Chapter 24: Omnipotent
Seeing the attributes of Alice's clone, Su Xiao not only felt no fear, but his heart raced, and his blood seemed to boil. He had never encountered such an omnipotent enemy, never.
In Su Xiao's initial vision, he was developing in this direction, but the cruel reality told him it was simply impossible.
Developing four attributes simultaneously was already his limit. As for basic skills, Blade Master alone was enough to bankrupt him. For ranged basic skills, he only chose Mastery-level abilities, not the higher Specialization level.
Su Xiao activated his Instinct ability to the fullest and hooked his finger at Alice's clone with his left hand.
After Su Xiao made this finger-hooking gesture, Alice's clone was stunned for a moment. In most previous games, when those contractors learned of her combat power, they were filled with fear and despair. Very few actively provoked her. As for someone with a smile on his face, looking like he wanted to chop her into eight pieces, she encountered this for the first time.
"Your fear is not enough to..."
Before Alice's clone could finish saying 'Your fear is not enough to please me,' she found that the contractor in the room had already charged at her!
Clang!
Blade aura crisscrossed. At least a dozen blade auras slashed toward Alice's clone. This was Su Xiao's usual style: in mid-to-close range combat, blade auras lead the way.
Golden light flickered in Alice's hand, and a lightweight shield made of crystal appeared in her palm.
Swish, swish, swish...
The blade auras cut into the crystal shield, leaving a few shallow marks.
Just then, Su Xiao had already charged to within three meters of Alice. Cyan Steel Shadow energy surged on Dragon-Slaying Flash. In the dim room, Dragon-Slaying Flash was exceptionally dazzling.
The blade, coated with Cyan Steel Shadow, cut through the air, creating layers of ripples in the atmosphere.
Ding!
Crystal fragments flew. The long blade struck the crystal shield, and a shockwave spread through the room. It was worth noting that the crystal shield Alice manifested was Gold quality. Gold equipment was already sturdy, let alone a shield focused on defense. This showed how strong the cutting power of Dragon-Slaying Flash's sharpness + Blade Master was. After all, Dragon-Slaying Flash was only Light Gold at the moment.
Golden energy surged, and the cut marks on Alice's shield were smoothed over, restored to perfection.
Both sides had Strength attributes of 80 points. Su Xiao couldn't push Alice back.
After the initial surprise passed, Alice's clone smiled, her red lips under the black mist curling up.
"As expected of the inheritor of those madmen."
Su Xiao didn't hear Alice's words. He was focused on how to deal with her.
The long blade and shield were locked together. Barefoot Alice stepped forward, and a fluctuation emanated from the shield.
Humm~
A shockwave rushed toward him. Su Xiao's ears rang. At the same time, Alice raised her shield and stepped forward, intending to break Su Xiao's balance.
As the shockwave effect faded, the shield came at him. Su Xiao immediately leaned back, raised his right leg, and stamped it onto the oncoming shield.
This stomp was exquisitely timed. It allowed Su Xiao to flip his body backward to avoid losing his balance, and the force from his kick also interrupted Alice's forward momentum.
After performing a backflip in midair to dissipate the force, Su Xiao immediately kept facing Alice.
Zzzz~
The Realm Severing Thread shot out, wrapping around a bed leg. Su Xiao pulled on the thread to accelerate his descent. In combat, the longer you stay airborne, the more dangerous it is.
Just as Su Xiao was about to land, the crystal shield in Alice's hand suddenly melted. She stretched her hands, and a delicate black wooden bow appeared in her grasp.
Alice quickly drew the bowstring, pressing it against her cheek. An arrow made entirely of ice appeared, its sharp tip emitting wisps of cold air.
Alice's gaze dropped, and she released the bowstring.
Twang! The ice arrow shot out. The bowstring vibrated into a blur, showing how strong the bow's draw weight was.
With a crack, the ice arrow struck Su Xiao's landing point. A large area of ice crystals exploded, spreading upward and outward.
While this arrow was still in flight, Alice had already drawn the black wooden bow again. This time, it was a wind-attribute arrow, mainly used for penetration.
