Chapter 76 – Black Blood

Risha drew upon the extra power of the Halochassis Mastema, pushing the armor far beyond what she had used before. She could feel the strain immediately. The air inside the cockpit seemed to grow heavier as the psychic energy gathered around her, pressing against her body like invisible water. Her temples throbbed, her heartbeat hammered against her ribs, and every breath came with a faint tremor in her chest. Instead of relying solely on Mastema's stored energy, she began tapping directly into her own life force, feeding it into the Halochassis to create a far more powerful psychic field. The white armor around her responded with a low mechanical hum as faint distortions rippled through the air. Then, with a sharp movement of her arm, the rifle shields detached from Mastema and floated outward. One after another, they moved around Qinglong, positioning themselves in a wide circle until he was completely surrounded.

Qinglong immediately readied his spear. His fingers tightened around the shaft as he lowered his stance, and the muscles throughout his body tensed beneath his damaged armor. His dragonic wings folded inward, forming a defensive position around him as he prepared himself for whatever Risha intended to do next. He could feel the strange pressure building in the air, almost like an approaching storm, except there was no wind and no thunder. Instead, there was only the unsettling sensation of space itself becoming unstable around him. Qinglong narrowed his eyes and watched the floating rifle shields carefully, trying to predict their purpose. He did not know what was coming, and that uncertainty was more dangerous than any weapon he could see. He simply waited, spear in hand, prepared to react the instant Risha attacked.

“Squeeze!” Risha/Mastema roared as she thrust her hand toward Qinglong.

The moment her command left her mouth, the rifle shields responded. A tremendous psychic force erupted from each one, and a translucent barrier rapidly formed around Qinglong. The air inside the enclosed space shimmered violently as if the entire area had been trapped beneath an invisible glass dome. Qinglong immediately felt the pressure against his body. It was not merely surrounding him. It was locking the space itself, preventing him from escaping in any direction. The psychic barrier tightened around him from every side, leaving no opening between the floating shields. Then the entire enclosure began to contract.

The space around Qinglong rapidly became smaller. The barrier compressed inward with frightening speed, forcing the air out of the enclosed area and crushing everything trapped inside. Qinglong's eyes widened as the pressure slammed into his body from all directions. His boots scraped against the ground as he tried to resist, his spear digging into the surface beneath him for leverage. Every muscle in his body strained as he fought against the invisible force, but the pressure continued to increase. His shoulders were forced inward, his knees buckled, and eventually he was driven into a fetal position simply because there was no longer enough room for him to stand. The psychic barrier continued to contract around him, squeezing his body with relentless force.

“Ghhhh!” Qinglong hissed through clenched teeth.

Pain tore through his body as the pressure reached a terrifying level. He could feel his bones creaking beneath the crushing force, while his muscles twisted and strained in an attempt to hold his body together. The sensation was unlike being struck by an ordinary attack. There was no single point of impact to defend against. The entire space had become a weapon, and every part of him was being crushed simultaneously. The psychic barrier tightened further, forcing his body inward until the first cracks appeared across his bones. Blood began to seep from his skin, then splattered against the shimmering walls of the barrier as the pressure became unbearable. Qinglong continued to resist, refusing to surrender even as his body was being torn apart.

Soon, the flesh and bones of Qinglong began to rip under the tremendous pressure. His muscles were shredded, his bones fractured, and blood drifted through the confined psychic space in red droplets. Yet even after suffering damage that should have killed any ordinary warrior, he continued resisting. Mastema's barrier trembled around him, straining under the effort required to compress him further. Risha could feel the resistance through the Halochassis. Her arms shook as she maintained the psychic field, while sweat gathered against her forehead inside the cockpit. Her breathing became heavier, and every attempt to increase the pressure sent another wave of pain through her head. The barrier had already reached its limit, yet Qinglong was still alive.

He's too strong, Risha muttered inside the cockpit, her voice barely audible beneath her ragged breathing. I have to give it all I have!

