After the two people collided in mid-air, they quickly split apart. When they landed on the ground, the two people made two shocking remarks respectively:
"You're not alive—"
"You are alive!"
In that instant, it was as if they had their roles reversed. The woman who was the leader of the spirits was ironically a human made of flesh and blood. Compared to Lin Sanjiu, she was a true, genuine human. When the two collided, Lin Sanjiu felt the body warmth radiating from under the woman's hooded cape.
However, that was not what shocked Lin Sanjiu the most.
Lin Sanjiu, with her higher consciousness body, was no longer that smoke-like brain she was in the start. Her body had been condensed and strengthened to an extreme level. She had rushed toward that woman with a few tonnes of impact force. Even her regular punch was sufficient to cause significant damage because her fists were as hard as a diamond. However, the woman seemed unfazed, like she could not feel anything at all.
Lin Sanjiu, instead, was hurt from the recoil of the impact. This was the first time Lin Sanjiu felt any recoil from her attack since her body was completed.
"I didn't expect that," the south wing woman said softly. "What are you? You don't seem like a duoluozhong. Um, but you don't seem like a creation from someone's ability either."
Lin Sanjiu's face stiffened and she didn't say a word. Her opponent was still hidden by her dark, black cape. Other than a fleeting glimpse of her hand, the woman had not even revealed a strand of hair.
Without making any unnecessary remarks, Lin Sanjiu rushed forward without warning. This time, she fully utilized the advantages she had fighting with her higher consciousness body. Her body was like a sturdy fortress yet could also be as lithe as smoke. When her fist was about to hit the caped woman's face, Lin Sanjiu's arms suddenly twisted in an angle that was impossible for a normal human, and she aimed her fist at the woman's abdomen. Just as before, she used an overwhelming amount of strength.
However, Lin Sanjiu was shocked that her unpredictable manner of attack was useless against the woman. The caped woman did not even bother to dodge and just allowed Lin Sanjiu's fist to sink deep into her abdomen.
Nobody with a normal body made of flesh and bones could receive this sort of blow unscathed. Lin Sanjiu was confident that if she landed this punch on Puppeteer, Hei Zeji or Silvan, it would definitely cause some harm. Unfortunately, the sensation she felt from her fist wasn't quite right—
Lin Sanjiu was very sure she hit her target as she felt the woman's soft abdomen through her fist. She could clearly even feel the movement of the woman's organs from the impact point. Lin Sanjiu was puzzled by the woman's nonchalance but, the next second, she felt a vicious blow hit her own stomach.
The strength of that attack was almost as powerful as her own punch. Lin Sanjiu was immediately flung into mid-air. She had never received such a powerful blow before. If there were blood running through her higher consciousness body, she would definitely be spitting blood now. Even with a body as strong as a diamond, she felt her abdomen muscles quiver from the impact.
Lin Sanjiu somersaulted in mid-air and stopped the backward momentum. Lin Sanjiu held her stomach as she landed back on the ground. Her expression turned grim.
"This is your ability?" She quietly examined the caped woman from head to toe, "You can reflect an attack directed at you back to your attacker?"
If that was the case, everything could be explained. Rena must have activated another stronger book page after the first one seemed to be ineffective. The teenage girl definitely couldn't anticipate that the stronger the attack, the greater the damage she would receive, so she lost one life.
"You aren't stupid," the caped woman said with a casual tone. "You're correct. I don't mind telling you the details."
[Mirror]
No female can imagine living without this item. However, meeting someone with this ability in battle isn't good news.
As the name implies, the owner of Mirror can reflect attacks. Using a less than apt metaphor, just as a mirror reflects lights, an enemy's attack would be reflected back. The more powerful the attack is, the stronger the reflected attack. However, the reflected attack would never be stronger than the original.
"I can also tell you something," the caped woman smiled. "When I activate this ability, I will not feel anything when your attack lands on me.
"I can just stand here without moving and let you just hit me. Oh, it not only works with your fist. I can also reflect any Special Item effects, evolved abilities, and others. Whatever it is, it will still work. However, I am worried that before the battle even ends, you would be killed by all of your own attacks," she gradually raised the tone of her voice, as if to show pity.
"Can't you understand? I can attack you but you can't attack me. That being said, everyone here is practically dead if I want it… You better hand over the books to me now! My ability could be the most formidable ability in all apocalyptic worlds because it doesn't have a weakness!"
After she said the last word, the caped woman's loud voice echoed through the library. Everyone heard her penetrating, clear voice and their faces turned pale.
"How can I defeat someone like this?" Lin Sanjiu had a disheartening though but immediately repressed it. She absolutely wouldn't allow herself to just accept the current situation as it is.
Lin Sanjiu watched the caped woman standing in the dim light and she quickly thought through what the woman said. She felt like a fox which was trying to deal with a hedgehog with steel spines. She did not know how she could attack the woman and if she wasn't careful, she might hurt herself.
If she thought about it rationally, nothing was lacking about the logic behind her opponent's ability. She could not think of any way to circumvent the woman's ability. However, Lin Sanjiu just had the inkling that the caped woman was definitely hiding an important information from her. That information was definitely the crucial weakness of the woman's ability.
No one's ability was invincible.
The atmosphere became very tense. While Lin Sanjiu was thinking, both herself and the caped woman just stared at each other silently.
"Huh?"
After a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu suddenly froze for a second.
Lin Sanjiu had just already stopped attacking for more than ten seconds. She stopped attacking because she worried about the reflected attacks. This was understandable. But, why wasn't the caped woman attacking her?
If she thought about it carefully, other than that first collision, the caped woman had not taken any initiative to attack her.
"Could it be that the cost of having the [Mirror] ability, is that one's attack will become weak?"
But even so, that didn't solve anything. Even if the woman's natural attacks were weak, Lin Sanjiu still couldn't harm that woman in any way. Besides, the woman had not even used any Special Items yet. That didn't mean that she wouldn't use them.
While Lin Sanjiu started feeling vexed about the situation and was at a loss, she suddenly had a grasp on something.
"She mentioned... mirror?"