Chapter 43 - Debuff

Ding! ding! ding!

[You got 134 zenny!]

[You got 123 zenny!]

[You got 142 zenny!]

[You got 212 zenny!]

[You got…]

The notification of getting zenny kept popping up. Even so, Isaac looked displeased. His eyes were fixed on the battle that was on the river bank. There were a lot of his monsters killed just to take down 60 Hunters. Then, he turned his attention to a woman covered in blood.

[Name : Wang Mei]

[Race : Human]

[Type : N/A]

[Class : A]

[Level : 28]

Isaac clicked his tongue after seeing Wang Mei rapidly increasing level progress. Much faster than Guo Chen. He got annoyed when he remembered failing to control the woman's mind.

'She can be a great weapon if I can plant a Seed of Mind.'

In his previous life, there was not much information about Wang Mei. Isaac only knew that he was the one who killed the woman. At the time, she was still weak. However, in his eyes now, Wang Mei was like a tumor that was getting bigger and more malignant.

Isaac then took out the mask he had kept in his pocket.

[Class : F]

[Type : Item]

[A mask used by Nether Realm nobles to party or attend certain events.]

He put on the mask, then his hair turned into black flames. His appearance was like that of a demon imagined by humans right nows.

Not long after, the battle by the river was over. With the results that could be considered a draw. Across the river, the monsters managed to finish off the Nine Sky members. On the other hand, Wang Mei and her members managed to survive the monster invasion. They then quickly fled from the location.

Meanwhile, Isaac clicked his tongue at the monster's behaviour. They didn't care that there were humans on the other side of the river yet.

'You lazy bastard. I'll discipline them once this is over.'

Isaac quickly sped off. He blocked Wang Mei and her men at the right time.

"Who are you?!"

One of the members drew a sword at Isaac's neck. The man's actions made Isaac even more furious. Wang Mei seemed aware of what was happening and she immediately reprimanded her member.

However, she was too late. Isaac quickly pointed the muzzle of the gun at them.

"I am the owner."

Bang!

[You got 201 zenny!]

The impudent man died. Then, Isaac pointed his gun at the other Nine Sky members.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

[You got 171 zenny!]

[You got 184 zenny!]

[You got 167 zenny!]

[You got...]

"Kuaaagh—"

One by one, they fell in a matter of milliseconds. Wang Mei could only watch it without doing anything.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Wang Mei was utterly devastated to see her men being killed before her eyes. She finally fell to the ground, kneeling weakly. She could no longer bear the weight of grief.

Meanwhile, Isaac just watched. Behind the mask, there was no expression on his face at all.

He deliberately didn't kill Wang Mei to see the 'skill' that the woman had. Curiosity still haunted him since he failed to plant the Seed of Mind.

'When you fall to pieces, you will be reborn. Your full potential will be awakened. Show me what you have. Show me your skill!'

Isaac was still standing in front of the grieving woman. One minute, two minutes, four minutes. Time was ticking, and Isaac was still patiently waiting for it. However, she was still crying.

As time went on, Isaac's patience was running out.

'I need to provide a stimulus.'

He then knelt beside Wang Mei, but the woman seemed not to care about him in the slightest, still crying for her dead guild members.

"If you keep quiet, I'll kill you. Then, I will send your sister to come with you."

Instantly, the woman silent. Her body stopped shaking. Isaac made it. Then, he stood and waited for the woman's reaction.

Wang Mei got up. Both hands held the blades tightly. Isaac Immediately smiled.

'Good…'

However, without Isaac knowing, he had just opened Pandora's box.

Wang Mei stood up, but her feet floated in the air. A strange aura emanated from her body. Her eyes were white, a sign that she had lost consciousness.

Isaac smiled in satisfaction at his opponent's reaction. His curiosity grew wild.

Ding!

A notification popped up in his head.

[Warning! You are affected by the debuff.]

[All stats reduced by 25%]

[Temporarily lost stats taken by the opponent]

[The debuff effect will increase after 10!]

"Huh…?"

[ Isaac Constantine - Lv 75]

[ Rank : 99th - Baron ]

[ Title : Chief of Beast, First Challenger]

[ Skill : 1/3 ]

[ Strength : 38 (27)]

[ Magic : 90 (66) ]

[ Constitution : 49 (36)]

[ Dexterity : 72 (53)]

[ Perception : 62 (56) ]

Isaac was surprised when he saw the numbers of stats. Then, he felt his body weaken, as if his energy was being absorbed.

In that instant, Isaac knew what 'innate skill' the woman had.

He chuckled. "Either I'm lucky or unlucky today—"

Swoooooosh!

Without warning, his neck was nearly severed by the slash of the blade. Luckily, Isaac's 'perception' stat was still quite high. However, he couldn't breathe a sigh of relief yet.

Wang Mei attacked again, even though she was in an unconscious state. It was as if his body was controlled by instinct only.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The sound of a sword slashing through the wind sounded buzzing. Several times, it nearly sliced Isaac's skin and flesh.

Wang Mei attacked Isaac blindly. She moved like lightning. Every slash of the sword emitted a fiery blue line, like a neon light.

She started to keep up with Isaac's speed. If Isaac was late to dodge the attacks even a little bit, he might have had his limbs cut off, considering he had a low 'constitution' stat. Besides, the opponent stole his stats temporarily, making him very vulnerable.

Even so, there was no sign of worry at all on his face. In fact, his lips were smiling so widely that they touched his ears.

"Show me how strong you are!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The solid mana bullets and iron collided, creating a metal clashing sound. They exchanged attacks profusely.

Wang Mei was fast and her attacks were deadly, but that didn't mean Isaac was in a rush. After all, their difference in power level was quite far.

"HYAAAAAH!"

Slash! THUD—!

Wang Mei's sword slash released a tremendous amount of mana, enough to slash the pine trees behind Isaac.

"Huh… You're amazing."

After taking 8 minutes, Isaac had enough. He felt that it was time for this battle to end. If it continued again and exceeded 10 minutes, he would get another debuff effect. His chances of defeat would increase even more.

He wouldn't risk herself to die.

"Time to end it!"

Isaac shot back. He made a great distance from Wang Mei. Then, he focused his shot on one point.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Wang Mei fend off every shot that came towards her, then she zigzagged to dodge the shot. Surprisingly, the bullets continued to chase her, no matter how fast she moved.

Clank—!

Suddenly, Wang Mei's two blades shattered into pieces. Seeing that, Isaac quickly took advantage of the opportunity.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Splat! Spla! Splat!

Four bullets pierced her body. Then, the woman collapsed to the ground and didn't move anymore. At the same time, a notification appeared.

Ding!

[Negative effect gone.]

[All stats returned to normal.]

Isaac holstered both guns. He walked over to Wang Mei, who was lying on the ground covered in blood. Her condition was very worrying. However, she was still breathing, at least.