Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "This is your ability?" She quietly examined the caped woman from head to toe, "You can reflect an attack directed at you back to your attacker?"

  If that was the case, everything could be explained. Rena must have activated another stronger book page after the first one seemed to be ineffective. The teenage girl definitely couldn't anticipate that the stronger the attack, the greater the damage she would receive, so she lost one life.

  "You aren't stupid," the caped woman said with a casual tone. "You're correct. I don't mind telling you the details."

  [Mirror]

  No female can imagine living without this item. However, meeting someone with this ability in battle isn't good news.

  As the name implies, the owner of Mirror can reflect attacks. Using a less than apt metaphor, just as a mirror reflects lights, an enemy's attack would be reflected back. The more powerful the attack is, the stronger the reflected attack. However, the reflected attack would never be stronger than the original.

  "I can also tell you something," the caped woman smiled. "When I activate this ability, I will not feel anything when your attack lands on me.

  "I can just stand here without moving and let you just hit me. Oh, it not only works with your fist. I can also reflect any Special Item effects, evolved abilities, and others. Whatever it is, it will still work. However, I am worried that before the battle even ends, you would be killed by all of your own attacks," she gradually raised the tone of her voice, as if to show pity.

  "Can't you understand? I can attack you but you can't attack me. That being said, everyone here is practically dead if I want it… You better hand over the books to me now! My ability could be the most formidable ability in all apocalyptic worlds because it doesn't have a weakness!"

  After she said the last word, the caped woman's loud voice echoed through the library. Everyone heard her penetrating, clear voice and their faces turned pale.

  "How can I defeat someone like this?" Lin Sanjiu had a disheartening though but immediately repressed it. She absolutely wouldn't allow herself to just accept the current situation as it is.

  Lin Sanjiu watched the caped woman standing in the dim light and she quickly thought through what the woman said. She felt like a fox which was trying to deal with a hedgehog with steel spines. She did not know how she could attack the woman and if she wasn't careful, she might hurt herself.

  If she thought about it rationally, nothing was lacking about the logic behind her opponent's ability. She could not think of any way to circ.u.mvent the woman's ability. However, Lin Sanjiu just had the inkling that the caped woman was definitely hiding an important information from her. That information was definitely the crucial weakness of the woman's ability.

  No one's ability was invincible.

  The atmosphere became very tense. While Lin Sanjiu was thinking, both herself and the caped woman just stared at each other silently.

  "Huh?"

  After a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu suddenly froze for a second.

  Lin Sanjiu had just already stopped attacking for more than ten seconds. She stopped attacking because she worried about the reflected attacks. This was understandable. But, why wasn't the caped woman attacking her?

  If she thought about it carefully, other than that first collision, the caped woman had not taken any initiative to attack her.

  "Could it be that the cost of having the [Mirror] ability, is that one's attack will become weak?"

  But even so, that didn't solve anything. Even if the woman's natural attacks were weak, Lin Sanjiu still couldn't harm that woman in any way. Besides, the woman had not even used any Special Items yet. That didn't mean that she wouldn't use them.

  While Lin Sanjiu started feeling vexed about the situation and was at a loss, she suddenly had a grasp on something.

  "She mentioned... mirror?"

  Chapter 274 - Broken Fragments

  With a soft "thud," Lin Sanjiu's feet left the ground again. The marble floor cracked under the pressure of her feet. Dust and fragments of fine-grained marble stirred from the ground. With the additional momentum from leaping up, Lin Sanjiu flew up and did a half-twist before she gathered her full body strength in her left fist and hit the woman with another attack.

  "So, you are really not giving up?" Faint laughter came from under the hooded cape. As an earth-shattering attack came toward her, the south wing woman stood still as before. "You don't believe what I say?"

  She finished her sentence but her voice quivered very slightly on the last word as if she had been interrupted—she had indeed been interrupted by yet another punch Lin Sanjiu had delivered to her abdomen.

  The punch disrupted the woman's blood, breathing, and organs. Lin Sanjiu could feel that only a thin, seemingly very weak, layer of muscles and fats was the only thing between her fist and the woman's abdominal cavity. If she tore through it, she would be able to plant her fist right into the woman's organs. However, in a split second, Lin Sanjiu felt a force hit her so hard she nearly passed out for a second. Her body flew backward once more.

  "Nothing will change no matter how many times you try." The woman smiled from under the shadow of her hood.

  It took some effort for Lin Sanjiu to steady herself in mid-air and land on the ground again. Lin Sanjiu stared at the woman and wiped her face before grinning with resolution.

  "Ah, now I know I have become this powerful. That's good news to me." After she said this, she coughed, "I guess you're just going to stand there and let me hit you?"

  "Well, if you can stand it, I don't mind," the caped woman said with a drawn-out voice, as if she was amused. "I'm really curious about what you plan to do. With my reflective ability, you might just accidentally kill yourself."

  Lin Sanjiu replied her with another charged attack.

  The moment Lin Sanjiu rushed at the woman, the caped woman made a slight movement involuntarily despite her [Mirror] ability. Her opponent's attack was filled with aggression, like a fierce tiger that was bound on devouring its prey. It was just too threatening. However, the caped woman took a moment to overcome her instinct to run. She stuck her chin up slightly and took another blow from Lin Sanjiu.

