Chapter 73: A Treacherous Confrontation

Rona stared blankly at her right hand. A broken piece of iron chain still clung to the iron cuff encircling her wrist.

Most of the items in the basement were excessively old. The iron frame binding Rona had simply given way under her struggles, snapping at a rusted point.

Although her mind remained somewhat muddled, Rona seized the opportunity. Her right hand swiftly drew her longsword from its sheath. With a clang of metal, she was free.

Serol, however, merely stood in place, observing Rona’s actions with a cold gaze.

Rona took a deep breath, gripping her knight’s sword with both hands. She aimed it at the one she had never imagined she would confront.

“Serol Kros,” Rona began, her voice trembling uncontrollably. “Your actions have crossed the legal red line of Kana City. I—I, in the name of the Kana City Guard, command you to immediately lay down your weapons and surrender.”

The words, usually spoken with practiced ease, now felt incredibly obscure due to their specific recipient. Despite her still-chaotic mind, Rona had instantly made this decision.

Serol shook his head.

“Must it really come to this, Rona?”

“You know, some things cannot be simply measured by right or wrong…”

“Serol Kros! I repeat, your actions have—have crossed the legal red line of Kana City.”

Rona cut Serol off, her voice still quivering.

She gazed at Serol, who now appeared utterly unfamiliar. The usually strong young woman’s eyes were slightly red-rimmed, but she bit her lower lip, her longsword held steadfastly pointed at him.

A heavy silence descended upon the basement. A moment later, Serol’s voice broke the quiet, as if he were speaking to himself.

“Then come, Rona.”

****

“Come on, Cat Tail, is that all you’ve got?”

Listening to Shadow’s sarcastic tone, Xiluo’er bit her lower lip and retreated a few steps, creating distance between them.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong, in fact.

While she wasn’t entirely clear on Shadow’s true strength, Xiluo’er had dared to attack, at least, with a degree of confidence.

But now, it wasn’t a question of Shadow’s strength anymore.

Shadow’s abilities were simply too bizarre. She had been fighting him for a while, yet not a single one of her attacks had inflicted any effective damage.

“To be honest, Cat Tail, if this is all the strength you possess, then I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed.”

“The High Priestess’s secret weapon is nothing more than this…”

Shadow continued to speak nonchalantly, his relaxed demeanor grating on Xiluo’er’s nerves.

Indeed, Shadow possessed the skill to mock his opponent during a fight. As a seasoned otaku, Xiluo’er usually agreed with gaming principles like ‘practice more if you’re bad’ and ‘the strong should mercilessly humiliate the weak.’ Yet, she couldn’t help but feel infuriated.

Simply put, ‘What the hell are you showing off for?!’

Especially since she had just launched a cool, direct attack while he was speaking, only for him to block everything and still have the leisure to keep talking and talking.

It made her lose face, didn’t it?

It was like getting a match point in a game, popping champagne prematurely, and taunting the opponent in public chat, only for them to immediately summon a god-tier player and utterly crush you. It felt like swallowing a fly.

Xiluo’er wasn’t idle. As she retreated, several throwing knives flew from her sleeves, soaring towards Shadow.

Empowered by the [Breaker] and [Sharpness] buffs, the knives cut through the air with a whistling sound.

Yet, the throwing knives didn’t even touch Shadow in the slightest. Shadow didn’t even move; the knives were struck down mid-air.

It was happening again!

Xiluo’er narrowed her eyes. The crux of the problem wasn’t Shadow’s strength; to be honest, Xiluo’er wasn’t afraid of Shadow in a pure contest of power. The issue was that she couldn’t discern his methods at all.

She hadn’t even detected any deceptive magic Shadow might have used to interfere with her attacks.

He had to be cheating! This ability was definitely a cheat! How could anyone play if this power wasn’t nerfed?

Xiluo’er felt as if, after her premature celebration and taunt, her opponent had immediately plugged in a USB drive and activated an aimbot.

No, she couldn’t continue like this. She had to figure out what this guy’s ability was!

Xiluo’er gritted her teeth, making up her mind. If necessary, she would take a greater risk. Otherwise, she didn’t know how much more time Rona had.

With this thought, Xiluo’er lunged towards Shadow.

Previously, for safety, Xiluo’er had maintained her distance and maneuvered against Shadow, unwilling to reveal her trump cards. This sudden close-quarters approach was a risky choice.

Her dagger once again aimed fiercely at Shadow’s vital points, but Shadow remained still. Yet, Xiluo’er’s dagger inexplicably veered off course.

This was the feeling!

Just like her first surprise attack on Shadow, Xiluo’er, closing in, again felt a pulling sensation. Although there had been nothing in the air moments before, an inexplicable force tugged at her arm, causing her attack to miss.

Xiluo’er immediately scanned her surroundings, hoping to seize the chance to uncover Shadow’s secret.

As her gaze swept the ground, Xiluo’er’s attention was suddenly captivated.

The shadow on the ground—if she hadn’t been mistaken, it had just *writhed*.

A flash of insight struck Xiluo’er, and she suddenly felt she understood what Shadow’s ability truly was.

Seemingly noticing that Xiluo’er had discovered his trick, Shadow’s expression under his hood darkened. The shadows on the ground began to writhe wildly again, surging towards Xiluo’er.

No good!

Xiluo’er acutely sensed the danger and moved back to dodge. However, the unexpected movement of the shadows caused her to misjudge the distance, and a black, writhing shadow precisely stabbed her in the calf.

Feeling the sharp pain in her leg, Xiluo’er slowly curved her lips into a smile.

“Your trick is nothing more than this, Shadow.”

‘Well, that makes things easier, doesn’t it? At least I know if the opponent’s cheat is wallhacks, aimbot, or a Stand user… That makes it a bit easier to handle.’

“So what if you know? You still can’t hurt me, can you?”

Shadow spoke indifferently.

“Still, let’s end this soon. I’m getting a bit bored.”

Shadow seemed to pull something from his cloak, then unhesitatingly put it into his mouth.

In truth, Shadow was not as calm as he appeared. His heart was also growing anxious. There had been no movement from the basement, and he suspected that something had gone wrong with the plan. If necessary, he even considered going down himself to act as a catalyst.

However, as luck would have it, he encountered the same problem Xiluo’er had faced earlier: Xiluo’er was tying him down here, and he couldn’t leave!