Chapter 66: Absolute Boundary
"You're late."
The Jester held the head of the infatuated girl in his hand, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood as he spoke.
"Who knows."
Su Xiao stood by the iron door on the rooftop, not approaching the Jester.
"The vanguard you sent wasn't much, I dealt with her using one hand. She looked like a cold-faced female assassin, but her soul was unexpectedly sweet."
The Jester tossed the infatuated girl's head toward Su Xiao. It seemed effortless, but the head flew at an extremely fast speed.
Su Xiao sidestepped to avoid the infatuated girl's head. With a bang, the head smashed into the iron door, leaving a dent.
"Let's talk. No need to be so cautious. I'm just a cripple now. If you want my life, come and take it."
The Jester pointed at the dagger embedded in his chest, indicating he had no combat ability left.
Su Xiao scanned left and right. For some reason, he felt that taking one more step forward would mean death.
He took an apple from his storage space and tossed it toward the Jester.
Sizzle~
The apple was sliced into dozens of pieces midair, turning to ash before hitting the ground.
One by one, fiery red energy threads appeared between Su Xiao and the Jester. These threads vanished instantly after appearing, normally remaining invisible.
Su Xiao guessed that the infatuated girl might have died on these threads. The Jester had developed his demon bloodline even further.
After the apple's ashes were blown away by the night wind, the Jester's eyes narrowed, his smile unwavering.
This guy was truly worthy of being an old schemer who could scheme against the Tuanzhang. He claimed to be a cripple with no combat power, yet had already set up deadly traps.
"If you can break through the Flame Prison Absolute Boundary, this life of mine is yours."
The Jester leaned back in his wheelchair and began pulling out the daggers stuck in his chest. He hadn't removed these daggers left by the infatuated girl earlier, intending to use them to deceive Su Xiao. Now, it was useless.
Pulling out the daggers made the Jester wince in pain. The daggers were covered in barbs. The Jester seemed unguarded against Su Xiao, apparently confident in the 'Flame Prison Absolute Boundary.'
A white-quality dagger slid out from Su Xiao's sleeve. He hurled it with full force toward the Jester.
Sizzle~
The dagger was shredded midair. The energy threads between Su Xiao and the Jester were denser than imagined.
This thing was similar to the Realm Severing Thread, but the threads the Jester set up were energy-based and didn't need fixed points, floating freely in the air.
Extremely sharp, hidden, and dense—these were the characteristics of the 'Flame Prison Absolute Boundary.'
The black-and-white dual pistols appeared in Su Xiao's hands. Since thrown objects were ineffective, he switched to bullets.
Switching the dual pistols to burst-fire mode, Su Xiao stood his ground and opened fire on the Jester.
Rat-a-tat-tat...
Both pistols fired simultaneously in burst mode, matching the rate of a submachine gun. The thirty rounds were quickly spent.
The black-and-white dual pistols consumed mana to reload. Each gun held 30 rounds, and reloading required 30 mana points, meaning one mana per bullet. Filling both guns cost 60 mana, with a 10-second reload interval.
Mana surged. After consuming 60 mana, the bullets in the dual pistols were replenished.
Su Xiao had 1053 mana left. His fight with Kuluoluo had been brief, so he hadn't used much mana.
That meant Su Xiao could still fire 1053 bullets. Reloading would take less than three minutes, and with the dual pistols' fire rate, firing 1053 bullets wouldn't take long.
The bullets in the dual pistols were replenished. These weren't physical bullets but energy bullets; otherwise, they couldn't be refilled with mana.
Rat-a-tat-tat...
Su Xiao fired toward the Jester. Fiery red energy threads flickered in the air, blocking all bullets aimed at the Jester.
After emptying the second magazine, Su Xiao noticed that the energy threads near him had visibly faded.
"Not using your signature blade technique? Wise choice."
The Jester glanced at the Dragon-Slaying Flash at Su Xiao's waist. He had hoped to see this growth-type weapon shatter.
The 'Flame Prison Absolute Boundary' had a trait: any weapon or equipment below light gold quality would be damaged upon touching these energy threads. Even light gold weapons risked breaking.
"Energy bullets, and they can be refilled multiple times. Must consume mana. Perfect, let's see who has more mana. But you'd better hurry."
The Jester checked his remaining mana: 890 points. The 'Flame Prison Absolute Boundary' consumed mana to repair itself when attacked. Once his mana ran out, the boundary would vanish.
Su Xiao didn't know what attribute the Jester specialized in, but having 890 mana was impressive. The Jester was confident he had more mana than Su Xiao, and in ten minutes, he could forcibly leave the Hunter World.
Had everything the Jester done been to kill Su Xiao? No. His main goal in bringing in the Niraplan tribe wasn't to kill Su Xiao but to kill contractors in the Hunter World—the more, the better.
From the start, the Jester's target wasn't Su Xiao but obtaining more Scarlet Cards. Of course, killing Su Xiao would have been ideal.
There were over a hundred contractors in the Hunter World. Most had gathered near the auction house earlier, only to be besieged by the Niraplan tribe. Only 31 survivors broke into the auction house, and even they suffered casualties afterward.
Contractors killed by the Niraplan tribe dropped Scarlet Cards. Where did these cards go? The answer was: all in the Jester's hands.
Through special methods, the Jester obtained 45 Scarlet Cards. For second-rank contractors, this was a fortune.
His purpose in bringing the Niraplan tribe was to collect these Scarlet Cards.
After confirming he couldn't regenerate his lost limbs in the Hunter World and obtaining a large number of Scarlet Cards, the Jester immediately used an item to forcibly return. This wasn't a high-end operation. Using such a return item incurred a penalty of -3 to all attributes. Except for the Scarlet Cards stored in his talent ability, all other gains—attribute points, Paradise Coins, everything—were forcibly deducted by Reincarnation Paradise.
Using a forced return item took time. The Jester activated it as soon as he got the Scarlet Cards, but he was still a bit late.
Now, the Jester sat calmly in his wheelchair, betting that his remaining mana could last 9 minutes and 15 seconds.
Time slowly passed. Su Xiao kept firing at the energy threads, only pausing to reload the dual pistols.
Whoosh~
A sound of breaking wind came without warning. Su Xiao, firing the dual pistols, quickly leaped. An invisible thread swept under his feet, slicing off a piece of his boot sole.
Su Xiao wasn't wearing ordinary shoes but a purple-quality equipment, [Tactical Boots]. Although not defense-oriented, having a piece sliced off so easily was absurd.
Su Xiao finally understood how the infatuated girl died. She was no weakling, managing to cross these energy threads and wound the Jester behind them.
After using the energy threads to attack, the Jester's mana dropped significantly. The 'Flame Prison Absolute Boundary' was a trap-type ability; using it offensively was no simple feat.