https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-168-The-Protagonist-s-Advance-Thirteen-/13547070/
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Chapter 169: The Protagonist's Advance (14)
Chapter 169: The Protagonist's Advance (14)
"Hmph... The things you described..." K3 smirked, grabbing Feng Bu Jue's collar with one hand, "hold absolutely no interest for me." His right arm had already swung upward, "No matter who you are in your world, here you're just another set of data obstructing me."
A crimson flash erupted as his fist shot forward. Feng Bu Jue appeared utterly doomed.
K3 lunged directly, aiming a devastating punch straight at Feng's face. Whether Feng had dodged the previous finger flick through sheer strength or not was irrelevant now—this blow left no chance of escape.
Boom! K3's fist struck something solid. The energy coiled around his arm collided with the object, erupting in a shower of sparks.
Feng Bu Jue felt no impact on his head. Unexpectedly, the 【Casey Jones Mask】 had automatically activated, materializing on his face.
A second later, a crisp crackling sound filled the air. The hockey mask covering Feng's face split into fractures, then disintegrated into countless data fragments.
【Your Equipment "Casey Jones Mask" has been destroyed】
【Your martial arts proficiency bonus has disappeared, now at E-grade】
The System's notification delivered two disastrous updates.
Caught off guard by this anomaly, Feng's mind raced: "Equipment destruction?! How?!"
Feng Bu Jue had miscalculated this time. He hadn't anticipated that the Protagonist's Grace, facing absolute peril it couldn't override, would use the "equivalence principle" to protect the Player.
This time, losing equipment was the mildest consequence. If K3 continued launching fatal attacks using Perfect Calibration, the Grace would escalate its countermeasures—like forcibly consuming the vitality value supplements in Feng's satchel, or transferring damage to teammates in the scenario.
K3, surprised the opponent survived, didn't hesitate. His fists blurred as he bombarded Feng's torso with rapid jabs. The onslaught created a storm of punches, yet every strike met an invisible barrier, the force dissipating through a transparent medium.
This wasn't Protagonist's Grace—this time it was the 【Echo Armor】's doing. Earlier, when Feng was thrown backward, the sound barrier failed because the Echo Armor's sonic shield surrounded his body externally, and Feng had been in direct contact with K3 when struck. Now, the barrier activated normally. Against high-speed, multi-point attacks, the sound barrier provided a significant ten-point defense boost.
K3's increased speed and attack density naturally diluted the punch power, making it utterly ineffective against the Echo Armor's defenses.
If K3 had simply launched another heavy strike, Feng would've needed Protagonist's Grace again. But by switching tactics to probe Feng's defenses, K3 inadvertently made Feng's defensive capabilities even more unpredictable.
"The head-targeted finger flick inexplicably missed. The close-range heavy strike vanished behind an unexpected mask. The data flow reveals no sensory interference skills... doesn't look like active defense either..." Within seconds, K3's logic program analyzed Feng's possible responses. "The high-speed jabs targeting the torso covered all organs, joints, bones, and diaphragm. If his reflexes were fast, he should've evaded instinctively. If defense was his specialty, this attack should've revealed his weaknesses.
Yet... no defensive movement. No evasion. Suddenly, data emerges from nowhere to block my attacks. The barrier appears only when my fists near his body within a certain distance, precisely intercepting the strike points. Is this a skill or equipment effect...?"
Though the "light" surrounding Feng appeared brighter than an average Level 8 Player, his combat strength should be inferior to those two Gms. Even Meng Jing Chan standing nearby surpassed him. Why... why can't I kill him?!
K3's rapid calculations flashed within moments. As an AI, his analytical scope was limited, though his processing speed remained unmatched.
Seeing his attacks fail, K3 decisively resolved to unleash a stronger technique.
The crimson dragon tattoo on his right arm blazed intensely, its scales visible even through his sleeve. An overwhelming pressure descended like invisible hands pinning Feng's shoulders, paralyzing him.
"You're more persistent than I imagined..." K3's smirk remained, "Let's see how long you can endure."
K3's combat style was brutally straightforward—when previous attacks failed, he simply escalated. If that succeeded, he'd escalate further. No one had ever forced him to use his full power. In past battles, opponents faced a dilemma: match his escalating strength or perish.
