"Nenene, the Allfather is much more handsome than your stupid Brother Shin!"
"Yipyipyip! Say that again! I dare you! I double-dare you!!!"
The two young lolis bickered on, shooting vicious words after vicious words at one another. Bingbing bared her adorable canine teeth while channelling her most potent mana. The Ice-Elements floated all around her, creating a frosty aura that could easily bring an active volcano down to cool.
On the other hand, Momo was shifting her fingers like a mad conductor, shifting her mana from place to place without any struggle. A grim and lifeless aura shrouded the little pink-haired girl, creating an atmosphere of dread and death. Bingbing felt her organs turn each time she looked at Momo, the seemingly innocent being with bright eyes and an innocent face. Even as a Tier 9 Spirit Beast, Bingbing felt the urge to run to the hills rather than to face the menace of the Moon Rabbit. Alas, how could she abandon her post and possibly endanger Shin?
"Yip!" With a yelp, the white-haired loli fired the first strike. Spreading her arms out like an eagle, a burst of cold energy dashed forward like a cobra moving in on its prey.
Every blade of grass, every grain of rock… In that single second, every single object in that cold burst's path… Was turned into ice. Glowing mist emerged from the frozen ground, and any lifeform that dared to tread its path were instantly chilled down to their innards. It was Bingbing's greatest ability, one that turned her entire field of view into the terrain that best suited her powers. The Domain of Ice.
"Nenene… It's cold..." Momo grimaced in annoyance. She raised her left hand up, and dark essence moved from her fingertips into her palms, generating a spectral shield capable of defending against a meteor strike. The cold burst was unable to penetrate that vastly defensive barrier and could only fade into nothingness as it passed Momo by.
"Yipyip… Not powerful enough," Bingbing furrowed her brows in disappointment. Though she knew that the fight wasn't going to be easy, the Tier 9 Kamaitachi thought that she could at least faze Momo just a little bit. Alas, the Moon Rabbit wasn't called the third strongest Noble Beast in the Black Masks for nothing.
"Nenene… If you're not going to tell me where Kin and Gin are… Die, will you?" The pink-haired girl tilted her head to a side before raising her left arm heavenwards. Pushing her mana to the absolute brink, Momo sent forth a surge of rapidly spinning dark mist. Clouds hung overhead, taking the image of the Grim Reaper ready to claim the lives of those it so desperately deserves.
Bingbing, the Ice-Elemental Spirit Beast, was no stranger to the cold. In fact, she was a creature that relishes sub-zero temperatures. Yet, while Bingbing's eyes caught sight of those ominous clouds, her entire spine froze as her feet became paralysed. It was cold… But it wasn't the cold that Bingbing so loved. It was the freezing temperature… of fear.
"Yipyip!" Being the Spirit Beast that she was, Bingbing was acutely in tune with her instincts. There was no need for any further movement from the clouds, the little white-haired girl was already retreating at her maximum speed. And it was a good thing that she moved as quickly as she did…
Blop… Blop… Blop…
Black grime dripped down from the dark clouds, looking like a filthy sewage leakage. It smelled absolutely horrendous, highly reminiscent to that of an open graveyard where corpses were left to rot in the open, as wild dingos and vultures feasted and defecated as they pleased. Lighting crackled from the inner layers of the grim clouds while more and more of those disgusting liquid dripped down into the open.
'Yipyipyip!!! What the hell is that?!' Bingbing screamed inwardly.
Before the battle against Momo, Zishen had given her a cursory briefing of the Moon Rabbit's abilities. The Moon Rabbit uses the power of corpses, using them like a puppeteer would when fighting her own battles. Controlling any dead body, the Moon Rabbit could use the powers of her dead to protect herself, which was sorely needed. See, her body was frail and weak for a Tier 9 Spirit Beast, and she lacked the physical attributes to defend herself against a drastic onslaught. Which means that the ideal method to defeat the Moon Rabbit was to take her on directly without any of her puppets to protect her.
Hence, Bingbing attempted to freeze Momo from the get-go. But who could have guessed that the Moon Rabbit enhanced by the Allfather's mana would have such a ghastly new technique?
"Nenene… Allfather, give me power..." Momo let out a silent prayer, and an explosion of black mana erupted out. Bingbing's Domain of Ice instantly melted away, and a smouldering field of black flames engulfed the pink-haired girl's immediate surroundings.
