Infinity, The Arcade Age

"Ahhhhhhh!"

With a frenzied scream, Onien's skin rapidly turned deathly pale, his pupils glowing blood-red as he vanished from sight with a quickstep!

When he reappeared, he was already right in front of Qin Ming!

Leaping into the air, he swung downward with all his might, his violet flames slashing from above!

Skill: Flame of the Butcher's Mirror!

His axe-kick, wreathed in ghostly purple fire, came crashing down onto Qin Ming's raised arm, the impact causing Qin Ming's expression to darken as the crimson flames around him violently trembled.

Before he could shake Onien off, the latter had already landed and launched a flurry of rapid punches, his arms wreathed in violet flames as he pounded Qin Ming's exposed chest with six or seven consecutive strikes.

Skill: Entwining Flames!

As the final blow landed, Onien's hands dragged violet fire through the air as he spun, lifting Qin Ming's now-burning body into the air.

Follow-up Skill: Moon-Snatching Flames!

With a complete skill set at his disposal, Onien's speed had utterly surpassed Qin Ming's once he activated his Berserk Mode.

The raw stat boost from his rampaging Orochi Bloodline even exceeded the limitations of the zone!

Seizing the opportunity, Onien strung together a brutal combo. As Qin Ming plummeted toward the ground, Onien swung both arms, once again transforming into a massive fireball, aiming to finish Qin Ming in one relentless assault!

He needed to end this quickly—his berserk state placed immense strain on his body, and he couldn't maintain it for long.

Super Ultimate Move: Forbidden Fruit of the Earth's Wrath!

Boom!

The massive fireball bore down on Qin Ming, its scorching winds distorting his face before the flames even reached him!

Seeing this, Qin Ming's eyes widened. He instinctively wanted to raise his arms to block, but still mid-air, he couldn't adjust his stance in time.

His expression turned grim.

Then, with a sudden roar, he played his trump card.

A glimmer of light flashed in his hand—he had pulled out a small, round pearl!

The Frog Pearl!

A silver-tier consumable he had obtained from the Dragon King Warrior world, its effect was simple yet devastating: it could forcibly transform up to five targets into frogs, rendering them completely unable to fight.

The transformation would only be lifted if the target was attacked.

As the pearl shimmered, its power activated.

Charging straight at Qin Ming with his ultimate move, Onien suddenly let out a comical plop! as his entire body was engulfed in a puff of white smoke—when it cleared, a large, purple toad had replaced him.

His ultimate attack was forcibly interrupted!

Still propelled by momentum, the newly transformed Onien-toad slammed headfirst into Qin Ming's chest—dealing exactly zero points of damage.

With a heavy thud, Qin Ming crashed to the ground, his body covered in wounds. But instead of stopping, he immediately shoved a blue-tier consumable into his mouth, rapidly recovering as he spread his arms wide, beginning a full-power charge-up.

From where he stood, a storm gathered, centering around him. Flames roared to life, converging upon his body.

The toad-Onien's eyes bulged in horror as he realized what was happening. Panicking, he frantically hopped away, trying to escape.

But he didn't get far—Qin Ming had already launched a six-shot volley of Sonic Hand Blades!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The humming blades sliced through the air, all of them landing squarely on the fleeing toad.

With a miserable shriek, Onien was struck six times in succession. His frog form shattered, and he reverted back to human.

As he returned to his original body, six gruesome slash wounds marred his flesh, leaving his face twisted in agony.

Seeing Qin Ming rushing forward to finish him off, Onien didn't hesitate—he immediately countered with a Dark Orochi Nagi!

But this time, Qin Ming didn't try to counter with a skill.

Instead, he raised his right hand, conjuring a completely different kind of flame—pure white fire.

Now, with both hands holding flames of entirely different origins, he charged straight at the incoming Orochi Nagi.

Fire was wild and untamable. When two flames clashed, one would inevitably consume the other.

