A Two-in-One Chapter
*****
That terrifying Hell Guardian was KO’d by Sako with a single punch, vanishing into smoke.
Ye Dui and Debbie directly used expressions of dumbfounded astonishment combined with starry eyes to convey their shock. Gilga also widened her eyes in surprise. The Joker Girl standing in the corner showed an utterly terrified expression. Her Hell Guardian could not even withstand a single punch from Sako?
As expected of a legendary-level heroic spirit!
But soon, the Joker Girl realised something else. The terror on her face turned into a confident sneer. Her eyes fixed on one of Sako’s arms, that arm now rapidly becoming transparent, as if it might dissipate at any moment.
Ye Dui, Debbie, and Gilga also noticed the change in Sako’s arm. At the same time, Ye Dui observed through his magic guidebook the fluctuation in Sako’s points: 1000… 100… 10… 5.
He had only become invincible for that instant!
“He deliberately let the Hell Guardian hit him just now.” Debbie suddenly understood something. “Although he was summoned out, he cannot draw magic power from me. He deliberately took that hit from the Hell Guardian to absorb its magic power. He also possesses the Mad Joker’s magic absorption ability! And now…”
“I cannot maintain it for much longer.” Sako sighed. His body began to rapidly become transparent. He had originally been forcibly dragged out of the heroic spirit world by the Joker Girl, not summoned by Debbie, so he could not fully remain in the real world. He glanced at the Joker Girl with some concern, then continued to Debbie, “Most of my power is controlled by her, but that power should belong to you, my bloodline descendant Daiti…”
Debbie interrupted him: “My name is Debbie, by the way.”
“I said it wrong on purpose. This is the Anduin family’s Joker trick: playing dumb!”
“…”
“You really have no sense of humour…”
Sako shook his head. His body was already nearly fading away: “I look forward to you summoning me out with your own will. At that time, I will be willing to fight for you, my descendant.”
With such words, Sako Anduin completely dissipated into the air.
Debbie stared somewhat dazedly at the spot where the ancestor Joker had vanished, her brows furrowing as she wondered what to think.
Ye Dui was already walking towards the Joker Girl.
The Joker Girl was indeed very powerful. In Ye Dui’s magic guidebook detection, her points reached 120. However, for the current Ye Dui, anything below 150 points posed no threat to him at all. The Joker Girl’s terrifying and dangerous aspect was her seemingly endless array of horrifying fantasy creatures, but now those meant nothing to Ye Dui. Her most powerful Hell Guardian had already been dealt with by Sako, and the rest would not pose much harm to Ye Dui.
Ye Dui had no intention of wasting words. He wanted to unleash a killing move directly to finish off the Joker Girl. Thus, the phantom barrels of a Gatling gun instantly appeared on his hands, planning to unleash a barrage of bombardment first and talk later.
Looking at the approaching Ye Dui, the Joker Girl suddenly let out a burst of mad laughter. She had already put the Joker mask back on her face. Accompanied by her laughter, her body suddenly began to twist in a bizarre manner.
“Da da da,” Ye Dui’s gunfire continuously bombarded her body, the flames connecting into a line.
However, this powerful bombardment left no wounds on the Joker Girl’s body at all. Her body began to swell continuously, her clothes being torn apart one by one, revealing robust muscles. Ye Dui was stunned by this scene: “What the hell!?”
“Ye Dui, she is forcibly injecting Sako’s power into her own body… This madwoman!” Debbie shouted urgently. This method was similar to borrowing heroic spirit power. Powerful summoners could learn to borrow the power of heroic spirits, which was an extremely advanced technique. Debbie had only accidentally used it once tonight, and what the Joker Girl was doing now was forcibly borrowing Sako’s power!
The power she was borrowing did not originally belong to her heroic spirit. Such borrowing would greatly consume her life force, and might even make her permanently insane, causing her to completely lose herself in savage will. It was just like the terrifying heroic spirit Demon Mountain that Ye Dui had faced before. Demon Mountain had forcibly injected beast blood into his own body, gaining a massive power boost, but also turning into an evil demonic beast as a result.
