The sudden loss of connection triggered a recoil, hitting Zenoba hard within his mind. Immediately a searing headache blurred his vision for a few moments, making him unable to respond to Rihanna's words.
Rihanna didn't care. She was more concerned about the two men, who still seemed to be affected by the streams of grey energy.
This was one of the ancient arrays she had obtained within the dimension. It was both a trapping array, and also a killer array. The ones outside could still attack the one caught inside. But the attacks of the one inside would only rebound back onto him.
Artreya had set up the entire formation while she was still controlling Ganombi to poison Zenoba on the other side. But it was very complicated, and took a long time to activate. Thus she had no choice but allow Uncle Yaoi and Artreya to distract Zenoba, so she could silently activate the array.
'Stupid girl....why don't you release the purple energy. That energy can protect them from the grey energy.'
Rihanna turned and stared at Phantasm in a daze, then suddenly snapped out of it.
Of course. Little Purple had left some of his energy with her. Taking a deep breath, Rihanna forced some of the purple energy out through her fingers, sending it directly into the minds of the two men. As the dark purple energy slowly seeped inside, a warmth wrapped around their throbbing brains, cooling down the pain and calming their mind.
The grey energy could feel the threat coming from the purple energy, but being cut off from their source, they could only cower around, trying to escape in other parts of the body.
As the grey energy left the mind, and under the calming effect of the purple energy, the two of them gradually felt their senses returning. Waves of warmth encompassed their mind, allowing them to concentrate on their inner energy. Under the instructions of Rihanna, both Artreya and Uncle Yaoi sat down to regulate their own chaotic energy, and also disperse off the remaining grey energy within their body.
Being hit by the recoil, it had taken Zenoba some time to sense that he was stuck inside an array. This feeling of being trapped enraged him further, and he randomly bombarded the barrier, trying to break through the array.
Unfortunately, he discovered too late that it was not a simple trapping array. Each of his metal-fire missiles hit the barrier and boomeranged back on him with an increased intensity. Moreover, trapped within the confines of the array, there was not much space to evade all the attacks.
By the time Rihanna turned her focus back to what was happening inside the array, Zenoba was already disheveled and carried multiple bleeding wounds all over his body.
Rihanna snorted inwardly. This array was good. It not only increased the intensity of the rebound attacks, if the power of the attacks were too high to be contained, it would even absorb the excess power and throw it towards the outside.
But this array was not going to last for a very long time. Because it's strength and power depended upon the person who activated it. And though she could probably fight one-on-one with someone in first stage of Sprouting, Zenoba was beyond her capability.
But it was still enough to give her the required amount of time. She stared at Zenoba who had already realized that he wouldn't be able to break through this barrier in this way.
Sensing the gaze, he turned his eyes upwards to glare at Rihanna. The fine red veins covering the whites of his eyes showed that he had already stepped into the berserk state. His energy and power would be heightened, making him doubly powerful.
But it also meant that anger and hatred had already clouded his senses, and his mind was losing to the crazy state of the body.
Zenoba stared back with bloodlust. His deepest desire was ripping apart this girls head from her body and drinking her blood. He felt only by doing so could he appease his anger. He wanted t drown himself in her blood and flesh....bathe in it!
"You think this stupid barrier can keep me confined! You overestimate yourself!! Run....run little girl...run before I tear apart this barrier like a sheet of thin bark....grind it to dust! And no matter where you run to.....I will find you....and I will make you experience hell while being alive!"
Rihanna took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. She knew that this man was trying to shake her mind with his beast-like snarls and threats. But this was not the moment for her to break down. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She had planned for this exact moment. Now no matter how it ended, she was not going down with a fight.
Zenoba was laughing inside the barrier like a maniac. The laughter sent shivers down Artreya's back, and even Uncle Yaoi frowned deeply, trying to maintain his focus on his recuperation. He needed to recover fast so he could help the girl.
