Chapter 56: Natural Counter (First Update)
A deathly silence fell, and almost everyone instinctively held their breath.
Then they watched the black-haired youth with a casual smile, strolling through the air.
The silver-edged mask glinted briefly in the sunlight.
That was—?!
On the platform, as everyone turned to look at the black-haired man, An Heyu couldn’t help but want to turn back.
Didn’t they agree not to act impulsively? Why was there an illusion appearing there? Or was the one here the illusion?
True or false—he could no longer tell.
But a hand stopped him from turning.
Realizing he’d overreacted, he restrained himself.
His golden pupils shifted slightly, catching a glimpse with his peripheral vision of the cold-faced youth standing behind him.
“Shh.” Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly, cold yet seeming to see through the choice he would make.
She mouthed silently, “Borrowing your ability for a bit.”
No one noticed this brief exchange, as almost all eyes were drawn to the illusion ahead.
Yes, an illusion.
The false illusion wore a smile, its brows relaxed, seemingly unaffected by Qu Yan’s provocation.
The ice sculpture radiated cold, and the nobles atop it, as well as the bustling commoners below, all stared at this person—this figure who appeared suddenly, fearless, and even more brazen than the high-rank noble.
An Heyu, in a flash, realized what the person behind him was planning, so it could only be an illusion.
For a moment, he didn’t know whether to feel relieved or remain tense about what Heige was about to do.
The ability Necromantic Prelude allowed him to analyze the spirits of all humans who died within his domain, and their bodies became his to control.
He could also use their abilities, no different from when they were alive.
If he wished, he could command an army of the dead.
An Heyu pursed his lips, knowing Heige was certain he would obey.
And indeed, he would follow Heige’s plan.
When he chose to board Heige’s ship, he knew he might be used as a tool.
But as Heige had said, he had no other choice.
An Heyu closed his golden eyes.
Then opened them again.
His domain expanded silently and invisibly, capturing the body he had already analyzed.
The body vanished from its original spot and appeared in the air where the illusion stood.
An Heyu could freely alter the position of the bodies he controlled, let alone make them float in the air.
He focused intently on the illusion, manipulating the body to match its movements.
At the same time, blood began to flow within the body—not naturally, but through the body’s own ability.
This body was Qu Ran’s, and under An Heyu’s control, it could use Qu Ran’s ability to create the illusion of flowing blood.
This way, if Qu Yan’s ability could detect a true body through blood flow, the ‘Heige’ before him would be mistaken for the real one.
Meanwhile, Li Li used her Illusory Reality to conceal everything beneath the illusion.
She herself stood in the VIP audience seats, observing everything unfolding before her.
It was like watching a play entirely unrelated to her.
Li Li had said she decided to act boldly after calm deliberation, but she never said she would face an S-rank, high-rank ability user—who was also her ability’s natural counter—alone.
She wasn’t foolish; she couldn’t win.
She could try against an A-rank, but S-rank was completely out of the question.
The gap between mid-rank and high-rank wasn’t just a matter of titles.
Her earlier provocations of Yue Qing were aimed at escaping safely, and now she was merely testing the waters.
But considering Yiming was present, she could play a few tricks...
Li Li: Getting excited.
At the front of the platform, the purple-reddish haired noble looked at the black-haired youth on the same level as him.
He withdrew the hand holding the round canister, lowered his head, and laughed with a bowed posture.
“I like the shape of your skull, and I like your eyes. Your temperament suits my taste as well,” he said, straightening up.
The canister had been tucked back under his cape, and he continued, his words dripping with condescension. “What a pity. If not for the fringe figures here reaching out to me, I wouldn’t even know you existed.”
“The so-called prophecy of the Former Ability Guild? No one in the Floating City believes it. Only in this backwater do people take it seriously,” Qu Yan said. “You don’t really think that with you remnants, you can overthrow the Empire’s thousand-year rule, do you?” He extended a hand toward the illusion before him. “Abandon the Former Ability Guild’s mess, give up your unrealistic dreams, and become part of my collection. How about it?”
Yue Qing’s face stiffened beside him.
The watching commoners couldn’t understand what he was saying.
Even Yiming, who had mingled among the commoners and had prior ties to Tide, didn’t know what the ‘Former Ability Guild’ or the ‘prophecy’ were.
They didn’t know that Tide was the Former Ability Guild.
But they could see the black-haired youth in the air laugh as well.
It wasn’t a laugh of anger or offense, but a casual one, as if he found it amusing on a whim.
“The Former Ability Guild?” He took a step forward, his coat flapping in the wind. “Sorry, I’ve never joined that organization.”
“And, well... I’m more interested in your head right now.”
“You’ll regret this,” Qu Yan said.
The conversation, which had no chance of reconciliation, ended there!
The purple-reddish haired noble raised both hands from under his cape.
Six red threads shot out, but they didn’t aim for the youth ahead—they targeted the commoners below, who hadn’t even reacted!
At the same time, the black-haired youth extended a hand, his gloved fingers tracing an arc through the air.
Snap.
