Chapter 198: Pure White Snowflake

Kaiti, who had just broken free from a deep slumber, hadn't yet opened her eyes when a wailing spirit that rattled the soul attacked, nosebleed spurted, brain throbbed sharply, and Kaiti nearly fainted.

After completing an attack, Kelaine quickly withdrew and whispered an ancient Hekmis word, "Sacred."

The dark‑golden sun‑bird brooch on Kelaine's chest flickered, Kelaine snapped his fingers, Bang! —and fired an air bullet.

The air bullet formed, took on a holy sheen, and rushed straight toward Kaiti's face.

This was the sacred covenant granted by the sun brooch, adding a layer of holy damage to Kelaine's air bullet.

Helas, already awake from his slumber, pointed with his iron‑black metal gauntlet toward the front‑left and shouted, "Exile!"

A massive, invisible force erupted between Kaiti and Kelaine, erasing Kelaine's air bullet in an instant.

The force also hurled Kelaine's spirit a short distance, and in the next moment the airborne Kelaine turned into a crudely cut paper figure that ignited and vanished in mid‑air.

Kelaine's spirit appeared beside the extraordinary one called Park, slipped a hand onto his shoulder, and a thin layer of white frost spread rapidly.

"Imprison!" Park felt his whole body stiffen, as if completely covered by ice and chilled to the marrow.

Helas's familiar low voice rang in his ears, and his body was instantly trapped by a prison of transparent walls.

Kelaine's spirit passed straight through Park, did not possess him, and avoided Helas's spell effect in time.

"Humph!" Helas narrowed his eyes, looked displeased, and flicked his right hand, "Release!"

Park felt the transparent walls that had restrained him dissolve, and in the next instant, leaves mixed with petals and branches were flung in from outside.

They fell around Park, some swelling wildly, some linking together into thick vines that coiled around him, rendering him immobile.

A gray silhouette burst in from the doorway at that moment, charging straight at Helas.

"Imprison!" Helas barked low, raised his hand and pushed forward; layer upon layer of transparent walls rose, freezing the advancing gray silhouette in place.

In the next instant, the gray silhouette, in an incredible way and angle, leveraged the air, turned its direction, and slammed into a nearby dining table.

Bang! Wah‑la!

The table toppled, and dishes, chairs and other items were all flung up.

Kelaine snapped his fingers again, firing one air bullet after another, tightly binding the Kaiti who tried to wield a whip, leaving her to scramble helplessly.

"Whip!" Helas shouted low again, swinging his right hand, and an invisible soft whip lashed toward the gray silhouette that had just surged in.

In the next instant, a burst of light exploded inside the restaurant, dazzling several times brighter than an old‑model camera, turning the surroundings a blinding white.

Boom! The sound of porcelain and wood shattering rang out.

Helas realized his whip had been evaded by the gray silhouette, and, relying on his familiarity with the restaurant, swiftly shifted position to prevent the opponent from striking while his vision was impaired.

The brief blindness from the dazzling light faded quickly; the floor was pierced by wildly growing vines and thorns that attacked every person present except Tu Ba Ge, with no distinction between friend and foe.

Kelaine's spirit showed no fear of this effect; after his vision returned, he used the rampant vines and thorns as cover to close in on Kaiti.

Kaiti, hurriedly attacking the surrounding vines and thorns, hadn't reacted before an invisible pair of hands slipped into her back.

A bone‑deep chill followed, and in a split second Kaiti felt her whole body become rigid.

"No plants may grow here!" Helas, while dodging the vines, solemnly declared, already wearing iron‑black metal gauntlets.

The wildly growing plants paused, then inexplicably began to wither and decay.

He then stared at the strange ghost attempting to possess Kaiti, pushed his palm forward again, and in ancient Hekmis announced a new prohibition:

"No ghosts or vengeful spirits may exist here!"

Kelaine felt the black armor covering his body shift, an invisible force forcefully pushing it outward.

However, under the rank‑enhancement of the Black Emperor (Item), the spirit's previously higher standing was quickly suppressed.

Helas narrowed his eyes, sensed the incoming ghost was very odd, and, to rescue the soon‑to‑be‑possessed Kaiti, issued another prohibition:

"No flying or floating here!"

Suddenly, Kelaine felt his body heavy and fell from the state of possessing Kaiti to the ground.

Kaiti kicked hard, rolled twice to the front‑left, creating distance from the approaching ghost, and drew the sidearm at her waist.

Boom! Boom!

Liang Kai fired two shots, each bullet tinged with a faint golden glow—holy bullets that suppress spirits.

The holy bullets trailed two pale gold traces in the air, then struck a massive gray silhouette, a gray rabbit with ears the size of a brown bear.

