At night in Moncarlo, a dense fog spread, a rare thick white fog almost enveloping the entire main island of Moncarlo. On the bustling night market streets, tourists who were originally immersed in the night's merriment were now surprised to find that the lively streets were almost instantly filled with thick fog, even the old sailors on duty at the port were taken aback by this sudden anomaly.
On the edge of Moncarlo City, on the white-covered streets within the dense fog, the man known as Ku Chi was flying rapidly above them, soaring forward at high speed. Clusters of hazy yellow streetlights flashed past on either side of him. Witnessing the vast white fog before him, his expression was filled with solemnity.
Ku Chi understood that the unusual dense fog before him was by no means a natural formation but rather the manifestation of some powerful Extraordinary force. A powerful Extraordinary no less than a Scarlet was using his ability throughout the entire island. Ku Chi did not know why he was using his ability in this way, but a strong sense of unease was now driving Ku Chi to quickly go and retrieve what already belonged to him, and then immediately leave this troubled place.
"Such a large-scale sea fog... This is the ability of a Crimson Tier Water Manipulator... Did the Lord of Moncarlo make a move? But why would he do this?"
While flying, Ku Chi murmured his guesses. Encountering such a situation in Moncarlo, his first thought was who was using the ability. Although he didn't know why he was using the ability, Ku Chi still anticipated that something big seemed to be happening on the island, and it would be best for him to withdraw quickly.
Just like that, utilizing some Extraordinary ability, Ku Chi flew rapidly above the street. And just then, Ku Chi felt a slight disturbance in the surrounding air. Immediately, a sense of alertness rose in his heart. Almost instinctively, Ku Chi sharply stopped his movement and then dodged sideways, narrowly and perilously avoiding a thick water arrow that shot out from the dense fog. The water arrow grazed the corner of his clothes and hit the road below, carving out a half-meter wide hole in the solid road surface with a loud bang.
He's been targeted!
Witnessing this scene, Ku Chi's internal vigilance instantly rose to its highest level. His entire body immediately entered a state of high alert. He then immediately felt intense danger assailing him from all directions. He immediately landed on the ground and began to maneuver and dodge at high speed with phantom-like movements, avoiding countless high-pressure water arrows coming from all sides within the dense fog. Amidst the black afterimages that ordinary vision could not capture, the thick water arrows continuously smashed through the ground and pierced through walls with constant roars, leaving behind numerous dense large holes on the deserted street.
Although there were many holes in the ground, not a single drop of blood was spilled upon them. Under Ku Chi's high-speed movement, which ordinary people could only see as afterimages, even the rain of water arrows coming from within the dense fog, which were almost completely invisible, did not harm him in the slightest. One must know how difficult it is to dodge ranged attacks under such severely restricted visibility, let alone an arrow rain of this density. This shows the extent of Ku Chi's reaction time and speed.
Under the high-frequency attack of the water arrow rain, Ku Chi rapidly dodged. Of course, he wouldn't simply passively dodge the entire time. Seizing an opportunity, Ku Chi took out a talisman he carried with him and immediately activated it. As the talisman, bearing the meanings of ""Shadow"" and ""Stone"", burned in the air, immediately, fierce winds rose throughout the broken road. A swirling storm briefly dispersed the dense fog around Ku Chi, deflecting the trajectory of the water arrows that were assailing him. For a moment, the area around Ku Chi became exceptionally clear.
"Lord of Moncarlo! I am only here for some business, I have no intention of harming you or Moncarlo. If my presence displeases you, I will leave immediately, please let me pass!"
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ku Chi shouted to the surroundings. Not understanding why the Lord of Moncarlo would suddenly launch an attack, he wanted to take this chance to clarify the matter.
Listening to Ku Chi's reply, the thick water arrows that had been constantly coming from within the dense fog also briefly stopped. Then, within the mist that filled the surroundings, an aged voice, whose direction could not be discerned, sounded.
"Leave behind what you stole... otherwise, die here..."
"Something I stole? Lord of Moncarlo... I came to Moncarlo to properly buy things, not to steal. There might be some misunderstanding between us." Hearing the voice from within the surrounding dense fog, Ku Chi also seemed to realize the strangeness of the situation, and thus spoke frankly, wanting to end this meaningless battle with Edward. However, this was very difficult.
