Superhumans of the Dome City
Chapter 156 - 156 54 Standing Before the Realm

156: Chapter 54 Standing Before the Realm 156: Chapter 54 Standing Before the Realm “…!”

Gongsun Ce was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak, but he simply had no energy left.

His heart thumped more violently than it would after strenuous exercise, and each breath he exhaled felt as if a knife was slicing through his nostrils with pain.

While fighting Xu Junyi in the belly of the giant dragon, he endured physical torment inflicted by his opponent.

But now, he was suffering from an inescapable pain given by none other than himself.

“Focus.”

Just like he used to accelerate certain parts of his body, he temporarily enhanced the speed and strength of his arms.

Qin Qianbai’s thrust became faster by a fraction—a change unforeseen by both parties, brought about by a third party’s superpower.

Adapting to the change faster than Ming Guest, Qin Qianbai used this advantage to break her opponent’s moves.

Her longsword was an inch away from piercing through the throat, but once again, it was about to be severed by the short blade…

“It must hit.”

Whether the sensation he got from the intangible ability was synchronous or delayed by an instant, he couldn’t differentiate this reality of ability.

All he could do was rely on intuition, using the girl’s accelerated force as support, to temporarily adjust the position of his weapon.

The result was a slight cut on Ming Guest’s collar, at the cost of a main piece of his white armor getting struck by a sudden thrust.

The risk did not match the reward, too hasty indeed.

It was without a doubt a mistake, but there was no time for reflection.

He created a white spear and threw it towards the girl.

As the longsword shattered, the weapon changed hands, transitioning from close to mid-range combat.

Gongsun Ce felt slightly dizzy.

He needed to concentrate all his effort to achieve just enough effect without harming the supported unit.

The high precision required was nearly draining his brain dry.

Whole-body acceleration, partial enhancement, adjustment of attack trajectory…

His support brought significant results but also placed enormous strain on the carrier.

Originally, this was not a technique meant for human use.

It was an alternative application of superpowers developed to assist larger combat units.

On average days, what Gongsun Ce used the most was just the regular extent of acceleration and partial enhancement during critical moments because his own physical strength was insufficient.

As a non-specialist superpower user, his body was merely considered robust among his peers, and he could only manage to assist in combat with superpowers through years of practice.

But now…

The girl fighting that man ahead had taken all this with her body.

What kind of load must that be?

What kind of pain must she be in, fighting under such burden?

Having attempted it himself, Gongsun Ce could only imagine that sensation.

He couldn’t utter a word of defeat.

‘I’m out of strength’, ‘I can’t hold on much longer’—such thoughts were not allowed.

On the contrary, he needed to muster even more strength based on the present basis, he had to figure out a way to defeat that man.

There was something peculiar about Ming Guest’s blade.

A blade that could sever everything, including powers, was too bizarre to be just martial arts.

It must be due to his power as an Impermanence Law Enforcer.

The sword of Ming Guest had to be dealt with, or there would be no chance for survival.

For this…

“!”

He strained to maintain his frail consciousness under pressure and threw a somewhat heavy javelin toward the front.

·

As weapons shattered and, following the hint of an invisible force, she reached backward to catch a javelin.

The moment she grasped it, she felt something amiss; according to Ah Ce’s habit, it seemed slightly heavier.

There was no time to consider it, as a new slash arrived.

She hastily defended against the flowing strikes, and the javelin broke.

She believed she understood the young man’s intentions.

No, not believed.

She was certain she had grasped his strategy.

Just as he wholeheartedly supported her, believing she could take the heavy burden, she too trusted him, believing his idea could lead her to victory.

“——!”

This time, she caught a pair of swords of equal length.

Parrying Ming Guest’s lethal moves while advancing her attack.

Sword light and blade shadows crisscrossed in midair, weaving a tight web of killing intent and will to battle.

Indestructible weapons, easily shattered weapons, moves returning to their original simplicity, variations of countless techniques.

Born from the same family, the two of them fought in the sky of another land in completely opposite ways.

Both used merciless killing techniques where a slight mistake would lead to utter ruin.

“Ha ha!”

The man laughed cheerfully.

Was it the swordsman’s madness that infected him, or did he also harbor the same sentiment?

The expressionless girl chimed in.

“Ha.”

Incredibly, even in this nigh hopeless situation, emotions within became more cheerful.

Because she wasn’t fighting alone…

and also, because she was gradually understanding this man’s feelings.

Joy, anticipation, excitement.

Fighting with all her might, not for any grand purpose, but for herself.