“Yaaaaah!” Risha poured every remaining fragment of psychic energy into the attack.

The psychic field exploded with power. The rifle shields screamed as their mechanisms strained to contain the enormous surge of energy, while the space around Qinglong warped violently. Risha felt as though something inside her skull had been ripped open. Her vision blurred, her stomach twisted, and a sharp ringing filled her ears as she forced more and more of her life energy into Mastema. She ignored the pain and continued pushing. The barrier contracted again, this time with enough force to make the surrounding air shudder. Qinglong's body was compressed beyond flesh and bone, beyond anything that could still be recognized as a human form.

In only a few terrifying moments, the psychic barrier reached its most powerful compression. Qinglong's body was shredded by the overwhelming force until there was seemingly nothing left of him except a single tiny particle suspended within the psychic field. Blood exploded outward, splattering across the ground and spraying against the surrounding shields in a gruesome red mist. The battlefield fell strangely quiet afterward, as though even the air itself needed a moment to recover from the violence of the attack. Risha stared at the tiny remnant left behind, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggled to comprehend what she had just done. Qinglong, one of the most powerful beings she had ever faced, had apparently been reduced to almost nothing.

Seeing that Qinglong had been reduced to a tiny dot, Mastema finally relaxed her psychic energy. The barrier flickered and vanished, releasing the compressed space with a sudden rush of air. The rifle shields slowly drifted back toward her as the psychic field disappeared. Risha's body immediately felt the consequences of what she had done. The tremendous tension that had been holding her upright suddenly vanished, leaving her weak and trembling inside the armor.

“Haaaaah...” Risha panted inside her Halochassis.

Her breathing came in harsh, uneven gasps. Her stomach churned violently, and she felt as though she might vomit inside the cockpit. Her throat felt swollen and constricted, as if something invisible had wrapped itself around her windpipe. Every breath scraped painfully against her lungs, yet she forced herself to continue breathing. Her hands trembled against the controls, and her entire body felt strangely hollow, as though she had emptied something vital from herself.

“I... I haven't used that much psychic energy in my entire life.”

Risha slowly looked toward the remains of her enemy. All that remained was a tiny puddle of blood scattered across the ground, mixed with the debris created during the battle. The sight made her stomach twist again, but exhaustion overwhelmed even her disgust. She had won. At least, that was what she believed. With what little strength remained, Risha turned Mastema's body away from the bloodstained battlefield and began to float upward using her psychic powers. The Halochassis lifted smoothly into the air, its armor humming softly as she prepared to leave the battlefield before her exhausted body gave out completely.

However, before she could get far, a powerful swish suddenly tore through the air behind her.

Risha barely had time to react before something slammed into the back of Mastema. A violent impact shook the entire Halochassis, followed by the unmistakable sound of armor being ripped apart. Sparks burst across her rear sensors, and the cockpit jolted so violently that Risha nearly lost her grip on the controls. Her eyes widened as warning alarms erupted inside the cockpit. The sensation of cold dread immediately replaced her exhaustion.

Her HUD flashed red.

[Hybrid Armor at 0%]

Risha froze.

A dragon spear was embedded through the damaged rear armor, its weapon still vibrating from the force of the impact. She stared at it in disbelief before slowly turning Mastema around. Her mind struggled to understand what she was seeing. She had watched Qinglong disappear. She had felt his body crushed beneath the psychic barrier. She had seen what appeared to be his final remains scattered across the battlefield.

Yet the spear had come from somewhere below.

“What!?” Mastema shouted as Risha turned around.

Her eyes widened even further.

There, standing amid the wreckage below, was Qinglong.

He was still in the process of recovering through his Autonomous Regeneration. His body was far from complete, and what remained of him looked more like a half-formed corpse than a living warrior. His bones had regenerated first, forming a skeletal framework beneath his body, while his muscles had already begun growing back over them. Strands of new flesh stretched across his frame, wet and raw, while patches of skin slowly regenerated over the exposed tissue. Steam rose from parts of his body as his supernatural regeneration continued working at an almost impossible speed.

