Ye Chui had just realised the person before him wasn’t Debbie, so he unleashed a powerful explosive spell, [Second Battalion’s Italian Cannon], capable of leveling a small mountain. Yet, to his surprise, it didn’t severely injure the impostor, only slamming her against the stone wall.
As he spoke, he noticed something had appeared during his attack, shielding her. The explosion had been entirely absorbed by it.
The blast shattered the shield into fragments, which fell to the ground. Under the light of Ye Chui’s conjured fire snake, they looked like puddles of oily green jelly, writhing as if alive.
“Where’s Debbie?” Ye Chui demanded, eyeing the jelly warily while quickly searching his iPad grimoire to ensure Debbie’s safety.
“That flat-chested girl is already dead,” the woman in the cave’s shadows said with venomous malice, stepping slowly into the light. Her body subtly transformed.
She grew taller, her clothes shifting from Debbie’s delicate dress to a luxurious deep red robe. She became a slender, beautiful girl. In the flickering firelight, an exquisite face appeared, one Ye Chui didn’t recognise, but her delicate eyebrows and striking eyes quickly revealed her identity.
“Dani?” he said, slightly surprised.
“Yes, I’m Dani Anduin, the Clown Girl,” she declared. Her voice matched Dani’s, but while Dani’s tone was brash and foolish, hers was cold and cruel.
Ye Chui’s [Browser] search results appeared. He had searched his own name, knowing Debbie was desperately looking for him, which would lead to her. As expected, the first result was Debbie’s.
But his eyes caught the second result:
“…I’m about to marry Ye Chui. He seems very pleased with my beauty. Father will be thrilled…”
Ye Chui’s expression froze, “What? Who’s marrying me?”
He saw the page belonged to “Dani Anduin,” created eight minutes ago.
Clicking it, he skimmed Dani’s inner thoughts and understood: shortly after he and Debbie left the room, Dani confessed her love to Jacob, mistakenly thinking he was Ye Chui. Jacob, a poor kid from the slums, was stunned and froze, which Dani took as agreement.
This was quite the plot twist! They’d only been gone a short while…
But it confirmed something.
“You’re not Dani Anduin. Who are you?” Ye Chui said to the Clown Girl, pausing before adding, “And Debbie isn’t dead.”
The Clown Girl froze, surprised by his certainty. She sneered, “What does it matter? Clown Town is my domain. You’re here now, and I control life and death. I’ll kill Debbie soon, and Dani too. Then I’ll live as Dani…” She gave a seductive smile, “I’ll take over the Anduin family. Ye Chui, as a bastard, you must crave the throne, right? Join me. If you don’t like my current form, I can live as Debbie. In strength or otherwise, I’ll surpass any woman. If I kill Debbie, I can bond with Sako Anduin. I’ll outdo her…”
Her voice grew fervent.
“Sorry, you’re not Debbie, and you can’t replace her,” Ye Chui said, checking the first search result. Debbie was wandering the mine’s tunnels, unharmed. She’d followed him but got lost in the maze, unable to find him.
“Is that so?” The Clown Girl’s seductive fervor vanished, replaced by a cold smirk. “Then I’ll just kill you.”
“No more talk.”
His earlier conversation with her was to buy time to confirm Debbie’s safety. Now certain she was fine, he wouldn’t hold back. He smiled, “Though it’s our first meeting, I sensed you last night. You seem to have a misconception about us.”
“What misconception?” she frowned.
“You think we’ve survived this long because of Debbie’s clown spirit?” Ye Chui said, having seen similar assumptions in her memory articles. Her words implied the Random Magic Guild’s survival through countless adventures relied on Debbie’s clown spirit.
What a misunderstanding.
“Isn’t it?” she asked, stunned.
As Ye Chui stepped toward her, she waved a hand. The oily green jelly around him sprang to life, floating and swirling around him.
“This is my spirit, Vengeance Goddess. She blocked your attack earlier, but she can also absorb it and return it fully,” the Clown Girl laughed sharply.
The disgusting jelly swarmed Ye Chui, spinning faster. Suddenly, one lunged at him, triggering his passive defense. An armored swordsman appeared, slicing the jelly, but upon contact, it exploded with a boom.
The explosion was small but shook the swordsman, who vanished.
“Any touch makes her release the absorbed blast,” the Clown Girl sneered, raising a hand. A black hole, like a summoning gate, appeared in her palm. A terrifying black snake slithered out, its upper half emerging, head raised. With a hiss, it shot white light at Ye Chui.
He dodged, nearly hitting the orbiting jelly. The white light hit a rock, sizzling with corrosive venom.
Trapping him with the Vengeance Goddess and forcing contact with the snake’s venom was a clever tactic… for ordinary opponents.
But it was nothing to Ye Chui now.
Seeing her smug sneer, he sighed.
Time to show her how a cheater plays.
His body vanished.
The Clown Girl, startled, thought he used shadow magic to hide. But then, he appeared at her side.
Teleportation?
No, he used [Time Freeze]. The swirling jelly froze in his vision, allowing him to step through easily and reach her.
When she noticed him, she screamed, and the black snake from her palm lunged.
Ye Chui waved, [Space Blade]. With a whoosh, the snake’s head was severed, falling to the ground. He grabbed her neck, slamming her against the wall with a bang.
His other hand extended, index and middle fingers together, forming a shotgun barrel.
Boom!
[Starfire Snipe]!
A massive crater appeared in the rock beside her head. The struggling Clown Girl froze, dumbfounded, not daring to move.
The Vengeance Goddess’s jelly dissipated.
The illusory barrel aimed at her head.
“I know you’re a life mage with high summoner talent. Don’t try anything, or I’ll blow your head off,” Ye Chui said coldly.
Gasping as he gripped her neck, she struggled to breathe but soon smirked mockingly, “I know your type. You won’t kill innocents. You’re the good guys…”
Ye Chui shifted his aim to her arm. Boom. Blood sprayed as her arm was blasted off, and she screamed in pain.
“Don’t call me a good guy. It sounds like an insult.”
