With Roly Poly cradled in his arms, Zhao Yao was able to remain invisible as he walked down the pa.s.sageway.
Now that Champion had recognized him, he had to conceal himself extra carefully. This required not only invisibility but Elizabeth"s illusory powers as well. They ensured that no one would be able to see, hear, or even smell him.
This should be at least 99% effective. Unfortunately, Butcher belonged to the 1% that could still sense his presence.
After all, the illusions were carried and spread by sound waves. Having fought Zhao Yao before, Butcher knew how this worked. In fact, he had previously strained the muscles in his ears to block out the waves to protect himself from their reverberations.
He had experienced first-hand what they felt like and the familiar sensations warned him that danger was coming, even though Zhao Yao was still hundreds of meters away.
"You must all retreat immediately! Hurry! If not, it"ll be too late."
The bulk of the apostles were at a loss at how to respond to the Butcher"s frightened outburst. Indigo, however, burst into raucous laughter.
"Well, well, Butcher. The bark is certainly worse than the bite," he taunted, "Won"t you look at your face right now? You"re as terrified as a child. Not to worry, I promise not to bully you…"
"Idiot! Do you think I would be afraid of you?" Butcher spat, "He is coming. If you want to live to see tomorrow, you will listen to me and run."
He then shouted wildly, his voice echoing through the hall, "G.o.d of Death! You"ve made enemies with the wrong man. You must order a retreat instantly or we will all be dead. Your apostle is not just some man. He is the Headless Horseman!"
"So what if he is this Headless Horseman? If I want him, I will get him," G.o.d of Death"s defiant response boomed through the phone in Ah Kong"s hand, "For Christ"s sake, get a grip on yourself, Butcher. I command you to stay here with Team Flash and finish him."
"You are truly out of your depth here. This is the Headless Horseman we are talking about!" Butcher snarled, "Tank Top, Black Robe, we"re leaving. Now."
He knew perfectly well the true horror of the Horseman"s powers. The apostles here were not his match. He did not want to think about what catastrophe would befall them if they were defeated and captured.
"Boss, is the Headless Horseman really here?"
Tank Top and Black Robe had not quite reached the height of the Butcher"s abilities yet, so they could not detect the approaching sound waves. Naturally, they were a little skeptical of what seemed to be an overreaction to nothing.
"Headless Horseman? Isn"t that the Jiangmen City Cat King endorsed by the authorities?" Indigo piped in, boring his eyes into the Butcher, "G.o.d of Death, sir, as I"ve said before, these three beefcakes are of no use to you. Team Flash can single-handedly solve any problem that comes your way."
"You idiots," Butcher seethed.
He knew that there was no point trying to convince these morons that fighting the Horseman was futile. They would have to learn this the hard way. When they fall at his feet, G.o.d of Death would know that he was telling the truth. However, he was not going to wait around for that to happen. He grabbed onto Tank Top and Black Robe, ready to hoist them out of here.
He was just about to make his move when the G.o.d of Death"s voice drifted menacingly from Ah Kong"s phone, "I have no idea what you plan to do next, Butcher, but I do know that if you take one more step, someone will die. The only question is who? Your parents? Your sister? Her husband? I know they"ve got a really cute son as well."
Butcher clenched his jaw tightly, gritting his teeth.
"Don"t. You. Dare," he bellowed.
The G.o.d of Death merely chuckled in response, "Oh, Butcher. You know I don"t joke around. So if I were you, I would turn back and make sure that I get the Horseman."
"It"s too late," Butcher shook his head, "He"s too close. We won"t make it."
The sonic waves were mounting in strength. He cast his eyes on the opening of the tunnel.
"He"s here," he said gravely.
The first thing Zhao Yao saw when he exited the pa.s.sageway was the dozen apostles that had gathered around the clearing. He also spotted a solemn-looking Butcher.
"Ah, Butcher? He looks like he knows I"m here," he sighed.
It seemed that there was no need to conceal himself. He proceeded to swallow Roly Poly, whom needed no illusions or tricks to crawl into his mouth to return to the extradimensional belly.
Without the cat, Zhao Yao instantly materialized into a living, breathing, very normal-looking man.
Indigo sn.i.g.g.e.red. There was nothing extraordinary about this person. He did not hesitate to take a few steps towards Zhao Yao.
"You? You"re the apostle who broke into our facility? I heard you"re the Headless Horseman, Cat King of Jiangmen City?" Indigo asked.
Zhao Yao did not bother responding. Instead, he quickly opened his mission panel to verify if he had failed the task now that his ident.i.ty has been compromised.
"Phew, it"s still there."
Indigo narrowed his eyes at Zhao Yao.
"Hey, Headless Horseman," he demanded, "Did you listen to what I was saying?"
The yellow-haired apostle next to him sneered, "I think he"s gone into shock. He must be a little surprised that there"s so many of us in his welcoming committee."
The red-headed apostle guffawed at his companion"s words. He chimed in, "Butcher, you"re afraid of this guy? Seriously? He doesn"t look too bright, does he? He might be a Cat King, but we all know that"s a label that the authorities stick on their puppets. He"s probably never even seen a real battle before."
