Chapter 17: Failure
The sense of crisis and malice coming from all directions severely affected the judgment of his instinct ability.
Before the surrounding sense of crisis appeared, Su Xiao could accurately capture the enemy's movements through his instinct ability. But after the sense of crisis emerged, everything within a hundred-meter radius seemed to be attacking him.
Su Xiao's gaze remained fixed on Monroe. Strangely, he could see Monroe himself with his naked eyes, yet in his perception, Monroe seemed to not exist at all.
"Illusion."
Su Xiao slashed forward into the air. A blade aura left the edge and shot straight toward Monroe.
The blade aura passed through Monroe's body and embedded itself into the wall behind him.
"Under the arrangement of fate, you can no longer harm me."
Monroe walked slowly toward Su Xiao, leaving a trail of golden footprints wherever he passed. The golden light around him grew even more dazzling.
With a *shiiing* sound, slash marks suddenly appeared on the stones and furniture near Su Xiao, the cuts as smooth as mirrors. These were from his previous slash.
Seeing these severed stones and furniture, Su Xiao determined that the Monroe before him was not an illusion. Moreover, he had indeed struck him, but his slash had been transferred elsewhere.
Based on Su Xiao's experience, this should be a type of domain ability. The domain was probably about a hundred meters in size. Within this domain, Su Xiao's luck would be drastically reduced. And when he attacked Monroe's true body, Monroe would transfer the damage to other things, such as surrounding rubble or furniture.
This was a very troublesome ability. Su Xiao didn't believe it had no weaknesses. Based on his experience, once the weakness of such seemingly invincible abilities was found, breaking them was simple.
Su Xiao leaped backward a few steps. Mid-leap, he waved his left hand, and several alchemy bombs were thrown from his sleeve.
Seeing these alchemy bombs, Monroe, who was walking slowly, frowned.
"Duds."
Monroe pointed forward. The four alchemy bombs landed but did not explode.
Su Xiao really hadn't expected the enemy to have such a trick. Monroe squinted his eyes, his gaze fixed on Su Xiao.
"Already figured it out, have you?"
Monroe was, of course, aware of his ability's weakness. He seemed invincible now, but that wasn't the case. This 'Strong Luck Domain' with a range of 105 meters didn't make him completely invincible. Or rather, he wasn't invincible now; instead, an instant before an attack hit him, he transferred the damage to another place within the domain.
When the damage he received reached a certain limit, the surrounding domain would collapse. Of course, the domain itself had a damage limit. After taking a certain amount of attack, it would also collapse. Attacking Monroe's true body was the most effective, followed by attacking the surrounding domain.
In fact, it was more accurate to compare this to an independent barrier. This place was already isolated from the outside. Before Su Xiao's luck recovered, he couldn't leave here, and the caster, Monroe, couldn't leave either.
After gathering a large amount of luck, Monroe didn't try to engage Su Xiao in close combat like Su Xiao's previous opponent, the Goddess of Fortune.
Monroe saw it clearly. After evaluating his own combat power, he concluded that if he fought Su Xiao in close quarters, he would be beaten up within two minutes.
Monroe condensed the surrounding luck onto himself, which was why he looked like a descending god, covered in golden light. He was fighting using luck. Within the domain, his words became what was about to happen.
For example, when he pointed at the alchemy bombs and said 'Duds,' the alchemy bombs really became duds. As the price, Monroe overdrew some luck.
"Blindness."
Monroe spoke. The moment he spoke, a burning pain shot through Su Xiao's eyes.
*Zzzz~*
The metal wire tightened and coiled toward Monroe. The golden light around his body dimmed slightly as the Realm Severing Thread passed through his body.
The Realm Severing Thread retracted into the spool. Su Xiao blocked his left arm in front of his face. The pain in his eyes disappeared.
Having fought until now, Su Xiao had basically figured out the enemy's ability. First, he was inside a domain/barrier. This domain reduced his luck, making everything around him seem hostile. But so far, he hadn't actually started having bad luck, like a Final Destination scenario. So this hostility didn't need to be heeded; it was likely a method the enemy used to suppress his perception.
Second, when the enemy was inside this barrier, he could use an ability similar to 'Words Become Law.' This ability was very similar to a certain alchemist from the Magic Index world, an ability called the Golden Grand Ars.
The Golden Grand Ars used personal belief to change reality, while Monroe used luck to change reality. That was how he could ignore Su Xiao's slashes.
This ability seemed powerful, but with Su Xiao's eyes as the stake, he discovered its weakness: when Monroe used this ability, he couldn't simultaneously maintain the damage transfer ability.
Moreover, when Monroe used luck to change reality, he stood still both times. Whether this was a weakness or intentional was unknown.
After roughly figuring out the enemy's ability, the ground under Su Xiao's feet cracked, and he charged straight toward the edge of the domain.
Obviously, fighting the enemy head-on within his own domain was unwise.
*Bang!*
Su Xiao had only rushed a few dozen meters when he slammed into an invisible wall.
Su Xiao shook his head. He hadn't sensed a wall ahead, and the pain from the impact wasn't strong.
"Slowness."
Monroe spoke for the third time. Su Xiao immediately felt a force wrapping around him. It was gravity. Monroe's ability didn't take effect out of thin air; he used luck to change the surrounding environment.
The alchemy bombs failed because their internal structure was altered. The stinging in Su Xiao's eyes was because the moisture in his eye sockets rapidly heated up. Now, Monroe used luck to change gravity.
*Boom, boom, boom...*
Soil and rocks flew up under Su Xiao's feet as he stomped large craters into the ground. Seeing this, Monroe's eyelids twitched. If it weren't a strength-type contractor, being suppressed by gravity would make movement difficult, let alone charging forward.
This ability of Monroe's would drastically reduce the enemy's speed, but it also had a drawback: when the enemy attacked, it was like wearing a suit of gravity armor. If hit by an enemy in this state, the surrounding domain would shatter after no more than three attacks.
"Dizziness."
Monroe pointed at Su Xiao. The moment he spoke, a blade aura slashed toward him. This was a ranged attack, unaffected by gravity, and in fact, weakened by it.
Monroe's jaw muscles bulged. He decided to endure this hit.
A *buzz* sounded in Su Xiao's head. His head uncontrollably tilted forward, and a dull impact hit the back of his skull, as if struck by an air hammer.
*Pfft.*
Blood burst from Monroe's chest. He couldn't nullify this blade aura. While using luck to change reality, he couldn't transfer damage.
Monroe held his hands as if embracing something. A huge golden orb of light appeared between his hands.
*Buzz!*
A piercing hum spread out. Monroe compressed the golden orb in his hands to the size of an apple. The orb contained an extremely terrifying amount of energy.
Just as Monroe was about to hurl the orb, Su Xiao suddenly disappeared from his spot and reappeared behind Monroe.
Monroe's eyes showed disbelief. His 'Dizziness' had never failed before. It was a blunt strike to the back of the head. Monroe had confirmed multiple times that Su Xiao was a pure human, not a special bloodline.
"This is impossible."
*Clang, clang, clang...*
Countless slashes pierced through Monroe's body from all directions, leaving trails of silver threads in the air. Cyan Steel Shadow Energy outlined each slash mark.
With a *crack*, cracks appeared in the surrounding 'space.' Monroe gritted his teeth, and the golden orb in his hands exploded.
*Boom!*
Golden light spread outward, peeling up a layer of the ground. The surrounding 'space' completely shattered, or rather, Monroe's domain shattered. It wasn't a spatial collapse.