Chapter 0568: True Body
Li Luo had moved behind the bewitching Other with his single slash, and the Onyx-Elephant Blade was now stained with a black liquid that had corrosive properties. The bright side was that his weapon was an extraordinary item, possessing the ability to disperse this contaminant.
"Wonderful blade!" Sun Dasheng's eyes lit up in excitement as he whooped with a cheer... while still facing off against Zhu Xuan.
That single blow was like a bolt of lightning, imposing and swift, directly cleaving the bewitching Other across the forehead. It should have been enough to destroy it.
Yet despite hearing Sun Dasheng's jubilant cries, Li Luo frowned slightly. His sense of unease did not dissipate, despite slicing the Other apart.
"Hmph, another blow, then!"
Li Luo thought to himself as he turned around and attempted to strike out once again.
But right as he turned, the slightly bisected bewitching Other began to make strange, shrill sounds. At this very moment, black grass-like pieces began to grow from the split halves of the Other, and they soon began to criss-cross and combine into a gross weaving, stitching the Other back together!
The blade injury had disappeared as though it had never happened.
Simultaneously, the sugar hawthorns in the bewitching Other's hand began to start shooting out in every direction, attracting one group of corrupted after another towards Li Luo!
Dozens of corrupted pedestrians swarmed over like an unending tide of doom!
Weng!
However, Li Luo was no sitting duck. A single slash and a beautiful crescent-shaped wave of swordlight arced outwards. Half of the corrupted were instantly bisected.
Using this opportunity to escape the encirclement, Li Luo began to scan his surroundings whilst the bewitching Other continued to summon wave after wave of further corrupted pedestrians. In fact, some even started to pounce towards Sun Dasheng and Lu Ming, giving them a ball of a time having to juggle a greater number of problems.
Li Luo frowned deeply. The bewitching Other was not adept at direct combat, but its capabilities were truly a pain in the neck to deal with.
Wielding his Onyx-Elephant Blade, he decided to once again pursue the bewitching Other, but his body had suddenly stiffened for a brief moment. He thought he had heard a mysterious whisper from the depths of his heart that had caused him to enter a very temporary trance.
In this split second of hesitation, more corrupted pounced upon him.
Remaining calm, he continued to slaughter in every direction.
The corrupted continued to fall one after another, but this looming feeling continued to grow without pause. Li Luo could feel that the murmurings were growing in strength, and his consciousness was getting affected.
At this point, he had vaguely realized what was going on!
"Watch out, you two! The more corrupted you kill, the stronger the corruptive effects on your body!" Li Luo exclaimed with a glum look.
Lu Ming and Sun Dasheng were taken aback by this revelation and immediately changed their tactics, knocking the corrupted away instead.
Unfortunately, Zhu Xuan took this opportunity to strike, leaving the duo in a relatively miserable situation.
"Well then, find a solution! Otherwise, we'll all be left behind as corpses!" Lu Ming hurriedly screamed.
The situation was evolving in unexpected and complicated ways. They had not thought much of these corrupted pedestrians because despite the buff provided by the corruption, they were still weaklings. However, they finally understood why the bewitching Other had continued to utilize these human wave tactics despite it seeming futile.
The more they killed, the more they'd be insidiously affected.
After a period of accumulation, they'd still be similarly controlled even if they avoided eating the "hawthorns!"
He had finally understood the true terror of the bewitching Other. The only way out of the situation was to straight up slaughter the bewitching Other... However, despite being stronger, he was unable to kill it.
Li Luo's mind raced through different thoughts and possibilities. Suddenly, a glint appeared within his eyes. He'd have to first locate the bewitching Other again.
Upon locating her, he used the exact same trick as before, channeling his Thunderpeal Avatar and gaining explosive speed, closing the distance instantly.
He was like a charging bull, knocking up corrupted pedestrians left and right as he dashed forward. Finally appearing before the newitching Other, he directly sliced at her throat.
Blade light arced past, separating the head from the body. Just before the head hit the ground, both halves of the neck began to grow the same black grass, quickly reattaching the severed head!
It was once again completely unharmed!
