Chapter 16: Enemy of Luck (Fifth Update)
The fortune-telling room was dead silent. The battle had not awakened the civilians; all civilians within a 500-meter radius had been evacuated, which was why Su Xiao and the others had already made their move.
Monroe sat behind the sofa, a few cotton fibers stuck to his head.
Crunch, crunch...
The glass shards in front of the fortune-telling room were crushed underfoot as a figure walked boldly into the room.
Seeing this, Shalin, 200 meters away, gritted her teeth in anger.
"He's actually engaging in close combat with someone from the Sun Kingdom. What is this guy thinking?"
But in the next moment, the anger on Shalin's face vanished. The only thought in her mind was whether Su Xiao might also be an agent of the Sun Kingdom.
Boom!
A loud crash came from inside the fortune-telling room. Su Xiao tossed aside the concrete debris in his hand; before him stood a broken concrete pillar.
Su Xiao held his longsword in his right hand, the blade pointing diagonally at the ground.
A man in casual clothes, with short hair and a deck of cards in his hand, stood before Su Xiao. His pupils flickered with a golden light.
This man was named Monroe, a contractor from Sanctuary Paradise, also a believer. But he was no fence-sitter; the god he worshipped was somewhat special—the Goddess of Fortune.
Rustle~
The cards flipped through Monroe's hands, and one card flew out—it was a five of clubs.
"Fifty percent chance of victory. Not bad."
Monroe caught the card mid-air and shoved it toward his mouth. As it neared his lips, the card dissolved into golden particles that quickly surged into his throat.
With a rumble, stone chips flew from under Su Xiao's feet as he charged straight at his opponent.
Clang!
The longsword slashed through the air, and Monroe's figure blurred into an afterimage, narrowly dodging Su Xiao's strike.
Su Xiao vanished from his spot, reappearing behind Monroe. Monroe's pupils rapidly contracted as a faint stinging sensation came from the back of his neck.
Dragon-Slaying Flash cut through the air, aiming straight for Monroe's nape.
Monroe flicked his thumb, sending a card spinning into the air—it was the ten of spades, meaning Monroe had a 100% certainty of dodging this slash.
The golden light in Monroe's eyes flared, and in that instant, he burst forth with speed far beyond what his Agility attribute should allow.
Whoosh~
Monroe vanished, disappearing as if he had used Dragon Shadow Flash, just like Su Xiao.
Su Xiao's slash missed. At the same time, he ducked and tilted his head left, as a hand knife thrust from behind his ear, grazing his cheek.
Dragon-Slashing Flash flipped in Su Xiao's hand, the blade tracing a semicircle before him.
With a tearing sound, three fingertips were severed. Monroe froze for a moment, then quickly retreated.
As Monroe fell back, Su Xiao spun on the spot and delivered a side kick.
A mournful whoosh cut through the air. Monroe tilted his head back, a bloody gash appearing on his chin. Even though it was only a graze from Su Xiao's toe, his jaw burned with pain.
Su Xiao leaped backward, and Monroe almost simultaneously made the same move. They had started fighting on sight, each strike aimed at the other's vital points, with no wasted words from the start.
Drip, drip...
Blood dripped from Monroe's hand. He glanced at his three severed fingertips, then looked at Dragon-Slashing Flash. That blade was too sharp—unreasonably sharp.
A card flew from Monroe's hand—it was the three of hearts, meaning his wounds would heal in three minutes. This guy's abilities were comprehensive, covering evasion, healing, and attack. He didn't seem like a member of a large team at all; he was more like a lone wolf.
Su Xiao wiped the blood from his face. The injury wasn't serious, but he had suffered an extremely vicious debuff.
[Prompt: You have incurred the enmity of the Goddess of Fortune. Luck attribute temporarily -1. Effect lasts 10 minutes.]
This was the first time Su Xiao had encountered such an enemy. Taking a hit from him actually temporarily reduced his Luck attribute.
Monroe flicked out another card—it was the two of spades, meaning the next time he injured Su Xiao, Su Xiao would temporarily lose 2 points of Luck.
Monroe watched the two of spades in mid-air. He rarely drew the two of spades; usually, it was an ace, which meant hitting a specific body part would reduce the enemy's Luck by 1 point.
Su Xiao glanced at the Counter Shield beside him. Earlier, when the enemy attacked him, he had already placed the shield in the path of the attack, but it had no effect. That attack seemed to ignore the Counter Shield.
Strange. Very strange ability.
Su Xiao's eyes scanned the surroundings, looking to maximize the use of the terrain.
"I've heard that Reincarnation Paradise is full of madmen. Now it seems that's indeed the case."
Monroe glanced at the corpse outside the shop, then in the next moment, he charged straight at Su Xiao. His earlier words were meant to distract Su Xiao, using eye contact as a lure.
But this trick was clearly one Su Xiao had long grown tired of. As the enemy lunged forward, Su Xiao also rushed to meet him.
Clang, clang, clang.
Blade light flashed in the room. A few seconds later, a blood-soaked Monroe stumbled back several steps. The True Damage he had taken caused his health to plummet to 21%.
A card flew out. Two seconds later, the wounds on Monroe's body healed.
The sound of bullets piercing walls came in succession. The agents of the Geya Alliance had already clashed with the sneering man, and the gunfire grew more urgent.
"Three, two, one."
For some reason, Monroe counted down three seconds. This time, five cards flew from his hand.
Light and shadow twisted, and five figures of Monroe appeared out of nowhere. Including Monroe's original body, there were six in total.
The six Monroes fanned out in a semicircle. Monroe had already realized that Su Xiao had no obvious weaknesses.
Su Xiao was also looking for Monroe's weakness. The only possible flaw was that Monroe's physical defense was relatively low—or rather, Dragon-Slashing Flash was too sharp. A fourth-rank contractor like Monroe simply couldn't block it. If not for his powerful abilities, he would have already died under Su Xiao's blade.
Su Xiao and Monroe locked eyes. Both were trying to guess the other's thoughts.
Boom!
Both charged forward simultaneously. This time, it was six against one.
Su Xiao closed in on Monroe in an instant. The whistling wind in his ears died away. Just as he was about to swing his blade, he sensed something wrong with the enemy closest to him.
Whether this was a clone ability or a splitting ability, the Monroe nearest to Su Xiao suddenly swelled up, as if inflated like a balloon.
Pop.
Like a bursting balloon, that Monroe exploded into a cloud of golden smoke, which rolled back toward Monroe.
Pop, pop, pop...
The other four Monroes all burst apart, leaving only Monroe's original body.
Now, Monroe looked like a god descending to earth, his entire body wrapped in golden light.
At that moment, the metal chandelier above Su Xiao's head suddenly fell. He slashed it apart with one stroke. Sparks exploded, and electric current surged along Dragon-Slashing Flash toward Su Xiao.
This level of voltage meant nothing to Su Xiao, but it seemed to be a signal—Su Xiao was about to start having bad luck. Monroe was a Luck-specialized contractor.
Su Xiao had already guessed this. He had experience fighting such enemies, and they were very troublesome.
[Prompt: The Hunter is within the enemy's domain. Your fortune will be greatly reduced.]
Even without Reincarnation Paradise's prompt, Su Xiao knew this was the case. He could clearly feel that everything around him was hostile—the scattered rubble on the floor, the chandelier cut in two, the sofa broken into a dozen pieces. These seemingly insignificant objects all exuded a faint sense of malice.