Chapter 76 Countdown

The countdown ended, and the barrier disappeared.

Atobe's crazy antics… were about to begin.

He naturally knew that he had no chance of winning a conventional fight against these two, so he used his ultimate move without hesitation from the start.

"The Six Realms of the Heavens, Searching for Lapis Lazuli… Sumeru Frost Quake!"

As Atobe recited the "release phrase," the weapon in his hand—a pure white, giant folding fan—instantly erupted with astonishing energy.

In that instant, a biting chill spread rapidly from him as the center, enveloping the area within a few li in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, Honghu's expression also changed. While drawing his bow and shooting arrows, he muttered, "Could this be… a Zanpakuto?"

As soon as he spoke, a light arrow for testing had already been fired, flying accurately toward Hei Bai Hui, who was hiding behind Atobe.

Unexpectedly… this arrow disappeared in mid-air before it even flew five meters; judging by the way the light arrow dissipated, it was clearly dissolved by some other energy.

"Oh? He can even do that?" Honghu was indeed a little surprised, because according to the information he had, whether in terms of energy intensity or in the skill of using energy… Atobe had not yet reached the level where he could create a protective aura or domain.

"Hey, hey… don't daydream…" Just as Honghu was pondering, Uncle Scum suddenly reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him backward as he spoke.

"Huh?" Two seconds later, Honghu, who was already in mid-air, belatedly and shockingly discovered… that the part of his feet below the ankles had been covered with a layer of frost when he left the ground.

"The current Atobe is not an opponent you can afford to be distracted against…" Don't be fooled by Uncle Scum's perpetually lazy appearance; at times like these, his reaction speed was faster than Honghu's, "If that kind of situation happens again… I may not be able to save you in time."

"Ah… sorry." Honghu also put on a solemn expression, "There won't be a next time…"

As he spoke, he had already channeled his spiritual energy, gathered it in his feet, and shattered the frost with a tap of his feet.

At the same time, the two members of Hyotei who remained on the ground… had also begun their next action.

In these few seconds, Atobe had created out of thin air a three-centimeter thick, two-meter long and wide, standing "ice board" in front of him.

And Hei Bai Hui, had summoned a strange woman wearing a sixteenth-century European red dress, with a pale face and blood seeping from her seven orifices… Just by looking at her appearance, one could guess that this summon was not good at "fighting," but possessed some kind of "special ability."

"Honghu Honghu Honghu!" Suddenly, Hei Bai Hui recited Honghu's name three times in rapid succession.

As the last word "hu" left his mouth, Honghu, who was far away, was passively teleported to the front of the ice board created by Atobe.

"Wh…" This time, Honghu was not just "surprised," but "scared to death" would be a better description… He only had time to utter one word before a bone-chilling coldness and fear swept through his whole body. When he calmed down and looked down, the ice board acting as a "mirror" had already disintegrated, reorganized, and frozen his body.

"Got him!" The next second, Atobe's shout arrived, and the "blade" of the giant fan in his hand… struck diagonally at Honghu's neck like a lightning-shaped strange blade.

This round of continuous attacks was so bizarre and abrupt that Honghu was caught completely off guard.

First, Atobe activated his "high-cost" Soul Skill, Weapon Spirit Fusion, sacrificing the main weapon in his hand (a legendary fan-shaped weapon) to summon the Bankai form of his spiritual energy weapon—Sumeru Frost Quake (the stronger the sacrificed weapon, the stronger the Bankai effect).

In this state, Atobe's spiritual pressure (energy) would explode to an intensity that even experts at the level of Zui Sheng Meng Si could hardly reach; combined with the frost effect of Sumeru Frost Quake, he could freely control the diffused cold air around him, freezing any nearby target in a very short time, even freezing the air.

In addition, Hei Bai Hui's "stand"—Bloody Mary—was also a strange move.

