Chapter 194 - Hei Enters the Stage (1/2)

”What's happened?” the four supporting martial artists of Hei's group exclaimed in chorus. They, too, were witnessing the clash but couldn't understand how the Condor had been so badly injured from one moment to the next.

”Curses,” replied Lian, who recognized Hyong Yong-Sook's attack method, ”They are particular formations with special activation requirements. From what I've seen, the curse is activated in two stages; the first is the destruction of the puppet corpse, while the second is to cause a severe injury to the user. Do you see the black marks? They are formation symbols. When the puppet corpse struck itself, the damage was passed on to the Condor through the cursed symbols. ”Lian pointed to black symbols suddenly appearing all over the Condor's body.

”I understand, so it is a double-edged sword. According to your reasoning, however, then that small corpse still has two types of formations. It means it still has two aces up its sleeve.” Lang commented while she was following the fight with particular interest. As a beast tamer, she was particularly interested in how Pablo Cortés would handle the situation.

”The white ones should be a healing formation while I'm not sure about the red ones. But certainly, the red color formation should be more terrifying than the black one,” answered Lian.

Meanwhile, on stage, Pablo Cortés had run toward his spirit beast, ”Pasa! Answer me, are you okay?”

The Condor made a small cry as if to tell him it was fine. Fortunately, the defensive layer of spirit power and the strong intrinsic constitution of the spirit beasts had prevented the bird from dying on the blow. But it was seriously injured, and it was uncertain whether it would be able to resist another blow.

Kekekekekeke!

The Shaman Little Soldier didn't stop laughing. It seemed amused as never before in front of such a view. Hyong Yong-Sook as well had a crazy expression; he was heedless of the pain in his stomach; no, it was as if he was enjoying himself while his blood continued to flow.

”Shaman Little Soldier, let's get it over with. It's time to end the fight.” Hyong Yong-Sook said to his puppet corpse.

The Shaman Little Soldier nodded. It was a rather funny scene, but the spectators experienced everything but humor. The Shaman Little Soldier prepared to stab himself again when suddenly-

Stab!

A dagger of flames came upon him. Following the flight path of the dagger, on the other end, was Pablo Cortés with his arm still outstretched. Small red flames were dwelling around his hand.

Hyong Yong-Sook then gave an even wider gruesome smile as the Shaman Little Soldier went up in flames. Suddenly, the black marks on the Condor dissolved like ash. Shortly after that, however, they appeared on the body of Pablo Cortés while the Shaman Little Soldier regenerated his burnt flesh.

”You stupid! Anyone who hits my Shaman Little Soldier is cursed. Unfortunately, I am not able to manage more than one curse at a time, but who cares. Once you are settled down, the victory will be mine.” Hyong Yong-Sook said with excitement.

”You are wrong. You are the stupid one if you think you can only defeat me with this. Lampry, it's your turn!” shouted Pablo Cortés.

Unbeknownst to Hyong Yong-Sook, the Sea Lamprey had approached its master. When Pablo Cortés ordered the Sea Lamprey, Lampry, to act, the creature wrapped itself around Pablo's body and bit his neck. Drops of blood began to flow down Pablo's body, but he didn't care. His eyes were still fixed on Hyong Yong-Sook and the Shaman Little Soldier.

”What are you going to do? You can't escape my curse once it is impressed.” Hyong Yong-Sook said to his opponent.

”Really? Are you sure?” Pablo Cortés smiled as he gritted his teeth in pain as his Sea Lamprey continued to tear his flesh. Gradually, the black marks on his body began to become more opaque until they disappeared.

KEEEEEHHHHH!

The Shaman Little Soldier screeched as a black liquid sprouted from his body. He seemed in pain, unlike the times he received the attacks without batting an eyelid. His terrifying smile was gone.

”Shaman Little Soldier!” Hyong Yong-Sook cried in surprise. Incredibly the Sea Lamprey had managed to destroy the marks on Pablo Cortés' body, although it should have been impossible.

”Lampy has a particular ability. It is a parasitic species; therefore, it can absorb the energies of the species to which it attaches, including spirit power. All I did was tell her to eat the spirit power contained in those symbols. The cancellation of the technique caused a backlash on the user, meaning your corpse. But your Shaman Little Soldier is nothing more than a corpse. The real user is none other than you, Hyong Yong-Sook. ”

When Pablo Cortés said this, Hyong Yong-Sook felt severe pain running through his body. As the beast tamer said, he was the real user. He was simply performing the technique using his Shaman Little Soldier as an intermediary. For this reason, he didn't immediately suffer the backlash. But now the delay was over, and he was experiencing the pain resulting from the breakdown of his technique.

”Lucy, Pangu, hold on his remaining corpses. Lampry, attack him. ”

At the command of their master, the Luciferase Tree let out a hoarse roar and moved its mighty branches as it imprisoned two of Hyong Yong-Sook's three 'still-alive' corpses. The Giant Pangolin instead attacked the third body; the spirit beast used its size to keep the corpse that was moving with mad movements nailed to the ground.

The Sea Lamprey instead broke away from Pablo Cortés and attached itself to Hyong Yong-Sook's body. The young corpse manipulator felt his spirit power being sucked from his body. Since he was still resisting the pain of the backlash, he was unable to react against the assault of the Sea Lamprey.