She felt very happy.

Both their battles had entered a Demon Realm even experts wouldn’t comprehend.

Swift cuts, hidden strikes, forceful blows, Mountain Piercing, sinking moves, Flashing Snake, Mysterious Steps, Shadow Seal…

The Secret Skills learned from their families were unleashed in a twisted state by their hands.

Using physical strength to execute weapon techniques, using weapons to perform hidden weapon skills, stripping away the surface of the moves to retain only the essence of victory, and even on that basis, improvising even deeper techniques.

Growing stronger in battle, evolving in combat, they turned millennia of accumulation for their own use, like two greedy pythons devouring their prey.

Never before had she felt so keenly that she was growing stronger.

Never before had she so deeply understood that man’s long-held thoughts.

What more she could learn, what lay ahead, and what could possibly defeat her…

Joy, contentment, anticipation, curiosity.

As carefree as a god, as obsessive as a demon, Qin Ming’s Realm was not far off.

In just a bit longer, soon, she would reach his Domain.

As her mind reached for the summit like a mountaineer, in reality, she discarded the broken weaponry and caught a short blade, confronting Ming Guest’s next slash.

“Sun and Moon.”

The man in green clothes simultaneously wielded double blades, the long and the short gleaming a dull yellow like the stars at the edge of the sky.

He needed to think of a way to break this move.

A completely new technique was necessary.

His thoughts spun in one-thousandth of a second, just one step further, just standing in that position, he could conceive of a technique of the Extreme Realm even more profound than Sun and Moon—!

“—Waning Moon.”

However, what he used was just an old move of the Ming Guest.

She stood still at that boundary.

It wasn’t because the physical strain had reached its limit, but rather she chose to stop, to look back, moving away from the Realm of the Ming Guest.

—That wasn’t the path she was meant to take.

What she wanted was not the ultimate in martial arts.

She couldn’t be as carefree as the Ming Guest.

There were important people behind her, supporting her fight.

She didn’t fight for enjoyment.

She picked up the sword soldiers to defeat someone, to protect the important people—!

“Thousand Needles!”

The white armor that was nearly shattered transformed into a thousand needle spikes attacking the man in green clothes from a short distance away.

The Ming Guest sighed silently.

He understood his opponent’s choice and felt regret because of it.

After missing this chance, how distant would be the next time she could reach that Realm again?

Several years?

Decades?

Or would she never advance further in her lifetime?

He simultaneously destroyed the rain of needles and the short blade.

“Don’t you regret this, Qin Qianbai?”

“Not at all.

Becoming like you, that would be the real disaster.”

That was fine too.

After missing the only chance, there was only defeat left.

The Ming Guest raised his double blades—

But the Ming Blade remained still.

Qin Qianbai lowered her arms and fell to the side, imitating the tone of a superpower user,

“Bind.”

·

If he could sever even invisible forces, it naturally meant that he could see the force itself.

Therefore, directly using superpowers to bind was pointless.

If that was the case, then let the rope hide in unseen places.

Hidden within the white weapon.

It was up to Qin Qianbai herself to seize the precise moment.

When an attack failed, and the weapon shattered, triggering the mechanism on the armor, the rain of needles would disrupt the vision.

At the same time, she should activate the hidden power within the weapon, attaching it to the needles.

If the Ming Guest cut through the rain of needles, that power would also reach his blade.

Material, energy, even the interference of the Impermanence Skill, the Ming Blade could cut through anything.

If it truly had a weakness, it would be the blade’s own purpose.

A cut.

To fulfill the prerequisite of cutting through everything, of course, the action of making a cut was necessary.

If the double blades themselves were bound, even for just a second, preventing the Ming Guest from wielding them, his Impermanence Skill would be declared broken.

Thus, the Ming Blade was shattered.

What could be done in less than a second?

It was enough time for Gongsun Ce to gather the power he had prepared.

Enough time for the superpower user to activate his named spear throw.

“Dare to use millions of lives as a bargaining chip in a fight…”

The spear spun in the hand of the young man, intertwining reality and illusion into a spiral of destruction.

He transformed the auxiliary power from Qin Qianbai’s body into a pull to retreat, the girl’s body swinging to the side and back, riding the gale brought by the spear throw to his side.

“What have you turned human lives into!”

The youth, now unhesitant, roared, hurling the spiral entwined with a hurricane, towards the Ming Guest who could not wield his blade.

“You reckless adult!

I will correct you!!!”

And so, as the Ming Guest broke free of the binds—

The spiral of the moment struck at the front!