[Name: Summoning Technique—Bloody Mary (Stand Type)]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]

[Skill Category: Summoning]

[Effect: Summons a Bloody Mary (Stand-type summons can be summoned or dismissed at any time, with no cooldown time; the duration is based on Endurance. Non-plural Stands cannot be multi-summoned)]

[Stand Ability Values: Destructive Power E, Speed E, Range C, Endurance A, Precision D, Growth D]

[Stand Ability: When Bloody Mary is materialized, as long as its user recites the name of a character three times to any mirror, that character can be instantly teleported to the front of the mirror (the summoned party and the summoning party must be in the same universe, and both parties must have "seen" each other with their own eyes within twelve hours; if characters with the same name appear, the target with the same name that was seen first within twelve hours is summoned first)]

[Consumption: Concentrate to summon]

[Learning Conditions: Activate Summoning and Spiritual Arts Specialization; Be Shot or Injured by an "Arrow" Has a Stand Implanted "disc" Has Been to the "Devil's Palm" Area Equipped the "Saint's Remains"]

[Note: This Countess possesses an incredible enchanting appearance, an intelligent mind, and an arrogant and cold temperament; for a long time, she was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in Hungary.

At a very young age, the Countess showed a tendency toward violence and sadism; when she grew up, she took pleasure in torturing beautiful maids and young girls from ordinary families; in middle age, the Countess finally began to study black magic and witchcraft, trying to use the blood of virgins to keep herself young forever.

Cruel massacres were constantly staged in her castle, like a living hell.

Her atrocities lasted for decades, directly causing the deaths of hundreds of people. Even her noble status could no longer protect her…

She was sentenced to never step out of her castle for the rest of her life. When the stonemasons sealed all the doors and windows of her residence, her castle became a huge, dark tomb.

But until the very end, she never admitted her crimes, nor did she express any regret for what she had done.]

In terms of Stand's ability values, the "six stats" of Bloody Mary were fundamentally unable to make it to the stage, but it had a special effect that could be called a law of causality… and it was this effect that pushed Honghu into the current situation of certain death.

"Tch…" Even Uncle Scum in the distance could only click his tongue and think… "Honghu is probably hopeless this time."

But!

Honghu himself, had not given up… Even in the face of certain death, he would seek survival in death.

Kaka Kaka—

In that lightning-fast instant, only a burst of rapid cracking of hard ice was heard. When Atobe's attack struck… all it swept was shattered ice chips.

"Where do you think you're going!" Although Atobe missed, he did not lose his target. He knew very well what Honghu had done and where he had escaped to… so he immediately shouted and chased after him.

"I didn't plan to run…" When Honghu said this, he had already flashed to the side of Hei Bai Hui.

At this moment, what he was holding in his hand was not a light bow, but a short, flat light blade; as for what he was going to do, it was also obvious at a glance… Since he had already used the self-mutilating skill, Puppet Requisition, he might as well use his life to fight…

"Damn it…" After seeing Honghu's movements, Atobe immediately cursed in his heart, because he had roughly determined… that his teammate was about to be killed.

Honghu, who had activated Puppet Requisition, had his body completely handed over to "lines" composed of spiritual particles for pulling and control, like a puppet being forcibly pulled… This not only greatly increased his speed and strength, but also allowed him to make some movements that normal force could not achieve.

Just now, it was with the help of this skill that Honghu broke free from the ice and dodged Atobe's sure-kill strike.

Of course, this method of "treating oneself as a puppet and pulling oneself to fight" comes at a price…

Because the body is completely handed over to spiritual particle control, the body will continue to be in a state of complete weakness; under this premise, Honghu's fast and strong movements that violate the laws of human movement can easily break his bones, tear his tendons, and even damage his blood vessels and nerves…

In other words, every swift and powerful movement he makes… is equivalent to self-mutilation.

However, Honghu believed that it was worth it.

Right now, he must maintain this state in order to move around near Atobe, who had activated Bankai, otherwise… with his original physical skills, he would be trapped by the cold air in the air within five seconds and gradually frozen.

