Chapter 408: Chapter 181: Heart-to-Heart Talk
Bologue chased Aimou; after all, this was Aimou’s home turf. Aimou deliberately lured Bologue into pursuit, misleading him towards the pre-set traps.
This place was akin to a minefield; every few steps Bologue took triggered a trap, and the constant rumbling explosions left Bologue in a sorry state.
Bologue possessed a certain degree of Ethereal Perception, but faced with the layer upon layer of traps set by Aimou, his perception only granted him brief evasion time once triggered.
The obstacles were many, and Bologue’s pace quickly slowed. Aimou hid once again in the shadows, while the bait laid beforehand continued to emit ether reactions, confusing Aimou’s figure.
A myriad of snakes stirred, the gusts scattering the pervasive toxic gas, while Bologue panted and grimly surveyed his surroundings.
Ether reactions were continuous all around; if Bologue pursued them one by one, he would inevitably fall into Aimou’s trap, possibly delayed, allowing Aimou the opportunity to sneak away.
Bologue shouted, "Aimou, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Time was tight; Bologue did not want to continue playing games with Aimou.
"Who knows?"
The voice came from all directions, hard to pinpoint. Bologue found this normal, not expecting his words to easily persuade Aimou.
Her resolve was strong; it was apparent from Aimou’s fierce attacks.
"Such a stark contrast..." Bologue continued, "I always thought you were a frail little girl."
"It shows that even professionals can overlook sometimes, don’t judge by appearance."
Aimou casually chatted with Bologue, making him feel the atmosphere was strange, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was odd.
However, it was certain that for Bologue, this was a hunt; he was the Hunter and Aimou the prey.
Yet, the roles of Hunter and prey were not fixed; a slight oversight in Aimou’s hunting ground could swap their roles.
From afar, intense ether reactions seemed to signal a battle breaking out, Bologue knew what was happening: Lebius and Hood were likely confronting each other, a deadly clash between two Negative Power Users. If not for Aimou, Bologue would have liked to watch.
But the time Lebius fought so hard to gain for him was being spent playing hide and seek with Aimou, leaving Bologue feeling somewhat helpless.
What exactly was Aimou thinking?
From the close combat earlier, Bologue felt something was amiss; logically, Aimou should be focused solely on escaping. If so, she should not have risked close combat with him.
Yet she did just that.
It was a wrong decision; Bologue did not believe Aimou would make such a mistake.
"Leaving without saying goodbye is such a bad habit," Bologue hunched down, as the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid began to morph, his hand clutching the Sword and Shield, "I was really looking forward to tonight’s date."
"Bologue, have you ever been deceived by a woman?" Aimou mocked.
"Not really in that aspect."
Scale Armor gradually covered Bologue, fully arming him, the voice from beneath the armor sounded, rumbling, "So the wish you told me, was it just a lie?"
"..."
Aimou didn’t respond, and Bologue knew he had hit her sore spot, continuing, "Aimou, I actually know what your wish is."
"Oh? Let’s hear it," Aimou replied, "You think I want to be human? I recall telling you humans are too fragile; I have no interest in that."
"I never said you wanted to become human, you’re the one who mentioned it now."
Bologue continued his fierce attack, "Are you hiding something? Deliberately seizing the initiative in conversation, acting high and mighty, looking down on everyone."
"Are you afraid?"
Bologue delivered the final blow, Aimou didn’t respond, and he knew he was right.
Aimou was indeed still a child; although prematurely mature, she was still a child, too inexperienced.
"Your wish is..."
Bologue abruptly stopped mid-sentence, charging like a silver giant wolf towards one side of the building.
While his words paralyzed Aimou, Bologue also kept sensing Aimou’s whereabouts. There were too many decoys around, countless ether reactions disrupting his perception, coupled with Aimou’s own ethereal concealment, making her extremely difficult to find.
But Bologue was no ordinary Condenser; he was also a Debtor.
Bologue could vaguely perceive the power of the Fantasy Species and the crazed intent of the Devil, a strength that only comes after contact with the Devil.
As Bologue expected, the Devil eventually found Aimou. He only hoped he could intervene in time to nip the disaster in the bud.
"Here you are!"
Bologue broke through the building, wrapped in armor, like a rampaging bull.
In the broken smoke and dust, Aimou’s figure was not seen in the dim building; there was only a stable-running decoy releasing ether waves to attract Bologue’s attack.
At the same time, multiple ether reactions rose, and the Fire-Calling Staff erupted in dazzling firelight once more, released from the other end of the desolate town.
This fire could clearly not affect Bologue as he searched for Aimou’s movements in the sea of fire. Rapid footsteps sounded from behind him.
Bologue turned around, swinging a crude great sword. This backslash didn’t hit Aimou; she agilely evaded, rolled and leaped, brushing a hand on the great sword, lifting her body further.
"You’ve walked into a trap!"
The armor on Bologue’s body began to wriggle, rupturing into several silver hands reaching for Aimou. Before being grabbed, Aimou threw a smoke bomb at Bologue.
The smoke bomb hit the armor and then exploded, releasing not smoke but nerve-paralyzing gas.
Bologue immediately held his breath as Aimou lashed out with a whip-leg toward him, but before it could strike, the silver hands entangled Aimou’s body, binding her firmly.
The mutable nature of Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid was well-suited for binding targets, wrapping around Aimou like vines, the solid nature shifting to flow over her body like water.
In an instant, Aimou was turned into a silver-white sculpture, and the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid sought gaps on Aimou’s body, trying to penetrate her to paralyze her.
Bologue intended to move Aimou out of the gas’s range, but as he prepared to move, his body became overwhelmingly heavy. The ground beneath him shimmered, with Light Forged chains sealing Bologue layer by layer, immobilizing him.
"Triggering this trap wasn’t easy..."
Aimou barely turned her head, like a living sculpture, her neck twisting to break through the hard metal as she looked at Bologue.
The triggering condition of the binding trap required Bologue to stand still above it for a period, which, given Bologue’s way of moving, was hard to achieve. Aimou had no choice but to engage Bologue in combat.
Bologue kept silent, maintaining his breath-holding to avoid inhaling gas.
The trap had bound Bologue, but he also held Aimou, the two in a deadlock until a moment broke the silence.
Bologue broke free from the trap’s bindings as Aimou twisted her body, using her strength to escape the restraint of the silver hands.
Aimou tried to retreat, but Bologue wasn’t giving her that chance. He strode forward, transforming the great sword in his hand into a lance, striking like a battering ram toward Aimou.
With Aimou’s agility, such a brute force attack could be easily dodged, but the lance’s head suddenly split open into several silver hands reaching for her, some grabbing her limbs, others wrapping around her torso.
Aimou suddenly regretted creating the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid. The two crashed into the building one after another, the continuous roaring turning everything chaotic, a scene of ruins.
A few seconds later, with piercing explosions and firelight, a figure was thrown backward from the ruins. Bologue rolled several times on the ground, staggering as he got back up.
Throwing off his tattered coat and rolling up his sleeves, Bologue, looking furious, rushed back into the ruins.
A few more seconds passed, muffled sounds echoed from the ruins, and another figure was thrown out.
Aimou skilfully rolled a few times in the air and then landed steadily, her eyes now a brilliant golden color, her body in overload operation, hot gases seeping out.
Reaching to tear off the obstructing clothes, Aimou revealed a white vest, brushing her scattered short hair back. She headed towards the ruins again, her pace quickening, then drew her Fire-Calling Staff, gripping the end like a hammer and wielding it.
After the noisy commotion, the ruins fell silent for a dozen seconds before becoming noisy again, incessantly.