My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 152 Power, Demon Chess Piece, Prey of the Black Chrysalis (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
July 23, in a double room of a five-star hotel in Venice.

The snow-white curtains swayed gently, blocking the bright afternoon sun. The dappled light and shadows fell on the floor, shimmering like fish swimming in water.

Ayase Origami and Xia Pingzhou slept in late, a rare occurrence for them, and both didn't wake up until 2 PM.

They slept in all sorts of crooked positions, their sleeping postures quite pitiful: one was lying face down on the edge of the bed, his hand stretched out over the edge, his loose kimono sleeves hanging down; the other had rolled directly onto the floor of the room, his face buried in the carpet, his right hand still making a chess-playing gesture.

A moment later, Xia Pingzhou woke up, slowly turned over, glanced at the ceiling, then at Ayase Origami's sleeping face, and then picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground.

Enter the password to unlock the screen, click on the skull icon in the app, and a map of Venice will appear on the screen with a dot of light jumping on it.

"demon……"

Xia Pingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, slowly got up and walked to the bathroom. He turned on the tap, splashed water on his cheeks, dried himself with a towel, and then left the hotel. He made very little noise and didn't wake Ayase Origami.

Before long, he arrived at the location of the red dot according to the map.

It was a dilapidated and quiet alleyway, with black liquid flowing in the ditch, like blood. The lids of the trash cans vibrated strangely as if being blown by a strong wind, making intermittent "bang" sounds.

It looked as if some monster was about to leap out of it.

Sure enough, the next moment two giant blue rats jumped out of the trash can.

They were electrified, shooting through the air like two lightning-fast soccer balls, repeatedly crashing into the alley walls and bouncing back and forth. Their afterimages transformed into crisscrossing blue beams of light, closing in on Xia Pingzhou.

Xia Pingzhou fell silent for a moment, then felt somewhat relieved that he hadn't called on the rest of the group to help.

"It's a good thing I didn't call the other members. I have to deal with these two demons myself to make it feel more ceremonial..." he murmured.

You must kill your own brother with your own hands. Prepare to die, Blue Arc!
Thinking this, Xia Pingzhou's expression hardened, and he suddenly released the Sky Drive. A Möbius strip of black and white rings appeared outside his body, and the chess pieces slowly rotated around the rings like satellites.

He raised his hand and picked up one of the chess pieces. The piece shattered with a "crack," and then a piece that had never appeared in actual combat appeared.

That's a "Knight," an "Engineer" evolved from a regular "Soldier" after the "Group" branch's "Cavalry Training" skill was added.

He was clad in silver armor, holding a shield in his left hand and a magnificent silver spear in his right. Beneath him was a horse with empty eye sockets that burned with will-o'-the-wisps. The horse was silver from head to toe, and its hooves scorched two black dents into the alleyway floor.

The magnificent silver knight remained unmoved, sitting quietly on his horse awaiting the monarch's command.

Xia Pingzhou looked up, his expression focused on the two blue electric balls that kept shooting into the alley, as if trying to track the trajectory of the two blue demons.

He quickly closed his eyes and switched to using the "chessboard perspective" to survey the scene in the alley.

In that instant, the two electrified giant rats seemed to slow down as they launched. Their figures were no longer just afterimages in his eyes, but a complete outline, as if he had pressed the "slow motion" button while watching a videotape.

In fact, not only the two giant rats, but even the fallen leaves swirling in the air and the black liquid flowing through the ditch appeared to Xia Pingzhou as slow as if they were still.

Therefore, he could clearly see the trajectory of the two giant rats, their every leap and collision, and predict where they would land in the next second. He could even see the scene a few seconds later.

Suddenly, this stillness was broken, and Xia Pingzhou realized that he seemed to have just entered an extremely fast thinking mode. Compared to his thinking speed, the whole world was as slow as if time had stopped.

This should be one of Skyward's abilities, triggered by him closing his eyes and focusing on the "chessboard perspective".

The world began to turn again, the fallen leaves in the air continued to swirl and fall, cutting the sunlight into fragments; the dirty water in the ditch also began to gurgle, making a "splashing" sound.

Two giant blue rats bounced off the wall at high speed, transforming into electrified beams of light that swept towards him.