Su Xiao descended rapidly from midair. The large ice crystals below climbed upward. Just before he landed, he tossed Dragon-Slaying Flash under his feet.
Ding.
Dragon-Slaying Flash embedded into the ground. Su Xiao stepped onto the end of the sword's hilt with one foot.
The ice crystals climbed up along Dragon-Slaying Flash. Su Xiao exerted force from his foot, driving the sword a small section deeper into the ground. Cyan Steel Shadow energy surged from the sole of his foot, shooting downward.
Crack!
Ice shards flew everywhere. The ice crystals encasing Dragon-Slaying Flash shattered.
Su Xiao shifted his stance. As his body descended, he grabbed the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash with one hand. The moment he gripped it, he inexplicably tilted his head—Instinct's warning.
Whoosh~
A wind-element arrow flew past his cheek, leaving a shallow cut on his face. His black hair fluttered.
With a crack, the wind-element arrow struck the crystals, exploding into a mass of wind element before dissipating.
Su Xiao landed in a half-crouch. The moment he landed, he leaped to the side.
Boom!
Flames surged. A flame arrow struck Su Xiao's previous landing point.
While leaping, Su Xiao turned his head to look at Alice. She still stood there, unmoving, and had already drawn the bow again. This time, it was a dark-element arrow.
Whoosh~
The dark-element arrow flew toward him. Su Xiao formed an energy shield with 100 points of strength in front of him, slapped the shield with one hand, and retreated rapidly.
With a crack, the dark-element arrow shattered, forming a small black hole.
Boom, boom, boom...
A powerful suction force appeared in the room. All objects within five meters of the small black hole were sucked in and crushed.
Su Xiao rushed toward Alice, constantly changing direction during his charge to avoid being locked on by her.
Alice prepared another ice-element arrow. Seeing Su Xiao's tricky charging style, she released her fingers for a random shot.
As the ice arrow was fired, the black wooden bow in Alice's hand dissolved, gradually transforming into a slender staff. Black smoke rose from the staff.
The staff tapped the ground, and three pitch-black holes appeared in front of Alice. A panther, a lion, and a tiger, all covered in black smoke, charged out one after another.
These were the Shadow Beasts summoned by Alice's clone. Any animal Alice had seen, she could summon. However, their attributes were fixed: Strength, Agility, and Stamina were all 60 points.
Three summon beasts with these attributes were nothing to Su Xiao. However, those three pitch-black holes didn't disappear, suggesting other Shadow Beasts could appear at any time.
Su Xiao's charge was blocked by the three Shadow Beasts. He sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"Ring Break."
Clang.
The long blade was drawn. A ring-shaped blade aura spread out. The three Shadow Beasts were instantly killed. But in the next moment, a hawk, a python, and an unknown creature (suspected to be a wild boar) rushed out from the three pitch-black holes.
Alice wasn't idle. The staff in her hand changed shape, becoming a staff wrapped in branches. The room became vibrant with life.
Alice pointed the staff at Su Xiao. The moment the staff aimed at him, Su Xiao suddenly jumped.
Crack, crack, crack~
Several vines emerged from the ground, twisting like snakes. Because Su Xiao had jumped in advance, the vines failed to entangle his legs. This was the power of the Instinct ability.
Su Xiao felt like he had discovered a 'new world.' Up to this point, he hadn't used the Counter Shield ability—it was too cumbersome. Using Instinct to dodge attacks was more efficient and flexible. He wouldn't use Counter Shield to tank enemy attacks unless it was critical.
This series of evasive moves was so fluid that Alice's clone under the black mist felt a bit speechless.
Su Xiao could clearly judge that if he took even one hit from Alice, her attacks would come in an unending barrage. Her abilities were too comprehensive: shield (melee defense), black wooden bow (ranged), slender staff (summoning), and tree staff (control-type mage).
But with the Instinct ability, Alice couldn't do anything to Su Xiao for the time being. Although Su Xiao seemed to be walking the line between life and death, he wasn't actually pushed to the brink. He was surprised to find that the Instinct ability was improving at an extremely fast rate.
The room echoed with booms and the crisp clangs of slashes. Thanks to the barrier, it was eerily quiet outside.
