Chapter 215: 1v6, Ke Mingqing's Player War, Surprise Attack (3)

"Zi Duoduo... Hao Long?" Amemiya Shida muttered hoarsely, gazing at the two headless corpses a short distance away.

"He's that Red Name Player! We were tricked!" Lan Feng roared in fury from a few paces away.

[Based on current power consumption, the Blended Lightning Form can be maintained for: 30 seconds.]

'I need to hurry. The Theater Puppet's stats are only half of my main body's. Without the Blended Lightning Form, I can't beat them,' Ke Mingqing thought. 'I have to finish them off before it ends.'

He took a soft breath. 'If the Theater Puppet wasn't restricted from releasing other puppets, having two of them here would have saved me a lot of trouble.'

In the next instant, Ke Mingqing turned into lightning and shot forward. Bearing the brunt of his assault was the isolated fat man in the martial arts suit nearest to him—Amemiya Shida!

But Ke Mingqing didn't attack head-on. Circling like a gale, he carved an arc of electricity through the air, rebounded off a rear pillar, and launched himself straight at Amemiya Shida's back.

At that very second, a massive Tai Chi Bagua diagram suddenly appeared on the casino floor. The black-and-white circular pattern washed outward like a tide, blanketing the ground within a twenty-meter radius of Amemiya Shida.

Caught within the Bagua diagram, Ke Mingqing felt his movements abruptly slow, as if ensnared by an invisible force.

'Is this the diagram's ability?'

He paused for a moment, halting his advance.

[B Rank Skill — "Tai Chi Bagua Array" (Unfurl a Tai Chi Bagua diagram on the ground covering a twenty-meter radius. Once an enemy enters the Tai Chi Bagua domain, their "Agility" stat will instantly drop, while the array master's "Agility" stat significantly increases.)]

[Description 1: Aside from players, a maximum of two people can enter the Tai Chi Bagua Array. Any other targets will be automatically repelled upon attempting to enter.]

[Description 2: The Bagua diagram lasts for 20 seconds. Defeating an opponent adds 10 seconds.]

Looking up again, Ke Mingqing noticed a silver belt bearing a championship badge now strapped to Amemiya Shida's waist, and a red headband tied around his forehead.

[Rank Item — "Martial Arts Belt" (Upon wearing this belt, the player's "Strength" stat will increase when using martial arts techniques.)]

[Rank Item — "Aura Headband" (Upon wearing this headband, the player's immediate reaction speed increases.)]

"That damn fatso actually used his Bagua Array! How are we supposed to go in and help him?" Genkawa Tsuguo cursed, glaring at the swirling black-and-white Bagua diagram in the center of the casino.

"It's fine. He might just finish this on his own." Lan Feng dug a pinky into his ear, his eyes shifting. "No one who enters Shida's Bagua domain makes it out alive."

Wang Jingjing gripped her motorcycle helmet, her vacant gaze still locked onto the headless corpses of Zi Duoduo and Hao Long.

Meanwhile, a short distance away, a massive, muscular white phantom suddenly rose up behind Amemiya Shida.

[B Rank Skill — "God of Combat" (The player's "Strength" stat moderately increases for a short duration, and every forward palm strike blasts out a "Martial Wave.")]

Amemiya Shida twisted sharply, dropping into a low horse stance.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Using both hands, he unleashed ten palm strikes in a single second, his arms blurring into afterimages. Deep yellow "Martial Waves" erupted forward one after another, surging toward Ke Mingqing with the overwhelming force of a cascading waterfall.

The area of effect was so vast it completely cut off Ke Mingqing's path of retreat.

"Giovanni!" Bai Ziling cried out from her hiding spot beside a pillar.

"Demon-Quaking Drum,"

Ke Mingqing chanted silently, watching the incoming assault.

In the next instant, a massive war drum materialized beside him.

He slapped the drum, and its surface shattered. With a deafening boom, a violent, invisible shockwave howled forward, clashing with the Martial Waves and entirely canceling them out.