Butcher closed his eyes. He did not intend to speak or respond in any way. The men of Ivory had been in power in the south for far too long. They had become too complacent to fear the unknown.
"That"s enough talk," G.o.d of Death"s annoyed voice could be heard, "Grab him."
Indigo was the first to act. As he strode towards Zhao Yao, a silvery glow emerged from his body.
"I"ve heard that you, Headless Horseman, have climbed right to the top in Jiangmen City. Believe me when I say that we are nothing like your previous opponents. You won"t be trampling on us. We are the real deal. We are...the strongest."
There was a certain madness playing on Indigo"s face. However, he was very much alert and attuned to each and every one of Zhao Yao"s actions. Of Team Flash, he was the one responsible for winding him up for a reason.
"Double Rebound. That"s the superpower that I borrowed. Any attack directed at me but will ricochet to its source with double the strength. This is why I must be the first to approach him, while the others cover me. However, if this guy is the careful sort, he might not strike first…"
Indigo was used to leading the trio into battle because of the nature of his abilities. He had hurled himself against a tank"s cannonball once. The impact blew the tank into smithereens. Even Butcher was unable to muster the right amount of strength to trap and destroy him.
As of now, he had never met anyone who could trump the Double Rebound.
He watched as the Horseman finally lifted his head and faced him.
"Things would be a lot easier since I don"t have to conceal my ident.i.ty," Zhao Yao thought.
He then addressed the crowd, "Could those who wish to remain unharmed please raise your hands as a show of surrender?"
Butcher did not need to be told twice. His hand shot into the air instantly. He made Tank Top and Black Robe raise theirs as well. Black Panther, his supercat, and Xiao Ming all raised their respective hands and paws too.
Indigo glowered at Zhao Yao, saying, "My dear boy, the only one here who will be harmed is you!"
With that, he rushed forward, aiming a punch at Zhao Yao"s cheek.
"Come on! Fight me! Fight back!" he thought urgently.
At that moment, Zhao Yao opened his mouth, revealing two wisps of light.
He gave his order telepathically, "Sphynx Cat, please deal with everyone who has not raised a hand."
Swoos.h.!.+
A black figure darted out of his mouth so swiftly that no one spotted it, not even Butcher.
No words could sufficiently describe just how fast and agile Sphynx Cat was. He could accomplish so much in what felt like no time at all. When he reached Indigo, then gently scratched him on the chest with his claws. The cat narrowed his eyes. As the purple-haired teen was knocked off his feet, he felt an ache in his paw. He then zoomed back into Zhao Yao"s mouth and returned to the extradimensional belly.
His interaction with Indigo sparked a sonorous boom. As the teen started flying backward, his face scrunched together in confusion.
"What was that? Who hit me?" he wondered.
At the same time, Sphynx Cat was quite puzzled as well, "It seems that some of my power had been deflected?"
He had to try again. In a millisecond, he had whizzed to Indigo so he could tap him on the chest.
Sphynx Cat wagged his right paw in pain as he rocketed back into Zhao Yao"s mouth. It hurt even more the second time around.
The ache he experienced was nothing compared to the excruciating pain that Indigo was dealt with. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he crashed into the ground. It sounded like lashes were being welted on his body. He spat out a mouthful of blood before pa.s.sing out.
Zhao Yao narrowed his eyebrows in displeasure.
"Sphynx Cat, didn"t I ask you to deal with everyone who hasn"t surrendered?" he questioned.
Ares" answer echoed through the extradimensional belly, "Zhao Yao, you can"t mix friends.h.i.+p with business all the time. We don"t mind helping you out, but you can"t expect Sphynx Cat to do it for free all the time."
Zhao Yao chuckled in response. Privately, he issued the greedy cat a threat, "Ares, if I were to lock you and Sphynx Cat in a bedroom for a month, a bedroom that is well-equipped with soap and condoms that is, what do you think will happen?"
He need not say more.
"Sphynx Cat, listen to the man. Now is now the time to talk about money! There"s an important enemy we must deal with first!" Ares shouted.
Sphynx Cat shot Ares a sultry smile, "Of course, my dear, leave it to me."
Swoos.h.!.+
The apostles had barely registered what had happened to Indigo when the same, undiscernable black figure streaked through them again. This time, the red-haired and yellow-haired teenagers were its first target. They were sent flying through the air and could spare only a frightened glance at Zhao Yao before blacking out.
"What was that?"
"This is insane. We can"t beat it."
"The Headless Horseman… He"s terrifying. Run!"
Chaos broke in the crowd as every apostle tried to escape the wrath of the Horseman. However, they started falling one by one like dominos as the black figure weaved through them.
In the blink of an eye, only Zhao Yao, along with the Butcher and his friends, remained standing.
G.o.d of Death"s voice could be heard from a phone that had fallen to the ground.
"h.e.l.lo? What"s going on? Is anyone there? h.e.l.lo?"