Leia had given Xia De the power to enter and exit the study at will, so when Xia De found a maid and asked her to open the door, the terrified maid immediately went to the Old Butler for the key.
Xia De's existence was a secret among the servants of Sophia's Great House. Only Leia's personal maids knew who he was; a very small number of servants knew that during the Princess's stay in Coldwater Port, she was "keeping a man" in the Great House; other servants didn't even know of "John Watson's" existence.
Now, everyone in the manor had been summoned by the elderly Old Butler and gathered behind the main door on the first floor, preparing to deal with any sporadic intruders that might appear. Xia De found it inconvenient for too many people to see his face, so he stayed alone in the study, standing in front of the French windows, observing the situation outside.
He had thought the battle would end quickly, but the gunfight lasted for twenty minutes and showed signs of intensifying.
Although Xia De wasn't anxious, he sensed that something was wrong. He paced around the study, pondering the current situation, and then considered how many bullets he could take before dying.
Theoretically, as long as he wasn't killed by a single shot, Xia De could use False Immortality to give himself a chance to fight back. However, if he suffered another severe injury during the half-hour duration of False Immortality, the effect of the spell would immediately disappear. This was the biggest drawback of this spell.
The yellowish light of the brass gas lamp illuminated the Outsider, who was counting the fatal spots on his body. Suddenly, there was a knock on the study door.
"Hm?"
He turned around in surprise, and before he could speak, a burly man with messy yellow hair burst in.
He was wearing black rain boots, and his clothes and pants were also black. His head was surprisingly spindle-shaped, and his face had patches of red tinea. Water was dripping from his body, staining the expensive carpet in the study.
Seeing a man in the room, the intruder looked very surprised:
"Where is Leticia Cavendish?"
As he spoke, there was a strange gurgling sound in his throat, and his accent indicated he was a local of Coldwater Port.
Xia De looked down at the wet patch on the carpet beneath his feet. The man roughly slammed the door shut, first throwing a metal piece towards the door, then glaring fiercely at Xia De.
He didn't even give Xia De a chance to speak or answer. He reached out and beckoned to Xia De, and Xia De instinctively wanted to walk towards him.
But this simple Miracle was useless against a Ring Warlock. Xia De merely swayed for a moment before returning to normal, and the next moment, steam whistles and bells appeared simultaneously behind both of them.
Brass Destiny Rings emerged from the gushing steam. Xia De was a Second-Circle Arcanist, while the opponent was a Four-Ring Warlock.
"Princess Leia went to the Aurora Family banquet. You didn't even know that and just barged in?"
Xia De finally gave his answer at this point. He wasn't afraid of these people causing trouble at the Aurora Family manor; after all, he wouldn't let the man in front of him leave.
"Didn't she refuse yesterday? This is a trap! A damned trap!"
While cursing loudly, the man's ugly face rapidly transformed into that of a fish. On the Destiny Ring behind him, the whisper of 【Bones】 was glowing. The man casually sprinkled some white powder, which coalesced as it fell, forming a bone blade inscribed with strange runes, thrusting towards Xia De's throat.
"Yes, she refused yesterday, but she agreed today. Couldn't you have investigated thoroughly before attacking here?"
Xia De didn't dodge. Origin · Silver Moon flew out from his pocket under the control of the Miracle Treasured Possessions, blocking his throat. The bone blade pressed against the card but simply couldn't penetrate.
"Oh?"
Seemingly puzzled by how easily Xia De blocked the attack, the Destiny Ring then lit up with Bubble. He put his hands together in front of him, palms parallel to the ground. Slightly opening his hands, under the gas lamp, Bubbles with what seemed like iridescent colors rapidly spread throughout the room.
Although they looked like mere Bubbles, Xia De instinctively sensed danger. He threw the bone blade forward with his left hand. When the bone weapon touched the Bubbles, it pierced through some of them, but it was also corroded itself.
"Poisonous?"
Without thinking too much, Xia De pulled a chair with his left hand and threw it forward. After the chair was corroded, two silver arc-shaped light blades flew from his hand.
These were not physical weapons, so they were not threatened by the corrosive Bubbles. However, those Bubbles could slow down the Silver Moon Slash in the air, allowing the man to easily dodge Xia De's counterattack.
"Don't resist. I use Bubble as the core of my ability system. These Bubbles are not only poisonous, they can also explode, imprison, release curses, create illusions, fill injured body tissues, reflect energy. You are only a Second-Circle Arcanist, so don't—"
He hadn't finished speaking when he saw Xia De wave his hand in front of him. A silver mist spread from his hand, almost instantly enveloping the man.
The Bubbles flew towards the mist created by the illusion, gradually dissolving them. At the same time, the man sprinkled more bone powder. The bone powder converged like flowing water, finally forming a slender bone rapier covered in runes.
The man held the sword in his right hand and continued to spray Bubbles from his left hand towards the silver mist that covered half the room.
Bang ~
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from within the silver mist. The man's right chest was hit by a revolver bullet, but the result was only the transparent Bubble on his chest bursting, not affecting his movements in the slightest:
"Do you think I'm afraid of ordinary firearms?"
His eyes were fixed on the gradually dissolving silver mist. The gunshot just now confirmed that Xia De hadn't escaped and was right in front of him.
Bang! Bang!
Two more gunshots. This time, Xia De aimed for the opponent's head, but an endless stream of Bubbles blocked the man's head, and the bullets couldn't penetrate them.
"It's useless. Don't waste my time here."
As he spoke, the Bubbles sprayed from his left hand had already dissolved two-thirds of the silver mist. Xia De's coat sleeve appeared at the edge of the mist, and the man immediately made the Bubbles float towards that position, but at this moment, the sound of a heavy object falling came from behind him:
"What? When did it get behind me—"
He instinctively turned around and raised his sword to resist, but behind him, it was only a chair falling. Only then did he seem to realize something and looked up. Xia De, holding a sword with both hands, chopped downwards.
The silver Moonlight descended, and the Moonlight Greatsword cleanly severed the yellow-haired man's right hand completely.
Xia De, wearing a shirt, took the bone rapier from the severed hand with his left hand and thrust it forward, but because the opponent canceled the effect of the Miracle, the rapier disappeared from his hand.
So he thrust the Greatsword forward with his right hand. Although he successfully stabbed the opponent's abdomen, it became stuck there due to the return of the Bubbles.
Their eyes met. For the moment, the man's eyes seemed to turn into light-absorbing black holes. Spiral patterns appeared in his eyes, and at this moment, his soul felt a slight sense of detachment, but this soul-attacking Miracle had very little effect on Xia De.
A card flew out of his pocket, blocking the man's eyes, and Xia De, who was counting down in his heart, had already reached the last number:
"It's the third second! Chaotic Time Blade!"
"What?"
The vanished bone rapier actually reappeared from the void. Most of the Bubbles in front of the man were used to block the Moonlight Greatsword, and his eyes were temporarily obscured by the card.
This momentary oversight allowed the sword, summoned by his own Miracle, to pierce his heart.