As the resulting gale rushed his face, Ke Mingqing raised his right arm to block the wind, his dark blue eyes fixed unblinkingly on Amemiya Shida.

Since the Theater Puppet's base stats were only half of his main body's, and his speed was further suppressed by the "Tai Chi Bagua Array," he was considerably slower than before, practically dragged down to Amemiya Shida's level.

Amemiya Shida quickly twisted his right arm and lunged with another palm strike! The massive white phantom behind him mirrored his movements with godlike synergy.

With a boom, the deep yellow Martial Wave shattered a pillar and several slot machines, roaring straight for Ke Mingqing!

Ke Mingqing reacted instantly, ducking and stomping the ground to launch himself to the right like a bolt of lightning. He barely brushed past the Martial Wave; the immense shockwave left his shoulder numb and his ears ringing.

Clinging to the upper span of a pillar like a spider, he awaited Amemiya Shida's next assault. When his opponent blasted out another palm strike, Ke Mingqing vaulted off the column, evading the Martial Wave.

After several rounds of this exchange, Amemiya Shida held his horse stance but changed his target—Bai Ziling was also currently inside the Tai Chi Bagua Array.

He suddenly yanked his leg high, the muscles in his jaw bulging. His thick right foot slammed down, stamping a massive footprint into the casino floor.

[Rank Skill — "Earth Stomp" (Stomp the ground to send a fissure tearing forward. Rows of earthen spikes will erupt from the fissure to skewer your opponent.)]

Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. Watching the fissure snake rapidly toward Bai Ziling, he realized Amemiya Shida had switched targets.

In a flash, he swooped down like a falcon, scooping Bai Ziling into his arms to dodge the jagged, massive spikes erupting from the rupture.

Immediately after, capitalizing on the chaos, Ke Mingqing hurled an exquisitely crafted pocket watch toward Amemiya Shida as he sprinted away.

[Consumable Item — Clock Maker's Pocket Watch.]

The pocket watch tumbled through the air, its silver casing glinting under the chandeliers. A ticking sound echoed from it, though it was quickly drowned out by the roar of the shattering earth.

A second later, Amemiya Shida snapped his head around and finally spotted the pocket watch.

Bang! The pocket watch detonated. Amemiya Shida threw himself backward in an instant, but the erupting spectral blue flames engulfed and ignited his right arm.

He howled in agony. To stop the flames from spreading, he grabbed his right arm with his left hand and viciously blasted it apart with a palm strike.

"Ruthless..." Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, he heard the sharp whistling of wind behind him. Ke Mingqing instinctively ducked, clutching Bai Ziling tight as he violently dodged to the right.

A second later, he turned back around, only to see a bizarre sight.

'This is...' Ke Mingqing saw it clearly. Resting on the floor was a red-and-black Rubik's Cube. Realizing something was wrong, he abruptly tossed Bai Ziling backward.

In that instant, the Rubik's Cube erupted with a blinding light that swallowed him whole.

A moment later, when the light faded, Ke Mingqing had vanished. The Limitless Rubik's Cube twitched and rolled on the ground, as if a tiny person were trapped inside.

"B Rank item, Limitless Rubik's Cube." Lan Feng smirked, walking over. "He can't leave the cube's space for five minutes. We grab the girl and leave immediately."

He glanced at the corpses of Zi Duoduo and Hao Long, scoffing darkly. "Down two men, and forced to burn a B Rank item. This trip was a massive loss."

Wang Jingjing and Genkawa Tsuguo remained silent. Clearly, they were still struggling to accept the loss of two comrades.

Amemiya Shida slowly dispelled the "Tai Chi Bagua Array," and the phantom black-and-white patterns vanished from the floor. Meanwhile, the red-and-black Rubik's Cube continued to vibrate, emitting a low buzz.

Suddenly, the white-haired girl darted out from behind a pillar, snatched the Rubik's Cube off the ground, and turned to run.