Qinglong raised his head and looked directly at Mastema.

Risha could barely believe what she was seeing. Her breathing stopped for a moment, and the exhaustion in her body was replaced by pure disbelief. She had given everything she had to that attack. She had poured her life energy into Mastema and compressed Qinglong until there was almost nothing left of him. Yet somehow, impossibly, he had survived.

“But I reduced you to atoms!?” Mastema cried.

“It doesn’t matter, you filthy bandit. As long as there is something left of me that I can regenerate from, I will still come back.” Qinglong smiled as the last patches of raw flesh spread across his body and his skin finally regenerated completely. The wounds that had covered him only moments ago were gone, leaving behind a body that looked almost untouched by the attack. A few drops of blood still clung to his skin, but even those were quickly washed away as his regeneration finished its work. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers, testing his restored body, then looked toward Mastema with the same calm expression he had worn before the battle. There was no fear in his eyes, only confidence. He had survived being crushed, shredded, and reduced to almost nothing, and now he stood before Risha as if none of it had happened.

Mastema glared at him through her glowing eyes. Risha's breathing became heavier as she stared at Qinglong, and a cold realization settled inside her exhausted mind. She could not allow him to escape. Qinglong knew too much. He knew about Shin. Shin's secret would not remain a secret for long. The thought of Shin being hunted because of her failure made Risha's stomach twist. She had already sacrificed so much to protect him, and she refused to let everything she had done become meaningless. If Qinglong left this battlefield alive, Shin's life would be over. There would be nowhere for him to hide once the Celestial Wardens learned the truth.

Mastema's floating rifle shields immediately responded to Risha's command. The weapons rose into the air with a metallic hum, their surfaces glowing with psychic energy as they moved around Qinglong from different directions. Risha tried to maintain the formation despite the weakness spreading through her body. Her arms felt heavy, her head throbbed, and her vision occasionally blurred at the edges, but she forced herself to focus. The shields closed in, preparing to unleash another psychic attack. However, Qinglong reacted before they could complete the formation. He bent his knees and suddenly launched himself upward with tremendous force, his body moving like a dragon striking from the clouds.

His hand transformed into a powerful dragon claw, the fingers becoming sharp and monstrous as he reached the first floating shield. With a violent swipe, his claws tore through it. Metal screamed as the weapon split apart, sparks scattering through the air like burning fireflies. Before the pieces could even fall, Qinglong twisted his body and struck another shield with his opposite hand, crushing it with a second devastating blow. The third shield attempted to move away, but Qinglong chased it through the air and smashed it apart as well. One, two, three shields were destroyed in rapid succession, their broken fragments tumbling toward the ground. Risha stared in shock as her defensive formation collapsed almost instantly.

Qinglong landed heavily and immediately raised one hand toward the battlefield. The dragon spear he had thrown moments earlier responded to his call. The weapon tore itself free from the ground with a sharp metallic screech and flew through the air toward him. Qinglong caught the spear effortlessly, closing his fingers around its shaft as the weapon spun once before settling into his grip. Golden energy began to gather around his body, flickering like flames around his shoulders and arms.

“You will never escape!” Mastema roared.

“Who said I'm escaping!?” Qinglong laughed.

His voice echoed across the battlefield as he suddenly thrust his spear forward. “Shenlong Drive!”

A tremendous surge of golden energy exploded from Qinglong's body. The ki wrapped around him and formed the shape of a gigantic golden dragon, its serpentine body coiling around his frame as its head opened its jaws and roared. The sound was deafening, carrying a deep vibration that Risha could feel through Mastema's armor. Qinglong surged forward like a golden projectile, the dragon-shaped energy tearing through the air behind him.

