Thriller Paradise Chapter 160: The Protagonist Strikes (5) - Novel Cool

Chapter 160: The Protagonist Strikes (5)

Chapter 160: The Protagonist Strikes (5)

Death Poker was originally an item designed for ranged attacks and possessed a consumable nature. Although Feng Bu Jue now wielded it as a melee weapon, the four cards in his hand still vanished after striking their target. The energy composing the cards had transformed into actual damage, prompting the system to immediately dissolve their physical forms.

The monster, meanwhile, began exuding black mist from its wounds. Its body rapidly withered and shrunk, revealing its true nature: beneath the skin, there was no flesh, bones, or blood—only malevolent black mist filled its hollow frame. As the mist flowed outward, the creature collapsed into a deflated heap of empty skin.

Feng Bu Jue casually released the monster’s arm he had gripped earlier. Now reduced to a shriveled husk, it was no longer worth holding. He didn’t immediately retract the Death Poker but instead guided another card to slash at the puddle of black mist on the ground.

This time, however, nothing happened. The card passed harmlessly through the mist and struck the floor. The intangible black smoke sustained no damage.

By now, Feng Bu Jue’s teammates had recovered from their previous state of helpless paralysis. Yet with the monster already defeated, there was no opportunity left for them to act.

"Feng Bu Jue, weren’t you affected by the monster’s movement restriction?" Yongzhe Wudi asked.

Feng Bu Jue kept his eyes fixed on the black mist below, replying absently, "No." He paused for a second. "But did you all experience some kind of restriction just now?"

"It’s hard to explain", Meng Jing Chan replied. "If we stood still, we were fine. But the harder we tried to move forward and help, the more our bodies resisted us."

"Judging from the setting, that must have been a powerful mental attack", Ye Zhi mused. She then turned to Feng Bu Jue. "Perhaps you weren’t affected because of your Protagonist’s Grace?"

"I don’t think so", Feng Bu Jue countered. "When the System introduced Protagonist’s Grace, it described the effect as an aura that ‘terminates’ fatal situations. That could mean preventing an instant kill when vitality value is at 100%, or stopping a minor injury when vitality drops to 1%." As he spoke, he stepped through the doorway, carefully following the black mist creeping slowly into the room. "The aura forcibly stops my death, but it doesn’t make me immune to all negative effects. If I couldn’t lose vitality or be affected by skills at all, they’d just call this buff ‘Invincible Aura’ instead."

As he spoke, Feng Bu Jue reached the wall where the black mist had gathered. It now rose upward, seeping like liquid into the magic array etched into the stone.

"To put it simply", he continued, "I lose vitality and get affected by skills just like you. The only difference is—I don’t die."

He gestured toward the monster’s earlier attack. "Its first strike wasn’t fatal—just average mook-level strength and speed. If I hadn’t blocked it, I would’ve taken normal vitality damage. But I blocked. The monster’s second strike, however, was an instant-kill attack. I didn’t even see it coming, and I’m certain I couldn’t have dodged it on my own. If I’d been hit, I’d be dead. That’s when the Protagonist’s Grace activated, making the monster’s attack inexplicably miss."

The black mist fully merged into the ritual array.

"Why weren’t you affected by the monster’s mental suppression?" Ye Zhi pressed. "Not only resisted it, but killed it?"

"Before asking that", Feng Bu Jue murmured, still studying the ritual array, "why don’t you first think—what made me different from you at that moment besides Protagonist’s Grace?"

Ye Zhi pondered briefly. "Your position? Spirit Arts Proficiency level?" As she spoke, her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait—you grabbed the monster’s arm?"

"Precisely", Feng Bu Jue said. "Sustained physical contact."

"Oh!" Yongzhe Wudi interjected. "So touching the monster’s body negates its mental suppression?"

"Partially", Feng Bu Jue replied.

"Don’t play cryptic games", Yongzhe Wudi grumbled.

"The paralysis you experienced was likely a group-control skill", Feng Bu Jue explained. "I resisted it because I was holding the monster’s arm. But I suspect the skill’s source wasn’t the monster itself."

He sheathed the Death Poker and withdrew Robot Must Die from his satchel. Scraping the blade against the wall, he added, "When the monster emerged, you all instinctively stepped back. That proves you could still move initially."

Yongzhe Wudi frowned. "That’s what I’m saying! When a demon howled out of nowhere, even you didn’t flinch. Are you human?"

"I’ve got nerves of steel", Feng Bu Jue shrugged. "When I blocked the first attack, you should’ve reacted. But you couldn’t move. That means the skill activated the moment I grabbed its arm."

"Exactly", Meng Jing Chan confirmed.

Feng Bu Jue paused. "If the monster had initiated the skill itself, why not use it immediately upon appearing? Why not paralyze you first, then attack?"

Yongzhe Wudi tensed, flashlight sweeping the dark corridors. "You’re saying something else is here?"

"The answer’s right here", Feng Bu Jue said, slashing the ritual array.

The entire western mansion and its garden vanished, revealing a charred wasteland. Only the wall before Feng Bu Jue remained, standing solitary. The monster’s deflated husk now revealed its true form—a livestock corpse grotesquely stretched into humanoid shape, like dough forced into a mold.

"The ritual array used a summoning skill first", Feng Bu Jue explained. "Only after the monster appeared could it activate the control skill. The sequence was fixed—the monster had to threaten us before the skill made sense. I believe this control skill requires continuous casting and can’t last long."

"You’re saying the ritual array itself is a conscious monster?" Yongzhe Wudi asked.

Feng Bu Jue ignored the question. "The ‘Resentment Well’ in this scenario likely shares this ritual array’s nature—but with greater power. This mansion shouldn’t exist in farmland. I suspected hallucination from the start, especially when I saw the ritual array on the wall. Without surrounding structures, its illusionary range couldn’t extend beyond this spot."

"If the array were drawn inside a real mansion…" Yongzhe Wudi trailed off, recalling Usher House’s horrors.

"…Its illusion might mimic a labyrinth", Feng Bu Jue finished. "The complexity of real-world surroundings limits the illusion’s complexity. A single wall can only project so much."

Copernicus and Galileo exchanged silent glances, their expressions shifting. Finally, Galileo ventured, "Feng, in the main quest’s mountain… could there also be ritual arrays like this?"

Feng Bu Jue smirked inwardly but answered flatly, "I assume you’ll ask why we haven’t received side quest prompts or rewards after defeating the monster?"

"Why?" Meng Jing Chan lit another cigarette.

"Assuming these ritual arrays are our primary foes here—and that the mountain’s main quest holds several similar ones, with the strongest hidden in the Resentment Well’s well-bottom", Feng Bu Jue said, "then this array we broke was an ‘extra’ one, not part of the standard route."

"So?" Yongzhe Wudi pressed.

Feng Bu Jue didn’t reply. Ye Zhi cut in thoughtfully, "So… destroying this ritual array itself was the reward."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end

Report