Chapter 24: Just Humoring a Child
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 24: Just Humoring a Child
"Wait, you're—!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Before Julius could finish his sentence, Xie Bai had already launched a flying kick.
Her movement was a blur, her foot connecting with Julius’s head and knocking it askew.
[-2,000,000,000]
Pfft!
The impact sent Julius hurtling nearly a mile away.
Watching from the side, the Gray Horse Knight was struck with bewilderment.
"Was my Master’s avatar... such a youthful-looking being?"
Before the Gray Horse Knight could wrap his head around the situation, Xie Bai was already standing over Julius, pinning him beneath her foot.
He didn't move an inch.
At that moment, due to the dungeon's mechanic of displaying the status panels of all non-player units, Julius’s stats appeared before Xie Bai’s eyes.
[Julius, Lv.94]
Seeing his level, Xie Bai finally let out a sigh of relief.
On the surface, she appeared calm and collected. Internally, however, she was frantically stomping her feet in a panic.
Ugh, what was I thinking? Why did I just charge in without any preparation? Waaaah...
Xie Bai felt a lingering sense of dread. That kick had been fueled by a momentary rush of blood to the head.
She had only just realized that someone capable of suppressing a Level 99 Soul Guardian probably wouldn't be low-level.
Fortunately, this "Big Piece of Charcoal" was simply skilled at fighting above his level. His actual level wasn't high enough to be a threat.
He was nothing to worry about!
...Provided, of course, that this charcoal briquette didn't have any crowd-control debuffs up his sleeve.
"Ahem!"
Relying on the absolute suppression of Pride's Blessing, Xie Bai began to act arrogant. She rested Funeral Rites against Julius’s neck and spoke with feigned indifference.
"I’m taking everything here. Do you have a problem with that?"
Hmph. If you have a problem, I’ll mince you into skinless dumplings. Then I’ll rob every treasure on your body. And I’m definitely taking that powerful talent of yours, too.
"No."
"Hmph, since you do, then—wait, what did you say?"
Thinking she had misheard, Xie Bai looked down at Julius with a puzzled expression.
Pinned to the ground, Julius began to speak with total earnestness.
"If this young lady likes this place, then I would not dream of disturbing your pleasure. If my previous actions were too offensive, I am willing to offer one of my treasures as an apology."
Now it was Xie Bai’s turn to be bewildered.
This was the same ruthless character who had tanked over forty debuffs while trading blows with the Soul Guardian—the man who had briefly held the upper hand.
And now... he was folding?
What Xie Bai didn't know was that Julius wasn't dropping his "strongman" persona because of her threat.
It was because of something the Cult Leader had once told him:
"I have a feeling that the key to the World Destruction Plan lies with that young lady. As long as you keep her happy, we won't have to worry about the plan failing."
Though he didn't quite understand it, if the Cult Leader said it, there had to be a reason.
Naturally, the priority of dealing with Xie Bai had been elevated above even Griffin’s plans.
Seeing Xie Bai remain silent, Julius assumed his offer wasn't enough. He bluntly added another condition.
"If one treasure isn't enough to show my sincerity, you may state other conditions. I will do my best to satisfy them."
Other conditions?
Xie Bai pondered. She had originally planned to say something like, "Just kidding, I’m killing you even if you don't have a problem," or "Once you're dead, everything is mine anyway."
But since Julius said she could add conditions, she figured she could make this work.
She spoke up. "Then, swear your loyalty to me."
Swear loyalty?
Now it was Julius’s turn to be stunned. As the Cult Leader’s most trusted subordinate, he couldn't simply swear fealty to another. That would be a betrayal.
However, if it was just polite lip service, Julius figured it wouldn't be an issue. He would treat it like humoring a child to make her happy.
After a moment's thought, Julius responded. "Very well."
Hearing his answer, Xie Bai smirked inwardly.
Just as planned.
In Xie Bai’s presence, there was no such thing as "lip service" when it came to swearing loyalty.
"You'd better mean it."
Xie Bai lifted her foot, releasing Julius. She wasn't afraid of him running away. The moment she had suppressed him, she had already tagged him with her Daybreak skill.