Risha reacted at the last possible moment. Mastema spread her arms and legs outward, forcing every remaining fragment of psychic energy through the armor. A translucent psychic barrier appeared in front of her just as the golden dragon crashed into it. The impact shook the entire battlefield. Golden light and white psychic energy exploded outward, filling Risha's vision with blinding flashes. The barrier bent under the force of Shenlong Drive, and cracks of distorted energy spread across its surface as Risha struggled to maintain it. Her teeth clenched as pain stabbed through her skull, while the muscles in her arms trembled from the strain.

The golden ki dragon and the psychic barrier fought against each other for several long seconds. Neither attack immediately gave way. The golden dragon continued pushing forward while Mastema's psychic field desperately resisted the impact. The ground beneath them cracked from the pressure, and debris was thrown outward by the collision. Risha could hear the warning alarms inside her cockpit becoming louder, but she ignored them. Her entire concentration was focused on stopping Qinglong's charge. Eventually, however, both energies began to weaken. The golden dragon faded into sparks of golden light, while the psychic barrier fractured and disappeared in a burst of pale energy.

Before Risha could recover, Qinglong was already moving.

He swung his spear toward Mastema's torso. Risha barely managed to raise her arm in time. A section of Mastema's armor opened, revealing the hidden weapon inside. Her shield unfolded with a series of sharp mechanical clicks, and from its edge extended a blade that had been tucked inside the weapon like a giant mechanical knife. The two blades collided with a violent clang, sending sparks flying between them.

The battle immediately became a close-quarters struggle.

Qinglong thrust his spear forward, and Mastema deflected it with her shield. Risha countered with a slash aimed at his ribs, forcing Qinglong to twist away before the blade could cut deeply. He responded with a sweeping strike toward her shoulder, which Mastema blocked at the last moment. The impact sent a jolt through Risha's arms and rattled her cockpit. She could feel every collision through the armor as if someone were striking her own bones with a hammer.

They exchanged blows again and again.

Mastema's blade carved across Qinglong's body, opening deep wounds across his chest and arms, while Qinglong's spear struck against Mastema's armor with enough force to dent the metal. Pieces of white armor chipped away with every successful strike, exposing damaged mechanical components underneath. Sparks burst from Mastema's joints, and warning indicators began appearing across Risha's HUD. At the same time, Qinglong's flesh was repeatedly torn open by the blade. Blood sprayed across the ground with every cut, and deep gashes appeared across his torso and limbs.

Yet none of it mattered.

Every time Risha injured him, Qinglong regenerated.

A deep slash across his chest slowly closed as fresh flesh grew over the wound. A spear strike from Mastema opened his shoulder, only for the torn muscles to reconnect moments later. Even when Risha managed to land a particularly vicious cut across his abdomen, Qinglong simply stepped backward, allowed his body to heal, and attacked again. The sight was horrifying. Risha could damage him, but she could not make that damage permanent. Qinglong's body continuously repaired itself while Mastema's armor became increasingly battered.

The longer the battle continued, the more desperate Risha became. Her breathing grew ragged inside the cockpit, and sweat ran down the side of her face. Her head throbbed with every psychic movement, while her limbs felt increasingly heavy. Qinglong, meanwhile, continued attacking with relentless determination. His spear moved in rapid arcs, forcing Risha to constantly defend herself. The battlefield became a blur of metal, blood, sparks, and golden energy as the two warriors exchanged blow after blow.

After a lengthy exchange of blades, a sharp electronic beep suddenly cut through the noise.

Risha froze for half a second.

Her eyes moved toward the HUD.

The indicator representing Mastema's remaining energy had turned red.

“Oh no,” Risha muttered.

Qinglong noticed it immediately. A smile slowly appeared on his face as he tightened his grip on his spear.

“Looks like we are evenly matched,” Qinglong said. “However, your Halochassis' power is going down. Your damage will accumulate, while I continue to regenerate.”

Risha gritted her teeth.

He was right.

