Chapter 53 of 100

Chapter 53

16 min read4,028 words

Looking at Ma Le lying on the ground, Brad let out a long breath, reverted from his vampire form, and transformed back into a handsome man with a bare upper body. After all, this transformation wasn't unlimited; it not only consumed physical strength faster but also required a type of energy called blood energy, which could only be replenished by drinking human blood. For vampires, this blood-sucking was like eating; once full, they couldn't take in more, so blood energy couldn't be replenished indefinitely.

Brad smiled smugly. This cunning guy from Miracle City was indeed hard to deal with, having consumed two Fate Cards. However, the rules of the city battle system were clear: the more powerful the enemy you kill, the higher the reward. Since this guy was so tough, the reward would naturally be... Wait, Brad suddenly realized that the Hurricane Emblem only indicated that he had killed the enemy but gave no reward prompt, which was unusual!

While Brad was slightly distracted by this anomaly, the "corpse" on the ground suddenly moved. A cold light flashed and pierced straight into his chest, piercing his heart and emerging from his back! Before Brad could react, he was critically injured. The "corpse" then stood up, grinning, holding the handle of the ghost blade, which was still embedded in his body.

Damn, this guy isn't dead! Realizing this, Brad instantly transformed into his vampire form, spreading his wings to retreat, but found his feet nailed to the ground, unable to move! It was the ghost blade's special effect! As Medea's teammate, Brad was well aware of the ghost blade's attributes, which included a five-second binding active skill!

Ma Le, having succeeded with his attack, immediately released the ghost blade, which had significantly reduced attributes, and injected himself with an adrenaline shot. He then swung his black iron fist at Brad with twice the usual speed! Brad gritted his teeth and activated the vampire's unique berserk mode: attack speed increased by 50%, melee attack power increased by up to 50 points, and melee attacks had a 60% blood-sucking effect!

This mode could only last five minutes but had a three-day cooldown, making it the vampire form's ultimate move. Brad didn't plan to use it easily, but now he couldn't run, couldn't use items in time, and was wary of Ma Le's electrified trident, so he couldn't use his ethereal state. His only option was to fight it out!

Brad's calculations were sound. With 34 points of physical strength and a 200-point life value increase from his vampire constitution, his human form had a maximum life value of 540 points. Under these conditions, Ma Le's sneak attack dealt about 130 points of direct damage, and the long blade piercing his heart caused over 240 points of critical damage. Transforming into his vampire form, his life value increased by 500 points, bringing his total to nearly 600 points, despite some previous damage.

On the other hand, in Brad's eyes, Ma Le had already been severely injured by two attacks, then further damaged by chains and hooks, and finally had his heart crushed. Even with over a thousand life points, he must have been nearly depleted. In this offensive state, Brad was confident that his faster attacks, higher damage, and blood-sucking ability would ensure his victory!

However, Brad never expected that Ma Le, though not having a thousand life points, had a bizarre talent that increased his defense by over 50% and made him immune to critical hits! Brad's confident diving attack only dealt about 130 points of damage, and the subsequent claw and chain attacks combined for around 100 points. The heart-piercing attack was immune to critical damage, causing less than 70 points of superficial damage. Thus, Ma Le still had nearly 500 life points, not much less than Brad. With his abnormal defense, these 500 points were of high quality, equivalent to Brad's 800 points!

Therefore, the battle didn't go as smoothly as Brad had imagined. Ma Le's first punch was a killing blow, dealing over 50 points of critical damage. This punch chilled Brad's heart; he didn't expect Ma Le to have the ability to cause critical damage, and his base life was already critically low! However, he didn't panic, remaining calm. Base life was the last to be consumed but the first to be replenished. As long as he activated the blood-sucking effect, he could recover!

But Ma Le didn't give him the chance. As he punched with his right hand, he pulled the trigger of his trident with his left. At such close range, Brad couldn't move, and the trident hit his shoulder, activating the electric shock. Brad, lacking Ma Le's high resistance, suffered muscle spasms, slowing his attack for a moment, which allowed Ma Le to land another punch!

