Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 387 Emperor vs Emperor

Crash!

Amid a miserable scream, the adventurer who had brushed past Qin Ming hadn't even landed before the back of his clothes suddenly burst open.

As Qin Ming lifted his hand and grabbed, the blood that had already merged into the adventurer's body condensed back into solid form and shot out from behind him, forcibly leaving numerous penetrating wounds.

Countless drops of blood, originally belonging to Qin Ming, along with more blood from the adventurer, howled into Qin Ming's palm and gathered into a blade in the next second.

Flicking his wrist, Qin Ming threw the blood blade, striking another adventurer. At the same time, he raised his other arm sharply, shaping his hand like a pistol aimed at a third person.

With the surge of blood within him, countless blood beads shot out from his skin like bullets, densely firing at the enemy ahead at an astonishing speed, scaring the target into a panicked retreat.

Seeing him dodge, Qin Ming chased, his arm moving as the blood beads merged into a spear-like cone, crackling as they continuously fired.

Whenever a blood bead struck an enemy, it would instantly fly back, dragging large amounts of flesh and blood with it.

Endlessly changing! Both offensive and defensive! Incredibly sharp yet indestructible!

This was Qin Ming's new ability—the true terrifying power that the S-rank skill Blood and Flesh Absorption should possess!

After soaking in the potion, the Blood and Flesh Absorption ability had perfectly fused with the Steel Body ability. Qin Ming's skills themselves hadn't changed, and the two hadn't completely merged into one either.

But Qin Ming understood that he had truly undergone a complete transformation.

Where he once could only store and release blood, shaping it into various balls to throw at enemies, he could now truly control blood, wielding it as naturally as moving his own limbs.

The blood within him, empowered by the Steel Body ability, would become incredibly hard once solidified!

Hard! Not just for defense! It could be used for an attack too!

As long as it was sharp enough and fast enough, the hardened blood would become the sharpest weapon in the world!

That was exactly what was happening now!

Condensing blood on his arm into a shield, Qin Ming instantly blocked an incoming hand strike.

With a swift turn, he slapped his other palm against the enemy's chest.

Activating Blood and Flesh Absorption, the blood that sprayed from his arm instantly hardened into countless blades, slicing into the enemy's body and drilling deep inside.

In the next second, carrying even more blood, it burst out from the enemy's back.

Before the sprayed blood could scatter, Qin Ming had already raised his hand, grabbing it back and condensing it into a spear, which he drove into the back of the adventurer's head, piercing it completely.

The adventurer struck in the vital point didn't immediately die. His digitized body made his vitality extremely tenacious.

But before he could struggle and try to escape from Qin Ming's side, the blood spear in his head dissolved back into liquid and instantly condensed into a ball, blasting outward in all directions.

With a crash, countless blood beads sprayed from the adventurer's head, tearing it apart on the spot, leaving him deader than dead.

Qin Ming raised his hand, summoning back the blood, condensing it into another ball, and shooting it at another enemy.

Condense, throw, scatter, recall, condense again.

Countless streams of blood shifted back and forth under his control, and in just the blink of an eye, he had torn apart four people.

Qin Ming's original blood attacks were powerful in impact but ultimately liquid, lacking real lethality and almost no armor-piercing power, making them very ineffective against hard targets.

But after this mutation and evolution-or, rather, after fully developing the Blood and Flesh Absorption skill—he could completely control it. Empowered by the hardening effect of Steel Body, it had become utterly indestructible.

If previously Qin Ming was firing water-gun bullets, now he was firing real bullets.

Combined with the White Flame's penetration and high-temperature effects, if anyone dared to take a blood blast head-on now, they wouldn't see the blood scattering—they themselves would be riddled with holes.

Just the blood's inheritance of the Steel Body enhancement had nearly doubled Qin Ming's combat power!

Watching their comrades get pierced and torn apart by countless streams of blood, turned into swiss cheese in a blink, the remaining adventurers turned deathly pale and stumbled back.

Only Rugal stood motionless with his arms crossed, frowning deeply as he watched.

From their very first clash, Rugal had already realized that Qin Ming wasn't someone easy to deal with.

Sending his men to surround and kill Qin Ming wasn't out of arrogance or disdain.

It was just an excuse. The real reason he had his subordinates charge was because he couldn't quite gauge Qin Ming's strength.

That's right! These few charging underlings were just cannon fodder to test Qin Ming's abilities!

Rugal hadn't become the so-called Fighting Emperor by blindly charging ahead. On the contrary, he was extremely cunning.

He always first tried to figure out his opponent's fighting style, then developed a targeted strategy. Only after confirming he could break them would he step up for a peak battle and defeat them head-on.

Collecting intel on his enemies—especially those he deemed worthy—was something Rugal had always valued immensely.

After all, he had lost his eye back then because he underestimated his opponent and failed to gather intel in advance, leading to being instantly taken down by Goenitz's speed.