However, Xia Pingzhou had already figured out their pattern and direction of movement, so their astonishing speed lost its original meaning and instead became the guillotine that would kill them.

The next second, he gave the order expressionlessly: "Power, charge!"

The moment he heard the command, the knight lowered his body and slapped the saddle!

The horse beneath him let out a long neigh and then charged forward with unstoppable momentum. Its figure gradually became so fast that only a blur could be seen. From a distance, the two seemed to merge into one, transforming into a silver shooting star!

[Cavalry Ability: "Charge" - Cavalrymen charge forward on horseback, transforming into a high-speed meteor, entering an "unstoppable" state for two seconds (the charge will not stop), and dragging any enemies they collide with along the way to the finish line.]

Xia Pingzhou couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he first saw the cavalry's power, thinking that it was just a monster-gathering skill. However, this was the first time he had used this power in actual combat, and he hoped that it would have the effect described in the text.

The next moment, seizing the instant the two giant lightning rats were about to cross in mid-air, the cavalryman precisely rammed into them. Even a difference of just a millisecond would have made it impossible to hit both rats simultaneously—this was the timing Xia Pingzhou had determined after precise calculations.

Immediately afterwards, the silver meteor completely engulfed the two pillars of lightning, and the cavalryman's lance dragged the shadows of the two demons as he continued to gallop forward, his target the end of the alley.

The sound of horses' hooves swept across the land, as if to engulf the entire world.

No matter how much the two giant blue rats used their electric powers, they couldn't break free from the fierce and domineering silver light. They could only be swept up by the knight's figure like background figures, adding a touch of blue lightning to the silver meteor and making its light look even more dazzling.

Xia Pingzhou thought, "This move really can gather monsters... It will be much easier to fight those gregarious demons in the future."

Seizing the moment, Xia Pingzhou raised his hand and caught the shadows of two cannon pieces.

The chess piece shattered, and two silver cannons arrived in response. They stiffly twisted their muzzles while loading cannonballs with a clicking sound. Then, sparks burst from the muzzles and shot towards the direction the horse was moving.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Two deafening roars fell at the same time, accompanied by the hissing of the air. Two dark cannonballs shot forward, collided in mid-air, and exploded completely, turning into a terrifying pillar of fire that swept forward.

At the same moment, the cavalry charge reached its end, and the silver, electric star slowly stopped at the end of the alley, freeing the two giant lightning rats.

They were dizzy and disoriented, and just as they were about to distance themselves from the cavalry, they were instantly engulfed by the surging pillar of fire that came from behind them, and burned into pieces of ashes.

As the flames subsided, even the cavalrymen were caught in the blast, and he and his horse transformed into chess pieces, returning to Xia Pingzhou's circular chessboard. Immediately afterward, a series of reward notification boxes popped up in Xia Pingzhou's eyes.

[Two C-rank or higher demons have been detected killed. The cumulative kill count for the "Winter of the Wild Hunt" system has been updated: 19/18 (Mission complete, please claim your reward as soon as possible)]

Xia Pingzhou tapped the interface expressionlessly, and then a reward notification sound popped up.

[You have received 1 attribute point as a reward for the training mission. The "Winter of the Wild Hunt" training mission has been upgraded to the next stage—accumulate 40 kills!]

[Current kill count: 19. 21 more kills are needed to complete this stage's objective.]

[The current advancement progress of the second character's Skywalker "Chess" is: 5%/100% (After reaching 100% progress, your Skywalker will automatically evolve into the third-tier form. After advancement, you can form a contract with a brand new demon to comprehensively enhance the Skywalker's abilities)]

"What new mechanisms will emerge when my Sky Chaser advances to the third tier..." Xia Pingzhou wondered. "Could it be that I can create a chessboard domain to confine the enemy within it, thus making up for my weaknesses?"

Just then, a rather unfamiliar notification popped up in front of him.

[Due to the passive skill "Demon Hunter," a one-time use chess piece—"Blue Electric Rat Demon"—has been obtained.]

Xia Pingzhou glanced to the side and saw a new chess piece appear on his black and white circle. This chess piece was out of place with the other pieces; it looked like a small blue, buck-toothed mouse, its entire body radiating blue lightning.