Calming down slightly, Zenoba decided to change his strategy. Since the barrier could trap his metal and fire energy, he needed to use his other power. After all, there were hardly any barriers which could trap mental powers.
Zenoba closed his eyes to focus his mind on the grey energy running around his spirit root, then using his mind, he sent out a thick stream to penetrate the barrier. The grey energy hit the barrier and gradually disappeared. Zenoba laughed again, crazily happy with this accomplishment.
But before he could continue being happy, a thicker stream of the same grey energy rebounded back from the barrier and attacked his mind heavily.
Even though it was his own energy, the sheer amount and intensity of the attack threw Zenoba to his knees, and he couldn't stop vomiting blood. His pristine white clothes were soaked in blood and sweat, making him look pathetic. He looked up, staring at the array in confusion and disbelief.
"This array generally cannot confine mental powers...unless another mental ability user adds his or her energy to the base formation of the array."
Zenoba turned to stare at Rihanna with red eyes. He frowned, trying to understand what she was saying. Looking straight into his eyes, Rihanna opened her eyes wide in challenge as she raised a finger and then pointed at herself. A tiny smirk lifted the corners of her lips. Comprehending what she was trying to say, Zenoba's blood-red eyes opened wider.
"Impossible! You are merely a commoner. Do you think depending on a tool can help you save your life?! You had better stop this right now, or I will truly make you wish you had died right now!"
"Hmph! When I destroy you, I hope you remember it was your own misconceptions which led you to underestimate your opponent."
Taking a step back Rihanna closed her eyes to focus. Then streams of wind, ice, fire and mind energy started bombarding at Zenoba through the barrier.
This is why she had selected this particular barrier even though it was time consuming. It not only trapped and rebounded the insiders powers, it also enhanced all attacks from the outside manifold times.
Uncle Yaoi, who had just finished stabilizing his energy and had stood up to join the fight was shocked silly.
This girl not only had Ice and Fire power, but also wind power....and she was even a mental ability user?! Just what kind of a monster was she?!!
Zenoba opened his eyes wider till they looked like saucers as he stared in complete disbelief at the waves of energy coming towards him. He could clearly see the all the energies emanating from her fingers, which meant that there was no tool...she was an energy user! Impossible! She did not have a spirit root! How could she possibly cultivate using elemental energy? Even devil cultivators could not use elemental energy!
It was only when the first wave of energy hit him, that he was shaken out of his thoughts. He twisted his body, trying to evade the barrage of attacks coming towards him relentlessly. With the increased power of each attack, even at his Sprouting Level he was having difficulty holding on. Just how powerful was this girl? Why had he not discovered this before?!
Uncle Yaoi too shook himself out of his surprise and joined the fray, attacking with earth and fire energy from another side of the array. Very soon Artreya too joined the two. The combined effort of the three was slowly taking a toll on Zenoba.
As his energy started draining out, the berserk mode faltered, further lowering his power and energy. Zenoba stumbled around the array, as more and more wounds opened up on his body. His clothes had long lost their defense abilities, and now hung in tatters, barely covering anything.
His long hair had come undone, and turned into thick knots under the wind blades. Blood seeped out of the long, deep wounds, turning his body colder and more frigid. The ice covered the ground, becoming thicker and thicker as they slowly climbed up his legs.
"You.....you are a Mental Ability User!.....Ha-ha....Ha-ha-ha-ha....let me go....I can help you. I have many techniques and skills which you will not be able to find anywhere else. There are not many Mental Ability users after all. Let me go, and I will take you in as my disciple. My direct disciple. I will train you in mind powers...."
Uncle Yaoi paused in his attacks to glance at Rihanna. He was unsure what the girl was planning to do, but this was not a bad deal. That is....if he really kept his words. Was she going to take the chance and risk it?
Even Artreya felt confused, and the intensity of his attacks lessened. He couldn't really blame her if she decided to take this deal. As he said....there were really not many mental ability users. he took a peek at Rihanna to see what she was thinking.