Chapter 23: Fierce Battle

Xiao Chou was fast, but Leiketon's shooting was terrible; even though Xiao Chou had already gotten close enough, he still hadn't hit a single shot. To evade Xiao Chou's incoming attack, Leiketon could only quickly dodge to the side.

Xiao Chou's arm swept past Leiketon's head like a strong gust; fortunately, Leiketon, anticipating by instinct, tilted his head aside, but he still felt a slight sting on his left cheek, probably a graze.

"Meow!" a loud, dignified cat cry rang out.

Leiketon and Xiao Chou's movements paused at the same moment, but Xiao Chou recovered first, sweeping a whip kick; Leiketon only managed to pull back while guarding his vital chest. Leiketon flew backward, his body as if run over by a carriage, slamming straight into the gas lamp post behind him.

Leiketon only felt a burning pain in his back, the left forearm he had raised feeling as if fractured, and his chest felt tight from the huge impact.

"Meow~!" another loud, dignified cat cry came.

Xiao Chou's continuing attack was interrupted, and Leiketon breathed a little easier. At that moment, Pas had overcome his inner fear, rushing toward Xiao Chou like a black streak of light, but Xiao Chou, as if anticipating it, easily dodged Pas's pounce.

Leiketon took advantage of Pas grappling with Xiao Chou, leaning on the gas lamp post behind him and, enduring the tearing pain, stood up.

"He's different from the previous clown; he's only Sequence Eight." Leiketon said, panting.

"Hahaha! I really like your eyes." Upon hearing Leiketon's words, Xiao Chou stopped paying attention to Pas, turned his head and stared fixedly at Leiketon, the malice in his eyes intense as if substantive.

"His scent hasn't changed; it's him, meow!" Pas's amber eyes widened, trying desperately to make out every detail on Xiao Chou's body.

"Hehe! Guess who I am!" Xiao Chou's words were full of madness and seduction.

Pas's startle reflex made him ignore whatever Xiao Chou was saying; he immediately sprinted, leapt, and pounced at Xiao Chou.

Xiao Chou nimbly twisted his body to dodge, while one hand silently touched Pas in mid‑air—"Zzz~zzz!", the crackling electric sound especially piercing in the quiet night.

"Meow~!" Pas cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground, his hind legs still twitching nonstop.

Is an electric shock of this intensity really a trick of Sequence Eight? Leiketon wondered, but had no time to think further.

After dealing with Pas, Xiao Chou lunged at Leiketon again. As Xiao Chou attacked, Leiketon dropped into a crouch, covered his head with both hands, and rolled forward.

"Boom!" The sound came from the lamp post behind him being violently struck; Leiketon could only be glad the blow hadn't hit him, otherwise he'd have lost half his life.

Xiao Chou quickly pulled back, while Leiketon turned his body and fired again; at such close range he didn't miss, but Xiao Chou twisted his body at an impossible angle to evade the bullet.

"Intimidation!" Leiketon shouted loudly.

At the same time, a hand reached into his clothing pocket and pinched a talisman.

"Meow~" a dignified but clearly weak and painful cat cry sounded; Xiao Chou already had strong resistance to Pas's Intimidation.

"Imprisonment!" a draconic word issued from Leiketon's mouth. The talisman he held turned to ash and dissipated, while an invisible wave surged toward Xiao Chou, who had broken free of the Intimidation effect, freezing him in place with a lunging motion.

Leiketon's eyes flickered with blue‑white light as he entered Rapid Thought; raising his gun, aiming, and firing became one motion, and the bullet smoothly entered Xiao Chou's right eye.

Second gun, "click~", no bullets left.

"Damn!" Leiketon couldn't help cursing; the Imprisonment duration wasn't enough for him to reload.

Leiketon decisively ended Rapid Thought, endured the pain, ran to Pas's side, and picked up the cat. Pas's originally black, thick fur was scorched in patches, and he smelled of burnt flesh.

Holding Pas, Leiketon hurried to the other side, to the fallen alchemical transmuted person nearby, and took out the healing potion Xia had given him from his pocket.

At this point Xiao Chou also broke free of the Imprisonment effect; blood kept flowing from his right eye, making his already grotesque makeup look even more horrendous. The intense pain in his right eye twisted his expression, though he made no sound, his slightly raised head losing its former elegance as he approached.

"He's coming again, keep your eyes on him, meow!" Pas said anxiously.

Leiketon quickly poured half of the healing potion into the fallen transmuted person on the ground, poured some of the remaining half onto Pas's electrically burned spots, then drank some himself.

Leiketon tossed the empty potion bottle straight at Xiao Chou; Xiao Chou reflexively dodged, saw it was just an ordinary glass bottle, and glanced at Leiketon with some annoyance.

Then Xiao Chou's speed surged, accompanied by a whooshing blast.

"Meow!" Pas's Intimidation merely slowed Xiao Chou's step for a moment before he recovered.