Li Luo's pupils shrank as he began to quickly revolve his body, unleashing a flurry of attacks across the entire body of the bewitching Other, attempting to turn it into mincemeat!
In just a flash, the body of the Other was riddled with holes and injuries!
But this was meaningless. The bewitching Other even smiled at Li Luo, revealing her black, toothy grin, seemingly mocking his futile attempts. Simultaneously, black grass began to form all over the body, regenerating all of the previously afflicted damage.
Its lifeforce was as tenacious as a weed, causing Li Luo to feel that his efforts were fruitless.
At the moment Li Luo ceased his assault, the bewitching Other's hand quivered and a skewer of the hawthorn, which was imbued with black light and ominous energy, flew towards Li Luo's forehead, rending space on its way.
He quickly reacted, placing his blade between him and the skewer to block it. A clear, ringing sound was heard when they collided.
The resulting blowback knocked him away countless steps.
Without skipping a beat, the corrupted pedestrians nearby began to lunge at him with their fangs and claws.
The Lightning Forge crackled to action, and his body gave off a boom like a mini thunderclap.
Boom!
The corrupted were once again blasted away.
Taking advantage of the space created, he slunked away without being held back by the corrupted.
"What kind of dogshit Other is this? Why is it so TROUBLESOME TO DEAL WITH!?" Sun Dasheng bellowed in frustration. He had caught Li Luo's battle with the bewitching Other and saw that it had been torn to pieces, yet it regenerated and went back to normal as though nothing had happened.
This thing was clearly too strange!
Lu Ming's expression was frigid as she remained silent, wholeheartedly focusing on suppressing Zhu Xuan. However, a trace of worry could be seen in her eyes.
The situation was taking a turn for the worst.
Li Luo was unable to assuage their worries, instead focusing his attention on brainstorming new ideas. The bewitching Other was too strange. Even an Earthly Disaster Class Other would have been grievously wounded if it had received such a series of attacks. However, this Other was completely unharmed.
Something wasn't adding up.
Perhaps this Other specialized in strong regenerative powers. However, it had not even reached the Disaster Class yet and did not seem to have regeneration as a focus!
On the other hand, his attacks had dealt no discernable damage to the bewitching Other. He might have missed something.
Li Luo continued to closely observe the bewitching Other on the streets when he suddenly realized something. His attack couldn't have possibly been completely ineffective. As there was no discernable harm, perhaps he had not managed to strike its true body?
But he had actually struck the entire creature from head to toe!
Nope.
At this point, Li Luo had a brainwave.
Looking at things normally, he had truly devastated the bewitching Other's body.
But this was an Other, it was a strange creation to begin with. Was the body that he saw an actual body?
If this was the case, what held its true core and essence?
He finally understood!
He gazed at the Other from head to toe, and finally his focus fell upon the hawthorns that were tightly wrapped up in black grass within the Other's hands.
Li Luo fell silent for a moment.
Boom!
Immediately after, he shot forward like an arrow.
His target: the bewitching Other.
This time, the bewitching Other no longer tried to hide, perhaps convinced that Li Luo's attacks were futile and harmless. A mocking smile even surfaced upon her shriveled-up face.
Li Luo was before her in a flash, bathed in tiny ripples of lightning.
Ignoring the derisive eyes of the Other, he emotionlessly channeled all his might, bringing about the full power of his dual resonances.
Sharp blade lights criss-crossed, creating a wondrously sparkling sight.
His storm of strikes seemed to be targeted at the body of the bewitching Other, causing her to smile even more deeply.
Right as the attack was about to land, Li Luo flicked his wrist and changed his vertical slice to a horizontal one, dealing a blow towards the pole containing the hawthorns held by the granny.
The blade light cleaved through space itself.
The expression on the Other seemed to have solidified upon this realization.
It attempted to struggle and escape quickly.
However, Li Luo's strike was even faster!
The blade whistled through the air, the unfeeling chill of cold metal struck.
The hand holding the pole of hawthorns trembled violently, and a portion of the black grass was sliced away, revealing a scarlet eyeball that had finally emerged.