Their battle might have looked even from the outside, but the two of them were fighting under completely different conditions. Every wound Qinglong received could eventually disappear. Every strike against Mastema, however, left permanent damage. Cracks spread through the armor, pieces of the plating broke away, and the mechanical systems inside her Halochassis continued to deteriorate. Worse, the power keeping Mastema active was not an ordinary fuel source. It was drawn from Risha herself.

The two exchanged another series of blade attacks.

Qinglong thrust.

Mastema parried.

Mastema slashed.

Qinglong twisted aside.

Their weapons collided again and again, producing sharp metallic screams that echoed across the battlefield. Risha waited for an opening, ignoring the pain spreading through her head and the weakness crawling through her limbs. Then, when Qinglong committed himself to another attack, Mastema suddenly shifted her stance. She stepped inside the reach of his spear and drove her shield blade forward.

The blade pierced directly into Qinglong's chest.

It struck his heart.

Blood exploded from the wound, spraying across Mastema's white armor and splattering the ground beneath them. Qinglong's body jerked from the impact, and the spear slipped slightly in his hand. For one brief moment, Risha believed she had finally won.

But Qinglong did not scream. He did not stagger away. Instead, he simply smiled.

Blood trickled from the corner of his lips as he looked directly at Mastema. The blade remained buried in his chest, yet his expression showed no fear. His heart had been pierced, but the pain meant nothing to someone whose body could simply create a new one.

Then Mastema's core began to emit a continuous warning tone.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The sound grew faster.

Risha's eyes widened as the warning filled the cockpit. The energy surrounding Mastema flickered violently, and the white armor began losing its glow. Risha felt an overwhelming weakness wash over her entire body. Her fingers became numb, her breathing became shallow, and her heartbeat seemed strangely distant.

Then the last of Mastema's power disappeared.

The Halochassis suddenly collapsed into itself. The armor surrounding Risha vanished piece by piece, leaving behind nothing more than the original glove on her hand. The massive white body of Mastema was gone. The shields were gone. The blade was gone. The protection she had relied on throughout the battle had disappeared in an instant.

Risha stood there defenseless.

But it was not Mastema that had truly run out of power.

Halochassis did not consume ordinary energy.

It used life energy.

And Risha had simply used up nearly all of her own.

“No,” Risha muttered.

The word came out weakly.

Then black blood began flowing from her mouth.

Risha's eyes widened as another warm stream ran from her nose. Dark liquid soon gathered at the corners of her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. She instinctively wiped her face, but her trembling hand only smeared the blood across her skin. Her vision began to distort, and the battlefield seemed to tilt beneath her feet. Her head felt as though something was crushing it from the inside, while a deep, throbbing pain pulsed behind her eyes.

She took one unsteady step backward.

Her heart beat weakly inside her chest.

Thump.

...

Thump.

...

The gaps between each beat felt frighteningly long.

Risha tried to breathe, but every breath felt incomplete. Her lungs seemed blocked, as though an invisible weight had been placed inside her chest. She opened her mouth and desperately dragged air into her lungs, but even that small effort caused another wave of pain to spread through her body. Her knees trembled beneath her, and the world around her slowly became darker.

“I’m... sorry...” Risha muttered. "...Shin."

She took another step.

Her legs finally gave out.

Risha collapsed onto the ground, her body striking the earth with a dull impact. Her fingers twitched weakly against the dirt as she tried to push herself back up, but she no longer had the strength. Her breathing became faint, and the sounds of the battlefield began fading into the distance. The world around her blurred into indistinct shapes and colors, while the darkness at the edges of her vision slowly swallowed everything.

Before her eyes completely lost their ability to focus, she saw a figure approaching through the haze.

Qinglong. His wounds had completely regenerated.

His skin was whole again, his muscles had returned, and not even the hole through his heart remained. He slowly walked toward her, each step steady and deliberate, his dragon spear hanging at his side. There was no longer any trace of the terrible injuries he had suffered.

Risha could only stare at him as her vision continued to fade.

The last thing she saw was Qinglong standing over her.