Since there was no other choice, Honghu would naturally use this skill to the death, and he must drag someone down with him before he died…

Perhaps Hei Bai Hui could escape and deal with Honghu in his normal state, but in front of the current Honghu, there was really no room for resistance… The only thing she could rely on was her health and defense, but unfortunately, that did not allow her to last more than two seconds.

Two seconds later, Atobe, who had arrived, kicked Honghu in the waist, but it was too late… When Honghu was kicked away, Hei Bai Hui had already fallen.

"Damn it…" Seeing that he had failed to save his teammate, Atobe gritted his teeth and muttered, stepping down and desperately chasing after him.

"Stop struggling, it's already certain that we've won." With Puppet Requisition on him, even if Honghu was kicked away, he could freely change his posture and even direction in mid-air. While accelerating his escape, he said to Atobe in a tone of certainty, "I know that you are now much stronger and very confident, but the reality is… even if I die, with your current combat power, the chance of winning against Uncle Scum in a one-on-one fight is very slim…"

"How would I know without trying!" Atobe agreed with the other party in his heart, but he would definitely not admit defeat.

"You can know without trying, right…" Honghu said, as if he remembered something, smiled, and said, "Heh… Brother Atobe, playing the fool doesn't solve the problem… If you want to learn from my 'nemesis,' I advise you… Feng Bujue is not really crazy, he is…"

"What did you say?" Atobe interrupted him before he could finish speaking, "Feng Bujue's nemesis is you?" His voice suddenly rose an octave, "Bah! It's obviously me, okay? I've had a grudge against him since the closed beta! When did you even meet him? Does the title of nemesis belong to you?"

"Huh?" Honghu didn't like hearing this, "What, what? What kind of argument is that? Is the depth of hatred only measured by the length of time? Besides, you and him are not even the same type of player, okay? How can you be nemeses?"

"Nonsense! Does a nemesis have to be the same type?" Atobe was also unconvinced, "Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede, Yagami Iori and Kusanagi Kyo, Satoshi and Shigeru, Son Goku and Vegeta… which pair is the same type?"

…………

At the same time that the two were arguing and chasing each other, in the conference room of Hell Front…

"These two idiots… just fight if you want… why drag me into it…" Feng Bujue supported his cheek with one hand, stared at the screen with dead fish eyes, and cursed weakly.

"I'm also very curious…" At this time, Ruoyu took over his words and asked, "Which one of them… do you think is your nemesis?"

"Ha!" Jue-Ge gave a dry laugh, turned to look at Ruoyu, and asked, "Did you see my expression?"

"I saw it… I'm sorry, I can't hit you every time I see it." Ruoyu's ability to complain is now showing a tendency to surpass her teacher. The subtext of her words is roughly—your expression is as cheap and full of strength as ever.

"Ah—" Feng Bujue let out a long breath from his throat, squinted his eyes, and pointed to the screen with his finger, "Then did you see their expressions?"

"The expressions of two men being jealous of another man… what does that prove?" Ruoyu also squinted her eyes and responded.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone else in the conference room burst out laughing.

"What I mean is…" Jue-Ge supported his forehead and continued, "I'm too lazy to bother with them… If they want to find nemeses, they can just pair up with each other."

…………

At the same time, in the conference room of Order.

"Ha! Hahahaha…" Gui Xiao, who was originally sitting there watching the game, inexplicably crossed his hands in front of his chest and put his legs on the table, looking at the big screen… and let out a burst of barbell-like laughter.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong with you?" Ye Zhi, who was sitting next to him, slapped him on the head, "What kind of behavior is that? Do you want to go back to public relations for another month of basic etiquette training?"

Being scolded by the team leader, Gui Xiao immediately became honest. He pouted, straightened his posture again, and muttered in a low voice, "Uh… I'm just a little upset…" He raised his eyes and looked at the live broadcast screen again, "Feng Bujue's nemesis should be me!"