"A misunderstanding? Very well... From now on, you will cease resisting and come with me to Jun Hai Fort. There, you will unconditionally cooperate with all my inspections. Once the inspection is complete, I will know if there is a misunderstanding between us..."
Within the dense fog, Edward's ethereal voice sounded again. As soon as he heard this voice, Ku Chi's expression couldn't help but sink sharply, and then he spoke solemnly.
"Please discuss some practical terms, Lord of Moncarlo... Your demand is too absurd..." Ku Chi said this. A Scarlet demanding another Crimson Tier to surrender without doing anything is completely impossible. No matter what, Ku Chi could not agree to Edward's demand to go deep into his stronghold and hand over his entire life and possessions to him, with the sole reason being to prove his innocence.
And for Edward, as long as Ku Chi was unwilling to cooperate with his comprehensive inspection, he could not let him leave based on Ku Chi's one-sided statement. Now that the Fountain of Youth was lost in Moncarlo, the other two Crimson Tier powerhouses on the island were the most suspect. Sword Scale had already run off and was out of Edward's reach, so he could only target Ku Chi. Furthermore, the loss of the Fountain of Youth originally had traces of an Extraordinary with dream abilities involved. Under these circumstances, he absolutely could not let this suspicious Black Dream Hunter Group expert before him go.
"Since you are unwilling to cooperate, then I can only do it myself..."
Edward continued speaking, and immediately his offensive resumed. The mist around them, which had been blown away, once again pressed towards Ku Chi, along with a rain of water arrows even denser than before.
"Damn old pirate dog..."
Facing Edward, who was completely unreasonable, Ku Chi cursed under his breath, and then began to continue dealing with the incoming attacks. Within the mist, Ku Chi once again turned into a black blur, rapidly dodging and completely dissolving and evading the countless water arrows aimed at him. Facing this situation, Edward also began to change his tactics.
"Don't even think about escaping!"
In an instant, the water vapor from the surrounding dense fog simultaneously gathered towards one direction. The water vapor in the area where Ku Chi was moving and dodging began to become highly concentrated. The original fog, under the sharp rise in air humidity, directly transformed into liquid water. In a flash, Ku Chi himself was directly placed inside a giant water sphere. In the water, he floated uncontrollably, and his entire body suddenly lost its ability to dodge at high speed.
By directly transforming the environment Ku Chi was in into water, Edward finally nullified his opponent's troublesome high mobility and incidentally trapped the opponent in this water prison. Taking this opportunity, Edward once again condensed several water arrows, intending to pierce Ku Chi with them to directly incapacitate him. However, before that, Ku Chi had already launched a counterattack.
"Moth... manifest from my body..."
Ku Chi, who was submerged in the water, murmured with a pale face. As bubbles continuously emerged from his mouth, a halo of unusual color appeared around him. A pair of translucent, slightly incomplete and thin moth wings, flowing with countless complex patterns and colors, grew from his back. At the same time, a translucent energy body seemingly of the same material as the wings also formed around Ku Chi's body. This energy body, like a coat of Spirituality, directly isolated the water body that trapped Ku Chi, allowing him to break free from the water prison.
"Disperse..."
Suddenly, the flowing, colorful translucent coat of Spirituality surrounding Ku Chi abruptly expanded and rapidly deformed, transforming into thick, translucent tentacles that wildly swept outwards over a large area. They directly severed and shattered the giant water prison surrounding Ku Chi, causing it to completely collapse and scatter, unable to maintain its form. If Dorothy were here, she would find that the tentacles Ku Chi transformed into were almost identical to those grown by the Pseudo-Moth she faced back in Navaja.
Ku Chi used the countless tentacles transformed from the coat of Spirituality to dismantle the water prison. At this moment, Edward's new round of water arrow rain had also arrived. Ku Chi waved his tentacles, continuing to swat away all the water arrows aimed at him. However, these powerful Spirituality tentacles passed directly through solid objects like the ground and utility poles when they swept over them, proving that these tentacles were in fact not physical matter.