"Don't just lie there—get up and fight, or we're all done for!" Leiketon said while reloading, kicking the fallen transmuted person twice. But there was no response; he seemed truly unconscious.

Ignoring him, Leiketon continued loading bullets.

"It's coming over, meow~" Pas's voice grew urgent.

"Meow!" another Intimidation, but its effect kept weakening. Pas's amber eyes were full of fatigue; as he prepared to use Intimidation again, Xiao Chou had already drawn near.

Pas tried to flee but his feet slipped, he fell to the ground, almost landing under Xiao Chou's feet, and Xiao Chou reached out to grab him.

But the ground suddenly rose up; Xiao Chou's instinctive foresight made him retreat immediately, and several vines shot up from the earth centered on him, encircling and tightly entwining him.

By then Leiketon had also finished reloading, his pistol aimed again at Xiao Chou. Xiao Chou's pupils dilated, and a burst of light flared before him, many times brighter and more blinding than an old‑model camera flash.

The intense light appeared too fast; Leiketon's eyes couldn't close in time, his stimulated vision went briefly blind, and tears slid from the corners.

"Meow!" Pas let out a shrill wail; as a cat, and especially in the night, the flash had inflicted particularly severe damage on him.

Leiketon could only hear the flames burning; his sight not yet restored, he had to rely on Rapid Thought and sound to gauge the situation.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" three shots rang out in succession; the feedback indicated only one hit, but with no cry of pain, Leiketon guessed the opponent had avoided vital spots.

A wind sound rang in his ears; Leiketon's spiritual intuition began to warn him, his right leg reflexively stepped back, but his foot slipped as if pushed, and he fell to the ground just like Pas had earlier.

Worse, in the process the pistol was knocked away by small stones, and some pebbles struck Leiketon's body, each feeling capable of leaving a bruise.

"This trick's intensity is unscientific!" That was the thought that filled Leiketon's mind most as he lay on the ground.

The warning from his spiritual intuition prickled Leiketon's scalp, as if he were about to be blown apart any moment. Sharp pain struck his chest; Rapid Thought was cut off, and the intense pain let his brain barely judge that his left chest had been pierced, a hand reaching for his heart.

But it didn't succeed, because Bronze Phosphor had solidified Leiketon's state when he fell.

Earlier, when he fell, his Rapid Thought let him react in the shortest time; using the motion of falling, he slipped his left hand into the pocket holding a metal box of Bronze Phosphor and pressed it firmly into his palm.

The next moment, Leiketon's left chest was pierced; the intense pain almost made him unable to keep holding the Bronze Phosphor in his left palm.

"Huh! There's intention..

"Bang!"

When Xiao Chou realized he couldn't pull Leiketon's heart out, he noticed Bronze Phosphor protecting Leiketon and tried to speak to seduce him and buy time, but before he could finish, the already partially recovered stranger transmuted person attacked and sent him flying.

After Xiao Chou was blown away, the opponent scattered a handful of seeds from his hidden pocket, and dozens of vines and thorns shot up from the ground, tightly entangling Xiao Chou.

"Boom"—another flame rose.

"Dispel"—another draconic word, this being Leiketon's last Dispelling Talisman.

After using the Dispelling Talisman, Leiketon lay helpless on the ground, not wanting to move a finger; the combined side effects of repeated Rapid Thought and Bronze Phosphor made him feel as if he had already stepped half‑foot into the gates of the underworld. What remained could only be left to the transmuted person who was likely from the Earth Church.

Earlier, after Xiao Chou was blown away, Leiketon knew that the Earth Church transmuted person had already recovered some injuries and could keep fighting. He then released his left hand, which had been tightly pressing the Bronze Phosphor in his palm; the solidified Bronze Phosphor blocked a fatal attack, greatly amplifying its side effects.

Fortunately, the side effects of bronze phosphorus mainly affect the body; Lei Kedun endured the dual pressure on his body and mind, once again using quick thinking, and he used that dispelling talisman at the critical moment. After doing all that, the overlapping side effects left Lei Kedun utterly exhausted, so he could only rely on the sense of crisis brought by the clown, barely managing to stay conscious and not fall asleep.

「Ah! How could it be possible! 」 the clown's hoarse voice sounded and then gradually faded. The warning of spiritual intuition also disappeared.

「It's a pity I didn't get to see with my own eyes how the clown died. 」 That was Lei Kedun's only thought. Afterwards Lei Kedun felt he could rest easy and fall asleep.

A warm current brushed over Lei Kedun's body, like a mother's embrace, alleviating his bodily injuries and mental fatigue; the Lei Kedun who had originally wanted to fall asleep was forcibly awakened.

「The clown is already dead. 」 a steady, heavy voice sounded from nearby.

A hand rested on Lei Kedun's body, a wave of warmth came, and Lei Kedun felt the pain on his body ease considerably; then this hand lifted him up from the ground.

(End of chapter)