"Stop struggling, little girl..." Lan Feng scratched his head. "He's not getting out anytime soon. We don't want to kill you, so just come with us."

Tugging at his shirt collar, he walked toward Bai Ziling step by step, clutching his pool cue.

"Don't come any closer..." Bai Ziling's pupils narrowed ferociously into slits.

Cradling the red-and-black Rubik's Cube, she chained several backflips until her back hit the casino wall. Lowering her head, she whispered softly to the cube over and over:

"Giovanni..."

The Rubik's Cube buzzed in her embrace.

"Are we really just going to leave like this? Two people died." Genkawa Tsuguo tightened his grip on his spinning top, trailing behind Lan Feng with a grim tone.

"You brainless brat, if you want even more of us to die, we don't have to leave," Lan Feng said coldly, resting the pool cue on his shoulder.

"Grab the heart and leave. Stop wasting time. We've already paid too high a price," Amemiya Shida rasped, his massive frame looming over Bai Ziling like a small mountain.

Bai Ziling's body was engulfed by his shadow.

She stared blankly at the colossal silhouette. She turned to run, but Amemiya Shida violently seized her calf, slammed her against the wall, and pinned her by the neck.

At that moment, the Rubik's Cube slipped from her grasp and hit the floor.

Suddenly, the Rubik's Cube went entirely still, as if Ke Mingqing, trapped inside, had given up the fight.

"At the end of the day, he's just one player," Lan Feng said hoarsely. "What's he going to do, ascend to heaven?"

From a distance, he stared deeply into Bai Ziling's eyes. The girl glared back at Amemiya Shida, her pupils vicious as a wild beast's.

In that split second, a raspy voice suddenly rang out from the red-and-black Rubik's Cube:

"God is Dead..."

["God is Dead" (An ability from the philosopher "Nietzsche") (Shatters the influence of a domain-type or rule-based ability on you, allowing you to break free.)]

The four people in the casino froze. They snapped their heads around, only to see the Rubik's Cube on the floor shatter, erupting with intense light.

In the next instant, Ke Mingqing appeared beside Amemiya Shida, his back hunched. His head hung low, his bangs shadowing dark blue eyes blazing with violent lightning. His lips parted slightly, exhaling a torrent of furious steam laced with electricity.

He looked like a wild beast ready to devour its prey.

Everyone was stunned.

"Didn't you say you could trap him for five minutes—" Before Amemiya Shida could finish, a bolt of lightning tore straight through his chest, blasting a massive, bloody hole.

He gaped in shock, his eyes wide. He tried to fight back, but his body refused to respond. Every inch of fat on his face shuddered violently, and his pupils shrank to pinpricks.

Bang! Blood erupted like a tsunami.

Ke Mingqing, his head still bowed, had thrust his right arm directly into the man's heart. Violent black-and-blue lightning rippled outward, incinerating Amemiya Shida's internal organs to ash.

The lightning raged outward, scouring every inch of Amemiya Shida's flesh and bone. In moments, the colossal figure melted away like ice, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

His martial arts suit was reduced to cinders, leaving only boiling blood pooling on the floor.

Dead silence fell over the casino.

Ke Mingqing's flight attendant uniform was dyed crimson. He let out a breath of scalding steam crackling with arcs of electricity and lowered his right arm.

"Are you alright?" he asked, turning his head to look at the blood-drenched white-haired girl. "It's almost over... we're going home right after this."

Bai Ziling looked up blankly, meeting his eyes. She had never seen Giovanni this savage; in the past, he had always been as tranquil as a deep pool.

"I'm... fine," she said. "What about you, Giovanni?"

Ke Mingqing said nothing, merely giving her a faint smile.

He wiped the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand, raising empty, pitch-black eyes to stare at Lan Feng, Wang Jingjing, and Genkawa Tsuguo across the casino.

"Three... left," Ke Mingqing said expressionlessly.

