Volume Two: The Youth of a Thousand Faces, Truth in Falsehood Chapter Seventy-Two: The Small Space

As dawn was just beginning to break, Huo Ye and Shangguan Jade Butterfly had both rested enough. Huo Ye remarked, “When the caravan entered the desert, they only traveled a short distance before splitting from their companions. Now we’ve maintained this state for over ten hours—something unusual must have happened.”

Shangguan Jade Butterfly replied, “You cut him into several pieces, and his head became a decoration on the surface.”

The phrase “decoration on the surface” made Huo Ye burst out laughing. He hadn’t expected Shangguan Jade Butterfly to have a sense of humor. Grinning, he said, “Hahaha, decoration on the surface—that’s too apt. But I think his neck should be placed on the ground, with the sharp horn pointing skyward. That would be even more artistic.”

Shangguan Jade Butterfly imagined the scene: that childish, noisy Karen, his head left alone and helpless on the ground.

“Pfft,” Shangguan Jade Butterfly couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Shh!” Suddenly, Huo Ye reached out, covering her mouth and making a silencing gesture. He whispered, “There’s a surge of supernatural energy. He’s here.”

Shangguan Jade Butterfly instantly became alert, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, Morning Dew of Ice Edge, ready to strike.

Meanwhile, in the worlds of Alice and Leilimi, as well as Jiang Feng and Kazama Liuli, a Karen appeared—whole and in perfect condition.

All three Karens wiped drool from the corners of their mouths in unison, complaining, “Damn it, after regenerating, I’m hungrier than ever. The scent of that boy’s blood—I can’t wait to taste it.”

In Huo Ye’s world, Karen suddenly heard a voice beside his ear: “Is that so? Then why don’t you try?”

When? Karen didn’t have time to think. He turned and launched a ferocious headbutt toward the source of the voice, his sharp horn capable of piercing anything. If their heads collided, it could easily be fatal.

But he struck nothing.

Huo Ye was already on the other side, his tone infinitely contemptuous: “Slow—far too slow. Do you know? The other girl and I are specialized in countering speed-type brutes like you. They even paired us together. Are you looking to be taken down in seconds?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Karen felt a coldness at his neck. Shangguan Jade Butterfly had somehow appeared right before him, crouched low and entirely in his blind spot. Her chilling blade silently swept across his throat, and his head dropped slowly.

Huo Ye distracted him while Shangguan Jade Butterfly seized the moment. Their ambush was successful. But Shangguan Jade Butterfly felt no joy—she had actually failed. She could sense the location of the disaster’s core through electromagnetic waves, but as the strength difference widened, the core’s position became more and more obscure.

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A disaster would do everything possible to protect its core. If the gap in power was too great, Shangguan Jade Butterfly wouldn’t even be able to sense it. But for this Karen, at least she still knew it was somewhere near the head.

Karen’s body didn’t dissipate on the spot, so the two immediately knew they hadn’t shattered the core. They decided to retreat at once.

Karen caught his own head in his hands; the head, cradled in his palms, kept speaking on its own, incredulously shouting, “Ahhhh! Again, again! Who are you people? Why can you always cut my body when I can’t see you? I’ll skewer you both, sprinkle salt, and hang you to dry!”

“Who would’ve thought disasters could learn human food-processing techniques? But knowing they regard humans as food makes me even angrier,” Huo Ye said with a smile, though the veins in his neck were bulging visibly.

Shangguan Jade Butterfly could sense the increasingly violent emotion in Huo Ye—not just emotion. The bottleneck in his supernatural abilities that had resisted breakthrough for the past two weeks seemed to loosen, thanks to his rage. Huo Ye had told her that dark-type supernaturalists could grow stronger through negative emotions. Was he about to break through in this single battle?

“Why not use the method you used before?” Shangguan Jade Butterfly asked.

“Thunderstorm Slashing? Can’t. That technique consumes too much energy. If we fail again, we might not make it out. Unless I’m sure he’s out of tricks, it’s best not to use it.”

Thunderstorm Slashing and Lightning Dash were Huo Ye’s most powerful burst abilities, but also the most draining supernatural arts, so much so that unless he was at full strength, he couldn’t use them lightly. Like before, after using a fire wall to block the Ice Fang Wolves, he chose Lightning Dash for an all-out finish, but afterward, he was so exhausted that he couldn’t even move.

Within twenty-four hours, Huo Ye could only use Thunderstorm Slashing twice at most; if he used it a second time, his cells would be overloaded by electrical shocks, causing paralysis. So unless absolutely necessary, it couldn’t be used again.

Leilimi and Alice were both skilled at supporting attacks, lacking the ability to break open a fight head-on. So upon discovering Karen’s presence, they stayed hidden, avoiding direct confrontation.

From Karen’s reckless charge, it was clear he excelled at closing distance instantly—perhaps even more so if his head worked better.

They couldn’t figure it out: clearly a spatial type, rare among both humans and disasters, yet his head didn’t function properly. Fortunately, he was their enemy.

Their own spatial type... Kazama Liuli? As a fellow spatial user, she shouldn’t lose.

“I wonder how things are going on their side,” Leilimi said.

“I think we should worry about ourselves for now. We haven’t found a way to locate his core, nor any method to take him on directly. Are we supposed to blow him to pieces with a barrage?” Alice answered.

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Leilimi pondered for a few seconds, then said, “It’s not impossible.”

“Huh?”

Leilimi explained, “I have a large stock of basic components in my storage box. Plenty of ammo. If I have enough time, I can turn all of them into overload bombs, set a trap, and blow him sky-high.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea! Leilimi, you’re a genius!”

Leilimi scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. “It’s nothing, I just happen to be good at this.”

Kazama Liuli was trying to use her abilities to find the node in their space, to avoid fighting and prioritize shattering the node and escaping Karen’s supernatural world. That was the proper path. No matter what, staying in a disaster’s supernatural world was far too dangerous. If there were hidden dangers in this world, fighting might be the least wise choice.

“You say the disaster has entered this world?” Jiang Feng and Kazama Liuli searched carefully for the node while talking.

“Yes, really, why not just stay outside?” Kazama Liuli complained.

“Perhaps his body hasn’t fully regenerated. If his core is in his head, then falling the way he did would mean his body decayed, losing its connection and value. Regeneration could easily take a whole day. After all, even disasters have limits to their regenerative abilities.”

Jiang Feng’s grasp and analysis of the situation was clear and accurate.

“My, my, what luck—he only appeared after we figured out how to solve the small space problem. That noisy fellow—I wish I could use my kunai to slit his throat, so he’d finally shut up forever,” Kazama Liuli said in a soft, gentle voice, making her words all the more chilling.

“Slitting his throat wouldn’t kill a disaster. If we’re going to fight, let’s wait until we’re out.” Jiang Feng replied.