  Even though it was only a single blow, Lin Sanjiu fully understood the feeling of feebleness when she received the reflected attack. Luckily, she was just made of higher consciousness. And, thankfully, she could recondense and recover the scattered higher consciousness. If she still had her own real body made of flesh and bones, half her torso would have exploded into a bloody pulp with blood spraying everywhere.

  Even so, Lin Sanjiu was still hurt by the attack. She curled up in mid-air and couldn't move for a long time. The pain she felt reminded her of "Mankind's Bane." On a lighter note, it was funny that the most powerful attack she endured in Kisaragi Station was actually her own.

  "To be honest, I am starting to feel a little bored," an unhurried voice came from under the woman's hood. "With my [Mirror]—"

  If her previous attacks were threatening, her current attack was vicious enough to make someone just stop thinking. It was like a tsunami wave or a huge monster that was going to swallow a city. She knew very well that her opponent was just a woman with a normal built, yet when Lin Sanjiu loomed high above her, the caped woman felt like she had been pinned to the floor by that woman's shadow. She couldn't even move.

  "No matter what, I—"

  She had only managed to say this when her body was violently struck by a blow like a tsunami. The library shook from the force and clouds of dust fell from the ceiling.

  This time, it was the caped woman's turn to fly backward. When her body first left the ground, it was as if she still had not processed what had happened. The caped woman was still mouthing the word "would" when she finally let out an alarmed cry instead. The opponent in front of her had stopped and she could see her sharp, collected silhouette against the dim light.

  When the caped woman landed on the ground, her body splattered on impact, her bones shattered into powder an
d her body was in a mash.

  Her abdomen, which had received the main brunt of the force, all the way to her c.h.e.s.t and down to her pelvis bone was now just an empty red mess. With her skeleton shattered, her pairs of legs had detached from the torso due to the force and were nowhere to be seen. If it wasn't for the blood and the grounded flesh, it was also impossible to tell that the woman even had a body to begin with.

  The only part of the woman's body that was still intact was her head that was still attached to her neck. The woman's cape had been shredded by the razor winds from the blow, revealing a sheet-white face. No one could tell whether it was because the woman still had lives left or because she still had that last bit of consciousness, but the woman with a mediocre face was still alive.

  "It is… it is impossible…" she said as her eyes widened. From the looks of it, her eyesight was already failing, as her pupils started dilating, but she was still unable to find Lin Sanjiu's position, "My… my… mirror…"

  Lin Sanjiu wiped her face and walked next to the woman.

  As her body lay in broken pieces, the pale woman's gaping mouth stopped moving. She finally showed no sign of life.

  "You certainly didn't forget your mirror even till the bitter end," Lin Sanjiu eyed the woman's head and felt a sudden wave of emotions. "So, even at your deathbed, you fail to understand the essence of your ability?"

  The metaphor that the woman used, about attacks being reflected like light off a mirror, was clear enough but it wasn't exactly right.

  "Indeed, you can reflect my attacks back to me… However, you forgot something," Lin Sanjiu bent over, picked up a scrap from that woman's clothes and tossed it at her face. "You are not a mirror. And... my attacks are not just light."

  When Lin Sanjiu attacked the woman the second time, she confirmed that she could really feel the movement of the woman's organs and her trembling muscles through her fist when her attack connected. Even though the woman received the blow directly, she didn't feel anything weird because the attack was successfully reflected. Therefore, she remained calm all along.

  "Even if you are a real mirror, there is a moment in time that the light hits you before it gets reflected."

  In any case, whether the caped woman's ability involved herself changing into a mirror or if she still maintained her physical body of flesh and blood, there must be a certain upper limit to the amount of damage she could reflect. Lin Sanjiu attacked the woman harder and harder each time because she wanted to find that upper limit.

  Once Lin Sanjiu broke through the upper limit, the caped woman would be shattered before she could even reflect the attack.

  Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and did not throw another glance at the woman on the ground. She turned around and ran back to the siblings.

  The two teenagers had already noticed that the fight had ended. They were jumping and cheering loudly for Lin Sanjiu with flushed faces. When Lin Sanjiu rushed over, she was relieved to see that the kids were alright. When she looked around the library, she suddenly realized that there was something a little off.

  She did not see any remaining duoluozhongs from the south wing. She also did not know where the West Wing team, who were fighting with the duoluozhongs, had run off to. Silvan wasn't around either. At that moment, in the empty central hall, she only spotted Siri, who was just sitting motionlessly without making a sound, and the siblings. Hearing their cheers echoing through the library was rather strange.

  "Where are those people?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help asking. "Where did they go?"

  The siblings' expressions froze for a moment.

  "That…" Reno seemed to be tongue-tied as he showed a complex expression. "Well, about that…"

  "As expected. You won," a pleasant male voice rang out from an unknown direction, interrupting Reno's sentence. Reno and Rena seemed relieved that they did not have to explain the situation. They turned to the voice, along with Lin Sanjiu.

