The Creatures that We Are

Thrown off balance by the sonic attack, Qilin landed smoothly on his feet. He glanced at Surnamed Li's prone form in the distance, deciding against reaching her.

Surnamed Li would be little help now that she was unconscious, and Qilin was the enemies' primary target. Taking her would only slow him down and put her at greater risk.

There was a whistle.

Qilin’s thinking strayed. He was suddenly brought back to his childhood, remembering the summer days, the dam, the forests, the cicada chirps, the warm water, and the wind.

He frowned, blocking his hearing mentally to minimize the disturbance.

The whistle persisted. Everyone was influenced to varying degrees. Qilin endured it by sheer will and tracked the sound to his four o’clock. Seizing the chance, he used Statues.

A second later, the whistle ceased.

Ke Yo, concealed behind a stone statue at Green Lotus Lake's edge, fell under its effect along with Lin Fu and Old Seven.

Without the whistle's interference, Qilin's Statues grew stronger, its control fanning out to all enemies before him.

But Statues required him to remain still. He quickly switched to focused Psychic Shackles to maintain control over Ke Yo. Just as he prepared to increase the pressure...

Rumble. The earth trembled.

Mischievous Monkey had completed his barrier, transforming the entire lotus lake into a living entity through manipulation of earth elements.

The ground beneath Qilin splintered like shattered glass. Massive plates rose from the fissures like ancient hands, closing in with crushing intent.

Three seconds until Qilin would be sealed like an insect in amber.

Then they would converge on the earthen prison, their combined assault breaking through Qilin's defenses.

But Qilin denied Mischievous Monkey his victory.

Before the earth elements could form a bastion around Qilin, eighteen fierce shadowy figures dove through the cracks. Each wielding different weapons, they streaked around the bastion like wild calligraphy, leaving countless deep cuts that seemed to form written characters.

Boom! Seconds later, black energy erupted, and the earth construct collapsed into a storm of stone fragments.

Qilin stood unscathed upon the fractured ground, encircled by his eighteen shadow soldiers, loyal, powerful, and radiating cold murderous intent.

The failed attack gave way to another.

Growl. Dead Pig, wrapped in golden energy, charged at Qilin. His enhanced defense and regeneration made him fearless of the shadow soldiers. Only Eidos could stop him now.

As Qilin focused his psychic power in his left eye, he sensed movement—Wang Zikai, his blond hair distinctive, sprinting toward him from a hundred meters away.

Qilin tensed, immediately binding Dead Pig with Psychic Shackles.

He raised his right hand toward Wang Zikai, fingers clenching into a fist. The eighteen shadow soldiers surged forward like a dark tide.

Ha, this is child's play! You dare to show off before God?

Wang Zikai maintained his charge, launching three bone stings from his right fist. His feet shattered the ground as he sprang toward Qilin like a missile.

The first shadow transformed into a glaive-wielding soldier. Before it could swing, Wang Zikai severed its head.

The second shadow soldier raised its giant axe—only to be bisected at the waist.

The third materialized larger than the others, brandishing a shadow shield.

Wang Zikai's bone stings pierced the shield. He followed through like a spear, dispersing the figure into shadow fragments.

A split second. That was all it took. Wang Zikai carved through the remaining shadow soldiers, never breaking his momentum toward Qilin.

To mortal eyes, only a golden lightning trail would be visible, weaving a crimson arc through eighteen shadow soldiers in two seconds.

A heartbeat of stillness followed.

The eighteen shadow soldiers held their positions before dissolving like ink in water.

Wang Zikai surged forward, almost without pause.

His right fist swung at Qilin—and stopped dead two meters away, as if frozen in time.

Qilin's Telekinesis. At close range, his power intensified. With his overwhelmingly high Willpower, his Telekinesis seemed like a different ability altogether than Flower’s version.

Wang Zikai remained calm. Gao Yang had prepared him for this possibility.

“Gah!” Wang Zikai burst through the restraint long enough to unleash Reaper's Spear. Three bone stings pierced through Qilin's shoulder, right chest, and abdomen, trailing crimson light.

Qilin smiled at Wang Zikai.

Wang Zikai's heart lurched. Without Zhang Wei's constant presence, his immunity to Eidos wavered.

A second later, his vision cleared.

As expected! Qilin stood unharmed, maintaining his telekinetic hold. Wang Zikai's bone stings had merely grazed past him, embedding in the ground behind.

Wang Zikai retracted the crimson weapons and drew upon his energy reserves to break free. But Qilin, having been personally subject to Wang Zikai's raw power, avoided a contest of strength.

Instead, the eighteen “destroyed” shadow soldiers transformed into shadow threads, ensnaring Wang Zikai. They moved with cunning fluidity, impossible to grasp or break.

When Wang Zikai flexed his muscles to break free, they yielded. When he relaxed, they constricted, countering brute force with flexibility.

“Fuck…what the hell?!”

Frustration mounted as Wang Zikai struggled. Though still mobile, he staggered and lurched, trapped in an ever-shifting web of shadows like a cat caught in a ball of yarn.

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