Evidently, the 'Artist' hadn't expected the seemingly unassuming blonde girl to be able to injure it, and it showed a hint of surprise: "Impressive....truly."1EUNO
Having landed a successful strike, Xu Xiaoyou immediately distanced herself. Her figure flipped and darted through the air, several skill cards emerging from her fingertips and quickly brushing against her leg. Then, defying gravity, she dashed across the ruins, the shadowy figure relentlessly pursuing her.
The 'Artist' floated in the air. The bodies of the previously slain nurses were torn into strips of flesh-threads, which collectively wove into brand-new black gowns, mending the gash on its form.
Simultaneously, it followed closely behind the girl, raising a hand slightly. A pair of demonic scissors, formed by two crossed blades, materialized out of thin air in front of Xu Xiaoyou. Deep black light flowed over the blades, and the scissors instantly split into two long blades, swiftly circling around the girl.
Xu Xiaoyou leaped into the air, and the two long blades, like sharks scenting blood, lunged after her. She tilted her head slightly, dodging the attack of one of the blades.
Her wrist twisted, and her long whip swept out, swiftly coiling around the rapidly passing blade. She shot away at an extreme speed, widening the distance from the 'Artist' once more, while keeping her eyes fixed on the shadowy figure.
Was it because its host was Director Aerylia? This iteration of the 'Artist' was far less powerful than previous resurrections. The direct threat it posed was comparable to facing Bai Zhou after he activated his divine endowment.
The only thing worth noting was the demonic scissors named "Hammerlin." She was certain that if touched by those demonic scissors, a part of her body would instantly be tailored into clothing, just like the previous nurses.
As for the "Silence"■ on its body, Xu Xiaoyou decisively activated her Gaze of Spiritual Vision, along with a 【Data Visualization】 skill card. Just like in a game, the 'Artist's analysis appeared before her as bulleted informational text.
■■: &Distortion? divine endowment%￥&.
The pollution brought by this knowledge instantly stormed into Xu Xiaoyou's brain like a tempest, causing the world she saw to twist and distort, like a massive static screen, with text information writhing like maggots within it.
In an extremely short time, the text stabilized and became clear.
【Silence】: Applies a 'Silence' effect to all attacks approaching "Silence"■, increasing with distance, until the target loses its voice. She swiftly retreated backward, and a rose rifle appeared in her hand. Several slug rounds were pushed into the chamber by the firing lever within the rifle.
The flickering muzzle flash illuminated the darkness. Several 【Headshot】 bullets transformed into streaks of light, flying towards the 'Artist', but slowed down rapidly as they approached its body, seemingly hovering in mid-air before falling.
As expected, conventional attack methods simply couldn't break through the 'Artist's rule-based "Silence"■ defense.
Xu Xiaoyou shook her head. The moment she landed, she aimed the muzzle at the ground and used 【Rocket Jump】. Flames erupted, propelling her back into the sky at an incredible speed. Under the horrified gazes of the surviving nurses, she ran forward on the ceiling.
Two sharp blades circled around Xu Xiaoyou, piercing and attacking, tearing the space around the girl into fragments, time and again striking the exact spot where the girl had been a second before.
Xu Xiaoyou used her long whip to move nimbly within the confined space. The burning fire illuminated her face, and her trench coat billowed and swirled. The surrounding space was like a kaleidoscope unfolding in layers. After a brief fall, she continued running forward, occasionally turning back to fire at the relentlessly pursuing 'Artist'.
This couldn't injure that guy, but it could delay its steps.
Earlier, she had rolled 【Death's Boundary】, and her seemingly unremarkable slash actually carried the effects of multiple skill cards.
【Lethal Edge】 allowed her to apply a bleeding effect to the 'Artist' and inflict a true percentage of damage based on a certain amount of its health, combined with the multi-attack characteristic of 【Brutal Slash】.
She had absolute confidence in that strike; if not to kill it, it should at least heavily wound the opponent. But judging by its current state, she hadn't inflicted much substantial damage.
Was it because the fleeing people were tailored into clothing, thus healing its wounds?
Xu Xiaoyou quickly made a judgment internally,
"Are you running behind the stage's curtain?"
"Run, keep running, run to the end of the storm!"
"No rainbow will greet you, my dear Iris. You won't escape the island that imprisons you. You'll only have your wax wings melted by the scorching sun, plummeting to the bottom of the sea!"
"Your fate will not be changed!"
"Embrace your destiny, listen to your final melody!"
The 'Artist's voice, tinged with excitement, came from an unknown corner, loudly exclaiming obscure words.
"Becoming my art is your only destination."
Xu Xiaoyou scoffed, her ears growing calloused from listening. She immediately began rolling, but this time she didn't pre-roll the dice to stack points. Looking at the points she had saved on her dice, Xu Xiaoyou's lips curved slightly; she wouldn't easily roll away her final trump card.
After she entered grade 3, her hundred-faced die successfully upgraded to a thousand-faced die. Its form didn't change much compared to the hundred-faced die; it even had fewer faces, appearing irregularly shaped, and the random point range for each face had increased by more than tenfold compared to before.
More importantly, she had recently drawn a second 【Death's Boundary】. For her, this battle was far more advantageous than the one on Siren Island previously.
The point roll judgment attached to skill cards was independent of the thousand-faced die's own roll; she didn't need to worry about this issue.
On the first roll, the points were, as she expected, below 500, triggering the 'Death's Boundary's' weakening effect. Xu Xiaoyou immediately used 【Status Rollback】.
The priority of 'Death's Boundary's' judgment was very high; it couldn't be removed by a refined grade blue card 【Purify】, but it could be forcefully reset by a limited purple card 【Status Rollback】 to revert her state to one second prior.
Long periods of combat had already allowed her to understand the combined effects of many skill cards: which combinations complemented each other, which could negate negative effects, and which interacted. If utilized properly, even two refined grade cards could achieve effects far superior to limited skill cards!
On the second roll, the points were 789, once again triggering 【Death's Boundary】!
"Lady Luck kisses the gambler who wagers a second time."
The 'Artist', in pursuit, noticed the blonde girl ahead suddenly stopped.
"What, have you given up the futile struggle?"
"It seems you clearly understand that humans fighting against fate is a foolish endeavor."
"You cannot escape this Crete Island!"
"Not only are you not continuing to flee, but you're walking towards me instead?"
The 'Artist's tone was appreciative: "I admire your courage."
"You've been noisy from the start." Xu Xiaoyou picked at her ear.
A series of refined and limited skill cards, including 【Brutal Slash】, 【Duel Dance】, 【Bloodlust】, 【Lethal Edge】, 【Back Alley Thrust】, etc., merged into a single 【Bad Girl Workshop Lite】 in the blonde girl's hand.
Immediately after, two black butler twin blades appeared in Xu Xiaoyou's hands, crossing into a 'X' in front of her, sparking tiny flames, and emanating a deathly black mist from their blades.
"How else am I supposed to send you off if I don't get closer?"
Rate on N.U.