What the Joker Girl was doing now was extremely similar to what Demon Mountain had done back then.
The Joker Girl’s swelling body soon burst through her clothes, but this scene brought no sense of allure at all. Instead, it caused extreme psychological discomfort. She had originally been tall and slender, about the same height as Ye Dui, but now she gradually turned into a nearly three-metre giant, with explosive brown muscles all over. Her body showed no feminine features whatsoever. Her face also became ferocious and rough, with flesh hanging in folds. In Ye Dui’s eyes, this image was like an enlarged and uglier version of a brown Green Giant!
Ye Dui’s Gatling machine gun continuously swept over her body, yet left no marks. Then Ye Dui switched to [Spark Bombardment]. Boom, boom, boom. The Joker Girl’s body stood motionless in place, not even making any defensive moves. The hit areas only showed faint black marks.
Golden sword light spread from beside Ye Dui. Gilga, radiating golden brilliance all over, charged forward. One sharp sword qi after another continuously struck the Joker Girl’s ugly swollen body, but this golden sword qi still could not harm the Joker Girl’s body, only leaving faint shallow marks.
“Roar,” the Joker Girl let out a terrifying roar. Her massive palm swept towards Gilga, easily sending Gilga flying.
Boom!
Taking advantage of the gap while Gilga entangled the Joker Girl, Ye Dui unleashed the [Company Commander’s Italian Cannon] spell. But the illusory magic cannonball was caught by the Joker Girl’s palm. Explosive flames erupted from her hand, smoke filling the air, yet the Joker Girl was unscathed.
Her body moved with extreme speed, instantly appearing in front of Ye Dui. Her fists smashed down towards his head. Ye Dui hurriedly dispersed into a swarm of bats, dodging her strike, while wrapping up Debbie’s figure and rushing outwards.
The empty mansion they were in collapsed with a boom due to the Joker Girl’s heavy ground pound.
“This guy is now even more terrifying than the devil we encountered back then!” Debbie, wrapped in Ye Dui’s bat clones, exclaimed in her mouth. She saw the Joker Girl leap out from the ruins of the house. A streak of golden light intercepted her in mid-air, that was Gilga. But Gilga was clearly struggling against the Joker Girl’s current power.
“Gilga’s points are only around one hundred, while the Joker Girl’s points now reach fifteen hundred…” Ye Dui condensed his body back. He was holding Debbie’s waist and sprinting madly down the street, his voice somewhat grave as he said this. This kind of fighting style that harmed the enemy by a thousand while harming oneself by eight hundred had given the Joker Girl a mad boost, but her consciousness should now be trapped in frenzy, and her fighting method had completely turned to physical attacks.
She possessed a powerful physique, strength, and speed disproportionate to her size.
At this moment, Ye Dui suddenly paused. He saw Gilga, who was clashing with the Joker Girl, vanish into thin air.
She had been recalled by Debbie into the heroic spirit space.
“There is only one way to deal with her!” As Ye Dui looked towards Debbie, Debbie signalled for Ye Dui to put her down. “The Joker Girl is now using the ancestor heroic spirit’s power. If I can summon the Terror Joker with my own power, then I can seize back the power from the Joker Girl!”
The ancestor Joker’s power originally belonged to Debbie. If Debbie could summon the Terror Joker from the Joker heroic spirit, she could reclaim the power inside the Joker Girl!
She had recalled Gilga to the heroic spirit world precisely to concentrate all her attention on summoning the Terror Joker.
“Then I will buy you time.” Ye Dui glanced at the Joker Girl charging rapidly towards them and said this.
He put Debbie down on the street and walked towards the Joker Girl.
“Be careful.” Debbie took out the summoning key while reminding Ye Dui.
“Don’t worry, I just happen to have some new magic I want to try.” Ye Dui flashed a confident expression towards Debbie.
