Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 129 - 49: Foxes Can Also Bite

Chapter 129: Chapter 49: Foxes Can Also Bite

Duan Mingyuan always advocated that when fighting, one should concentrate on the fight and not mix in irrelevant chatter during the exchange of blows.

Tian Yun clearly did not understand this principle.

Perhaps it was because he had been a teacher for too long, so whenever he had the chance, he would try to instill the company’s ideology into Jiuyue, to Duan Mingyuan’s frown-inducing frustration.

In essence, the message was roughly that the company was actually honoring your parents by holding them in custody, and although you lost your parents, the company allowed their talents to be applied more broadly. You should be grateful and indebted, or how could you repay the company’s kindness with enmity?

Once again, Duan Mingyuan thought that the "Dreamland Odd Talk" he held square in his hands could be used as a brick to smash into the foreheads of certain individuals.

But this was, after all, a battle between Jiuyue and Tian Yun, and he had to suppress the impulse that was eagerly stirring in his mind.

Through prolonged observation, Duan Mingyuan had gained some insights.

He had always thought that Jiuyue’s abilities were not destructive enough in combat of equal ranks and leaned more toward support.

The designer of this armor seemed to have realized this problem as well, equipping the armor with an array of additional firepower: searing laser beams, thermal cutting blades, which, with the blessing of "Luck," could also endow these attacks with effects like "sure hit" and "lethal hit."

Unfortunately, in this battle, he encountered a Power User of the same type. Both sides knew each other’s abilities inside out, inevitably leading to a protracted tug-of-war.

Matching Luck with the weapons equipped on the armor was Tian Yun’s way of fighting.

At the same time, Duan Mingyuan had another astonishing realization.

This little fox...

Was she always this strong?

Jiuyue always seemed light and soft in his presence, easily lifted off the ground with a slight effort, but now she managed to shake this visibly heavy Alloy Armor, holding her own in several close-quarters exchanges.

A war of attrition was not in Jiuyue’s favor.

It seemed that Tian Yun, understanding this point, was not in a rush to attack.

This armor came with a powerful healing ability; even if one was missing arms or legs, or if there were a gaping hole in the chest, it could heal within seconds.

But Jiuyue was flesh and blood, not resistant to beatings, and she had to carefully use her Ability to neutralize each attack.

Fortunately, Duan Mingyuan had already taken this into account.

Thanks must be given to Western Wind for passionately demonstrating the armor’s capabilities. If one were to defeat "Long Branch," one must be able to break through the healing ability endowed to them by the armor, and this was why Duan Mingyuan had Jiuyue maintain the Barrier for a long time, to explore the balance between Luck and disaster.

The healing of the armor had its limits.

If the holder could be killed instantly, the healing would stop, but with Jiuyue’s current development of her Ability, she was not able to instantly kill "Long Branch."

Besides that, there was another method left.

To make the rate of destruction exceed the speed of healing.

After a quarter of an hour into the battle, Jiuyue finally made her last preparations in a way that Duan Mingyuan hadn’t anticipated—and even Tian Yun had not expected Jiuyue to use her teeth as a weapon, biting directly into the armor’s neck.

Her sharp teeth and the alloy made a grating noise that was painful to the ears.

Jiuyue shook her head and tore off a piece of the armor, along with flesh. The blood that poured out stained her cheeks red, making her look like a crazed wild beast.

But upon closer inspection, her expression was much calmer compared to that of a wild beast.

Tian Yun flung Jiuyue away, and by the time she spat out the metal and flesh, the wound on his neck had already healed. This time, however, he felt a real tactile sensation in his arm, as he accurately hit Jiuyue for the first time. The fox hit the ground hard and tumbled several times before coming to a stop.

"That’s really unseemly."

Tian Yun touched his neck that had been fully restored, "Although the ability is the same, there is an absolute performance gap between flesh and armor."

Perhaps this fox had realized this point, which is why it had become so frantically mad.

Jiuyue propped herself up with her hand and silently recited, "2."

Two seconds were indeed too short.

So short that Tian Yun hadn’t even had the chance to speak before he suddenly clutched his throat tightly and fell to his knees.

This was the time it took for the barrier to take effect.

The pitch-black armor appeared intact, without a single flaw.

His breathing became labored, accompanied by a "hissing" sound, and Duan Mingyuan guessed that beneath the helmet of the armor must be a look of disbelief.

This was the consequence of not focusing on the fight.

If Tian Yun hadn’t incessantly preached his philosophy, relying on the regenerative powers of his armor, hadn’t been distracted by Duan Mingyuan’s movements during the fight with Jiuyue, and had focused solely on the battle itself, perhaps he would have sensed Jiuyue’s intentions.

The raspy, bell-like sound and the convulsing body posed a silent question to them.

Jiuyue’s pointed ears stood up, but she did not intend to answer Tian Yun’s questions. She stumbled towards Duan Mingyuan, her tail flickering and disappearing one by one until it returned to its usual appearance, then she sat down next to Duan Mingyuan, crossed her arms to prop up her chin, and squinted her eyes to enjoy Tian Yun’s final struggle.

"The answer is the barrier."

Duan Mingyuan, kind-hearted as he was, as a scholar, could not bear to see someone die with endless questions in front of him, his gaze sweeping over Tian Yun’s limbs, chest, and finally the neck.

The time it took for the damaged parts to heal was also 1 to 2 seconds, the barrier could not be completed at once, it had to be laid out separately.

The torn throat was the final "focal point" of the array, and the key to seizing his life.

Tian Yun, clutching his throat, fell to the ground.

"As long as your body becomes the barrier itself, the misfortune of this world will continuously flow toward you."

It was no longer a one-time attack but an ongoing curse.

The curse bypassed the armor and was applied directly to the person.

To achieve this, one must have an incredibly precise understanding of the barrier.

Jiuyue lived up to being "the youngest recipient of a high-level title," as she was indeed extraordinarily talented. She had raised her precision control to A level with only two days of practice.

More importantly, unlike Tian Yun, who was not focused on fighting, Jiuyue had been preparing for this moment for a long time.

Darkness enveloped Tian Yun’s vision.

The spasms of his body gradually ceased.

Sensing Duan Mingyuan’s gaze, Jiuyue turned her face towards him and grinned.

She wiped her face, covering it entirely in red.

Between the gaps of her sharp teeth seemed to linger metal shavings, and those amber pupils glowed faintly, composing a beautiful yet chilling picture.

Duan Mingyuan steadied himself.

He had always said that this little fox’s teeth were extraordinary.

Biting someone must hurt a lot.