Bai Qi shook his head helplessly as he looked at Xiao Yu, whose face was full of wariness. As expected, she had been faking her unconsciousness.
It made sense; how could Zheng Qi possibly leave such an obvious opening for him?
Xiao Yu, having distanced herself from Bai Qi, gripped her pufferfish and said, "Holy Lord, what scheme are you concocting now?"
"Scheming?" Bai Qi raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. "I'm not. I'm just here for the exhibition, and I prefer you call me Bai Qi."
"Ugh."
Xiao Yu shivered. "Can you please not act like that? You're a demon thousands of years old, and you sound disgusting."
Bai Qi didn't seem to mind Xiao Yu's words. He waved a hand. "Instead of focusing on that, why don't you look behind you?"
Xiao Yu, half-skeptical, turned to look. The area Bai Qi had attacked with his psychic ball was now covered in a shadow. Then, several Hunter Claws emerged from the darkness.
"Holy Lord, I knew you were behind this!"
Xiao Yu knew the Shadowkhan all too well; they were the Holy Lord's minions for his wicked deeds.
"You're mistaken. These Shadowkhan are not under my control."
"Not yours? Do you think I'll believe your nonsense? If not yours, do they have a will of their own?"
As Xiao Yu was scolding Bai Qi, the first few Hunter Claws that appeared did not attack. Instead, they dissolved back into the shadows, causing the shadowy area to expand rapidly until it covered half the exhibition hall.
At that moment, a voice echoed through the hall, "Hahahahaha, Holy Lord, the power you stole must be returned!"
A large number of Shadowkhan emerged from the darkness. Among them were the most common basic forms, warrior-like Samurai Shadowkhan, alien-looking ones with tentacles for hands and a snake's tail, and finally, the Mantis Shadowkhan.
The number of these Shadowkhan grew, almost filling half the exhibition hall.
At this point, Xiao Yu realized this truly might not have been Bai Qi's doing.
Surrounded by the four types of Shadowkhan, a large red head appeared in the air.
Xiao Yu instinctively took a few steps back, bumping into Bai Qi.
"What… what in the world is that?"
"Ghost?" Talas said to Xiao Yu. "I am indeed a ghost. A Japanese ghost. The sole commander of the Shadowkhan, the instigator who will plunge the entire world into ultimate terror. I am Talas."
"Yes, yes, you are Talas."
Bai Qi picked at his ear with disdain, unimpressed by Talas's passionate speech.
"Just a substitute found by the Dark Chi. You really think you're that capable."
Talas's performance after his revival in the original story was quite impressive, especially at the end of the mask arc, where he summoned all the Shadowkhan by collecting nine masks, trapping the protagonists, and spreading his so-called ultimate terror across the world.
It seemed incredibly imposing, but Bai Qi remained dismissive.
Ultimate terror, Shadow Lord – it was all nonsense.
Talas appeared after the Eight Demon Lords were sealed in hell, merely a remedial measure by the Dark Chi.
They had hoped to regain some ground with Talas, but in the end, Talas, along with his generals, marched far and wide, yet couldn't conquer even a small land like Japan. He was defeated by the local Onmyoji and sealed within masks. It was hardly a success; he was utterly useless. Su Dan Novel Network.
In the original story, the Dark Chi picked the best among the bad, pouring all its energy into Talas. Yet, he was defeated by the protagonists one by one before even completing his journey through America.
He had expected the Dark Chi's mother, after recovering some strength, to be of some use. He never imagined she would resurrect this thing, and worse, this thing, upon resurrection, didn't bother the protagonists but instead came looking for Bai Qi.
Bai Qi looked at Talas, who seemed to be in an advantageous position, and asked, "So, that magical artifact is with you too, isn't it?"
Talas, embodying the noble spirit of a villain, answered every question. Not only did he answer, but he also displayed the disk as a trophy to Bai Qi, utterly unaware of his own limitations.
Bai Qi nodded with satisfaction as he saw the magical disk in the hand of a Hunter Claw.
"That's all I need."
With that, he attacked. Dragon's Breath, laser eyes, and psychic impact, all unleashed upon Talas.
Talas, existing as a phantom-like entity, was indeed unharmed by Bai Qi's attacks. However, his Shadowkhan behind him were not so fortunate.
Under the immense destruction, the numerous Shadowkhan were like paper, instantly turned to ashes.
The sheer destructive power left Xiao Yu, standing beside him, stunned.
Is this the Holy Lord?
When did he become so strong? He wasn't like this before.
Talas was also dumbfounded by Bai Qi's attack.
Talas had existed long after the Eight Demon Lords were sealed in hell. He only knew about demons from ancient texts.
He only knew fragmented details about the Eight Demon Lords, knowing they were powerful, with extraordinary abilities. But Talas never imagined they were this strong.
Talas might not have understood Bai Qi, but Bai Qi understood Talas perfectly.
The first day he utilized the Shadowkhan, Bai Qi had already considered how to deal with Talas if he were to be revived, making numerous contingency plans. When he discovered the Shadowkhan acting erratically in the lounge today, Bai Qi suspected Talas might have been resurrected.
However, despite all his calculations, Bai Qi never expected him to dare to confront him directly.
While fire and lasers were useless against Talas, his weakness was glaringly obvious: garlic.
It was quite absurd, really. As the leader of the Shadowkhan, to be defeated by a clove of garlic was simply pathetic.
Unfortunately, Bai Qi didn't have any garlic on hand, so he had to use psychic powers against Talas.
Seeing Bai Qi use his psychic abilities, Talas quickly countered with his own.
Having lost his body, Talas survived in the form of a large head. It could be considered a blessing in disguise, granting him the ability to use psychic powers.
However, with his newly revived strength, he was no match for Bai Qi. Furthermore, the Dark Chi, realizing that Talas, whom it had revived, was now causing trouble for its own son, immediately cut off the energy supply.
Without the Dark Chi's augmentation, Talas was like a rudderless boat, his power source cut off. His confrontation with Bai Qi lasted only two minutes before he was defeated.
Using his psychic powers to send Talas flying to the side, Bai Qi slowly walked over and bent down to pick up the magical disk from the ground.
Talas, who had been knocked to the ground by Bai Qi, wobbled and raised his large head again, glaring fiercely at Bai Qi. "Holy Lord, I will have my revenge. We shall see."
With that, he turned and fled the venue without looking back.
After Talas left, only Bai Qi and Xiao Yu remained in the hall, and the atmosphere became awkward again.