"Hey, didn't you say the Rubik's Cube could trap him?!" Wang Jingjing snapped from a distance.

Lan Feng stood dazed for a moment. "Impossible," he muttered. "If he had an item or skill to escape the 'Cube Space,' why didn't he use it to break your 'Casino Domain'?"

Suddenly, a thought pierced Lan Feng's mind. His pupils constricted as he hissed, "No! He deliberately held back from breaking my 'Casino Domain' so he could slaughter us all inside it before leaving!"

Genkawa Tsuguo heard Lan Feng's realization loud and clear.

When the boy in the frog hat looked up at Ke Mingqing again, his gaze was filled with the terror of staring at a demonic god, his cheek twitching slightly.

"I'll finish him!"

Wang Jingjing suddenly lowered her head and shouted.

Instantly, the buzz-cut woman pulled on her pitch-black motorcycle helmet and unleashed her B Rank skill—"Strategic Armed Motorcycle." Amidst a roaring engine, a jet-black motorcycle, heavily modified for war, tore in from the distance, its razor-sharp front plow shredding every slot machine in its path!

Wang Jingjing leaped high into the air, landing perfectly on the armed motorcycle as she rocketed straight at Ke Mingqing.

But Ke Mingqing simply stood rooted to the spot, quietly watching the metallic beast barrel toward him.

In the next second, Ke Mingqing slipped on the "Lucky Gloves." Right in front of the three of them, he extended his right arm and casually tossed a black-and-white die from his palm.

The Dice of Calamity tumbled across the floor, finally coming to a dead stop with the number "6" facing up.

"Six."

[Roll 6: Summon Heavenly Thunder (This ability can only be used in a raining environment).]

With a snap of Ke Mingqing's fingers, a curtain of rain plummeted from above—the effect of the E-grade skill "It's Raining."

"Idiot! Turn back!" Lan Feng bellowed.

Wang Jingjing gritted her teeth and clicked her tongue. In that split second, she chose to listen to Lan Feng. Right as she closed in on Ke Mingqing, she slammed the brakes and wrenched the handlebars, the tires and plow gouging a deep, crescent-shaped trench into the floor.

But it was too late.

As a strange light flashed in Ke Mingqing's eyes, Wang Jingjing's body vanished from atop the motorcycle, evaporating as if she had never existed.

[Phantom Shift (E-grade skill) — Instantly swap positions with a living target within thirty meters. (The skill's range increases with the "Spirit" stat, capping at 30 meters.)]

The next instant, when Wang Jingjing materialized where Ke Mingqing had just been standing, she suddenly heard the deafening rumble of thunder directly above her.

The woman stared up in stunned silence as the heavenly thunder crashed down, blowing through the casino ceiling and instantly shredding her to pieces. A moment later, when the roaring lightning faded, nothing remained but a scorched, ashen skeleton.

It knelt on the floor, its jaw hinged open in an expression of eternal terror.

"Wang Jingjing!" Lan Feng roared.

Genkawa Tsuguo was completely paralyzed. He stared with wide eyes, his hand gripping the spinning top slick with cold sweat.

Meanwhile.

Because he had swapped places with Wang Jingjing, Ke Mingqing was now straddling her armed motorcycle.

He wasn't the skill's master and couldn't control the vehicle, so he simply smacked the chassis with his palm and launched himself upward like a falcon.

Immediately after, the riderless motorcycle hurtled forward like a beast off its leash, smashing unstoppably toward Lan Feng!

Lan Feng jerked up his pool cue, striking a coin bullet out from its tip; Genkawa Tsuguo adjusted his frog hat and hurled his spinning top.

Golden and blood-red blurs shot forward, their combined assault halting the motorcycle. The bike tumbled violently across the floor, carving jagged trenches before erupting in a deafening explosion that swept outward in a sea of flames.

"Two left..."

Ke Mingqing exhaled. He slowly raised his eyes, staring through the inferno at Lan Feng and Genkawa Tsuguo.