The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 880: Unbridled Light

"Aghhh!!"

Colorless crashed to her knees, head thrown back in a primal howl. Crimson capillaries erupted across her chest, spreading like wildfire through her body. Her eyes melted into orbs of shimmering dark red light.

Raw psychic power materialized around her in waves of translucent red energy. Her hair writhed outward, each strand transforming into serpents wreathed in crimson light.

"Gahhhh—"

Her scream intensified. Waves of petrifying energy exploded outward, indiscriminate in their hunger to turn all life to stone.

The energy struck Zhong He like countless burrowing insects, numbing and sharp. Even his Phantom armor couldn't fully shield him—it merely bought him precious seconds.

Shit!

He tried to retreat, but his limbs had already begun to turn leaden, movements growing sluggish.

...

Across the bridge, Harvest Song and Yellow Lotus remained locked in their deadly dance.

Blood streaked Yellow Lotus's body, but Muscles kept her standing, defiant. Harvest Song showed no wounds but her pale face and labored breathing betrayed her exhaustion.

"Are you scratching me, Little Harvest?" Yellow Lotus taunted, wiping blood from her mouth.

Harvest Song crouched, triangular sword in one hand, the other concealing a hidden weapon. She pondered for a tactic.

It would look like Yellow Lotus was on the losing side, but Harvest Song was in great danger too. She was an assassin, and she had been weakening Yellow Lotus with all sorts of melee weapons by leveraging her agility. Her brittle defense made it so that she could die if she made a single mistake and allowed Yellow Lotus to grab her.

Her depleting stamina made errors more likely. She drew a steadying breath, preparing to end this in the next ten seconds.

Yellow Lotus suddenly charged forward. Harvest Song's eyes widened in confusion—it made no tactical sense. Yellow Lotus had been fighting smart, waiting to counter. Why change now?

Then she saw the panic in Yellow Lotus's eyes.

"Run, Little Harvest!"

Too late. The paralyzing red wind struck Harvest Song's back like an arctic blast. Her limbs turned unresponsive, as if flash-frozen.

Yellow Lotus lunged forward, seized her hand, and hurled her backward with desperate strength.

Harvest Song flew eight meters clear—but Yellow Lotus stood frozen in her act of sacrifice. Gray spread across her skin like frost, hairline cracks showing.

"Sister Lotus!"

Harvest Song rolled up and sprinted back to save Yellow Lotus, fighting the growing heaviness in her limbs. It was futile; they both lay trapped within the doubled level 7 Petrify's reach.

Their eyes met as stone claimed them both, watching cracks spread across each other's faces, hair crystallizing into mineral.

"I'll call this... your win." Yellow Lotus forced out the words.

"Doesn't count!" Harvest Song's tears turned gray as they fell. "Again..."

Rumble.

The bridge gave way beneath them, and both women plunged.

...

"Ahhh!!"

Colorless, transformed into a modern Medusa, had lost all reason. She vowed to drain her last drop of power to turn every living thing around her to stone.

Zhong He's protective shadows dissipated as his exposed skin began to be petrified. Further away, Yellow Lotus and Harvest Song succumbed to the same fate.

Seconds remained before the transformation became irreversible.

For the first time in his life, Zhong He felt not fear, but peace.

Yet fate had other plans. The bridge beneath Colorless crumbled.

Her petrifying wave interrupted, she plunged toward Li River with a mass of concrete and rebar. Water exploded upward at her impact.

The bridge's collapse accelerated. Zhong He fell next, followed by Harvest Song and Yellow Lotus.

Mid-fall, Zhong He spotted Yellow Lotus. A shadow rope shot from his hand, catching hers. Another tendril of darkness lashed out, securing itself to a surviving bridge pillar.

With a sharp pull, he swung them both back to a stable section. He knelt, cradling Yellow Lotus's half-petrified form. Her skin felt like cold marble, limbs rigid, complexion ashen and spiderwebbed with cracks. Her eyes had dulled.

Without hesitation, he injected her with Medicine C, following it with specialized adrenaline.

"Ugh..."

Yellow Lotus groaned moments later, consciousness returning. "Did I... die?"

"Yes, you're in hell," Zhong He replied.

His weak attempt at humor cleared her mind. She sat up, scanning their surroundings. "Sir Monkey's moved?"

"Seems that way." Zhong He nodded.

The bridge continued disintegrating, like a fuse burning from both ends toward the center. When it finally stopped, only the middle section remained—an island of concrete trapping Qilin, Surnamed Li, and several Ocean River Union members.

From the distant signal tower, Nine Frost tracked the collapse through his binoculars.

[Nine Frost: Zhang Wei!]

[Zhang Wei: Copy!]

...

A minute before, White Rabbit had woven through the inner structure of the bridge with Mischievous Monkey in tow, while Mischievous Monkey made marks for dissolving at key points of the bridge.

Once the preparation was done, they waited for the moment to detonate the marks.

This trap for Qilin and Surnamed Li had been meticulously planned in advance.

As the bridge crumbled, Mischievous Monkey departed alone. White Rabbit held Fat Jun, concealing them both within a fractured pillar near the center using Intangibility.

They emerged silently.

"Let's go," White Rabbit whispered.

"Yeah!" Fat Jun's face set with grim determination.

White Rabbit positioned herself behind him, gripping tight. Thighs tensed, she launched them skyward.

They soared diagonally, climbing a hundred meters above Qilin and Surnamed Li. Fat Jun stared down at the severed bridge, arms outstretched as he channeled every ounce of his power.

"Unbridled Light!"