Born in Blood

Chapter 422 Ego

Usan's eyes narrowed at her words.

He'd been a Rank 6 cultivator for a while now, but he'd fended off the urge to grow an inflated ego.

Partly because he didn't earn it, and partly because he wasn't the hard-headed type.

The same couldn't be said about those who got to that point with their own two hands.

They were all egoists, and the Empress of Drama was the same.

Except for that one kid. He was always a damn egoist. With serial killer tendencies.

KRSH!

CRACK!

KRK!

The Mother of Abomination took slow steps towards Usan, as though wanting the dread to sink in.

No such thing happened. Strangely enough, the rage in Usan's body drowned out any fear in him.

His hands and legs trembled, but Usan didn't know whether it was from anger or fear.

A small symphony played in the background, alternating between high and low octaves.

It was slow, ancient, grim and eerie, paired with a choir of young girls chanting strange words that echoed throughout the space.

It was like the prologue to a horror story.

Or a funeral.

"Do you even know how weak you are?" the Empress said with a little snicker. "You're so angry it's cute. Like a puppy pretending to be a lion."

Usan cursed her and her seven generations in the Ilalian tongue.

"How mature," the Empress said with disdain.

Usan's shadows worked just fine.

This… 'Domain' wasn't a 100% killing move.

It had rules of its own.

For one, the choice the Empress gave Usan wasn't fake.

If he wanted to, he could have actually lived the remainder of his life beside a fake version of his dead wife.

Even if she was an Abomination.

But he chose not to.

The thirst for revenge was stronger than the desire for family.

But now, he had to fight the Empress under her own rules and regulations.

His mind raced for the next line of action.

He couldn't fly. He tried already, but it didn't work.

He couldn't sink beneath the shadows either, and there were bones for as far as the eye could see.

If the rules of this place applied to him, then surely it applied to her?

One had to know the Opposition's Law of Balance didn't just affect cultivation prowess.

It affected the boundaries of what one could do with their powers and abilities.

If it wasn't the case, battles at the peak ranks would be settled incredibly fast, just because one party got the first hit.

If one looked at it from another angle, it could be compared to a game.

Participants may be weaker or stronger than each other, but there was no cheating involved.

'I can't teleport.'

'I can't use my Shadow Clones, either.'

'She's just gonna keep bombarding me with Abominations, isn't she?' Usan realized with a frown.

'Her Abomination Form doesn't look like it's made for battle, but for manipulation.'

As though answering his thoughts, Usan's theory proved correct a second later.

KERKERKERKER.

The skeletons and bones below Usan's feet chattered and rose above the ground.

Rank 5 Abominations.

Well, he called it.

Usan groaned in annoyance.

Each skeleton rushed at him, reaching for his limbs and sword. A few were close enough to clutch his shins, pulling him under.

Usan raised his sword above his head, then made a diagonal, spiral slash downwards.

SHIIIIING!

The surrounding skeletons resembled peeled fruits made of bone and brittle.

To his Rank 6 wakizashi, they weren't worthy opponents.

A single swing was enough to render most of them motionless.

BOOM!

A skeletal hand burst from the ground below Usan's feet, sending him flying!

WHOOSH!

Had he not strengthened his body with shadows, he would have gotten crushed under its monolithic size.

Each bony finger was the size of a small building.

There was no doubt in Usan's mind.

This was the hand of a giant.

Arcs of darkness and swarms of shadow-blades shot from Usan's sword and body, cutting through bones and giving enough time to dodge.

BOOM!

Another giant's hand emerged from the mountain of bones, forcing Usan to retreat.

'She's creating space for herself,' Usan thought as he dodged. 'I can't let her force me into a corner like this.'

For several minutes, Usan continued jumping backwards as the hands exploded from beneath the mountains of bones.

Then, just as he dodged another as it exploded from the ground—

BOOM!

—he changed trajectory, using his shadows to wrap around the giant's wrist and slingshot his way around it.

A moment later, he was shooting through the air like a warlock.

Another series of hands burst from his path of flight, attempting to slap him down.

But using his shadows once more, he simply swung around them.

Before long, the gap between the Empress and Usan had been closed.

But just as he readied his blade to strike at her neck, the Empress' stomach bulged to an almost pregnant-like state.

Usan's eyes widened in disgust.

In the same instance, her stomach flattened again, but her neck bulged with veins, and her cheeks puffed up as much as possible.

A moment later, a foul, black mixture of gas and liquid sprayed from her mouth in a wide spread.

"BLUERGH!"

It was too fast to dodge.

Obviously, Usan stopped breathing, and his shadows covered him from top to bottom.

But as soon as the gas made contact with him, pangs of pain struck him like lightning.

It felt like eggs had grown within each of the pores of his skin, hatching with swarms of insects burrowing into his flesh.

His eyes.

His nose.

His teeth.

His jaw.

His intestines.

Biting, clawing, ripping into his skin.

It wasn't actually happening, but it felt just like it!

Usan gnashed his teeth.

But he didn't stop!

His flight continued, albeit wobbly now, until the wakizashi managed to form a diagonal cut from the Empress' left shoulder.

SHING!

A pound of flesh left the woman's body, and a slight groan of pain left the Empress' throat.