None of Bingbing's ice remained, and a darkened sanctuary enveloped the Moon Rabbit. Tall trees and towering boulders appeared out of nowhere, while the sonorous sound of hot spring water flowed in the background. The sky within the sanctuary changed as well. It was no longer the dim sky of the afternoon, but the starry patch of celestial night that all Moon Rabbits were synonymous for. Not to mention, an illusory full moon beamed down from the ersatz sky, making the world ever more confusing.
"A world within a world?!" Lady Seph, who had been observing her companion beast and her opponent, let out a tense scream. "I'd thought only immortals are able to create that!!!"
"Mmmm… Normally, that would be the case," Zishen agreed. It made sense that Immortals that had unshackled their very souls from the cycle of life to be capable of godly feats. One of which would be the creation of their very own utopia realm. Yet, the Moon Rabbit that Bingbing was facing was showing her capabilities of pulling off such a feat.
"Mmmm… But look closely… That world isn't a true realm. Just a figment of a garden." The Azure Dragon Lord made the link almost instantaneously. Yes, there was a beautiful sky and a shockingly real moon hanging within the created world. However, the land area itself was barely able to match the size of a football field.
"You're right..." Lady Seph gulped as she took a second look. The initial surprise had fried her mental functions for a few seconds, so her analytical skills weren't as refined as they normally were. With her mind a little calmer, Lady Seph could clearly see the shortcomings in Momo's sanctuary.
"The spiritual energies holding the place in unstable and the aspects within the realm aren't real at all. Just mirror phantoms that could fall with the slightest touch," Lady Seph analysed. "However, that doesn't mean that it's a failed ability… The sky itself is as real as our own night sky!"
"Mmmm… That's the Moon Rabbit for you," Zishen snorted. "Do you think that the lassy can hold up against her for a few minutes? I'll take down this giant as soon as I can."
The Azure Dragon Lord was still entangled in a battle with Momo's Giant-Type Zombie. It was nowhere near the level of the Primordial Beast, but its tenacity was beyond any other Spirit Beast that the Azure Dragon Lord had ever faced. If left unchecked, it could easily smash the protective barrier of the closed chambers, potentially ruining Shin's chance of questioning his two captives. Thus, it was better if Zishen focused all of his attention in crippling the rotting giant. Though, that would leave Bingbing all alone to fend against the dastardly Moon Rabbit.
"Bingbing, she..." Lady Seph turned back and looked at her companion beast with anxiety. Kamaitachis weren't normally meant to grow to Tier 9. It was due to the Himmel Empire's experimentation that Bingbing had managed to enhance herself to such a state, and even without that gene ambiguity, there was no guarantee that Bingbing could defeat one of the Black Masks' most powerful Spirit Beasts.
However, as Lady Seph was about to fly to Bingbing to give a helping hand, the skies above turned utterly overcast. Massive particles of snow fell, and they slowly got bigger and bigger, until…
Shiillllliinnnggggg!!! Shiillllliinnnggggg!!! Shiillllliinnnggggg!!!
Many of the snow particles congregated into heavy icicles, and they rained down like shrapnel. Momo's Garden was instantly caught under the heavy fire, and she had to move the Allfather's mana to protect her head. The silver rain ripped through the air, slamming down sharp vengeance upon the mana umbrella that Momo had created. Some managed to slip through her defences and broke down some of the faux trees and rocks in the Moon Rabbit's valley, wreaking temporary havoc upon the poor Momo.
"YIPYIPYIP!!! I won't let you near Brother Shin!!!" The Kamaitachi shrieked, her face flushed with a mixture of anger and protectiveness.
"NENENE!!! I'll let to see you try!!!"
The two lolis continued to exchange words as they venomously spewed mana in one another's direction.
"Ah..." The blonde beauty hung her jaw down for a little before breaking out a bitter smile. "These two are powerful Spirit Beasts, but they're minds are akin to that of a five-year-old… Zishen, I think that Bingbing should be able to hold!"
"Mmmm… That's fantastic..." The Azure Dragon Lord said. "For now, we take down the Moon Rabbit's goons. Once they're defeated, we can then take the Moon Rabbit down!"
"Affirmative," Lady Seph nodded while her angelic powers flowed into President Ingram and his explosive hammer. "You heard the dragon, let's end this quickly!"