My eyes snapped open as I felt the mechanical, cyber power of Apoxyia flow through my veins. The horns on my head extended, as a pair of beautiful wings extended from my back. Two sets of cluster missile launchers grew out of my shoulders, one on each side, as a massive gatling gun rose from my back and aimed towards Ling Xin. A singular sphere between my two wings served as my core.

"Ara ara~ now isn't this something…" she mused, as if genuinely delighted by my transformation.

"Die," I said, voice dripping with hatred. I only had emotions when interacting with Master, but that was only half-true. If I had to correct it… I could only feel positive emotions when interacting with Master. However, when it comes to hate and bloodlust… I could feel that towards anyone except Master.

I shot out eight missiles from each of the launchers, sixteen in total. They were all homing, and headed straight for Ling Xin's head.

"Hmph, trivial," she murmured, before opening a black space rift and entering inside. My cluster missiles hit nothing.

The radar that came equipped with my Apoxyia form also couldn't detect anything… it was as if she had vanished completely from this reality.

But then, something triggered behind me. A loud warning blared out in my head as I quickly moved away and spun around to see what it was.

Indeed, there she was - Ling Xin, who had just been about to touch me with some kind of dark energy lingering on her hands.

"Oh my, fast reaction times," she giggled.

"… You know Space Magic too," I muttered.

"Indeed. But my expertise still lays within the Shadow Element. My title of the Shadow Empress isn't just for show, y'know."

I gritted my teeth. This made things troublesome. She was already slippery enough with Shadow Magic alone, but now combined with Space Magic… I wouldn't be able to hit her at all. It seems that testing out my offensive capabilities against this girl was a fail.

However… I could still test out something else.

I taunted Ling Xin. "Give me your best attack."

"Hm?

"I will not attempt to dodge. Hit me with everything you have, Shadow Empress."

"… Heh. You're an interesting girl," she snickered. "But sure… if it is a swift death you want, I will give you it."

Saying this, she closed her eyes and prepared the most powerful attack yet.

"Mythic Shadow Magic - Eye of the Shadow Realm!"

She raised her hand high up into the air, as a space crack seemed to appear. Then, the crack slowly became bigger and bigger as it shifted into an eye-like shape. Suddenly, a black pupil appeared within it, along with an iris of the same color. The singular eye was both terrifying and menacing. As I stared at it, I felt as if I couldn't even move. If it weren't for my Apoxyia form's invincible capabilities, I would've died just by looking into it.

But this was just the beginning of the spell.

The eye seemed to bulge open, as a massive black ray of pure destruction shot out of it like a obliterating laser, traveling at light-speed towards me. I closed my eyes and prepared for impact.

But mere inches away from hitting me, it stopped. I slowly opened my eyes once again, and saw a black and red force field around me fighting back against the laser beam. Ling Xin's eyes widened in surprise.

"You… blocked my most powerful attack? My, my… that is… truly impressive."

The eye closed soon after that, and my force field also dissipated. While the shadow beam had been in contact with the force field, I felt no pressure. Not even the slightest bit of crack appeared within my defenses.

"… Was that the best you've got?" I provoked.

Ling Xin smiled. "Yes. I won't lie, that was the most powerful attack I have… judging from raw strength alone, anyway. If I cast that spell towards the ground, it would've pierced through the entire planet with ease. That was how powerful the attack you just withstood was. It's also unavoidable - even if you tried escaping into a different space or the shadow realm, it would still annihilate you."

"Then, it's my turn."

"H-Huh?"

For the first time, fear appeared on Ling Xin's face as I began channeling the Mythic-tier energy my force field had just absorbed. I couldn't absorb her spells directly, but my invincible core made purely out of Chaos energy could.

A red and black eye of my own tore the space above me and opened up to face Ling Xin. And since she said it herself… it was impossible for her to dodge this.

"… Have fun."

