Chapter 216: Fighting The Monk [2.]

The monk noticed Kael’s gaze lingering on the golden talisman beneath his collar. His fingers lightly brushed against the saffron patch, and a faint smile appeared on his serene face.

"You see my blessing?"

His voice remained calm, though there was a subtle hint of pride hidden beneath those gentle words.

"This is the Talisman of Serendipity. It was gifted to me by one of my seniors, a great man who dedicated his life to a thousand prayers. With this talisman, my path shall always be the fortunate one."

Kael scoffed.

"Unfortunately, I don’t believe in luck."

Kael had no intention of standing around discussing philosophy with a monk who had just invaded his floor. Whatever that talisman was doing, it clearly wasn’t decorative, and he needed to figure out how to deal with it before the fight dragged on any longer.

His shoulders rolled once.

Then he vanished.

The monk’s expression remained peaceful as he stepped forward at almost the exact same moment.

BOOM!

Their bodies collided.

The resulting impact exploded outward like a violent storm, compressed air ripping through the battlefield as the ground beneath them shattered. Bones that had remained scattered throughout the gloomy yard for who knew how long were immediately pulverized beneath the force of their movements, fragments flying through the air before being reduced to dust by the next exchange.

Another explosion rang out.

Then another.

The battlefield was rapidly disappearing beneath their feet.

Kael’s body was no longer simply a body.

Every part of him became a weapon, with every movement flowing directly into the next, his attacks targeting vital points with almost frightening consistency.

The monk, however, flowed through it all.

Kael feinted high.

The monk’s attention shifted upward.

Kael immediately spun, his leg whipping around in a vicious back-kick aimed directly at the monk’s liver.

The monk folded at the waist.

Kael’s heel passed over his head by a hair.

Kael’s eyes sharpened.

He reversed the spin and brought his elbow crashing downward like a meteor hammer.

The monk stepped sideways.

There was barely any room there.

Yet somehow, his body slipped into a gap that Kael hadn’t even realized existed until the monk was already standing within it.

BOOM!

Kael’s elbow smashed into the ground instead.

The earth erupted.

The monk retaliated.

Kael twisted away from the incoming palm before driving his knee upward, only for the monk to shift his body at the exact instant the attack should have connected. A fist followed. The monk leaned backward just enough for it to skim across his face.

Kael attacked again.

The monk avoided it again and again.

Some of Kael’s attacks were so tightly constructed that dodging them should have required impossible reactions, yet the monk continued slipping through them by the narrowest margins. Sometimes he moved before Kael had even fully committed to an attack. Other times, an opening simply appeared where there shouldn’t have been one.

Kael’s brows gradually furrowed.

Is this what being fortunate looks like?

It was starting to feel less like ordinary luck and more like the world itself was constantly giving this bastard a way out.

Kael ducked beneath another strike and drove his fist toward the monk’s ribs.

The monk twisted.

The fist missed by less than an inch.

Kael immediately followed with a knee.

The monk stepped backward.

Another attack.

Another dodge.

Kael’s expression darkened.

At this pace, he could end up exhausting himself before he managed to land a decisive blow.

He already had an answer, though.

Concept Erasure.

If he erased the concept of luck from the monk’s existence, the Talisman of Serendipity would become useless. Better yet, if luck truly influenced the man’s actions to this extent, removing it might leave him considerably more unfortunate than an ordinary person.

The problem was the cost.

Kael knew exactly what Concept Erasure demanded from him.

The monk was an opponent more than sixty floors above him.

Even with the thirty-five percent reduction imposed by the Tower, the gap remained enormous. There was no guarantee the monk was even fighting at full strength yet.

If Kael activated Concept Erasure and targeted him directly, there was a very real possibility that the ability would drain his entire mana reserve.

And there was another problem.

What if it failed?

Kael didn’t know enough about the monk or that talisman to guarantee that Concept Erasure could actually erase whatever was allowing the monk’s luck to influence reality. If his mana was completely drained and the ability accomplished nothing, then he would be left standing before an enemy who was already overwhelmingly stronger than him with barely enough energy to fight back.

That wasn’t a risk he could afford.

Then rip the talisman off him.

That sounded considerably better.

If the talisman was the source of his abnormal fortune, removing it would solve the problem without requiring him to gamble his entire mana reserve.

But even that wouldn’t be easy.

The monk clearly understood how valuable the talisman was. From the way he spoke about the senior who had given it to him, that person wasn’t merely someone he respected. There was a deeper reverence there, perhaps even worship.

Someone like that would never allow an enemy to casually tear away a gift from one of his most revered seniors.

Kael would have to get close enough to rip it away himself.

Which meant he needed an opening.

His thoughts continued racing while his body never stopped moving.

The monk launched another palm.

Kael slipped beneath it.

His fist shot toward the man’s jaw.

The monk raised his arm to block.

Kael’s punch suddenly stopped.

The monk’s eyes remained closed, but his instincts reacted immediately as his arm shifted to intercept what he believed was coming next.

That was exactly what Kael wanted.

His fist pulled back.

Earth energy surged through his arm.

Rather than releasing it through his fingers as he had done previously, Kael compressed an enormous amount of earth energy directly at the tip of his fist. The energy rapidly solidified, condensing into a dense projectile shaped like a bullet.

Kael’s fingers extended beside his fist like the barrel of a gun.

"Meteor Bullet."

The compressed projectile exploded forward.

WHOOSH!

The monk’s serene expression finally changed.

Surprise flashed across his face.

Only for a fraction of a second.

His body twisted violently at the last possible instant.

The earth bullet tore past his chest.

It missed his heart. Instead, it grazed across his ribs.

SHRRRK!

The projectile tore through his robe and ripped away a chunk of flesh beneath it. Blood immediately spilled from the wound, staining the charcoal fabric as the monk landed several meters away.

Silence briefly settled over the ruined battlefield.

The monk looked down at his side.

His fingers touched the wound.

When he pulled them away, they were covered in blood.

He stared at the crimson liquid for a moment before bringing his fingers closer to his face.

"Interesting."

The word was quiet.

But the warmth that had previously filled his voice was gone.

Something sharper had entered it.

He looked toward Kael.

"You can force events even against luck."

The monk’s fingers curled slightly as he wiped the blood away.

"You truly are special."

His serene expression returned.

"Unfortunately, you chose the wrong path."

The monk pressed his palms together once more.

"You did not walk the path of the Buddha."

Kael stared at him.

Then he raised his hand.

His middle finger extended directly toward the monk.

"Fuck your Buddha."

His foot slammed into the ground.

The next instant, Kael shot forward and drove a straight kick directly toward the monk’s chest.