  Lin Sanjiu was sure that Siri's work desk was just empty a few seconds ago. However, Silvan was now leaning lazily against the desk with his hands in his pocket. His golden hair, his uniform, and half his body were dark red, apparently stained by a massive amount of blood.

  When he grinned, his teeth were still sparkling white as before. "We got all five books. Let's go verify them."

  Lin Sanjiu stared at him and did not move for some time.

  Chapter 275 - Getting Some Powerful Items!！

  The roads, the houses, the flyover… lay under the dusky skies. There was only a deafening silence of emptiness.

  When Lin Sanjiu stopped and turned to look behind, Kisaragi Library, despite its large size, had already faded into the scenery like a murky watercolor painting. She could only see the vague outlines of the building.

  "I just can't understand that man," she softly remarked, almost sounding like she was sighing. The siblings, standing by her side, exchanged glances as if they didn't know how to reply to her.

  It had been three to four hours since they parted ways with Silvan. After he disappeared into the drearily gray city, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings also continued on their journey. Following her lead, they chose the direction opposite from where Silvan was heading and started walking slowly.

  In the library, though half of his body got soaked in fresh blood, Silvan grinned at her as if he was completely unaffected. That image was still clear in Lin Sanjiu mind now because, at that time, she thought that the man was about to turn on her at any second.

  Based on her current experience, she had not tried to fight such a strong foe before.

  Just when Lin Sanjiu tensed her body, Silvan c.o.c.ked his head, showing a very laid-back attitude. With a matter-of-factly tone, he asked her, "What are you waiting for? Go and verify those books."

  "You…" Lin Sanjiu muttered. She narrowed her eyes as she examined the blood-soaked half of his body. She quickly looked away from him. As the light was much dimmer behind him, she wasn't sure whether that odd-shaped thing on the floor was a leg lying in the shadows behind the man.

  "Oh, are you concerned about that?" Silvan lowered his head and looked at his blood-soaked uniform. He looked up again and smiled. In a natural and friendly manner, he comforted, "Don't worry, this isn't my blood."

  "Whose is it?" Lin Sanjiu swallowed before she asked. She certainly wasn't worried for him.

  "Those people from the west wing," Silvan replied as he pointed behind him nonchalantly without looking back. "I made a request, but they refused, so I had to use violence to solve the problem."

  "What request?"

  "You've forgotten?" Silvan grinned boyishly, showing his white teeth again. His smile was more eye-catching than usual, especially in contrast to the dark-red bloodstains on his shirt. "You even figured that out yourself. I came to this world to catch duoluozhongs."

  When he said this, Lin Sanjiu immediately knew that Silvan had already figured out that she was that weird skull-like thing. If someone thought through all the clues, it wasn't difficult to come to that conclusion, however, she was still a little startled. "So, the duoluozhongs from the south wing have been…"

  "Just like that building spirit you lured me into, they are all in my cage." When he brought up the topic about duoluozhongs, he talked about them like lab rats, "By the way, that building spirit is quite a good fellow. I have to thank you for that."

  The members from the west wing, who were keen to get the lives from the duoluozhongs, definitely wouldn't allow Silvan to catch those duoluozhongs. Lin Sanjiu looked once more at that odd-shaped thing on the floor and, this time, she could see clearly that a single human leg was attached to that thing.

  "Is it worth killing people just…" Even though Lin Sanjiu had just killed someone herself, she still felt somewhat uncomfortable. After all, the West Wing team were standing on their side, "...for that?"

  However, her question was pretty much useless because she could already see Silvan's answer from his green, emerald eyes. He was visibly angry when Peach died but he
slaughtered four people with indifference even though they were fighting on their side.

  From that moment, Lin Sanjiu decided that she would definitely part ways with that man. She took out the five books and looked at Silvan, "You really don't need the lives?"

  Silvan chuckled as if Lin Sanjiu had asked him some sort of naive question. Then, he immediately showed her his back and took off his dark blue uniform combat shirt.

  A drop of blood rolled down his muscular, well-defined back, along his back dimple and passed a small black "261".

  "How many people has he killed?"

  While the siblings simultaneously gasped, Lin Sanjiu did not say another word. She went to the desk and slammed the books in front of Siri. As the book searching event had lasted for six days, they only won 19 lives from the event. However, adding the lives they earned from the battles, when they left the library, Lin Sanjiu's number had increased to 77. As Rena released a powerful effect from one of the book pages, her number had also reached 54. Reno earned less lives, but he at least had 42. At least, they weren't in any danger of using up their lives within this period of time.

  According to the rules, after Siri had verified all five books, she would hand over the books to Lin Sanjiu and her team. When Lin Sanjiu got back the books, they had already been converted to five permanent Special Items which could be used anytime.

  [The Heart-Stealing Consort Escapes With a Baby]: Regardless of the situation, the user can escape once from the target. However, the probability of being found by the target would increase in a short period after using this item.

  [A Girl's Sorrow]: This item has two effects. The first effect makes the target feel sorrow. The other effect would turn the target into a young girl. Activating the effects would cause a series of negative consequences depending on the situation.

  [How to Render]: People can see because of light. This effect of this book creates a powerful distortion of shadow and light. Please slowly explore its uses.