There are still many differences between the elements created or controlled by an Elementalist and those in the natural world. The Spirituality contained within them is very high. It is precisely because the elements have the high Spirituality bestowed by the Elementalist that they obey the Elementalist's command. And it is precisely because the elements controlled by the Elementalist possess high Spirituality that they can inflict damage upon non-corporeal existences such as Ghosts and Dream World Bodies. This is why ordinary fire cannot extinguish a Ghost, but an Elementalist's fire can.
However, the effects of things are relative. If an Elementalist's elements can interfere with non-corporeal existences, then those non-corporeal existences that originally could not interfere with material existence can also interfere with an Elementalist's elements. For example, a portion of the Pseudo-Moth's body, summoned by Ku Chi and coexisting with him, has Dream World substances in its body that can interfere with and disperse the elements manipulated by Edward.
After summoning the Pseudo-Moth's body as his armor, Ku Chi also counterattacked Edward, who was completely unresponsive to communication, without hesitation. He controlled his countless transparent tentacles to extend outwards in all directions and began to wildly sweep back and forth. In an instant, a dozen giant transparent tentacles, twenty to thirty meters long, began to frantically churn the surrounding large area of mist with Ku Chi as the center, like an electric fan. The affected mist quickly broke free from Edward's control and began to dissipate.
At this point, Ku Chi had realized that the reason Edward could attack him simultaneously from all sides and speak from all positions at once was likely because he had elementally transformed his body into water and then dispersed it into mist, hiding within this large area of dense fog. This allowed him to attack Ku Chi from various directions invisibly. In this situation, Edward's main body was not only difficult to detect but also unaffected by most attacks. However, for Ku Chi, this tactic was completely ineffective.
Ku Chi's Pseudo-Moth tentacles were inherently Dream World Bodies. Their attacks could directly affect the spiritual level, rendering elementalization ineffective. A dozen tentacles, over twenty meters long, wildly swept through the surrounding dense fog. If even a little bit of the water vapor belonging to Edward's main body, hidden in the mist, was swept by them, Edward would suffer spiritual damage. The more spread out his main body was, the more easily it would be swept.
"Ugh!!"
Finally, accompanied by a muffled cry of pain, Edward, whose small portion of his main body was attacked by Ku Chi, felt a strong spiritual stinging sensation. He immediately adjusted his strategy, quickly gathering his gaseous main body, which was scattered everywhere, while avoiding Ku Chi's sweep. In an instant, not far from Ku Chi, a humanoid body composed entirely of water appeared, with Edward's face emerging on it.
Seeing that Edward had finally condensed a visible entity for him, Ku Chi didn't stand idle. He immediately swung his countless tentacles, whipping them fiercely towards Edward's water body. Seeing this, Edward condensed a water-shaped longsword in his hand. After being condensed, the longsword immediately grew to about ten meters. Facing the incoming countless giant tentacles, Edward swung the long water sword, cutting off these spiritual Dream World Body existences one by one. In a moment, seven or eight of Ku Chi's tentacles had been cut off like this. After the tentacles were cut off, Ku Chi immediately used his Spirituality to quickly regenerate and restore them, and then continued to attack. Just like this, with one attacking and the other defending, they temporarily fell into a stalemate.
Facing this situation, Ku Chi frowned, then concentrated his mind and emitted a powerful hypnotic wave outwards. Any existence affected by this wave would immediately fall into a deep sleep. Moreover, this wave spread extremely quickly, with Ku Chi as the center and no blind spots, making it almost impossible to defend against.
As the hypnotic wave spread, all life within a two to three-kilometer radius around Ku Chi immediately fell into a deep sleep. People who were walking normally also suddenly collapsed to the ground unconscious. However, when such a powerful hypnotic wave spread to Edward, it only caused his figure to pause slightly, and then he moved again without much obstruction, continuing to cut off the incoming tentacles. This scene made Ku Chi frown deeply.
Facing the Extraordinary of the Black Dream Hunter Group, Edward had naturally made full preparations before coming. Since sleep is essentially a process of the spirit entering the Dream World, he used a certain Extraordinary ritual to link his spirit with other Inner Realms to avoid being attracted by the Dream World. At this moment, Edward bound his spirit to a certain Extraordinary item, and then sent that item into the Water Realm, allowing the Extraordinary item to act as an anchor point. Edward's spirit is now extended and anchored in the Water Realm, making it difficult for the Dream World to attract him. As long as Edward's spirit does not enter the Dream World, he will not be forced into sleep.
