Is.h.i.+da stared at the girl.
She had lifted a cat into the air as if it was baby Simba in The Lion King.
He had no clue what she was up to.
The answer was provided shortly when a flood of light burst from the cat"s body.
Hallelujah!
You could almost hear the sweet sounds of angels singing in the background as the darkened room was illuminated instantly, driving the shadows away. The shadow spikes that hovered in the air dissolved into dust.
" Bakayaro ," Is.h.i.+da hissed under his breath.
He sent the remaining spikes in the direction of the little rats.
"Did you think that light is enough to stop me?"
To their surprise, the spikes did not ram into them. Instead, they made a sudden left turn and headed for the desks and chairs that were strewn around the office. The spikes scooped them into the air and formed a wall of furniture that blocked Fish Ball"s light.
Once again, the room descended into darkness. This time, however, the blinding light bounced off the surface of the furniture, casting ten times more shadows around the room than before.
"The stronger the light, the stronger the shadow!" Is.h.i.+da"s laughed maniacally, "Light and shadow are two sides of the same coin. You"ve just sealed your own fate."
Xiao Yu chuckled darkly at his words. She pulled Fish Ball"s glued limbs apart, setting him free from the awful gla.s.s cement.
The cat got up on his hind legs in one swift motion. He raised one paw to the ceiling and stuck one towards the ground, hips popped like John Travolta in Sat.u.r.day Night Fever.
Fish Ball meowed at the shadows. It meant, "Who gave you permission to slight the power of the sun, b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"
With that, he amped up the power.
Fish Ball"s entire body lit up like a dis...o...b..ll, sending flas.h.i.+ng lights spinning around the room in a flurry.
Now that the light source was moving, the shadows started moving as well. They s.h.i.+fted from one location to another rapidly. One moment, they would be on the ceiling. The next, they would be on the floor. Then, they would be somewhere in the middle.
Is.h.i.+da was right. Light and shadow were two sides of the same coin. When the light changed, the shadow had to too.
That meant that he was in for a rough time.
Since Is.h.i.+da was submerged in a shadow, he was sent flying around the room as the lights danced across it. He was flung from one place to another mercilessly, as if he was on the world"s most intense and least fun roller coaster.
The integrity of shadow spikes was affected as well. They drew their strength from their source shadows, which kept changing positions and sometimes disappeared altogether. It did not take long for the spikes to fall apart.
Is.h.i.+da was falling apart as well, at least emotionally. He was being tossed across so quickly that he was left disoriented and unbelievably nauseous.
The vomit that emerged from one of the shadows was a testament to that.
"Stop! Stop right now!" he yelled.
Xiao Yu held onto Fish Ball and shouted, "Do not stop! Go brighter, faster!"
Fish Ball chuckled self-indulgently. He looked very pleased with himself at the moment, a far cry from the pathetic figure he cut just minutes ago.
"That was just the sampler," Fish Ball said, "Now, it"s time for him to have a taste of my Ultimate Light of Divinity and Justice!"
There was a hum in the air as Fish Ball seemed to explode with light that flitted and darted across the office with alarming alacrity. It would dim, brighten, and change directions dozens of times each second, causing the room to spin.
It caused a headache for anyone watching and meant a lot worse for Is.h.i.+da.
His was being teleported from one shadow to another dozens of times in a second. It was too much for his body and mind to handle. He was getting dangerously disoriented and was starting to lose his grip on reality.
It felt very much like being a sock in a was.h.i.+ng machine that spun at the speed of light.
Is.h.i.+da threw himself out of the shadows. He collapsed onto the floor, where he started vomiting down his front.
The puking only stopped when Zhao Xue rushed forward and struck him in the head.
He fell into his own pool of vomit, unconscious.
Zhao Xue shot him a look of disgust.
Black Panther stopped next to her, studying Is.h.i.+da curiously.
"So this is the guy who has been trying to kill us? Why don"t we just finish him now?" he suggested, pulling a small knife from his pocket.
Fish Ball had stopped emitting light by now. He was clearly exhausted. He had collapsed on his belly on top of Xiao Yu"s head.
"I can"t anymore. I"ve run out of power."
He nudged his face against Xiao Yu"s lovingly.
"Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu," he meowed, "I"ve been useful, haven"t I? Nekomata, help me talk to her."
Nekomata had the ability to communicate with a person telepathically.
However, he did not want to put his power to use right now. Instead of asking for mercy on Fish Ball"s behalf, he simply smiled at him and said, "Hang in there. Xiao Yu is still pretty furious with you right now. Be a well-behaved and st.u.r.dy flashlight and she will forgive you one day."
"Fine," FIsh Ball grumbled.
He let out a deep sigh, then willed himself to remain positive. With a determined nod, he held onto Xiao Yu"s head and let out two beams of light from his eyes, morphing into her personal flashlight once more.
Xiao Yu stopped next to Is.h.i.+da"s unmoving body and kicked him.
"This guy is trouble. Even if we tie him up, he"ll be able to jump into a shadow and escape."
As the trio deliberated over what they should do next, their surroundings started to change. The temperature was dipping. It was a steady drop that did not stop. It reached the point that when Zhao Xue exhaled, her breath came out as a white fog.
"Wait, something"s happening."
Black Panther wrapped his arms around his body. "It"s gotten a lot colder."
Their conversation was interrupted by the pitter patter of footsteps from a distance. All of them turned their heads towards the sound. They could make out the large figure of a man hurtling towards them clumsily.
Meng Hao let out a yelp of pain as he tripped and crashed into the ground.
He was in beast mode. Even though that meant that he was far stronger, swifter, and st.u.r.dier than any human, perhaps even Zhao Xue, he was severely injured. Blood stains marred his body. The exposed skin on his arms and back were bruised.
He lifted his head and looked into Zhao Xue"s eyes.
His lips trembled as he spoke, "Run...run now!"
Zhao Xue had seen what Meng Hao looked like as a half-beast before. She recognized him and immediately helped him up.
"Meng Hao, what happened?"
He just shook his head. "Just go, quickly! He"s coming!"
"Who"s coming?" Zhao Xue asked, "Don"t be afraid, Meng Hao. We"ve defeated the shadow man. We"re powerful. We can protect ourselves."
She had hoped to comfort him, but he was not listening.
"Not shadows. It"s the devil. He"s coming for us. You"ve got to go," he repeated.
He tried to push her away.
Xiao Yu pursed her lips. "This guy"s a bit of a wuss."
The moment she said that, more footsteps could be heard echoing from the darkness. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped again. Black Panther s.h.i.+vered from the cold.
Meng Hao was trying to wring Zhao Xue"s hands off now.
"He"s coming. The devil is coming! Go! You have to go!"
She blinked at him but did not make a move.
This angered him.
"You will regret it. All of you! He"ll kill each and every one of you!"
"Shut up," Xiao Yu said, waving a hand in the air.
She used her phantom power to clamp his lips together.
Then, she turned her head to the source of the footsteps.
"It"s coming."
As the sounds grew louder, the lights in the room seemed to dim and dull. Each thump caused a lightbulb in the ceiling to shatter and the room eventually descended into darkness once more.
Soon, the only light came from Fish Ball.