The bullet hit its body without a splash of blood.

In the next instant, the enlarged Tu Ba Ge transformed into a huge gray afterimage and barreled toward Kaiti.

Kaiti dodged to the rear‑side while swinging the whip that torments spirit and soul.

"Imprison!" Helas whispered the ancient Hekmis word, raised his hand and pushed forward, creating a thick, ultra‑viscous transparent liquid to envelop the enlarged Tu Ba Ge.

"Holy!" "Sun!" Kelaine also whispered ancient Hekmis words, and the dark‑golden sun‑bird brooch on his chest flickered with light.

Tu Ba Ge instantly gained the effects of the sacred covenant and Purification Slash.

Tu Ba Ge's charging speed surged, and it barreled over Helas's imprisonment, colliding with Kaiti's swinging whip and striking her.

With a muffled "Bang!" Kaiti's body was flung backward, slammed into the wall behind her, blood gushing from mouth and nose, her body collapsing powerless, hair in disarray, lying motionless on the floor.

Seizing the moment, Helas clenched his left fist and, with a voice full of authority, pronounced to Tu Ba Ge:

"Death!"

His body merged with a strange power, the afterimage slammed into the enlarged Tu Ba Ge, and his fist struck the rabbit's head with an unavoidable, inescapable force.

Kelaine's spirit emitted an invisible sound wave targeting the creature's soul, and the wailing spirit's shriek swept again.

Helas's action paused only briefly; the next instant, Tu Ba Ge's head exploded.

No blood or flesh splattered; Tu Ba Ge's body deflated like a punctured balloon.

It finally became a pale‑yellow paper rabbit with strange floral patterns, which crumbled into drifting fragments.

Helas's gaze swept the restaurant quickly, taking in the entire situation.

Ka Ping and his scattered retainers lay on the ground; some were hit by the earlier battle and perished, while the luckier ones remained unconscious, showing no sign of waking.

The strange plump rabbit silhouette had vanished; Kaiti lay on the ground, not yet dead but close to it, and only Sequence Eight's Park, blood‑stained, lay on the floor, uncertain whether he died in the recent fight or fell into slumber.

In the garden outside the luxurious villa, a tall, snow‑white‑skinned, light‑blue‑haired beautiful lady wearing a pale‑blue long dress patterned with snowflakes floated, her lower half appearing semi‑transparent and ethereal.

Beside her stood a life‑size ice sculpture with a full beard, so lifelike it seemed made from a living person!

Tu Ba Ge tightened his custom tailcoat, lowered his head, feebly clinging to Lei Kedun's pant leg, and muttered:

"Too scary—no, too scary for a rabbit! I almost became a dead rabbit!!"

Lei Kedun shifted his body imperceptibly, blocking the Snow Woman's curious gaze at Tu Ba Ge, then signaled that she could go inside the villa to finish up!

The scent lingering in the air was off; it must carry strong sedative and hypnotic effects.

He Las fixed his gaze on the ethereal form of Ke Lai En, sneering, "

"Hmph! Looks like your assistant has already fled!"

Before Ke Lai En could speak, He Las raised his left palm again, solemnly declaring,

"Sleeping is prohibited here!"

After the prohibition was pronounced, none of the people lying on the ground awoke; clearly, they had shifted from sleep to coma.

He Las, without hesitation, continued the proclamation in Ancient Hersmith language,

"Illegal intrusion into another's residence is a crime!"

"Illegal intrusion."

"Holy!"

Boom! A flame‑wrapped air projectile surged toward He Las.

Unable to continue the prohibition chant, He Las swiftly dodged the attack.

Inside the dining hall, snowflakes began to drift—deep‑cold, pure white snowflakes.

The whole villa's temperature dropped sharply; walls, floor, and window glass were silently coated with a layer of white frost like fine ice crystals.

A ghostly, transparent, ethereal figure stepped straight through layer after layer of walls and entered the dining hall.

The Snow Woman's form materialized before He Las and Ke Lai En, becoming solid and vivid.

With a woof, a cold wind swept the room, and a thin, transparent layer of ice crystals began spreading everywhere.

Even the Fire Crow in the fireplace was not spared, gradually turning into an ice sculpture shaped like a flame.

Ke Lai En watched the suddenly appearing Snow Woman warily; even in his ethereal state, he felt cold, his thoughts stiffening.

He Las likewise stared warily at the suddenly appearing, overly beautiful woman, mustering the little courage he had, and spoke hoarsely and low,

"Wronged spirit? Rose Sect?"

"What does this Rose Sect thing mean? You should know, this is Lu En, this is Beikeland!"

(End of Chapter)