Ye Dui’s strongest move now was the [Insufficient Yield Nuclear Blast] (Explosion is Justice) spell. However, his earlier [Company Commander’s Italian Cannon] bombardment on the Joker Girl had been directly blocked by her, and given the Joker Girl’s speed, Ye Dui was unsure if this explosive spell would be effective. As for One-Punch Heroic Spirit… today was Friday, and there were still thirty minutes until midnight.
To defeat the Joker Girl, Ye Dui could only comprehend new magic.
Earlier, he had flipped an entire street of ghosts and monsters, which had brought him quite a few points.
So, what magic should he comprehend?
The Joker Girl jumped in front of Ye Dui. She roared loudly from her mouth, swinging her fists as she stepped towards Ye Dui one step at a time.
“Facing this kind of muscle giant, it seems pure violent physical attack is indeed the way to counter it.”
When he saw the Joker Girl’s transformation, Ye Dui had already thought of how to counter this terrifying form of hers.
He quickly searched the resource library and found a movie from it, spending three hundred points to [Comprehend]!
Reminder: You spent three hundred points to [Comprehend] “The Invincible Hulk”.
Reminder: You obtained unlockable spells: Intermediate Life Magic [Invincible Hulk], Intermediate Life Magic [Savage Abomination]
“You are now just like a little bug, I can crush you at will!” The nearly three-metre tall Joker Girl looked down at Ye Dui condescendingly, mocking him with a raspy voice. Her voice no longer had any feminine characteristics at all.
“Is that so? Then try crushing me.” Ye Dui responded with a cold laugh. At the same time, his body began to swell and grow continuously. His outer clothes were soon torn apart, revealing a green muscular body. His body also rapidly grew taller. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a two-and-a-half-metre tall green giant. Not sure if it was influenced by the movie, under the effect of this spell, even though Ye Dui’s body had doubled in size, his trousers were not torn… (Fortunately)
Life magic could alter a person’s appearance, perform healing, and also change a person’s physique. Just like now, by comprehending the Green Giant, Ye Dui had gained the magic to transform into the Green Giant.
Debbie had already summoned the colourful summoning gate, attempting to summon the Terror Joker from it. Seeing Ye Dui’s change, her small face was immediately filled with shock, her mouth forming an O shape: “This works too?”
“Roar,”
The Ye Dui who had turned into the Green Giant using [Invincible Hulk] also had his consciousness become frenzied, filled with anger, savagery, and brutality. But he could barely maintain his self-awareness, knowing what he should do. He roared madly at the Joker Girl a few times, swung his massive fist, and leaped up, smashing down towards the Joker Girl.
“Roar!!!” The Joker Girl was slightly shocked upon seeing Ye Dui’s transformation. Facing Ye Dui’s hammer strike, she immediately spread her arms to block. Boom! The Joker Girl’s body was smashed hard into the ground.
But soon she crawled out from underground and pounced onto Ye Dui’s body.
Their two bodies tumbled and crashed into a row of houses nearby. Fortunately, the area was already deserted, a stretch of empty mansions, with only a few ghosts wandering about. The houses and ghosts were crushed as the two muscle giants rolled over them. Everywhere they passed turned into ruins and debris.
When the two muscle-bound figures finally stopped, the Joker Girl was straddling Ye Dui’s body. Her two fists “boom” “boom” continuously bombarded Ye Dui’s head, while she let out roars from her mouth.
But as the Joker Girl’s fist fell once more, Ye Dui grabbed her wrist. His body twisted, and he got up from the ground, swinging the Joker Girl’s arm and slamming her left and right on the ground with a bang, bang! Bang!
The ground cracked, splitting into gullies.
Boom! Finally, he threw the Joker Girl’s body to the ground. His massive foot stomped down on the Joker Girl’s head.
However, in the next moment, the Joker Girl’s hands grabbed Ye Dui’s feet. With a roar, Ye Dui’s body was hurled into the air. The Joker Girl quickly leaped from the ground, jumping like a meteor to Ye Dui’s side. In mid-air, she punched Ye Dui in the back, causing him to smash heavily into the ground.
