NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38: The Battle
Beneath the hood, the black debt agent mask concealed Christie's calm expression. The ritual blade in his hand emanated a frigid edge.
He didn't actually intend to kill the fool before him. After all, things had been arranged for so long, killing him now and starting over would be too wasteful.
A proper scare was very necessary.
Christie raised the ritual blade in his hand. Its design was more suited for backstabs, but now he wanted this old fool to get a good look at the blade's sharpness, lest he get any more funny ideas!
When truly facing life and death, Lucas's eyes still flashed with a hint of regret. Were his previous actions a bit rash?
"Wai-"
Before his words fell, he saw the razor-sharp blade slash down towards him from above, and Lucas froze in terror for that instant.
Beneath his mask, the corners of Christie's mouth raised. Lucal's fear delighted him.
At that moment.
A spinning steel arrow silently intruded into his vision. Before Christie could react, he only felt the ritual blade flung from his hand by tremendous force.
After spinning twice in midair, the alloy blade plunged into the nearby wall. Half the arrow shaft was embedded in the stone ground.
"Armor-piercing arrow!" Christie's pupils constricted as he looked up at the roof where the arrow had come from, "Who's there?!"
On the roof stood a figure with a bow and arrow, features indistinguishable in the dim night.
"Undercover knight. You can't escape, surrender now."
This was naturally Nolan. He still had to save the guy after coming all this way.
And as a normal youth with proper morals, within his capability, he could not sit idly by in the face of such oppression of the weak.
"Undercover knight?"
Christie pulled his ritual blade from the wall, momentarily unclear on the relation between this "undercover knight" and the Knights of Favonius. What angered him was the notch carved into his blade's edge.
"Humph. Trickery and deceit!" Christie snorted coldly.
When it came to dealing with archers, none were better than them, the debt agents trained in covert assassination arts.
As long as he could get close, it would be no different from facing an unarmed weakling.
With these thoughts, Christie directly entered stealth mode. Even more untraceable in the night's darkness. His stealth duration was limited, so gripping his ritual blade, he rapidly approached the roof like a darting bird using the alley walls.
Seeing the debt collector vanish without a trace, Nolan also understood he had entered stealth. This should also be considered an extraordinary power, unlike Visions.
Although Teyvat was mainly centered around Elemental powers for the extraordinary, there were still other forces that existed, like Albedo's alchemy, Mona's astrology, and such.
Even martial arts, if cultivated to the pinnacle, would gain extraordinary and remarkable powers. After all, his senior martial sister Beidou from Liyue slew the sea monster "Haishan" with her own martial skills before obtaining a Vision.
A legend passed down among Liyue folk, so this "Haishan" surely was no common Slime or Hillichurl.
Therefore, Nolan was still very interested in the debt agent's rather potent "Stealth" technique. He was also lacking powerful skills like these.
There were many methods to counter the debt agent's "Stealth".
The first was to spread Elemental Energy around to tag the debt agent, then use Elemental Sight to see traces of that element on him.
But even among those who could wield elements, only a small number knew this technique.
Naturally, Nolan didn't. The debt collector's "Stealth" was only visual, footsteps and wind on his body were no different from normal.
As someone proficient in the "Hunter's Archery" to a certain extent, sensing by sound was his expertise.
He nocked a steel arrow, loosed it in a shot. The armor-piercing arrow grazed past the air and pierced the wall below in an instant. Based on the sound of his clothes tearing, it seems he dodged it.
"!?"
Christie looked at the armor-piercing arrow passing under his armpit, beads of cold sweat emerging on his forehead. A little closer and his arm would've been pierced through.
He kept calm. This "undercover knight's" archery was formidable. He couldn't be careless before getting close.
Without stopping, his toes tapped the wall lightly. In the last stretch of less than two seconds, the stealthed debt agent Christie reached the roof. The youth who called himself an "undercover knight" was right before him.
But the noise of his landing on the tiles was far too loud. Nolan loosed another steel arrow at him.
"BAM!"
With a crisp ringing sound, Christie reacted in time, the mask over his face shattered after being grazed by the armor-piercing arrow.
His stealth duration was almost up. No time to circle behind, the ritual blade slashed forth just as he left "Stealth".
Before Nolan could ready a second arrow, the silent, frigid edge flew straight at him as the debt collector's form appeared.
"Die!"
A frosty smile pulled at the corners of Christie's mouth beneath the black mask. Blame yourself for poking your nose where it doesn't belong.
"Hmph."
In Nolan's eyes, the debt agent's attack wasn't that fast, like the Slimes he encountered when he first crossed over.
It seems this debt agent wasn't that capable among their organization either.
Nolan moved first, raising his left hand holding the Adventurer's Hunting Bow. He grabbed Christie's wrist in time to stop the blade, leaving just a hair's width between the edge and his hair.
"How is this possible?!" Christie's voice from behind the mask was somewhat hoarse, but the shock in it couldn't be concealed at all. "You're an Archer, why is your..."
"Why is your strength so great?"
Nolan smiled and finished the sentence for him. His left hand twisted forcefully. The debt agent let out a painful cry.
"Arghhh!"
The pain in Christie's right hand prevented him from grasping his ritual blade. It clattered onto the tiles as he knelt, unable to stand steadily.
Damn it, he felt like he had been led into a trap! Christie's heartbeat raced, a trace of fear flashed through his mind.
Not only was this guy a skilled archer, but his physique was also considerable. Just like that Inspector of his. What to do, beg for mercy? But doing something so humiliating to Her Majesty, how could he...
"Thud!"
Before he could think clearly, there was a burst of pain at the back of his head then he blacked out.
【Defeated Powerful Enemy, Obtained 435 Adventure EXP】
"Don't yell so loudly. What if you attract the patrolling Knights of Favonius over? I haven't even asked you about your stealth techniques yet. Can't hand you over just like this."
Seeing the Adventure EXP gain prompt, Nolan smiled and threw the debt agent's words to Lucas back at him.
Gaze at the figure sprawled on the roof, he picked him up and jumped back down into the dark alley. There was still someone here after all.
(End of Chapter)
To be continued...