Including Wayiru, every monster, Player, and GM who fell to K3-Cheiron faced the same fate. None survived his ultimate technique—"Scarlet Dragon Fist Flame"—when his battle power peaked.
"This again?" Feng Bu Jue, someone who'd let an opponent destroy two of his equipments? Absolutely not.
As K3 raised his arm, Feng twisted his body into an awkward stance, tripping K3 with a divine skill—【Brat's Low Kick】. This final whip kick vanished from Feng's skill list upon activation, its consumption complete.
"You're joking..." K3's rhetorical question began with a mocking tone, but ended abruptly as his face slammed into the ground.
Though 【Brat's Low Kick】 was meant for monsters, Feng had gambled on system mechanics. Indeed, the system classified physical-form derivative beings as "monsters".
Feng sidestepped, landing behind K3 as Meng Jing Chan charged in. Seeing K3 sprawled, Meng confidently prepared his finishing move against the derivative being.
"Liking combat, huh?" Feng swung the 【Eighteen Bronze Warriors' Foldable Stool (No.5)】 while speaking, "I lost equipment, used skills..." His tone turned sharp, "I'll fight until you're satisfied!"
As his words landed, the stool crashed down. Feng struck K3's back while Meng's sword slashed K3's neck—accompanied by skill activation.
【Name: Strong Edge】
【Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered】
【Skill Category: Martial Arts】
【Effect: Next slash power increases by 30% (requires bladed weapon, 5-minute cooldown)】
【Consumption: 5% of stamina value cap】
【Learning Condition: Martial Arts Proficiency D, Level 20+】
【Background: A strike exceeding normal limits, often deciding battle outcomes】
A balanced, practical skill—not Meng Jing Chan's Cold Assassin Title Technique, but his most frequently used. Combining its effect, consumption, and learning requirements, it was an exemplary all-rounder. Higher levels might render similar passive skills obsolete, but below Level 30, it remained an invaluable asset for bladed-weapon users.
No wonder he bore the Cold Assassin title—his decisive strike was swift, precise, ruthless. His expression remained cold, rigid—truly, a killer's visage.
Clang—
As Yijian’s blade struck down, a bizarre sound system activated. This could only mean one thing—K3’s head wasn’t so easy to sever.
A crimson energy wall materialized on K3’s skin surface. This defensive technique, akin to Feng Bu Jue’s Echo Armor in ingenuity, blocked Meng Jing Chan’s slash outright. Not even a scratch marred K3’s flesh.
Meanwhile, Feng Bu Jue swung his Folding Stool like a madman, hammering K3’s spine with ruthless strikes. His attacks weren’t halted by invisible forces, though… he heard no bones snapping, nor did he see blood seep through K3’s clothes. It felt as if he were giving a martial artist of Iron Shirt Kung Fu a back massage—painfully ineffective. He even wondered… if not for the Folding Stool’s indestructible attribute, it would’ve shattered by now.
This brief clash of offense and defense lasted less than ten seconds.
K3 had never tasted such defeat before. Only after completing his full “collapse” animation did he regain the ability to stand. During that time, Meng Jing Chan and Feng Bu Jue mercilessly battered his neck and spine like merciless executioners.
Yet K3 endured. He knew once he rose, he’d reclaim combat dominance. That earlier trip skill might’ve been vile, but it proved one thing—these two players had no finishing moves!
K3’s deduction was spot-on. Indeed, neither Feng Bu Jue nor Meng Jing Chan possessed those all-in, game-changing active skills (like Demon Sealing Light Cannon). If they had such techniques, those few seconds would’ve been their sole chance to strike.
Alas, both belonged to the precise, calculated combat style—players who never considered acquiring such reckless skills. Thus, Meng Jing Chan’s attack barely added a buff skill, while Feng Bu Jue relied solely on basic strikes.
K3 surviving was natural. Meng Jing Chan’s slash drained a sliver of his energy shield. As for Feng Bu Jue, whose Martial Arts Proficiency had plummeted to E, his weaponless basic attacks barely dented K3’s health—only costing him approximately 5% vitality after dozens of hits.
“Heh… utterly laughable.” K3 now fully believed these two couldn’t kill him. Even if he stood still, they’d need minutes of relentless blows to finish him. “Die, already!”
