CHAPTER 277: CHAPTER 277: THIS IS PEAK SHIT

The twisted version of Qingran grinned, a grotesque mirror of her past. It lips were scorched, hands dragging against the floating stone like broken claws.

"You already are me.." it rasped, voice dry and smoke-choked. "You’re just pretending not to be."

The illusion lunged, but it didn’t reach her.

Qingran’s palm surged with azure light, and with a savage cry, she slammed her hand forward.

The flame didn’t just burn the version, it devoured it.

"Akkkkkkkkkk"

The illusion screamed as it was consumed, its cries swallowed by a roaring inferno that seared across the broken sky, forcing even Boran to raise a hand to shield his eyes.

From the sidelines, Meng Nian grunted as the wind knocked dust and heat toward him. He crouched with Wei Sheng’s corpse still cradled, keeping the body out of the blast.

"Remind me never to piss her off again.." he muttered.

Ruihuang didn’t respond. His eyes were locked on Qingran, flicking constantly between her movements and Boran’s shifting aura.

Moli, meanwhile, had perched herself comfortably on a splintered beam jutting from one of the floating platforms nearby, legs swinging lazily like she was watching a stage play.

"She’s burning pretty now.." she murmured with a smirk. "But burning things too hot always cracks them. Let’s see how long she lasts..."

In the battlefield’s center, Qingran stalked forward through the smoke.

"You think digging up my pain will break me?" she spat. "You’re still as pathetic as ever. Hiding behind your system. Behind your cards. Grow the fuck up Boran."

Boran hovered slightly above the fractured stone, suspended by Tartarus’ will, catching the eye’s eerie glow.

"Nahh.." he said softly. "I just wanted to remind you what you are when you’re cornered."

He reached into his robes again.

Another card.

He smiled as it shimmered black and violet.

"Let’s make things more interesting."

[TAROT SYSTEM: MINOR ARCANA – FIVE OF WANDS – UPRIGHT.]

Suddenly, the terrain shifted.

Five ghostly figures burst up from the floating ground, faceless warriors molded from fractured memory and flame and charged her from all directions, blades drawn.

Qingran didn’t flinch.

She met the first with a roundhouse kick that sent it flying off the platform, its form evaporating before it hit the abyss.

The second was engulfed in her flames mid-swing screaming soundlessly as its sword melted in the heat.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa"

The third struck her shoulder but the blow was shallow, skimming her skin as she pivoted, grabbed it by the wrist, and tore it in half with a blast of flame-enhanced strength.

Two more came together this time and she exhaled sharply, spinning into them with both palms lit.

The explosion sent the two hurtling apart.

Floating rocks cracked under the pressure.

Even Moli had to lift a hand to shield her face from the wind. "Tch. Show-off."

But when Qingran landed back on her feet, a sharp pain bloomed in her thigh.

She glanced down, there was a shallow wound, smoking black around the edges.

From one of the phantoms. It hadn’t died cleanly.

[That’s a poisoned blade..] Lingquan hissed. [ Be careful.]

Qingran grimaced. Her blood hissed against her own flame as the wound tried to seal. "Figures. Can’t win straight up so you poison the rules."

Boran’s laughter came again, this time quieter.

He lowered himself back onto the stone.

"You’re not the only one who changed.." he said. "This version of me doesn’t care about winning or losing. Just about watching you break the same way you did before."

"And this version of me.." she said, stepping forward, "is going to rip you apart before you get the chance."

The flames around her shifted not just roaring, but condensing, pulling tighter around her form like a second skin.

Her irises glowed blue.

Even her shadow looked like it was on fire now.

[TARTARUS SYSTEM WARNING: FLAME CORE LEVEL 3, SYSTEM PRESSURE UNSTABLE.]

But Qingran didn’t stop.

"You wanted a monster, Boran? I can be that. No scratch that, I’m already fucking one..."

He flicked another card into the air.

[MINOR ARCANA – TWO OF SWORDS – REVERSED.]

A whisper passed through the field.

Suddenly, Qingran’s surroundings blurred.

The platforms bent, multiplied into images of Boran and Moli split in different directions, dozens of versions surrounding her.

Illusion again and again. He was the master of misdirection.

"Pick the wrong one..m" Boran’s voice echoed all around, "and lose your life.."

She closed her eyes.

"Breathe Qingran, breathe."

And then ignited the lames expanding outward in a ring of truth, blowing apart the clones with a crack of sound that shattered the nearest landmass.

There he was.

The real one.

Hovering above her like a shadowm

She looked up, one arm raised.

And screamed.

"COME DOWN AND DIE LIKE A MAN."

Boran grinned.

Then he descended.

Straight into her flame.

"You’re fucking crazy.."

The moment Boran hit the column of flame, the sky cracked like glass.

Azure fire met his descending form with a fury that should’ve vaporized flesh but he didn’t burn.

No, he pushed through it, teeth gritting, horns gleaming as the flames licked at his skin and cloth without consuming him.

The Devil’s Unlock glowed at his core, sealing him within a protective layer of corruption and defiance.

He landed hard on the stone, his feet punching into the platform, causing it to shudder beneath them both.

The air between them rippled with raw energy, a collision of two forces so different they couldn’t coexist.

Qingran snapped, fist already flying.

He blocked it barely, the impact sending a crack like a whip through the sky.

She followed up immediately, spinning low, leg sweeping in a flaming arc.

Boran leapt back, but her foot clipped his ankle, and he stumbled just long enough for her to grab him by the collar of his twisted robe and hurl him backward into one of the floating spires.

He slammed through it like a missile, sending stone and ash exploding in all directions.

Qingran didn’t give him time to recover.

She was on him in seconds.

He rolled to the side as a flame-coated punch shattered the stone where his head had been, then retaliated with a backhand of dark energy that sent her skidding backward across the fractured ground.

They paused breathing heavily before lunging at each other again.

Claws of flame.

Fists of shadow.

Azure light and cursed black colliding in the sky, sending shockwaves that shattered floating islands and ripped fissures in the world below.

From the sidelines, Ruihuang finally cursed under his breath. "This is crazy! This is cinema premium unlocked. Peak shit!"

-_-

"Can’t you be serious for once?"