My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 160 Xia Pingzhou's Second Contracted Demon (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Under the moonlight, the Grand Canal of Venice ripples gently, and the whole world is enveloped in a soft rustling sound.

The Rialto Bridge, spanning the Grand Canal, is eerily silent. Its massive eaves cast shadows on the bridge, and a couple of pairs of red eyes seem to be wandering in the darkness.

Xia Pingzhou put away his phone and slowly raised his eyes from the screen.

The moment my gaze fell upon the bridge, a chilling system notification sounded in my mind.

[System notification: Two rare demons have been encountered – “Copy Demons” (Compatibility with Skydrive Unit 2: 95%)

"Compatibility? Does that mean it's suitable for the contract?" He raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking to himself.

"How so?" Bloodline raised the corners of his lips, his crimson eyes looking at Xia Pingzhou.

“You cripple me,” Xia Pingzhou said expressionlessly, “I’ll finish him off.”

"Finishing things off?" Bloodline laughed. "To be able to say 'begging for food' so nicely, you truly are worthy of being our newcomer."

Xia Pingzhou remained silent.

One advantage of having a poker face is that when you're speechless and don't know what to say, you just stay silent. People staring at your expressionless face might think you're pondering some serious issue, and they'll immediately stop teasing you.

To conceal this, he gazed ahead with even more focused solemnity.

At that moment, two eerie figures slowly emerged from the shadows and walked towards them, their eerie footsteps echoing through the corridor.

Yes, human figures. Judging from their outlines, they didn't resemble demons at all. Their forms were gradually revealed in the moonlight, causing Xia Pingzhou's pupils to dilate slightly.

What came into view were clearly two humans, but Xia Pingzhou was not surprised that these two demons were disguised as humans; it was their appearance that truly astonished him.

One of the demons was dressed in a blood-red dress and high heels, with long, light-gold wavy hair that danced in the wind; the other was dressed in a black hoodie, with handsome features and a cold expression.

It was clearly the appearance of Xueyi and Xia Pingzhou.

"They've become like us?" Xia Pingzhou wondered. "Then can they replicate our abilities?"

“Wow… a clone demon?” A hint of surprise flashed across Bloodline’s eyes. “These things are quite rare. I heard White Wolf mention them once. There are probably no more than five in the whole world. I didn’t expect to run into one.”

"Don't accidentally kill them all. Leave at least one; I want to sign a contract with it," Xia Pingzhou said.

"They've got quite a few demands. Well then, I'll take down the one that's mine first."

As soon as he finished speaking, the figure of the Bloodline burst forth, like a blood-red curtain dancing in the moonlight.

Completely obscuring her movements, Xia Pingzhou could only see a streak of crimson sword light. She had somehow solidified it into a shimmering blood-red sword, held in her right hand. The Bloodline's high heels touched the bridge, landing behind the clone as she sheathed her sword.

A line of blood appeared on the waist of the clone demon that had transformed into her, and the body split in two along the dotted line, sliding down along the crack.

Xia Pingzhou released the Sky Chaser, and black and white rings formed around him. He raised his slender fingers and pinched the phantom of the Queen's stone statue.

With a "crack," the chess piece shattered, and then the shadow of the queen's statue swept past him.

She spun her body in mid-air, her two daggers forming a sleek spinning top that churned the two bodies of the cloned bloodline into a cloud of blood mist.

Xia Pingzhou's dark eyes reflected this scene, his black hair billowing high in the wind above the Grand Canal.

[A C-rank or higher demon has been detected killed. The cumulative kill count in the "Winter of the Wild Hunt" system has been updated: 20/40]

The current advancement progress of the second character's Skyward "Chess" skill is 8%.

"At least it took on my likeness, can't you be a little gentler with it?"

The Bloodline slowly turned its head, its gaze fixed on the second cloned demon, while making a sarcastic remark.

She raised her slender fingertip and aimed it at it. Blood condensed into a dot, then contracted into a thin needle. As if flicking ash from a cigarette, she flicked her fingertip, and the crimson needle shot towards the replica demon's head like a bullet.

“The King’s Statue,” the clone demon suddenly said.

Xia Pingzhou was taken aback: "This demon can use my abilities?"

In an instant, a king with a transparent body appeared behind the cloned demon.