"I was pretty lucky. I remember that the 'Demon Hunter' only has a chance to turn the killed demons into disposable pieces." Xia Pingzhou thought, "I'll go back and test how to trigger that 'time stop' thinking mode... With that move, I'll be able to handle enemy attacks with ease in the future."

Thinking this, he returned the two cannons to the ring road, then raised his hand and pinched the chess piece shadow of the Queen's statue. The noble and tall Queen arrived as expected amidst the clear sound of the chess piece shadow shattering.

The Queen statue sheathed the dagger in her sleeve, picked up Xia Pingzhou's body, and then ran across the surface of the residential building like a ninja scaling walls, climbing to the rooftop.

Before long, members of the Venice Exorcist Association arrived in the alley, only to find a scene of battle: the walls were covered with craters, with faint arcs of electricity still visible inside; the ground was covered with horseshoe-shaped marks.

Most shockingly, at the end of the alley, a fierce flame had carved a charred mark on the wall, leaving a curtain-like pattern. The scorch marks continued to climb upwards, all the way to the very top of the building.

Meanwhile, it was still afternoon in Venice, but Beijing, China, was already shrouded in night.

The black pupa hung silently upside down beneath a construction platform atop a 100-meter-tall building, its entire body wrapped in restraints like a pupa, and it silently played with its phone inside. A notification sound, set to the noise of running water, continuously emanated from within the pupa.

[Blue Arc: I still want to ask, did you beat up Silver Swallow because you wanted to protect him?]

[Black Chrysalis: Of course, you know what would have happened if Silver Swallow had caught up with Ghost Bell back then.]

[Blue Arc: But you went too far.]

[Black Chrysalis: You can't go easy on him, otherwise Mr. Silver Swallowing will be so overconfident next time, challenging someone far superior to himself to a one-on-one fight, and his fate will be self-evident.]

[Black Chrysalis: I was just helping him realize his own limitations.]

"Dad wouldn't kill Tun Yin, but he'd definitely be more ruthless than me. Tun Yin might lose one or two arms or legs," Black Chrysalis thought.

[Black Chrysalis: Okay, I'll stop pretending. Actually, I just wanted to test my abilities and maybe beat him up while I'm at it.]

[Blue Arc: Well, you really are a super nice guy. If you want to fight, why don't you come to me?]

[Black Chrysalis: I know you guys are really into each other, but is it really necessary to be this gay?]

[Black Chrysalis: Forgive my bluntness, but I just arrested two creatures in Venice that look a lot like you, so I've lost interest in fighting you.]

[Blue Arc: A species very similar to me?]

[Black Chrysalis: You can search for photos of the "Blue Electric Rat Demon" at the Exorcist Association; I almost suspect they're your twin brothers.]

[Blue Arc: I'm not kidding anymore, I have a serious question now.]

[Black pupa: What's the problem?]

[Blue Arc: Just who is my dad? You've been keeping me in suspense for so long.]

[Black Chrysalis: Don't rush, Mr. Blue Arc. Your immediate priority is to accumulate more merits and be promoted to a member of "Rainbow Wing" as soon as possible. Discovering his identity will not benefit you, at least not at present.]

[Blue Arc: I knew you couldn't be trusted. I'll follow him myself. Goodbye.]

At this point, Black Chrysalis realized he had killed the conversation. Since things had come to this, he might as well find someone else to talk to. So he opened Ghost Bell's chat interface.

[Black Chrysalis: Mr. Ghost Bell, your eldest son is planning to follow you and find out your identity.]

[Ghost Bell: Well, thank you for reminding me.]

[Black Chrysalis: Run, Mr. Ghost Bell, Run, please don't let your eldest son find out your identity.]

After sending the message, Black Chrysalis silently put away his phone and turned to use his restraints to observe the surrounding scenery. His senses were like a black veil covering the entire long street.

At that moment, a group of armed robbers jumped out of the back of the truck and rushed toward the bank.

But Black Chrysalis's attention wasn't on them, but rather on a cool, aloof figure in a black turtleneck suit atop a tall building not far away.

His prey has appeared.

　I was very busy today, going out and writing a side story, so there will only be one update.

　　I wrote a 4000-word extra chapter this morning, which will be released at midnight on the first of next month. The double reward event is about to start, so please remember to vote for Xichi then!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)