The sound of a finger snap rang out, and an equal number of blood threads spread from beneath his feet, forming a cross-section that intercepted the path of Qu Yan’s ability!
“Ah!”
Only then did the commoners below react, shoving each other as they fled into the distance.
Everyone was focused on the two sets of red in the air, and in an unnoticed corner, Li Li withdrew her hand from lightly patting An Heyu’s shoulder.
“As expected, an illusion capable of causing harm,” Qu Yan said, clearly having heard about Heige’s ability from Yue Qing.
He attributed the effect to an illusion. “But what about this?”
Before his words finished, red threads that had appeared behind at some point pierced through the bodies of the five people hanging upside down.
Except for Yu Xiao.
Blood sprayed, and the bright red rose into the air, following the direction of Qu Yan’s gaze, swelling into blade-like sheets as wide as cloth.
They stretched and extended.
Their surface area far exceeded that of the six red threads.
The tips of the red sheets gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and in the next moment, they lunged forward like ferocious beasts.
They traced curving paths through the air, their intersection point being the smiling youth standing there!
A fierce wind surged, and the tree branches behind the youth rustled with a wailing sound.
The red threads retracted, but he still stood there, calm and composed, as if seeing through the explosive red to the starting point of it all—Qu Yan.
Yiming, swaying among the crowd of commoners, looked up, his eyes taking in everything.
This was a Heige he had never seen before, facing a formidable opponent, yet his brows carried a wild and unrestrained air.
For some reason, Yiming felt that Heige would not lose, even against a high-rank, a powerful high-rank.
That person, in his heart, seemed like someone who would never lose.
The black-haired youth floating in the air drew his elbow back, his palm pausing beside his ear, casually snapping his fingers.
“Snap.”
Red sheets collided at the intersection, transforming into scattered liquid.
Yet, amidst this vivid red, not a trace of black was visible.
Where was he?
Almost everyone present shared this question.
The next moment, a corner of black clothing appeared atop the high platform.
Beneath the wide sheet formed from condensed red liquid, tiny red droplets fell through the air.
And amidst this rain-like red, a black silhouette materialized in the air, the smile deepening beneath the silver-edged mask.
Pale, slender fingers shifted like swimming fish, drawing a dagger from beneath the trench coat.
Then, with a swing, it traced a crescent-like arc of silver light!
In an instant, an S-rank ability’s red threads pierced the spot where he stood, but it was merely an illusory shadow!
Yet, the attack caused by the shadow was deemed real.
Qu Yan’s head flew off.
The red sheet, suspended in midair, lost its ability’s control and turned into liquid, pouring down onto the heads of the commoners below.
“Aaahhh!”
The commoners’ cries surged like a tidal wave, all of them caught in the crowded motion of trying to flee, but a few turned back to look at the high platform, erupting in even louder screams.
“That noble was killed!”
“Who exactly is Heige?!”
“That’s a monster!!”
With no barriers to stop them, the commoners frantically tried to leave the square.
They scattered in all directions, but Yiming and his group, caught in the mix, didn’t want to leave yet were pushed out of the square by the crowd.
The chaotic noise didn’t reach the high platform, where Yue Qing stood with furrowed brows, his ice sculpture spreading its wings as if alive.
But soon, he sat back down.
The shadow reappeared, materializing into a human form on the high platform the next moment, standing before the head.
In an instant, the shadow’s interior swapped with Qu Ran’s corpse, red threads emerging from the ground, propping the head up until it was level with his own.
“I told you,” he said, tilting his face to meet Qu Yan’s eyes, his crimson pupils curving with a smile.
And at that moment, Qu Yan spoke.
“I like your temper.” A thread so fine it was nearly invisible connected the severed surface of his neck. “When someone like you is killed by me, your expression will surely be worth treasuring.”
He wasn’t dead!
The black-haired youth’s gaze lowered, and at the same moment, following a cue, Qu Ran’s red threads shot up from the ground, forming a small blade that slashed at the fine thread.
The thread stretched but didn’t break at all!
At the same time, flames ignited in the air.
Illusory flames, believed to be real by the target, turned true, scorching the blood threads.
“Hahaha, hahahahaha…” Qu Yan burst into maniacal laughter, and at the same time, blood threads surged wildly from the severed edge of his neck, instantly snapping Qu Ran’s ability.
Accompanied by the flames, they reattached his head to his neck!
The red threads stitched at the severed edge, wriggling like maggots.
The flames extinguished.
Then Qu Yan turned, facing the black-haired youth whose form flickered illusorily, and said, “You cannot defeat me.”
The shadow lingered in place, but another shadow stretched the distance, appearing at its previous position.
The shadow gradually solidified.
Qu Yan’s hand brushed over his neck, then slid downward to his chest.
“Illusions let you move as if in an empty realm, assassinating anyone you wish to kill, but you can’t kill me,” Qu Yan chuckled softly. “But I can easily kill you.”
“Because my ability is linked by bloodline, striking the ability user directly through their ability!”
A red sheet, under his command, fell to the ground, intercepting the red threads beneath the shadow’s feet that hadn’t yet faded.