Crimson and violet flames were natural mortal enemies, eternally suppressing one another.

Normally, when they fused, they would cancel each other out in silence, leaving only destruction in their wake.

But Qin Ming's bloodline flame, the White Blaze, was different! This fire had mutated from dream energy—it didn't belong to the King of Fighters world's system at all!

The Violet Flame corroded. The Crimson Flame burned. But the Dreamfire... infiltrated!

It had no inherent offensive power, but it could merge into anything, breaking down its very structure from within.

If it encountered inanimate objects, that was one thing. But against another fire, this property made it as volatile as throwing water into boiling oil!

Other flames clashed head-on, but this one? It actively burrowed inside!

Throwing a firecracker into a bonfire—it was bound to cause a reaction!

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted as all three flames collided! In the next second, a massive shockwave blasted both Qin Ming and Onien away!

The shockwave didn't stop there—it spread outward, shaking the entire area.

Its sheer force snapped wooden beams in half and even sent Sun Ji and the others flying!

In an instant, the once-intact cabin was reduced to ruins.

Nearly blown to pieces and now covered in tattered, scorched clothing, Qin Ming staggered up from the wreckage.

His body was covered in burns and wounds, the close-range explosion clearly taking a massive toll on him.

Shaking his head hard to clear his vision, he looked across the battlefield—Onien was also struggling to his feet.

Onien had never expected an explosion. Caught completely off guard, he was even worse off than Qin Ming.

Six deep slash wounds marred his body, and not a single patch of flesh was left unscathed. His face twitched uncontrollably.

After locking eyes with Qin Ming for a brief moment, Onien suddenly let out a hoarse, bitter laugh.

"Heh... Heheheh... You're the first to push me this far!"

As he spoke, he suddenly reached into his coat, pulled out a consumable, and shoved it into his mouth, chewing furiously.

It was a blue-tier healing item. Not because he lacked higher-tier options, nor because he was reluctant to use them.

If he had been willing to give his younger brother multiple life-saving trump cards, why wouldn't he have prepared the same for himself?

The problem was— as someone who had used an item to forcefully downgrade into a lower-level mission zone, Onien wasn't just restricted in stats.

Even his item usage was heavily restricted.

Any consumable above blue-tier—he simply couldn't use it.

This blue-tier healing item was already the best he could get.

Having barely restored some of his strength, Onien roared and charged at Qin Ming once more.

Seeing this, Qin Ming immediately backpedaled to maintain distance—then suddenly let out a sharp whistle.

In the next instant, BOOM!

The wall shattered apart, and a massive black warhorse burst through the wreckage, charging straight at the incoming Onien!

Mount Summoning! Gold-tier Warhorse!

Once this beast began a charge, both its Strength and Agility doubled—reaching 70 points each!

The sheer impact force it generated wasn't something the weakened Onien could possibly withstand.

BAM!

Onien was slammed into the air, his body flipping uncontrollably before crashing to the ground.

Before he could even struggle to his feet, Qin Ming had already grabbed the weapon mounted on the warhorse—

Then, with a furious roar, he squeezed the trigger.

With A-rank Heavy Firearms Mastery, every shot Qin Ming fired was pinpoint accurate.

And this time, he was firing at a defenseless, grounded target!

The roar of gunfire and energy blasts filled the air.

Qin Ming unleashed a relentless barrage on Onien.

A shining silver-tier machine gun and a dim gold-tier energy cannon—each deadlier than the last!

Caught completely off guard, Onien was immediately engulfed in the metallic storm, his agonized screams echoing through the battlefield.

But what truly sealed his fate—was that he had just suffered a close-range explosion.

The Dreamfire's effects still lingered in his body, drastically weakening his defense.

Even though his equipment was top-tier, and not even Qin Ming's Dreamfire could completely nullify his defenses—

What little defense he had left was nowhere near enough to withstand a silver-tier machine gun and a gold-tier energy cannon.