“Pu,” the Joker Girl landed beside a pile of ruins and spat out a mouthful of bloody water to the side. With a fanatical expression, she walked towards where Ye Dui had been smashed.
Crash. Ye Dui waved his hand to sweep away a pile of broken bricks and tiles, and walked out. From the outside, no injuries were visible on him, but Ye Dui himself could feel that his strength seemed a bit inferior to the current Joker Girl’s.
“Looks like I need to push harder…”
Green Giant Ye Dui swung his hand. The iPad magic guidebook floated beside him. He tried casting another spell on himself, [Bloodthirst Battle Intent]!
Thus, green flames immediately ignited on his green skin (the Green Giant’s blood is green). At the same time, sharp fangs grew in his mouth, and his eyes turned red-green.
Vampiric Green Giant!
At that moment, the Joker Girl seemed to feel a hint of something called fear.
But before she could savour it fully, with a “crash”, Ye Dui’s figure dispersed into countless bats. Those were green, hawk-like massive bats, making crackling sounds as they charged towards the Joker Girl, instantly surrounding her.
The Joker Girl swung her arms forcefully, but could not hit any solid form. The massive bat swarm would suddenly condense into entities from any angle. Fists came from all directions continuously landing on the Joker Girl’s body. Boom, boom, boom. The massive fists fell on the Joker Girl like a storm of blows, leaving her utterly unable to defend.
One punch to her head, the next suddenly shifting to her back. She roared in fury, yet could not touch the enemy at all. Her face gradually twisted. Terrifying fist marks appeared on her brown skin, and countless teeth in her mouth shattered.
Debbie, hiding in the corner to charge up her big move, was covered in sweat. Her eyes were still fixed on the scene with Ye Dui. The little girl felt an indescribable tangle in her heart at this moment: She felt like she did not even need to summon the Terror Joker anymore…
But soon she sensed the urgency of time. Although Ye Dui was now unleashing terrifying power, the cost of that power was enormous. He simply could not sustain such combat for long.
In his current state, his magic power was depleting at an extreme rate!
Finally, at a certain moment, the countless bats recombined into Ye Dui’s body. A hint of fatigue had already appeared on his green giant face. Unlike the movie version of the Green Giant, who fought on anger with virtually no upper limit to power, Ye Dui’s was a magic-modified Green Giant. His power consumed his magic power. Now as an intermediate demon instructor, Ye Dui’s magic power was much thicker, but it still could not withstand such consumption. His remaining magic power was visibly depleting rapidly.
While the Joker Girl’s power seemed endless.
“Roar,” in the instant Ye Dui reformed his entity, she seized the opportunity and punched him in the chest.
Amidst a pile of collapsing houses, Ye Dui was blasted to the ground.
As he struggled to get up again, the Joker Girl’s ferocious body was already standing before him. Her body was equally battered beyond description, covered in wounds, making her appear even more hideous. She panted roughly from her mouth, but this had not caused her to lose her combat ability.
“You are indeed very powerful, able to push me to this extent. But you have now exhausted your power, while my power is still endless!” The Joker Girl said in her raspy voice. She clenched her fist, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Ye Dui.
However, the fallen Ye Dui suddenly dispelled [Bloodthirst Battle Intent] and [Invincible Hulk]. His body rapidly shrank back to its original form. He was nearly naked, with only a tattered pair of trousers still on him. Yet a faint smile appeared on his fatigued face: “Such a battle feels really good. Unfortunately, it fell just short. I couldn’t kill you… But time is up.”
“Time?” The Joker Girl’s body suddenly trembled. She sensed something and turned her head to the side.
A skinny old man was slowly walking over from nearby.
Sako Anduin, the Terror Joker.
The Terror Joker was not named so because of his terrifying appearance. In fact, he looked no different from before. The terror came from how he had once single-handedly defeated an entire nation’s army, striking fear into all who heard of it. Thus, “Terror Joker” became his title. He walked with hands behind his back, appearing utterly unthreatening, yet able to instill a profound sense of dread.
A legendary-level heroic spirit!
