From the end of the world

Chapter 118 VS Monster Maker 5
Although the battle was one-sided, the Monster Maker did not look depressed at all. Apart from other things, I have great respect for the fact that he was always burned but still remained calm.

Now, seeing his expression as if he was sure of his victory, I couldn't help but take him seriously. He didn't give me the impression that he was the kind of person who would insist on saying he won even though he was clearly going to lose.

He really had a chance of winning, so he stayed to fight me.

In the midst of repeated death and resurrection, He spoke to me.

"You've already lost, Zhuang Cheng." He looked down on me. "Being able to manipulate such a huge amount of magic power and transform it into elements at will is already close to the work of immortals or gods. Even in the long history of demon hunters, you are a strong man who is capable of leaving your claws in it. But you are not a true immortal after all."

"Indeed, I am neither an immortal nor a god." I couldn't help but feel curious. "But does that have anything to do with my losing?"

As I spoke, I explored his network of consciousness as fast as I could.

Zhu Shi said that his power was the same as Lu Youxun. Could it be that he was really Lu Youxun, and the appearance I saw before was the result of his disguise using special means?
If he is not Lu Youxun, the reason he can use the "possible clone" is because the Humanity Department analyzed Lu Youxun's power, then do other monsters also have traces of this technology?
If I think about it carefully, all the weirdos I have come into contact with in the past have one thing in common, that is, their powers are all related to the concept of "doppelganger".

Agent Kong who turns others into his clones, the undead monster who transfers damage to his clones, the shadow-changing monster who can exchange positions and causes with his clones... plus the monster maker who seems to have transformed into a monster in front of him, their abilities are all centered around the theme of "clones". In the past, after Lu Youxun realized the connection between the monsters and the Humanitarian Department, he seemed to have some intriguing reactions to the monsters using the power of clones.

The earliest case of strange people in the country can be traced back to eighteen months ago, that is, one and a half years ago. Lu Youxun was captured by the Humanitarian Department two years ago, so the time seems to match.

The Monster Maker had no way of knowing what I was thinking, so he answered my questions frankly.

"Since you don't know that you are about to die, I will kindly preach to you as a gift to send you to hell." He said generously, "The human body will restrict one's soul, but it is also a protection for the soul. Once a person loses physical health, his spirit will also be significantly weakened, because the body, the natural shelter of the soul, becomes leaky. And you gave up your human body and chose fire as a container, so it is impossible that there will be no impact.

“You must know that fire is an offensive force, not a defensive element. Since your soul resides in fire, it is like a soldier going to the battlefield, throwing away his armor and helmet, and facing the enemy’s arrows and swords naked with only his weapons.

"I can see that you have the power to transform your spirit, or soul, into flames. Even your soul itself has the property of 'mimicking the flame of the soul'. But even you can't really transform your entire spirit and soul into flames at the same time in practice, or even avoid the enemy's attack on your soul in this way, just like you can raise your fist but can't raise your whole body.

"You always need to divide yourself into the 'subject that controls the power' and the 'power that is controlled'. Even if you force your soul to turn into flames, your main structure of consciousness as a human being will lose control because it will all turn into energy, and finally turn into a pure natural phenomenon and dissipate between heaven and earth. Only true 'apparitions', that is, true gods, can do that without any problem.

"And you can't be a 'spiritual being', otherwise your use of power wouldn't be so crude."

After listening to his words, I also felt that there was some truth in them. Although I have never tried to transform all my consciousness into flames in one breath, and I don't know if I would really die if I did that, but if I really died, it would be too late.

It seems that he was not only enduring the burning just now. In such a brief contact, he had already seen through most of my background and even analyzed the point that "my flame is my consciousness".

And I also have a very clear idea about his trump card.

"So... you want to destroy my soul?" I asked.

"Do you think I can't do it? Indeed, you have a very strong soul. Ordinary soul attacks will probably only cause you scratches at most. But don't underestimate me." He said lightly, "I didn't expect you to be able to break free from my black mist chains in that way, but my methods are more than that. Considering the possibility of a battle with you, I have also spent a lot of effort to make corresponding preparations."

As he spoke, he pointed his finger toward the sky.

At the same time, with where I was as the center, hundreds of meters away from me, huge white light pillars rose up in all directions and shot straight into the sky.

Around me, dozens of meters away, there appeared twenty or thirty ghost-like phantoms. Looking closely, these were the phantoms of the monster maker. They all floated in the air in the posture of burns and tragic death, staring at me with resentful eyes. I realized that these were all possible clones that I had killed, and now they wanted to kill me.

