Chapter 46 - The Countdown

 

…

 

Li Qu's pinky finger closed in as well– time was ticking for 'Six', death was approaching him quickly.

 

"Three."

 

His chant was like the unstoppable march of time– no way to be interrupted.

 

'Six' screamed out in hopelessness, tormented by mere simple numbers that he had heard all his life– but it was now numbers that would send him to the Grim Reaper.

 

He tried to negotiate with Li Qu.

 

"I admit that you're f*cking strong, but I hold no ill-will towards you! Please, stop!!!"

 

It seemed like Li Qu had absolutely disregarded him– his ring finger drawing back into his palms, displaying a suave victory pose that would make someone who did not know what was going on raise their eyebrows in admiration of his cool pose.

 

But to the horrified 'Six'– his two fingers had signified his expiration time and date.

 

"Two…"

 

Li Qu slightly dragged out his tone as he watched 'Six' mentally break down and rushed towards him in absolute madness.

 

'Six' did not care anymore and sent a flurry of punches towards Li Qu's barrier– his knuckles were bleeding and cracked under the rebounding force.

 

His was numb from the adrenaline rush as he continued to punch without any regards to the well-being of his hands; blood splattering across his bed frame and staining his silk bed sheets with red from the impact– by now he was attacking with pure physical strength.

 

His Gene Ocean had run dry– with only 10% of the total reserve left after controlling Edmundo Lain and attempting to use his ability on Li Qu.

 

It was an amount negligible enough to even affect Li Qu. Furthermore, his powers were useless to him currently as Li Qu had blocked him from using it.

 

Li Qu looked at his last desperate attempt as he slowly put down his middle finger, leaving only the index finger raised, he smiled and similarly dragged out the tone of the countdown.

 

"One…."

 

By now, 'Six' hands were out of commission, he snapped out of his madness and thought to run away– he instantly jumped towards the door and tried to kick it down.

 

Unfortunately for 'Six', he had rebounded on what he felt like an invisible barrier and landed right back, beneath Li Qu's feet.

 

'Six' was alarmed, he kicked the floor and used the force to propel himself a slight distance away from Li Qu and stared at him with bloodshot eyes and ragged breaths– his now useless arms dangling.

 

'F*ck, if only I could use my ability!!! …W-Wait, that's it!'

 

His mind revolved rapidly and thought of a simple way to get what he wanted.

 

He had a final trump card– which was Vision Control.

 

Despite the fact that 'Six' had named his ability 'Vision Control', this ability had a secret that he had not told anyone.

 

It was that he could peer into certain parts of a memory from the affected party. Even the higher-ups of the Church Of Chaos were not privy to his secret.

 

Most importantly, 'Six' could filter through their memories and prayed that one of them contained their weaknesses so that he could use it to his advantage. Even the other Numbered higher-ups had fallen victim to this without even realizing.

 

It was usually fine for him to even look through the whole life of an Ascended– the weaknesses he had obtained through this secret method had been recorded down in a secret list that would cause major uproar throughout the elite echelons of the society were it to be exposed.

 

Li Qu's only remaining finger that was raised closed in to form a complete fist as he chanted the final number that would spell his doom.

 

"Zer-"

 

"WAIT!!!"

 

'Six' interrupted Li Qu before he was too late and hurriedly screamed in an attempt to rouse Li Qu's interest for a challenge.

 

"Since you're so powerful, let me use my f*cking ability on you then!!! DO YOU DARE?! P*ssy a*s b*tch!"

 

'Six' could only come up with a plan to provoke Li Qu into letting him use his Vision Control.

 

He tried to dare Li Qu and hurled profanities in abundance, he had thought that since he was already nearly dead– why should he care?

 

However, who was Li Qu?

 

Needless to say, Li Qu accepted the challenge from 'Six' with a smile as though he could see through what he was thinking.

 

"Oh? Interesting, then I shall allow you to use it on me. Come on."

 

Li Qu snapped his finger and 'Six' could hear a barrier audibly shattering like glass, although he could not see it.

 

'Six' gritted his teeth hard enough that it could be heard clearly and used what was the last remaining 10% of his Gene Ocean reserve to unleash Vision Control towards Li Qu.

 

Click!

 

'Six' could hear a soft clicking in his mind– symbolizing that the connection was established, he looked on cautiously at the man in front of him to see if he was tricked but Li Qu smiled and shrugged his shoulders and urged him to continue.

 

He hurriedly closed his eyes to focus and delved his consciousness into Li Qu's memories to spot any weaknesses he could potentially exploit, albeit rather futilely.

 

As 'Six' was in a panicky and tense state of mind, he had rushed through Li Qu's memories in a quick way– absorbing as much as he could. It seemed like the filtering of memories had been forgotten in a moment of folly.

 

And that was a mistake that would prove fatal.

 

What 'Six' saw were not just any regular memories from any regular person or Ascended, it was memories from the notorious Karmic Banisher himself.

 

"Ah, you read through my memories? That will be quite hard on you…"

 

Li Qu smiled devilishly as if he had already known what 'Six' was going to do– like a mouse running into a trap. Although 'Six' had undeliberately ignored his words.

 

Or rather, unable to respond.

 

On the face of 'Six' was an expression of total mental breakdown, bloodshot eyes that were opened wide with a gaping mouth and staring blankly at the wall.

 

"Hehe… Haha…"

 

The gaping mouth had turned into a demented laugh filled with craze– his mind had broken down. Alas, he did not seem to perceive it.

 

Blood had started slowly flowing out from his eyes, then his nose, and ears.

 

Finally, mouthfuls of blood were coughing out from his mouth as he just continued his giggles without a care; he seemed to not sense that his body was slowly breaking down by itself– along with his mind.

 

'Six' had seen horrifying things from Li Qu's memories.

 

Horrifying enough to make him hysterically scream for the Church Of Chaos higher-ups that they had royally f*cked up.

 

That was if he were to maintain his sanity and life.

 

Li Qu looked at the man that had mentally and physically broken down in front of him– he laughed at the preposterousness of 'Six' attempting to read his memory.

 

'I knew he had that ability through looking at his Karmic Lines, but to think he really did it… Simply admirable, that bravery is respectable!'

 

Interestingly enough, Li Qu had given some 'considerations' to 'Six'.

 

Li Qu had only allowed him to peer into the memories that contained highlights of the times of his peak and the massacres to let him broaden his horizons– truly hateful.

 

'Six' had precisely felt the immensity of heaven from Li Qu– a being so absurdly powerful that he made the Church Of Chaos appear to be like little children role-playing supervillains.

 

Miniscule and insignificant like a bug– that was all 'Six' felt.

 

When 'Six' first sent his consciousness towards one of the memory fragments, he had discovered that Li Qu's memories, were in fact, not from Earth– a place filled with so much death that the sky was dyed red engulfed him.

 

…