The king raised his scepter, and a barrier of black and white energy formed, enveloping the cloned demon's body. Blood needles shot from mid-air and struck the barrier, emitting a violent buzzing sound before their power slowly receded.

Finally, the blood needle slowly dissipated, turning into scattered drops of blood that dripped onto the bridge.

"Wow, really?" The Bloodline raised an eyebrow. "A demon can actually block my attack?"

Xia Pingzhou replied without hesitation, "Shoot the statue behind it."

"Yes, sir." The bloodline replied jokingly, landing behind the cloned demon.

Her face was lowered, her crimson eyes gleaming in the shadows of the bridge. Blood trickled from between her fingers, tracing a wave-like path in mid-air.

The splashed-ink red, seemingly liquid, smashed the king's head like a heavy hammer, accompanied by a powerful gust of wind.

Amidst the swirling silver fragments, the Bloodline twisted his body without looking back, turning to face the back of the cloned demon, and casually slapped the cloned demon's head as if bouncing a volleyball.

With a loud "bang!", its head was instantly sent flying hundreds of meters into the air, before crashing into the spire of a building and slowly bouncing back into the Grand Canal.

"Was it necessary to be so rough?" Xia Pingzhou felt a throbbing headache.

"Aren't you just as rough with my clone?"

"That's just a demon."

"This is just a demon." Bloodline flicked his long, pale golden hair and said dismissively.

She put one hand on her hip, her red skirt swaying.

The next moment, the headless clone slowly knelt down, then its body trembled and wriggled, gradually becoming transparent, and finally shrinking into a tiny paper doll.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Go ahead and kill my brothers!"

The paper-thin figure was curled up on the ground, hugging its knees and trembling. Tears welled up in its dark eyes.

"This is its true form." The bloodline crossed his arms and looked down at the paper figure on the ground. "So, what are you going to do to it?"

"Sign the contract," Xia Pingzhou replied.

The bloodline asked curiously, "Is it worth making a pact with such a weak demon? Although it can copy our appearance and some of our abilities, its actual abilities are far inferior to those of the target it copied."

"It blocked one of your attacks."

Bloodline rested her chin on her hand and pondered, "That's true... I never thought it could block my move. Was that your ability just now?" She looked at Xia Pingzhou.

"Yes. It can replicate my abilities, no matter how strong, and that's enough for me."

As he spoke, Xia Pingzhou moved toward the paper figure. The Möbius strip surrounding him suddenly transformed into a key with flowing black and white light, floating in mid-air.

The front of the key is engraved with the shape of a shadowy demon, while the back is engraved with a dense array of chess-like figures: queen, king, knight, soldier...

This is the Skyward's "Contractual State," which, as its name suggests, is a form that only appears when a contract is made with a demon.

In Xia Pingzhou's body memory, each Sky Drive's contractual state is different, but most of them are in the shape of a "container".

Some were wine glasses, some were kettles, and some were even glass marbles...

But as we can see right now, Xia Pingzhou's Sky Drive "Chess" contractual state is a "key".

This is obviously extremely rare, because the key doesn't fit the definition of a "container." "If I could, I'd also like to be an exorcist; it's much more fun than being a superhuman," the Bloodline suddenly said.

“If you were an exorcist, you would look like a hundred-year-old woman right now. The demon you just dismembered wouldn’t have chosen to become an old woman; it would have turned tail and run away… That way, I would have killed one less demon.”

"Did the young lady teach you?"

"what?"

"If you can't speak, you don't have to speak."

"She can't speak either."

As he spoke, Xia Pingzhou reached out and grasped the key, then bent down and handed the key to the paper figure.

“Sign a contract with me,” he said, “or die.”

The paper figure was stunned for a while, then slightly loosened its hands from hugging its knees, then staggered forward two steps, opened its arms, and hugged the key, which was larger than its body, as if a human were hugging a pillar.

Its body merged with the key, then transformed into a pattern engraved on the front of the key, adjacent to the Shadow Demon.

The shadow demon covered its mouth with its hand and let out a "hehehe" laugh, as if welcoming the arrival of the new guest.

The black and white light, carrying the key, returned to Xia Pingzhou's hand.

Immediately afterwards, a series of notification panels popped up in his eye sockets.

[Hint: The second unit, SkyDrive "Chess," has signed a contract with the rare demon "Copy Demon."]

The Copy Demon's ability is as follows: It can copy a piece on the chessboard within 8 seconds and gain the opponent's power. (Except for fused pieces.)