These phantoms were like after-images left on the retina. The moment I saw them clearly, all the phantoms disappeared.

A strong premonition emerged in my mind - I would not be able to escape the next attack from the opponent even if I ran to the ends of the earth, and could only take it head-on.

At the same time, I continued to burn the Monster Maker, and he was resurrected every time, his emotions still unaffected by death.

"Luo Shan divides demon hunters into four levels: formation, residence, destruction, and emptiness..." He was still speaking in an orderly manner, "Among them, the formation level is known as the limit of demon hunters. After breaking through this limit, they will become demon hunters who surpass demon hunters. The Humanitarian Department calls them 'super demon hunters'." "But it doesn't matter what you call them. What's important is you, Zhuang Cheng. Your power undoubtedly far exceeds the limit of demon hunters. It's not an exaggeration to regard you as a demon hunter who surpasses demon hunters.

"However, no matter how powerful a demon hunter is, he will not be so foolish as to remove all his defenses on the battlefield and expose his soul to the enemy without any defense. Although it is a pity to kill you like this, I don't have the means to capture you alive. I can only study your remains afterwards, which is better than getting nothing.

"Be prepared to die, Zhuang Cheng—

“The next blow will completely shatter your soul hidden in the ethereal flames. Even if you are a demon hunter who surpasses demon hunters, you will be beaten to pieces!”

As he finished speaking, he waved his arms at me.

The huge beams of light from all directions swirled around me, closing in on me in an instant, transforming into a terrifying vortex of light that swallowed me up. Although it might seem like there was room for reaction when I used words to describe it, the actual speed of change was simply the speed of light. The moment I realized the beams of light were closing in, I was completely caught.

The soul attack that I feared the most devoured my entire body!

At this moment, I had a real sense of crisis and an indescribable sense of anticipation.

Although I did feel that I couldn't escape this attack, I never thought about escaping from the beginning to the end. I didn't have much self-awareness at the beginning, until this moment I finally realized my true feelings. I probably wanted to take this attack head-on.

So far, the only place that has ever brought me a life-or-death crisis is the basement of the room on the fifteenth floor.

Although the confrontation with the monsters from the past was not without challenges, I was lying on the ground the whole time and the enemy could not kill me, and I could easily kill them as long as I thought about it. The difficulty was concentrated on additional conditions such as "finding the hiding enemy" and "must leave the opponent's head intact based on cooperation with teammates", which was different from the adventure I wanted.

Frankly speaking, I think that kind of challenge is not bad, and I can do it a few more times. After all, it is an unusual experience, and I am not tired of it yet.

But I still want to test my limits, want to know where my full strength lies, want real danger and excitement.

This is my weakness and my stupidity. But I seem to be this kind of person. I have long accepted these and regarded them as the inevitable elements of my personality. Even if I die because of this, I will gladly accept this result.

Without “danger”, how can it be considered “adventure”?

Amid my indescribable anticipation, the opponent's attack, which was said to have taken a huge amount of effort and was so powerful that even a demon hunter who surpassed the demon hunter could not withstand it, went straight into my soul.

……

...Have you entered?
I hesitated. All around me was white, and the vortex of light seemed to have swallowed me up, and nothing happened afterwards. My body was not damaged, which meant that this was probably an attack without any physical damage. It made sense, since it was a soul attack, it would be reasonable to allocate all the power to soul damage. But the question was what would happen afterwards?
What does it feel like to have your soul attacked? The soul doesn't have pain receptors. And some diseases and injuries are most serious when you can't feel pain. Pain is a warning signal from the nerves. No pain means the damage has deteriorated to the point where even the warning is meaningless. So maybe my situation is irreversible and I can't even feel pain.

No, if I must say, it’s not that I don’t feel anything, it’s just that I always feel a little itchy…

But this shouldn't be an attack, but a sign of an impending attack, right? Just like when something with a strong magnetic field gets close to an electronic device, I think this feeling of being tickled should be similar.

Could it be that being swallowed by the vortex of light was just the preparation stage for this soul attack, and the real action would come next? Wasn't this preparation time a bit too long? Even if I thought I couldn't dodge it, it shouldn't be like this, right?
Just as I was thinking about whether I should walk out of the vortex of light and ask the monster maker outside, the brightness around me suddenly began to decrease and the vortex of light was dissipating.

In just two seconds, the vortex of light completely went out as I watched in confusion.

The Monster Maker was still hovering in the same place. I couldn’t see his expression beneath the mask. He just looked at me silently, his body motionless.

He didn't seem to plan on speaking, so I said the first sentence.

"Do you want to start over?" I asked.

(End of this chapter)