Chapter 391: The Eight Demons!
Aleksei (Rhino) leaped out of the crater.
"Pah!" He spat out a mouthful of dirt, his face contorted with rage. "I don't care what you are! I'm going to crush you!"
Aleksei had never suffered such a disadvantage in a contest of pure strength. He poured every ounce of his energy into a focused charge, thundering toward Silas like a runaway locomotive.
In that instant, a Shadow Ninja appeared beside the unconscious Peter, whisking him away through the shadows. Peter was safely back at home; he needed to rest.
"Is this all you have? Just brute force, you stupid ox?" Silas watched the incoming Rhino with a look of calm indifference.
The nearby police held their breath, eager to see just how powerful this mysterious figure from "Destiny" truly was.
As Aleksei closed within a meter, Silas simply waved his hand, opening a shadow portal directly in the Rhino's path.
"What the—!" Aleksei couldn't brake in time. He dove headfirst into the darkness, reappearing in the middle of a vast, boundless prairie.
"Too slow and too stupid," Silas muttered. He didn't have the patience to play games on a city street. Besides, using his powers in broad daylight made it too easy for people to analyze his abilities; he preferred to remain an enigma. This time, Silas was prepared, while Aleksei had been caught off guard.
"Goodbye." Silas waved to the police, turned, and stepped into the shadow portal himself, following the Rhino to the grassland.
While the officers stood there slack-jawed, they quickly moved to secure the only suspect left at the scene: the Vulture.
The Great Prairie
"Where the hell is this place!" Aleksei looked around in shock. He was just on a city street a second ago. How did it turn into this?
"This is the Green Prairie. It's a perfect place for a rhino like you to live, though the lack of your own kind might be a problem."
Silas arrived right behind him. "Blacklight, turn off the music."
"As you wish, Master," Blacklight obeyed instantly.
"You're dead!" Seeing Silas, Aleksei didn't care where they were. He just wanted to gore this stranger. His powerful leg muscles coiled, and he ran on all fours like a true rhinoceros, kicking up massive clouds of dust and turf as he barreled toward Silas.
Silas planted his feet, reaching out with both palms to catch the Rhino's horns once again.
"Again?!" Before Aleksei could process it, Silas executed a perfect redirection of force.
Flip!
Aleksei sailed high over Silas's head.
BOOM!
The massive body slammed into the earth, creating another meteor-like crater. Silas's movements were fluid and effortless, neutralizing the charge with ease.
"Pah! Pah!" Refusing to give up, Aleksei crawled out of the hole, preparing for another round.
"Stupid Rhino, it's my turn now." Silas wasn't going to stand around waiting. He had recently exchanged some new "toys" from the system and wanted to test them out on Aleksei.
Silas extended a hand toward the Rhino and slowly closed his fingers into a fist. "Rise!"
Rumble!
The ground beneath Aleksei's feet collapsed and reshaped itself. A gargantuan hand made of solid earth erupted from the soil, clenching around the Rhino.
"What is this!" Aleksei tried to leap away, but the earthen fingers snapped shut in an instant. He struggled to brace himself, but the pressure was overwhelming.
Crack... crack... crack...
Aleksei's joints groaned under the strain. It felt as if his body would be crushed into paste at any moment.
"What kind of magic is this!" Aleksei was forced to his knees inside the palm. His back muscles bulged against the weight of the Earth Hand. Just a bit more pressure would have snapped his spine.
"The effect seems excellent." Silas tightened his fist further.
CRUNCH!
The titan-sized hand closed completely, imprisoning Aleksei within a pillar of stone and dust.
"I call this 'Giant Hand Catching a Rhino.' What do you think, Blacklight?" Silas asked, tilting his head.
"..." Blacklight was silent for a moment before replying, "It is... very effective, Master."
"I think so too." Silas smiled, retracting the power. That move came from one of the Eight Demons: The Earth Demon.
The Earth Demon represents the 'Earth' trigram of the Eight Trigrams, possessing total control over the earth. Exchanging his Demon Chi had cost Silas a full million Evil Points. It wasn't that Silas didn't want other powers, but the Chi of the Earth Demon and the Sky Demon were the most affordable.
The prices varied wildly. Water and Wind cost 1.5 million. Moon and Mountain were over 2 million. The most expensive was Fire, not because his fire was the strongest—it's actually the weakest of the Chi—but because he possesses the twelve talismans. The Fire Chi cost 2.5 million, but once Silas has the talismans, the Fire Chi would double their potency and control.
Currently, Silas had exchanged for two: Earth and Moon. He chose Earth for its sheer utility, and Moon because it was terrifyingly powerful. His gravity control was broken, including abilities like Lunar Gravity, Vacuum Survival, and even powers reminiscent of the Rinnegan.
"Open." Silas commanded the earthen hand to part, revealing a semi-conscious Aleksei.
"Hey! Wake up. You have a busy day ahead." A Shadow Ninja appeared with a bucket of water and doused the Rhino.
Splash!
"Cough! Cough!" Aleksei bolted awake. One moment he was being crushed, the next the hand was gone. But the massive shadow of the earthen structure proved it wasn't a dream.
"Look over here, ox." Silas beckoned with his finger.
"You again!" Aleksei prepared to roar, but he glanced at the stone hand behind him with genuine fear.
"Don't worry, I won't use that again." Silas waved his hand, and the earthen structure sank back into the ground as if it had never existed.
"Hahaha! Your funeral!" Aleksei cheered and charged again. Without that hand, he didn't fear Silas at all.
"Almighty Push (Shinra Tensei)!" Silas spread his arms. An invisible wall of repulsive force expanded outward from his body.
BANG!
Aleksei felt as though he had slammed into an unbreakable wall of air. A massive repulsive force sent him tumbling backward through the grass.
"That's very useful." Silas flexed his hands. Aleksei was the perfect test subject—thick-skinned and durable. Silas was like a baby learning to crawl with these new powers; he had the potential to run like a demon, but he had to master the basics first.
"Again!"
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