[Note: The stats and powers of a copied demon will be significantly lower compared to the copied target.]

[Maximum duration of the cloned demon: 8 seconds]

[Shadow Demon's maximum duration: 5 seconds]

Currently, Skyward Exorcists have 0 empty slots remaining (Exorcists must raise their rank to Tier 3 before they can form a contract with a new demon).

"Want to continue?" Bloodline rubbed his forehead and tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Although I think I've had a bit too much to drink, I shouldn't have any problem spending the night with you."

"Then let's continue."

After saying that, the key Xia Pingzhou was holding disappeared into his palm.

As the group member said, there were countless demons lurking in this water city. In a short time, the two chatted as they cleared out all the demons around them.

Most of them were below Grade C, with only five or six being Grade C or above.

The cumulative kill count for the "Winter of the Wild Hunt" system has been updated: 26/40.

The current advancement progress of the second character's Skyward "Chess" skill is 30%.

After eliminating about a dozen demons, Xia Pingzhou looked at the data on his character panel and suddenly stopped on the street.

"That's enough for tonight," he said.

"I, the henchman, haven't even complained of being tired yet?" Bloodline put one hand on his hip and turned to look at him.

“It’s not that I don’t want to continue…” Xia Pingzhou paused, “but that I can’t continue.”

"Why? Did the young lady ask you to go back and play house with her?" the Bloodline guessed.

"No, someone is committing a massacre nearby,"

As he spoke, Xia Pingzhou glanced at the map on the app.

The flashing red dots on the map disappeared one after another, meaning that nearby demons were being eliminated at high speed. This exorcist was relentless, sweeping through the entire city's prey with the speed and ferocity of a storm.

"Who?" asked the Bloodline.

"Who else could it be?"

“Oh, the Ripper’s sister,” Bloodline said. “Not surprising… after all, her Sky Chaser is already close to the third tier and urgently needs to absorb nutrients.”

Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment: "Will she become the first Calamity-level being in our group?"

“It’s hard to say. Me, Origami, and White Wolf have already touched the boundary of a quasi-calamity. It’s just a matter of who is faster.” Bloodline paused. “As for the leader, no one knows his situation.”

"How did someone who only reached the quasi-calamity level after a hundred years of cultivation manage to sneak in?" Xia Pingzhou mocked.

The bloodline yawned, nonchalantly defending himself:

"Because this person, who only cultivated to the near-Cataclysmic level over a hundred years, has a side effect with their superpower. While granting them the ability to remain young, it also greatly slowed down their cultivation speed. Do you understand?"

It will take me at most a month to cultivate to the "quasi-cataclysmic level," and not just one mech, but all my mechs will be upgraded to the quasi-cataclysmic level simultaneously...

Xia Pingzhou really wanted to say that to her, but that would be blatant mockery.

"Would you like to come back to our private room for a drink?" she asked. "It would be a good opportunity for me to get to know the new number 5."

Just as Xia Pingzhou was about to accept, a piece of paper suddenly flew out of his sleeve, he didn't know when it had been hidden there.

Immediately afterwards, the paper tore apart with a whoosh, turning into scraps that floated in the air and formed two crooked characters:

--"return".

Bloodline chuckled, put his hand on Xia Pingzhou's shoulder, and said with ill intent, "Looks like someone's angry?"

Xia Pingzhou watched the scraps of paper fall onto the bridge and be blown away by the wind, then replied expressionlessly, "No, I've never seen her really angry."

"Why do you say that?"

“I think… her anger was more of an act, to make herself look more like a ‘real person’.”

"Why do you describe our young lady as a robot?"

"if not?"

Bloodline thought for a moment: "But she doesn't put on an 'emotional' act in front of everyone."

She paused for a moment, then said casually, "Is it possible that she only always has that cold and indifferent attitude towards people she doesn't care about?"

“Let’s go back to the tavern,” Xia Pingzhou said after a moment of silence.

"Oh?" Bloodline raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would obediently go back."

"Let's invite her along, since she's awake anyway."

"Have some backbone."

　There will be another update tonight. I'm asking for monthly votes at the beginning of the month, so please vote a lot, okay?

　　
　　
　　P.S.: There's a monthly ticket sprint event in the book club. You'll get a reward (50 coins) for voting. Before you vote, you can reply "participate" in the post.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)