Seeing his life drop sharply, Brad panicked and immediately activated a bloodline skill. A blood arrow shot from his wound, hitting Ma Le's left wrist and causing 40 points of damage, making him drop the trident. Seizing the opportunity, Brad's iron claw struck Ma Le's chest. This attack also activated an equipment skill, causing an additional 100 points of damage and reducing the target's movement speed by 40%. Brad was desperate; in this situation, reducing movement speed was meaningless, but he used the skill to deal more damage.

Ma Le, suffering from the weapon's attack, grabbed Brad's iron claw with his left hand, using his strength to suppress it, while his right hand continued to attack wildly. Brad, struggling to break free, also attacked with his left claw. The two fought like wild gorillas, almost disregarding defense, their only goal being to make the other fall first!

In the blink of an eye, the two superhuman adventurers exchanged over a dozen blows in just a few seconds, their life values rapidly decreasing! Ma Le grew bolder with each blow, but Brad grew more anxious. He was surprised to find that his iron claw attacks only caused about 40 points of blood-sucking effect, and his bare left claw only absorbed a dozen points of life!

Brad's right iron claw, under Ma Le's focused attacks, had few opportunities to strike, and most of the damage was caused by his left claw. This led Brad to realize that each of his attacks only dealt less than 30 points of damage!

Sometimes, too much information isn't a good thing. Ma Le, determined to fight to the death, grew stronger, while Brad, realizing his attacks were ineffective, wavered! In a life-or-death struggle, wavering and indecision were the worst. Brad's resolve shifted from defeating his opponent to delaying until the binding effect ended. Once he had this thought, his attacks became less fierce, and he became more defensive, growing more passive as the fight continued...

Fortunately, with Brad's resistance, the binding effect lasted only a little over four seconds. Brad finally broke free, his extra life depleted, leaving him with only about 80 base life points. However, Brad wasn't worried; as long as he maintained a defensive stance, these life points could withstand at least two attacks. If he flew away, this guy wouldn't catch up. Then, the sky would be his limit, and he could return later!

But Brad suddenly felt something wrong. His wings seemed powerless. Turning his head, he saw countless black-red, strange tissues attached to them. What was this? Brad was thinking when he felt his limbs and torso as if they weren't his own. Looking down, he saw the black-red tissues spreading over his entire body, continuously decomposing it!

"Aaaaaah..." With a hoarse scream, Brad was absorbed by Ma Le.

All adventurers from Hurricane City and Miracle City received a system prompt simultaneously: "Hurricane City adventurer number 152798 confirmed dead..." Both sides were stunned.

Ma Le and Brad's final deadly melee lasted less than five seconds, so the two messages were almost simultaneous. Miracle City erupted in cheers; the big guy called Foodie didn't die in vain, taking one with him! On the Hurricane City side, Max and Medea were speechless, while the old captain sighed, "It seems he was affected by a powerful abnormal state that couldn't be healed even after the enemy's death... I told him long ago that Hurricane City only needs winners, but he ultimately ended up as a loser... Let's go, we have a mission, and we'll kill all the Miracle City guys on the way!"

Max and Medea remained silent, following the old man. The three moved quickly, soon disappearing into the bustling streets of Los Angeles.

As for Ma Le, absorbing the life of the vampire form of Brad, who had over a thousand life points, instantly healed all his injuries. Additionally, Ma Le felt a pleasant sensation in his muscles and tendons. Checking the Miracle Emblem, he found his Agility and Perception attributes each increased by 4 points. Not only that, his talent changed. In the "Prototype Body" series, Ma Le gained a new ability called "Tongue Recognition," which allowed him to obtain partial information about other creatures by tasting their fresh body tissues. This was a mutation of the vampire's blood-tasting ability, but Ma Le wouldn't locate the target after tasting; instead, he would gain information.

Furthermore, Ma Le received a prompt from the Miracle Emblem: "Congratulations on killing an adventurer from the opposing Hurricane City. The adventurer's level is Normal, and this world is Beginner level. Your level is Beginner... You can receive double rewards: 6000 credit points, 20 skill points, and 10 honor points."

Subsequently, Ma Le took the killing key from Brad's corpse, transformed into Anderson's appearance, and quickly left the mall. Brad's corpse, shortly after Ma Le left, turned into points of light and dissipated into the void.

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