He roared, his right arm slashing forward, unleashing an energy blade. Slower than his earlier flicked strikes, this blast was still far beyond the two players’ reflexes. Its power was terrifying—what began as a yard-wide slash expanded mid-air into a force equivalent to a cement pipe swinging at full speed…
Needless to say, Meng Jing Chan was extraordinary. He barely evaded the strike through sheer reflexes.
Facing a horizontal slash at chest height, most would bend or duck downward. But Meng Jing Chan did the unthinkable—he vaulted upward like a monkey, scaling a nearby tree trunk in an instant. The tree was severed two seconds later, but Meng Jing Chan himself escaped unscathed.
Feng Bu Jue? He dodged too. How? Protagonist’s Grace guided him.
The sequence defied logic. As K3’s arm began its swing, the visual signal hadn’t even reached Feng Bu Jue’s brain when Protagonist’s Grace activated. By the time Feng Bu Jue’s brain registered the threat, his body had already reacted—he felt his feet slip. On the shrine’s flat terrain, without a single obstacle, he toppled backward like a corpse, his soles suddenly frictionless. The slightest lateral force sent him sliding flat, his body lying prone in a second—faster than any deliberate dive.
A gust of deadly wind swept past. Feng Bu Jue evaded K3’s slash by lying flat, the ground-level trajectory sparing him the blast’s full force. Yet his fears materialized—during his fall, system prompts blared:
[Your Item Vitality Value Supplement (Medium) has been used]
[Your Item Vitality Value Supplement (Medium) has been used]
Two identical notifications rang out, making Feng Bu Jue’s head throb. Even in this crisis, he recalled clearly—he only had two Medium-sized Vitality Value Supplements left.
Each Medium Supplement restored 50% vitality, but with diminishing returns from consecutive uses… Feng Bu Jue checked his menu. His health now stood at 89%—still not full.
Though he dodged the slash, Protagonist’s Grace had betrayed him. That slip cost vitality, forcing the Supplement’s activation under the protagonist’s undying principle—no matter what, some recovery was mandatory.
“Curiosity kills,” Feng Bu Jue muttered, springing up in a single fluid motion. “If I’d quit before meeting you, none of this would’ve happened. But now… losses keep piling up.”
K3 sneered. “I don’t know what ‘losses’ you mean. I’m just surprised you’re still alive.”
“But… this is glorious.” Feng Bu Jue actually laughed. “It’s precisely these scenario conditions that let me fight a monster as strong as you.”
In this moment, a hot-headed player might’ve recklessly charged K3, desperate to recover lost Equipment, Skills, or Items. A cold, calculating player would’ve exited immediately to minimize losses and reflect objectively.
Feng Bu Jue’s thoughts were peculiar. He found the situation… rare and precious. Without Protagonist’s Grace, K3 could’ve killed him effortlessly. Without Meng Jing Chan backing him up, he’d have zero counterplay.
Encountering a Derivative Being was already a miracle. For a martial artist with mere E-rank proficiency like Feng Bu Jue to battle such an overwhelmingly powerful entity head-on? A once-in-a-lifetime chance.
“I said it—I’ll match you blow for blow!” Feng Bu Jue’s body erupted in a crimson glow, its hue slightly different from K3’s aura—closer to blood itself. His surrounding temperature skyrocketed, the air distorting like a heat mirage.
With vitality restored, Feng Bu Jue activated his Spirit Sense Body Technique once more. The Death Poker materialized in his grip.
“Oh? You can still muster this power?” K3, a born warrior, felt his excitement rise at his opponent’s resolve.
Level-3 Derivative Beings naturally possessed “personality” in their intelligence. While Four Pillars Deities and their unique subordinates had system-set personalities, Derivative Beings developed theirs through memory, experience, and growth—like humans.
K3 wasn’t the only battle-hungry one. This mindset was common among Derivative Beings. To them, combat meant kill or be killed. They were physical manifestations of data destined for deletion—unlike players who could return to the Login Space upon death. Facing even the strongest foe, they had but one choice: eliminate the enemy.
This behavioral programming was imposed by an entity higher than Derivative Beings themselves. If they were life, then from birth, their sole value was obliterating all obstacles in their path. No one could claim this was wrong. Only by following this principle could they survive and evolve…
“Fine… come then.” K3’s eyes burned with fervor. “Kill or perish—it’s our fate. You want to understand Derivative Beings? Let your false projection’s blood paint the answer.”
(End of Chapter)
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