Chapter 63: Betting One Minute
Su Xiao stood up from the circular pit in the middle of the road. As he rose, two figures appeared not far away.
The streetlights by the roadside flickered unevenly. A stray cat poked its head out to observe the road, its pupils contracting in the darkness to capture the faint light.
Sensing another living creature nearby, Ilumi turned his head to look at the stray cat.
"Fuh~"
The stray cat bared its fangs, its tail bristling, before turning and fleeing into the depths of the gap between the houses.
"How strange."
Ilumi stared at the cat as it ran off into the distance.
"What is it?"
Chrollo looked at Ilumi with a puzzled expression.
"Nothing."
Ilumi turned his gaze back to Su Xiao. He could clearly sense that Su Xiao was no weakling; getting distracted in a fight could cost him his life.
The Counter Shield floated beside Su Xiao. Under normal circumstances, it could last for ten minutes, but against the combined assault of Ilumi and Chrollo, maintaining it for five minutes would already be a miracle.
The Counter Shield required energy to sustain; it wasn't some kind of magical ability. Once its energy was depleted, no matter how strong its defense, it would shatter.
"This thing seems tough to deal with."
Ilumi studied the Counter Shield beside Su Xiao, noting that his and Chrollo's attacks hadn't left a single mark on it. That surprised him.
"Judging by its appearance, it's some kind of defensive ability. But no matter how strong an ability is, it always has a weakness—maybe it doesn't last long, or its energy is limited. I'll draw his attention; you find an opening and strike to kill."
"Alright."
Several pins appeared between Ilumi's fingers. He was a Manipulation-type Nen user, and these pins were the antennas for his ability. Once stuck with one, even the strongest enemy would be at his mercy.
Chrollo faced Su Xiao head-on, while Ilumi sidestepped to circle behind him. A pincer attack from front and back was the best tactic.
Su Xiao glanced at Ilumi circling around. He knew the other's ability; getting hit by those pins would be the end.
"Betting one minute."
A flash of azure light flickered in Su Xiao's eyes.
Hum~
A blue glow shimmered across the dozens of Counter Shields, and blue veins appeared on their surfaces. All the shields became crystal clear, as if carved from glass, sparkling brilliantly in the night.
"Something's wrong."
Ilumi instinctively rushed toward Su Xiao, but it was too late.
The Counter Shields around Su Xiao spread outward, actually moving beyond a one-meter radius around him—something that had never happened before.
Now, the Counter Shields could only last for one minute. Su Xiao had severed a certain connection between himself and them.
Su Xiao stomped the ground beneath him, sending fragments of asphalt flying. He leaped up, diving from high above toward Chrollo.
Chrollo and Ilumi were stunned. At their level, no one would casually leave the ground. Jumping up and lunging at an enemy was something only a rookie fresh to combat would do.
Yet Su Xiao did exactly that. Midair, longsword in hand, he charged at Chrollo like a night hawk swooping down on its prey.
Chrollo and Ilumi exchanged a glance. Both knew this could be an opportunity—or a trap.
Ilumi calculated where Su Xiao would land and flashed to that spot, while Chrollo stayed nearby, ready to act.
Nen surged around Ilumi's body. He formed his hands into blades, veins bulging on his arms, his fingertips sharpening like claws. This was a unique physical technique of the Zoldyck family.
A wound from Ilumi's blade-hand would be no less severe than one from a real weapon.
Su Xiao descended from midair, the momentum of his jump already spent. With no way to change direction in the air, he would land right where Ilumi and Chrollo were waiting. The moment he touched down, he would be gravely wounded if not dead.
The Counter Shields drifted around Su Xiao. As he drew closer to Ilumi, a sudden explosion of air erupted beneath his feet.
Boom!
Su Xiao abruptly accelerated midair, executing an impossible turn.
Boom, boom, boom...
A series of airbursts rang out in the sky. When Su Xiao reappeared, he was behind Chrollo.
Chrollo's pupils contracted in disbelief.
A gleaming longsword slashed down, the blade cutting through the air with a terrifying howl, aimed at Chrollo's back.
In that instant, Chrollo thought to materialize "Bandit's Secret." He had once stolen a teleportation ability.
But sensing the blade at his back, he ultimately didn't materialize it—it was too late.
Just as the longsword was about to fall, Chrollo leaned forward desperately.
Chrollo wasn't just a thief of Nen abilities; his close-combat skills were formidable, ranking him in the top three of the Phantom Troupe for speed.
Before the blade could land, Chrollo had barely dodged it. Even if the sword struck, it wouldn't harm him.
Pfft.
Blood splattered. A deep, bone-deep wound appeared on Chrollo's back.
Chrollo stumbled forward a few steps. The Azure Steel Shadow energy invading his body made the veins on his forehead bulge. 130 points of True Damage plus 9% of his consumed mana in True Damage was no easy burden.
Though Chrollo had no mana, the Nen energy within him functioned similarly, and he still suffered 9% True Damage based on his consumed Nen.
More importantly, some of Chrollo's Nen ability was devoured—roughly one-twentieth of it.
Chrollo turned to look at Su Xiao, quickly understanding why he had been cut despite dodging the attack's range.
At the tip of Dragon-Slaying Flash, a small azure energy blade had appeared, making the sword one-fifth longer than usual. This energy blade was a fusion of Blade Aura and Azure Steel Shadow energy.
The energy blade dissipated. Su Xiao hovered in midair about a meter above the ground, looking down at the two.
Yes, he was standing in midair, on a platform formed by over a dozen Counter Shields joined together.
Normally, Su Xiao shared the same gravity as the Counter Shields. If an enemy struck them hard, he would be sent flying. That was why he couldn't stand on them to hover—it was as absurd as stepping on your own foot to lift yourself.
But what if the Counter Shields were made independent? Large energy shields couldn't do it, but small ones could.
Su Xiao had cut off the energy supply to the Counter Shields, separating them from him into two distinct entities. This meant they no longer shared the same gravity, allowing him to use them for a double jump—or even an N-jump.
This mode had limits. The Counter Shields required mana to lift, and they could only stay up to four meters above the ground. Any higher, and the mana consumption would be terrifying.
Moreover, because the energy supply was cut, the shields that could last ten minutes now only lasted one. That was why Su Xiao had said "betting one minute" earlier—this was the situation.
This was a derivative technique he had developed for the Counter Shield, so he hadn't bothered to give it a special name.
Su Xiao had a total of 1,683 mana points. Each use of the Counter Shield consumed 400 mana, meaning he could use it four times.
However, he needed to reserve some mana for Azure Steel Shadow, so he could only use the Counter Shield three times at most. He had already used it once, and the remaining time for this set was 51 seconds.