"What nemesis? There should be a limit to chuunibyou." Unexpectedly, Sister Ye Zhi immediately put on a disgusted face and said to Gui Xiao in the tone of a teaching director scolding a child, "Look at those two guys… they're already in their forties, and they're constantly talking about nemeses. They also like to call out their move names when they fight (one is a studio boss and the other is not signed with a studio, so it can be seen that they are not required to call out their move names, but they are willing to). Needless to say… they definitely don't have girlfriends. Do you want to become like them in a few years?"

Not to mention Gui Xiao, upon hearing these words, Zui Sheng Meng Si and Barcode also collectively fell silent and showed sad expressions…

Especially Chan-Ge, who immediately took a deep breath of smoke and drank half a bottle of wine.

"Also… even if you have to set yourself an 'opponent for life' to motivate yourself to improve, why choose Feng Bujue?" But Ye Zhi's lesson was not over, "Is he a good person? What are you competing with him for? Bottom line? You're courting death."

"Um…" Gui Xiao's head was almost lowered to the table, "Sister… you're right, I was wrong… I will definitely draw a clear line with him in the future…"

A second later, the other five people in the room also inexplicably and unanimously stated, "We will also draw a clear line with him…"

…………

Getting back to the main topic…

At this time, on the battlefield, Atobe and Honghu's argument and chase had not yet ended, and Uncle Scum had already killed his way back.

Since the situation had changed, Atobe, who was fighting two against one, had no choice but to change his moves first.

Instantly, Atobe urged his spiritual pressure, raised Sumeru Frost Quake, and swept towards Honghu's location with a move called Ice Dragon Tail Spin - Absolute Void…

The consumption of this skill was relatively large; the effect was naturally unambiguous… In the blink of an eye, the direction pointed by the fan blade turned into a large frozen land, and Honghu's body was also frozen on the ice.

After hesitating for a second, the Honghu with low health still chose to fight, trying to break free with Puppet Requisition, but… this time, he failed to withstand the damage caused by "forcibly pulling"; when Atobe killed him, Honghu died from the damage of his own skill.

And Atobe, had obviously foreseen the possibility of this situation… Therefore, as soon as he saw Honghu die, he stopped without hesitation and launched a counterattack.

This change of move came suddenly, quickly, and forcefully… But, I have said more than once that at such a critical moment, Uncle Scum's reaction is extremely fast; facing Atobe's counterattack, he rolled forward, and with a kick of his foot, he used his fighting spirit-entwined flip-flops to block the enemy's sweeping fan blade.

"He's really strong…" Even from the perspective of an opponent, Atobe had to admire Uncle Scum's strength; whether it was physical skills, energy, or adaptability… Uncle Scum was one level higher than him… Honghu's words "slim chance" were not a bluff.

"But… there's no way for me to win with my current self…" While Atobe was thinking, he used the recoil force of the mutual moves to fly backward and retreat quickly.

He retreated, and Uncle Scum chased; chasing was not because he was reckless, but because Uncle Scum knew that it was impossible to "breathe" and "wait" when fighting against the current Atobe.

Because the ability of "ice" is really too superior… Once Uncle Scum stops, the effect of "freezing" will follow like a shadow, so the battle must be carried out in this state of "keeping moving"; and this state is definitely a huge test of physical fitness. If the battle is dragged into a protracted war, Atobe, who is not affected by the low temperature, will slowly accumulate an advantage.

In summary, it was not Atobe who was anxious now, but Uncle Scum; as a person with keen combat intuition and tactical thinking, he judged almost instantly that… "quick battle and quick victory" was his last chance to win, and even the entire Scum Alliance team.

"Um… I can't wait any longer. The current Atobe is already a first-class expert. I can't expect him to reveal his flaws and let me release a 'cardboard box kill' or something… If I drag it on any longer, and he adapts to my speed, there will be even less chance." Between the back-and-forth attacks and defenses, Uncle Scum's thoughts flashed quickly, "Let's use 'that' here… otherwise, we may not be able to pass this round…"