When hosting the King of Fighters '95 tournament, his reason for waiting at the final stage for challengers wasn't just to avoid wasting time on the weak. He also used the matches to collect information on his future opponents.

Rugal's frown deepened. Blood manipulation? Such hardness. Such fluidity. Annoying—but not insurmountable. The old Rugal might've struggled. But the current Rugal? The one who had mastered the Raging Demon? He was a god. The true Emperor of Fighters.

No matter what the opponent's ability is! Just crush them!

Killing Intent Amplification! Strength 100%!

With a sudden sweep of both arms, Rugal's eyes flashed red. Without even greeting, he abruptly began to fire energy spheres like a madman.

Ultimate Skill! Blood Massacre!

One energy sphere after another shot out at lightning speed, furiously bombarding toward Qin Ming.

Hearing the noise, Qin Ming's expression changed. With a sudden burst of strength, he reached upward with one hand.

Amidst the spurting blood beside him, a barrier of fresh blood burst from the ground, and under the enhancement of the Iron Body ability, it rapidly hardened.

With the Iron Body's power, the solidified blood had over thirty points of damage reduction, making it even harder than metal in a literal sense.

Amidst a thunderous roar, despite being bombarded by more than a dozen energy spheres in a row, the blood barrier didn't shatter!

And just as Rugal's attack ended, the blood barrier had already split open. Behind it, Qin Ming, with arms wide in the exact same posture, roared and immediately launched his counterattack!

Imitation—no! It should be called Modification—Blood Massacre!

The rapidly condensed blood began solidifying and transforming midair, constantly morphing into half-meter-long blood blades that slashed wildly at Rugal with all kinds of arcs.

Rugal tried to block it head-on by forming a green energy shield with a wave of his hand, but after withstanding just two strikes, he realized something was wrong and hurriedly dodged.

As he sidestepped to evade, a torrent of howling blood blades sliced past him, cutting into the wall behind and leaving several neat crescent-shaped gashes.

Rolling as he landed, Rugal saw that Qin Ming wasn't letting up and was preparing to continue firing at him. With a furious roar, Rugal unleashed a Kaiser Wave in retaliation.

On one side were the blood-red blades! On the other, a surge of lightning energy! When the two collided head-on, Qin Ming's blood blades were immediately shattered into pieces!

Clearly, even though the blood had become extremely hardened under the Iron Body enhancement...

Facing Rugal's doubled Killing Intent amplification, Qin Ming still couldn't overpower him in a direct clash.

But if Rugal could strengthen himself, so could Qin Ming!

A fluctuation flashed across Qin Ming's body! Skill activated!

Grade A Qi Wave Amplification! Strength 50%!

This upgraded version of Qi Wave was clearly no match for Killing Intent, even if they were of the same grade. The amplification effect was worlds apart.

However, while Qi Wave couldn't compete, Qin Ming's blood blades could!

The crescent-shaped blood blades were naturally adept at slicing, and now, reinforced to a solid form, they became deadly weapons.

On one side were unstable energy spheres, on the other were solidified, hardened blood chunks. It was obvious who had the advantage.

Although Qin Ming couldn't match Rugal in pure destructive power, he relied on the tangible nature of blood to force the battle back to an even footing.

The two of them wildly exchanged blows in the courtyard for over thirty rounds before Rugal finally started to falter.

After throwing out his skills, Qin Ming could activate his Blood Absorption ability to retrieve the scattered blood, which meant the exchanges barely cost him anything.

But Rugal wasn't so lucky. If he kept fighting like this, he'd be dragged to death.

Without hesitation, he stopped the ranged bombardment. After sidestepping several blood blade slashes, Rugal let out a furious roar and charged straight at Qin Ming, aiming to force a close-quarters brawl.

Skill! Giant's Crush!

Seeing this, Qin Ming's face twisted into a ferocious grin. The next second, he also slid forward, choosing to meet the attack head-on.

Skill! Heavenly Slide!

Boom!

With a deafening crash, the two towering figures collided violently. Qin Ming was almost instantly grabbed and slammed flying by Rugal.

They crashed through the wall of one building and burst out from the other side.

Dragging Qin Ming along for some distance, Rugal's face was savage as he detonated the energy he had injected into Qin Ming's body.

Amidst a loud explosion, Qin Ming, blasted from within, coughed up a mouthful of blood, with blood even seeping from his eyes and ears.

Severely injured on the spot, he glared viciously at Rugal. Then, to Rugal's surprise, Qin Ming also detonated the blood he had injected into Rugal's body.

It was true that Qin Ming's strength couldn't match Rugal's! But that didn't mean his techniques couldn't win!

He couldn't overpower Rugal in a collision, but his skills could still be triggered!

Heavenly Slide! Explode!

Boom!

Rugal's blood boiled and churned violently! His eyes bulged wide!

The next second! Blood spurted from his body, spraying out in countless blood beads!

At that moment, he was like a fragmentation grenade, almost torn apart by the hardened blood fragments within!

(End of Chapter)