1 hour and 55 minutes later.
Su Xiao pulled out a wind-element arrow embedded in his lower abdomen. The arrow's kinetic energy had been reduced by his energy shield, so it hadn't pierced through him. Its destructive power was greatly limited. Alice had fired five arrows simultaneously earlier. He dodged four, but this one was unavoidable.
Su Xiao stared at Alice, ten meters away. The black mist around her had thinned a bit—the result of Su Xiao landing six slashes on her. Alice could manifest Gold-quality armor, making it impossible to break through in a short time. However, after tanking six of Su Xiao's slashes, Alice had scrapped one piece of Gold armor. Now, she looked at Dragon-Slaying Flash with great wariness.
Alice's clone was somewhat unwilling. From start to finish, she had avoided close combat with Su Xiao as much as possible.
The room was filled with the smell of blood. The ground was littered with the corpses of Shadow Beasts. These Shadow Beasts were living creatures, not energy bodies. This was a boon for Su Xiao. His Soul Devourer ability had absorbed 126 points of mana, meaning he had permanently increased his mana by 126 points.
"You got lucky."
Alice's clone stomped her foot, dispelling the barrier as she walked out of the room.
A few minutes after Alice left, Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Notification: The second day begins.]
With an arrow in his body and a bite on his calf from a Shadow Beast, Su Xiao walked out of the room, leaving a trail of blood. His injuries weren't severe.
When Su Xiao walked out of the room with Bubu Wang, the others were already sitting on the sofas in the living room.
Bubu Wang behind Su Xiao was still shaken. It had hidden under the bed for two hours. If Su Xiao hadn't deliberately stayed away from the bed, it might have been caught in the crossfire.
Bubu Wang couldn't be caught in it—it was the permanent sustain healer (Snow Maiden Goddess Aura).
Su Xiao walked down the stairs and sat on the sofa. The Cat Girl, Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man, Detective Loli, and the Three Brothers of National Football all stared at him in shock.
Su Xiao took out a roll of bandages, took off his shirt, and began treating his wounds. Although he wasn't heavily injured, he couldn't do much to Alice. Her abilities were too comprehensive, and she couldn't do much to him either.
"Did you... get attacked?"
Detective Loli organized her thoughts and tentatively asked.
"Yeah, had a fight. Alice's clone has very comprehensive abilities, but her grasp of combat timing is pretty garbage."
Su Xiao's words echoed in Detective Loli's ears. Alice's clone... garbage, garbage, garbage...
"You mean... you went head-to-head with Alice's clone last night?"
Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man's eyes seemed to gleam.
"Literally speaking, yes."
Su Xiao finished bandaging the wound on his abdomen, then rolled up his pant leg to treat the injury on his leg. After dressing the wound, he lit a cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Overall, Alice's clone isn't impossible to fight."
"Wait."
Detective Loli raised her fair little hand.
"Don't spread wrong ideas. It'll get people killed. Maybe it's fightable for you, but for me, it's probably impossible."
Detective Loli thought to herself, wondering if she had offended Su Xiao before. It seemed she hadn't.
"Did you injure Alice?"
Fatty Pi, who had been silent, spoke up.
"Didn't hurt her. Her defensive abilities are very strong."
"Is that so? That's not good. I might not be her match."
Fatty Pi wasn't weak, as shown when he was beaten by Sha.
"Big shot, can I stay in your room tonight?"
Detective Loli suddenly stood up. Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man beside her couldn't bear to look.
"Just kidding. According to the game rules, two people probably can't share a room. Otherwise, the eight of us could just spend the night in one room, and Alice would be exposed quickly. But from last night's situation, our chances of finding Alice's clone have increased."
Detective Loli seemed to think of something and stared at Su Xiao with bright eyes.
"Hey, big shot, need a sidekick?"
"Don't need one."
"Knew it. Anyway, we have a lot of intel today. Let's figure out how to expose Alice's clone."
Detective Loli let out a long breath, and the playful expression on her face disappeared.
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Recommending a good friend's book
Title: Naruto: The Greatest Actor, a book by my good buddy Lazy Bear.
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