Aside from increasing damage, this skill had a mechanic that prevented the target from moving more than fifty meters away. If Julius even thought about fleeing, Xie Bai could kill him on the spot with the massive AoE damage from Echo.
Besides, the Reaper class had a built-in heal-block trait. She had zero doubt she could finish him off.
Once Julius stood up, the two-meter-tall, hulking charcoal man dropped to one knee.
"Of course, noble lady. My name is Julius. Might I have the honor of knowing yours?"
Xie Bai threw out her usual alias. "Just call me Bai."
Julius bowed his head slightly. "Very well, Miss Bai. I, Julius, hereby swear to offer you my loyalty. I am willing to fight across the seas for you, without question."
[Julius’s Loyalty has increased to 1]
[Lust's Blessing triggered: Julius’s Loyalty is now locked at 1,000]
[The number of Children of Fate under your command has met the base requirement]
[Child of Fate Bond triggered!]
[Beginning of Fate (2/2): Luck +1. Your weight in the world has slightly increased; the main storyline will be more easily influenced by your actions.]
Xie Bai: "?"
Xie Bai stared at the prompts popping up in front of her, unable to react for a moment.
What the hell is a Child of Fate Bond? What is this thing? And wait, there are other Children of Fate? More importantly, when did I already acquire one?
A string of questions made Xie Bai’s head spin.
Judging by Julius’s talent, a "Child of Fate" was a being protected by the world, someone who enjoyed the favor of destiny. In short: a protagonist.
And Julius’s talent was specifically labeled "Warrior."
Did that mean every class had its own exclusive protagonist? If so, this world had a lot of main characters.
As for the fact that she had already "collected" another protagonist...
Could it be that brat Edward?
She found it hard to believe, but she hadn't taken anyone else under her wing.
Is that kid really a protagonist? He acts like such a ditz; it doesn't seem likely.
Setting those questions aside, the bond effect was incredibly powerful—especially that "Luck +1."
It brought a qualitative change to Xie Bai’s laughable negative Luck stat. A glorious promotion from negative one to zero.
"Uh... it still feels kind of useless."
Normally, no matter how unlucky an ordinary person was, they had at least one point of Luck as a baseline. A Luck stat of zero didn't seem much different from negative one.
After sorting through the notifications, Xie Bai looked up at the towering Julius.
"So, what was that treasure you mentioned as compensation?"
Hearing her question, Julius removed a necklace from his neck.
"This."
[Necklace of Immunity to All Evils]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Type: Necklace]
[Requirements: None]
[Intelligence: +2,000]
[Immunity: Debuffs of Lv.6 and below are ineffective against you.]
[Dilution: Debuff duration is reduced by half.]
[A simple yet powerful necklace. Legend says it is a treasure from Hell, specifically designed to suppress evil and dark entities.]
The reason Julius had been able to tank over forty debuffs and still suppress the Gray Horse Knight was this necklace.
Out of those forty-plus debuffs, thirty-two had been nullified entirely. The remaining high-level debuffs had their durations cut in half.
It was an incredibly practical piece of equipment.
While the second "Dilution" affix was meaningless for Xie Bai, the "Immunity" affix alone was immensely useful.
"This is good. I accept."
Xie Bai took the necklace. Seeing her accept the compensation, Julius responded respectfully.
"The honor is mine, Miss."
Fortunately for Julius, he hadn't been hacked into minced meat. Instead, he had gained Xie Bai’s "appreciation."
Not far away, the Gray Horse Knight watched the scene in a daze.
"By the Void King... I must be seeing things."
The enemy who had been in a life-and-death struggle just moments ago had surrendered to the girl in the blink of an eye. It was utterly unbelievable.
Just as the Gray Horse Knight was about to step forward to confirm Xie Bai’s identity, an untimely figure appeared in the graveyard.
Tap.
Hearing the sound, the Gray Horse Knight immediately spun around.
"What? A second intruder...?"
Suddenly, the knight saw the figure walking toward the Alchemist’s tombstone.
"Oh no!"
The Gray Horse Knight immediately yanked the reins.
As the knight charged toward the graveyard at top speed, Xie Bai finally realized something was off.
"Wait... did I forget someone?"