A vaporizing red laser of my own shot out of the eye, heading straight for my target. Realizing she couldn't dodge this, Ling Xin bit her lip and uttered a single sentence.

"Battle Soul - Come!"

A massive crescent black moon appeared all of a sudden. The points of it were facing upwards, and the bulge was pointing down. It emitted a dangerous and prominent Shadow mana aura that I have never witnessed before. The black gas surrounding it was rich with toxic, dark Shadow energy, and if I tried going in there without my Apoxyia form's protection, I would undoubtedly die instantly.

My red beam of obliteration struck the dead center of the crescent moon, and the ground began to shake all around us. The amplification abilities of Chaos had made the Eye of the Shadow Realm attack many times stronger, but even then, the moon did not seem to give way… until at last, cracks began forming in it.

However, only cracks.

The laser beam ran out, and the eye above me closed up. The half-broken moon, along with all the Shadow energy it had, also dissipated, revealing an injured Ling Xin underneath. She had blood on the corner of her mouth, but she didn't seem to be angry with me at all. Instead, a smile was on her face.

"Ara… it seems I have truly underestimated your power. Hey, enlighten me… is Xuan Kai-kun even stronger than you are?"

I decided to answer her truthfully, since though I still hated her, I also somewhat acknowledged her strength. She was indeed the toughest opponent I have faced yet.

"In terms of raw strength, I am superior to Master. However, when it comes to strategies and tactics, he is far better than I am. If we were to fight, it is uncertain who would come out on top."

"Heh… I see… I'm even more interested in him now…"

By this time, my Apoxyia time was about to run out. Deciding it would be a bad idea to stall any more time, I pointed my arsenal of weapons at Ling Xin.

"Unfortunately… you will have to die here today, lest you cause any more trouble in the future."

But faced with my threat, the Shadow Empress smirked.

"You may have injured me quite a bit, but that's the extent of it," she said with a wry smile. "I underestimated you before. Now, however, I view you as a true opponent worthy of fighting with all of my strength. And when I get serious… you don't stand a chance."

Saying this, she ate some sort of healing pill, and her body instantly began glowing green.

*Not good… I can't let her heal.*

I quickly launched all the weaponry that I had towards her, but in an instant, she opened a rift in space and stepped through. The next moment, she was behind me, attempting to touch me with that same darkness on her fingers. I only barely managed to avoid it thanks to my Apoxyia form's high speed and advanced, accurate real-time radar.

However, at this rate, I would lose. She kept blinking in and out of reality, creating rifts in space as easily as breathing. I could never hit her, nor expect where she would come from next. Every time, I could only detect her the moment before she touched me, and react as quick as I could according to that.

But there was just one problem - my time in this form was almost over.

I decided to send a message to Master asking for help.

[Master. I have finished testing the capabilities of my Apoxyia form. My timer is about to run out. Requesting assistance.]

Immediately after, I received a reply.

[Coming in.]

As if on cue, the nine others rushed into the dome. Ling Xin paused momentarily to look at them in surprise, but I quickly took advantage of the opportunity and unleashed a barrage of bullets towards her. Unfortunately, she was still too fast.

My Apoxyia form ran out, and I fell back down to the ground, beside Master. Ling Xin, sensing this, stopped teleporting away.

"Ara ara~ finally decide to join the fight, Xuan Kai-kun?"

"… Looks like my Mei Gui here gave you quite the beating," Master said as he took off his mask.

Ling Xin blinked. "My, you're pretty handsome… just my type."

"You showed me your face, it's only natural I show you mine," Master replied. "And if I have to say… you're my type too."

"A pity… that you have to die today," Ling Xin sighed with a sad frown.

"Indeed… a pity that we were enemies," Master muttered. "But that's enough talk."

"I may be injured, but do you think you can beat me just because of that?"

"No… but it did increases our chances, if only by a little bit."

"My, my… that is true. But even so… you'll die in my hands today."

Master smirked, that fearless grin appearing on his face once more.

"We'll see about that."