154 I Like You

Seeing her almost at his back, Virus couldn't help but think, 'It seems that's the limit for the Initial Configuration...'

By now, Hadelia was almost right behind him and if he didn't do anything immediately, he was sure to lose, the very next moment.

'Still... It's a little hard to believe that a girl who began from the same fifth stage as I forced me to use this...' Virus was truly impressed by this girl called Hadelia now and that's why he decided to face her more seriously.

So, after this thought passed through his head, abruptly, Virus' eyes turned extremely sharper as he sent his new command to the ring.

'Trigger Median Configuration –– Fragmentary Integument!'

Instantly after this new command arrived at its destination, the Machine gun started to retract into a dot of pitch black ball before separating into four new smaller black dots.

Then, each dot began to move toward a different destination as they charged at Virus' left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg as they entered from under his pants and sleeves.

Afterward, just in a heartbeat, both his legs and arms were covered with those pitch black scales as the distance between each scale also began to shine in bright blue light as if blue colored lava was moving among the scales.

Also, since the size of this new configuration was bigger than his pants and his sleeves, they were both ripped apart the very next moment.

By now, his opponent's short sword was almost upon him.

However, without paying any attention to that, with an extremely fast speed, Virus raised his hand in front of his face as he pondered, 'Hmm... this is much better... because my body's movement and reaction speed is so limited compared to my thought speed and thought process that it always feels like I'm caged inside my own body... but with this, at least... my body can respond a little bit faster to my wishes and thoughts...'

After that, he began to move his body with a monstrous amount of speed as he was behind Hadelia the next instant, staring at her slashing with her short sword at his previous empty location.

By now, other viewers' eyes had popped out of their sockets as they stared at the scene in front of them in shock!

At first, they had thought the match would be over soon with Hadelia's victory, but, the next moment, a series of extraordinary events happened which changed the whole situation a hundred and eighty degrees around.

First, it all began with Virus disappearing from his previous location.

Then, what happened next seemed like witnessing a bolt of blue lightning to most disciples as they couldn't perceive what was really happening when Virus moved in extreme speed.

As a result, to them, when Virus did move, it seemed they were witnessing a bolt of blue lightning or blue blur move around.

However, most elders were an exception to this as they were able to follow Virus' movements with their naked eyes and see him move behind Hadelia.

However, from the disciples' point of view, after witnessing a simple blue blur, the next thing they saw petrified them to no ends, because a moment before, they were watching Virus almost about to be hit with his opponent's short sword, and the next moment, he was standing right behind Hadelia.

Standing behind Hadelia though, Virus had sunk into deep thought as he watched Hadelia's double slash without making any movements.

What had really happened to Virus with the scales was that after they had covered his arms and legs, they had become a part of him, a part of his whole body, like the skin which covered the flesh of the body and this was achieved through the use of blue lights which seemed to be the only thing which existed between Virus' skin and the pitch black scales.

Though Virus knew this transformation wasn't exactly permanent, so it couldn't be considered him becoming one with the scales either. More specifically, the scales were only a temporary part of Virus' body which could be undone if he wished for any time.

Moreover, what this new body part was doing to him at this moment was that his arms and legs no longer used his bones and muscles as its foundation to move around or keep his body standing.

On the contrary, every move Virus made from that point onward, was that his body was temporarily being supported and moved by the pitch black scales mostly, as they acted both as his bones and muscles at the same time.

For example, when he raised his hand, instead of an order being sent from his brain neurons to his hand in order for it to move through the usage of his muscles and bones, the message was being sent from Virus' own mind directly to the scales, making them move instantly without almost any kind of delay.

Anyway, watching this whole bizarre transformation and what followed right after just in front of their eyes, made most of the elders greatly disturbed as they stared at the new Virus who was covered in scales on both of his arms and legs.

"Oh, my heavens... how did he do that?" one of the elders who hadn't seen the ring transform Virus' body muttered unconsciously.

Many of the elders were confused too because they hadn't exactly seen the ring change into scales as all they could see was just a blur before Virus was covered in scales.

Those with a higher stage of cultivation, however, were a different matter altogether, as they were totally able to witness what had happened and now, their eyes were shining with profound light.

Among these elders was that elder who was sitting all by himself who thought with his jaw still dropped open, 'Oh my... I didn't know that ring was that great!!! I gotta have it... I must have! But... damn it... those elders have seen it too... I need to think of something quickly!'

'Is this still some kind of 'Space Weapon'? Damn... what is that ring of his exactly... Why haven't I seen something similar before?! It seems I gotta have that ring even if it's just for research purposes!' The other elder who had suspected the ring being a 'Space Weapon' thought in absolute amazement too.

Virus' master though, was feeling a mix of an extreme level of petrification and worry at the same time as he stared at his disciple which he no longer even recognized.

Right now, Astes too was having a similar reaction to this whole situation like many others, as she couldn't take her eyes off of Virus, not even for a moment, as mixed thoughts and feelings were passing through her mind and heart.

Afterward, everyone watched Hadelia distance herself from her previous location in a hurry.

Then, finally being away, she turned around as she looked at Virus in horror.

Virus though, was completely calm as he had expected this kind of reaction from everybody, so without any kind of expression showing itself over his face, he looked at Hadelia as he uttered, "I like you... and I can see there is no malice present in your eyes... only a desire to fight and to get stronger... that's why... I'm giving you the chance to use your full power to fight against me."