“Roar,” the Joker Girl let out a terrified roar. Her body suddenly turned and fled into the distance.
“Want to leave? First return my power to me.” Sako said softly from his mouth, lightly waving his hand. The Joker Girl’s body suddenly halted in mid-air. Her terrifying massive body began to shrink rapidly. Power was being drawn out from within her, continuously reintegrating into Sako’s body. The wounds Ye Dui had inflicted on her earlier also became increasingly obvious and horrific as her size diminished.
When she returned to normal human size, she was just a twisted, wound-covered corpse-like body.
With a thud, that body fell limply to the ground.
“What a pity. She is my bloodline descendant, with exceptional talent, perhaps even greater than mine back then. But she was blinded by hatred and desire.” Sako shook his head somewhat regretfully. His gaze then fell on Ye Dui. “Kid, you have also given me quite a shock. My power was borrowed by her. Although she could not exert all of my power’s might, in that state you still managed to resist and even injure her. You are very strong. You should feel honoured.”
“Thank you, but I am beaten this badly now, so I do not feel honoured. If there is a chance, I want to defeat her fair and square.” Ye Dui got up from the ground, tightening his trousers that had become utterly loose from his body’s enlargement, and turned to look at Debbie.
Debbie stood not far away. Summoning Sako had consumed a tremendous amount of her energy. She was now in a state of mental disarray, barely stabilising her body to avoid collapsing. Ye Dui hurriedly went to Debbie’s side and helped her up.
Sako’s face turned somewhat displeased. He said to Ye Dui: “Kid, what big words are you spouting? You are still far from truly defeating her.” After all, the Joker Girl had been using his power. Seeing her beaten into a non-human shape by Ye Dui had actually made him unhappy inside.
“Now that she has been defeated, hurry back. Debbie has reached her limit.” Ye Dui ignored Sako’s words and said to him.
“Hmph, I know what I am doing. Maintaining my summoning state is also beneficial for her. Let her persist as long as she can, until she faints. That way her magic power will be tempered.” Sako snorted coldly. He was still resentful about Ye Dui’s earlier attitude. “Kid, I feel you are disrespectful to me. Even though you are Debbie’s friend, I do not need to give you face!”
“Is that so? Not giving me face, huh?” Ye Dui raised his eyebrows at Sako. Just moments ago, time had finally passed midnight. Ye Dui now feared nothing.
Sako immediately flew into a rage. But at that moment, both he and Ye Dui suddenly trembled and looked towards the Joker Girl.
After the Joker Girl fell, [Hundred Ghosts Night Parade] had not stopped. Now, those countless ghosts were gathering here in droves. While Sako and Ye Dui were talking, these ghost heroic spirits continuously walked to the Joker Girl’s side and fused into her body.
Although the Joker Girl was severely injured, her consciousness had not fully fainted. With her last strength, she attracted the ghosts summoned by [Hundred Ghosts Night Parade] over, then forcibly fused them into her body. This was similar to her earlier absorption of Sako’s power, but even more dangerous. Sako, as a heroic spirit, knew the consequences of this best.
“She plans to go down with us. Absorbing these ghosts into her body, her consciousness will be completely lost, turning her into a fully uncontrolled terrifying heroic spirit aggregate, destroying everything in sight!”
As he spoke, the Joker Girl’s body stood up again and swelled once more. But her appearance was even more terrifying than before. Her body deformed irregularly, with faces even appearing on her arms. More horrifying than the ghosts of [Hundred Ghosts Night Parade]…
“Kid, while she has not absorbed many ghosts yet, you should finish her off now!” Sako was already prepared to act, but he did not rush to do so. Instead, he looked at Ye Dui with a cold smile. “You have little strength left. Beg me now. Beg me to help you take her down!”
“Heh…” Ye Dui let out a weak laugh and tapped a few times on his iPad.
“That will not trouble you to worry about.”
In the midnight Joker Town, a bald man in pyjamas appeared out of thin air in front of Ye Dui, looking utterly confused.
“In the end, it still has to rely on the bald head to save the world!”