Having resisted the hypnosis, Edward began to counterattack after cutting off another Pseudo-Moth tentacle. He fixated his gaze on Ku Chi in the distance, who was protected by the Dream World Body armor, seemingly intending to launch some attack. Seeing this, Ku Chi also wrapped the newly grown tentacles around himself, preparing to strengthen his defense and deal with Edward's attack.
Just then, Ku Chi suddenly felt a piercing, intense colic within his body. He couldn't help but cover his chest with his hand, his eyes wide, and spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering and almost falling to the ground.
"What... when... how could this be..."
Looking at the blood he spat out on the ground, Ku Chi murmured in disbelief. At this moment, he clearly perceived that his body had just been attacked, and his chest, lungs, and internal organs were severely injured for a time, but he wasn't quite sure why.
On the other side, Edward saw Ku Chi spitting blood, and a slight smile of triumph appeared on his lips. The setup he had laid before the battle even began had finally taken effect.
The reason behind this goes back to Edward's silver basin Extraordinary item. The function of that silver basin is to spread Edward's own Spirituality to an extremely diluted extent across the entire island at the same time, allowing the original water vapor in the air to be tinged with a trace of Edward's Spirituality. This Spirituality is diluted so thinly that it is almost indistinguishable from the subtle Spirituality existing in nature. Therefore, unless one possesses powerful "Light" and "cup" spiritual perception, one cannot detect the subtle changes in the Spirituality in the air.
Elementalist rely on adding Spirituality to elements to manipulate them. However, normally, when Spirituality is diluted to such an extent and spread over such a vast space, Edward, even as a Scarlet Water Manipulator, would lose his connection to the Spirituality. The Spirituality attached to ordinary water vapor would become natural Spirituality. However, this is Moncarlo, and Edward has special arrangements in his home base. In Moncarlo, he can maintain a stronger connection with the Spirituality in the water vapor through the silver basin.
This connection is very weak, so weak that Edward cannot even control the sparse Spirituality spread through the silver basin, nor can he manipulate the water vapor they are attached to through this Spirituality. However, Edward can still use them to perceive things, especially when someone inhales this water vapor containing Edward's Spirituality through breathing.
Ku Chi is equivalent to a Crimson Tier "Shadow" Extraordinary. Trying to forcefully find him from the outside using Extraordinary power is as difficult as ascending to heaven, but the situation is different if it's from the inside.
When Ku Chi inadvertently inhaled the water vapor containing Edward's Spirituality, this water vapor entered his body, bypassing Ku Chi's anti-Extraordinary detection defenses from within. Edward could perceive Ku Chi's existence through the Spirituality belonging to him inside Ku Chi's body, knowing what kind of Extraordinary he was. Likewise, as long as they are within the main island area of Moncarlo, after inhaling water vapor with Edward's Spirituality attached, Edward knows where they are, whether they are Extraordinary, and what kind of Extraordinary they are. It was through this method that Edward found Ku Chi.
Furthermore, although Edward cannot directly control the extremely sparse Spirituality in the air, during the process of breathing, that Spirituality, after entering the human body, will be attracted by the body itself and will not be exhaled. It will slowly accumulate within the human body. After breathing enough times, the Edward's Spirituality inside a person's body will slowly accumulate enough density to be manipulated by Edward.
Ku Chi thought that only the ordinary mist contained Edward's Spirituality and thus used his tentacles to disperse it, but who knew that it was also in the ordinary air, and he couldn't sense it at all.
And the situation Ku Chi is currently facing is exactly this. During the continuous journey and battle, he has inhaled too much of Moncarlo's air, and the Edward's Spirituality accumulated in his body has reached the point where it can be manipulated by Edward. Facing the Dream World Body defense that his attacks found difficult to penetrate, Edward chose to drag out the time until the Spirituality inside Ku Chi reached the required level, and then made a decisive move, controlling the water inside his body to damage his internal organs, while Ku Chi was completely unaware of this.