wanted to kill him with his own hands. No, killing him was a euphemism.
He wanted to tear his enemy’s flesh apart, cut it into pieces until the last shred. Tormenting his soul for eternity while binding him to survive to watch his loved ones suffer one by one of a horrible death. He wanted to see him collapse and despair. He wanted to see him plead for himself or his loved ones and see his reaction when he denied him grace, forcing him to suffer more.
It was the stage his obsession, his resentment, and his hatred against the being before his eyes had reached.
But this was of no use, because Hei An, the Emperor Beast, was the only possessor in the whole history of this world who had ever awakened the Concept of Hope. Regardless of how desperate his situation or that of his companions might seem, he wouldn’t give up. He would continue to advance, confident that one day, his dream would come true, even if he had to die to leave HOPE to someone else.
"The One Who Hides Behind the Curtains! This time I'll be your opponent! "