Book 2 Chapter 15 – Phoenix Possession

　　"She's not Liu Meng!" Zeng Qian stared excitedly at the girl who was floating in the air. "The phoenix… it's finally here."

　　"Liu Meng!" Li Yiming did not mind her and called out her name with all of his strength.

　　"She's been possessed by the phoenix. The information is right, the phoenix is already wounded…" Xiao Hei placed himself in front of Zeng Qian, shook his right hand and his mechanical arm resurfaced from beneath his skin.

　　Fang Shui'er took a step back and a bow with elegant curves appeared as she threw a hesitant look at Liu Meng.

　　Tatat… Tatat… The sound of gunshots resounded. Zhi Wen and Zhi Wu, quick-thinking as they were, started shooting right away. Liu Meng's figure faded into a form made of red smoke before materializing in front of Zhi Wei the next instant.

　　"Ha!" Zhi Wen quickly threw his gun away and pulled out a sword as big as a door with a pitch-black blade. He swung the weapon down onto Liu Meng with all of his strength.

　　"Liu Meng!" Li Yiming cried out in shock.

　　The dark blade traced a huge arc in front of Zhi Wen and came cras.h.i.+ng down towards Liu Meng. However, the blade came to a halt three inches away from Liu Meng's body as she had extended two pale fingers from her hand and pinched the blade.

　　"Killed my people… slaughtered my village… You… punished by a hundred deaths…" The airy voice was heard again. A red glow spurted out of Liu Meng's fingertips, transforming itself into a dancing flame as it ran down towards the hilt.

　　's.h.i.+t!' Zhi Wen threw his weapon away and rolled backward. An instant later, the sword was liquefied in an outburst of flames. A sizzling sound was heard as the melted metal dripped onto the ground

　　"Zhi Wen!" Xiao Hei yelled out. Zhi Wen had yet to stand up again when the phantom-like silhouette appeared behind him and pushed her hand down onto his head. He knelt down and parried the blow with his right hand. However, instead of the full blow he had expected, Liu Meng barely grazed his arm with her fingers. A red spark and fire lit up on Zhi Wen's arm. After an initial moment of panic, Zhi Wen quickly rolled to the side, and, with a fierce look, pulled on his right arm with his left one. He tore his own limb off, and it proved to be the right decision: his arm combusted before it could even touch the ground.

　　"NOO!" Zhi Wu, upon seeing that his brother had lost his arm, roared in anger and leaped at Liu Meng. A screeching sound was heard as he cut through the air at an unimaginable speed and a huge s.h.i.+eld, on the surface of which runic glyphs appeared and disappeared following the tides of a colorful l.u.s.ter, appeared in front of him. His intervention forced Liu Meng to abandon her attack on Zhi Wen. She raised her hand once again and pushed forward steadily as another flare germinated in her palm.

　　Bang! A deafening noise was heard as a visible shockwave rippled through the air. Zhi Wu flew backward, landed with one knee touching the ground and planted his s.h.i.+eld into the earth in front of him. Liu Meng's figure disappeared once again and reappeared a little farther away. She looked at her shaking right hand and furrowed her brows slightly.

　　Zhi Wu stood up with his s.h.i.+eld once again and stared coldly at Liu Meng. His brother, who had just lost an arm, took out a bottle of red potion and gulped it down. Then, without minding his bleeding wound, he pulled out a dagger and readied himself for the next attack. Li Yiming, who had been thrown away to the side from the blast earlier, stared at Liu Meng with widened eyes.

　　"Kill her!" Zeng Qian cried with a hoa.r.s.e voice. Her flesh clumped and squirmed, and a green slime slowly seeped out from beneath her skin, making her appear more repulsive than ever.

　　With a sudden flaming outburst from his jetpack, Xiao Hei launched himself into the air. As he completed his ascent, his right arm transformed into a hollow cylinder inside of which white light was quickly gathering intensity. As he charged his attack, his partners launched themselves toward Liu Meng. Liu Meng raised her head and looked at Xiao Hei gravely, and, with a swing of her arm, a small flaming bird suddenly burst out of her own body and flew toward Zhi Wu. Zhi Wu seemed terrified by the sight of the small, delicate apparition. He placed his giant s.h.i.+eld in front of him and crouched down in order to s.h.i.+eld himself from the attack.