Chapter 119 - 112: The 4th Condition of [Open and Aboveboard]

Chapter 119: Chapter 112: The 4th Condition of [Open and Aboveboard]

As long as a target detected him, his status accumulation would stop. Through the activation status of the [Lurking] skill, an Assassin player could easily determine whether they had been discovered.

This was exactly what Yu Zhun needed. He needed to confirm whether this player named Nivea had truly not noticed him tracking her, so he could react accordingly.

After confirming through the feedback of [Lurking] that Nivea had not discovered him, Yu Zhun confidently trailed behind her. Under his watchful gaze, Nivea casually tossed a fireball, engulfing several Elite Demons a short distance away.

[Life Value -2740500]

The Elite Demons, each with over a million Life Value, were instantly wiped out in a single encounter, causing the hidden Yu Zhun to feel a jolt of shock. Over two million damage output! Could she have an Upper-Rank Talent like the rich woman’s?

The terrifying explosion attracted a massive number of Demons. Emitting angry roars, they lunged at Nivea.

Yu Zhun’s gaze swept across the battlefield and quickly landed on an Elite Demon Warrior who had just been shielded by an Elite Demon Priest. Nivea switched to another skill. A sweeping, large-scale gale engulfed all the Demons, rapidly emptying their health bars.

The shield on the Elite Demon Warrior Yu Zhun had been watching disappeared quickly. After a few brief ticks of damage, its health bar was completely emptied. Seeing this, Yu Zhun felt a wave of relief.

Excellent. Her attacks could not bypass shields. In that case, his massive shield of up to twenty million points would actually be useful. Otherwise, relying solely on his Life Value—which had been boosted to over two hundred thousand by [Asura]—he wouldn’t be able to withstand her explosive damage output.

Yu Zhun then compared the damage numbers taken by ordinary Demons and Elite Demons with different Life Values during the Area of Effect attacks. He ruled out the possibility of percentage-based damage and confirmed that her talent purely increased damage output. As for whether it had any other additional effects, Yu Zhun was temporarily unsure, but the current intelligence was enough to support him in launching a strike against her.

Taking the initiative! Yu Zhun finally made his decision and manually deactivated [Lurking].

The moment the skill was deactivated, the negligible buffs he had gained during [Lurking] were cleared. The combat state he had maintained because of [Lurking] shifted to an out-of-combat state due to his excessive distance from the target. Now out of combat, Yu Zhun swiftly swapped [Lurking] back to his original [Shadow Punishment], and then charged toward Nivea without hesitation.

Within a short two seconds, he entered combat range. His status shifted back to a combat state, stabilizing all of his buffs!

The requirement of [Open and Aboveboard] was to remain open and aboveboard throughout the entire assassination process. This meant that from the moment he re-entered combat, he had to constantly remain within her perception. As for his previous [Lurking], due to the brief out-of-combat state, it was no longer considered part of the assassination process!

At the same time, the timing he chose to strike was exquisite—it was exactly when Nivea had just unleashed a wave of skills and was caught in skill cooling! All in all, this sequence of moves was full of perfect details!

Having just cleared a wave of monsters and caught sight of the main hall’s entrance, Nivea suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind her. She turned her head in astonishment, only to see Yu Zhun rapidly charging toward her with a dagger in hand.

Nivea wondered, "An Assassin? Is he targeting me?"

Realizing the situation, a trace of coldness flickered in Nivea’s eyes. A faint light flashed on her bracelet-like ornament.

Equipment effect [Recovery]—refreshing skill cooling! The next second, a burst of crimson flames shot swiftly toward Yu Zhun. Mage exclusive skill, [Blast Flame]!

"BOOM!!!"

Accompanied by a violent boom, Yu Zhun’s figure rapidly dashed out from the sea of fire. The shield surrounding him was slightly thinner than before, but the lost shield amount was barely a tenth. He could withstand an attack like this ten more times!

Nivea’s pupils contracted sharply, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face. She wondered, "This guy... he’s supposed to be an Assassin, right? Is this shield amount something an Assassin should have? If an Assassin abandons extreme damage output to have such high tankiness, does that mean he has a damage talent unrelated to Physical Attack?"

Her astonishment quickly turned into a look of sheer intrigue, and her red eyes filled with excitement.

"What is your talent?"

Nivea possessed an extremely special talent. SSS-rank talent [Mirror Image Replication]! After killing a player, she could 100% replicate their talent. The limit for replicated talents was one, and replicating a new talent would erase the previously replicated one!

This talent, which provided no inherent enhancement to her Profession, was considered the strongest talent ever seen in Nivea’s world! This was because it was currently the only known SSS-rank talent capable of breaking through Profession restrictions to possess the talents of other Professions!

Every Profession had a fixed talent pool, meaning the talents that could be drawn were set. An archer could never possibly draw an absurd talent that increased Magic Attack, and the same applied to other talent pools. However, some talents that weren’t strong enough for one Profession could become incredibly overpowered when switched to another!

To give a simple example, Nivea had once replicated an A-rank Priest talent called [Life Mark]. Its effect was to mark a designated target, allowing the next skill used on the marked target to ignore distance and increase Magic Attack by 100%.

This skill wasn’t considered all that powerful within the Priest Profession. But in Nivea’s hands, it was a time bomb that could be delayed and detonated at any moment, catching people completely off guard. It was enough to easily bring out the effect of an SS-rank talent from a mere A-rank one!

Right now, the talent Nivea had replicated was Paris’s [Close Combat and Long-range Attack]. The staggering 99% damage reduction made her confident that Yu Zhun’s attack posed no threat to her. She was very interested in Yu Zhun’s talent!

"I am Yu Zhun." Turning a deaf ear to her inquiry, Yu Zhun raised [Nether’s Sigh] and pointed it straight at Nivea. "The one who will send you to your grave!"

She thought, "It seems he doesn’t want to speak, but that’s normal."

The excitement in Nivea’s eyes shifted into killing intent. She was going to kill this player named Yu Zhun and see exactly what his talent was!

Looking at Nivea’s unusual expression, Yu Zhun frowned, a strange feeling welling up within him. But at this moment, there was no turning back now. Without any hesitation, Yu Zhun’s dagger thrust toward Nivea’s abdomen.

[Life Value -345]

Yu Zhun thought, "???"

Looking at the red text floating above Nivea’s head, Yu Zhun’s pupils violently contracted. He thought, "[Open and Aboveboard]... didn’t take effect!"

"Surprised?" Nivea pursed her lips and smiled. Misunderstanding the reason for Yu Zhun’s surprise, her inner apprehension completely settled after confirming the Assassin before her posed no threat. As she continuously unleashed skills, she spoke leisurely.

"SSS-rank talent [Close Combat and Long-range Attack]. At long range, it can increase damage output up to 1000%. In close combat, it reduces damage taken to 1%.

"Although I am a Mage, your attacks right now are merely a scratch.

"Your shield is thick, but there will always be a moment when I break it.

"If you refuse to say it, then I will personally kill you and see exactly what your talent is."

Nivea licked her lips, her expression filled with anticipation, as if she had just found a new toy.

Yu Zhun remained silent. Originally suspecting that her talent was what caused his own to fail, he suddenly realized that didn’t seem to be the reason at all. Instead, Nivea’s last sentence helped him find the problem.

"So a condition like this actually exists..." Yu Zhun sighed. "My talent is [Open and Aboveboard]. As long as I carry out an assassination openly and aboveboard, it guarantees a 100% One-Hit Kill."

"Eh? What?" Nivea blinked. Before she could react, [Nether’s Sigh] had already pierced into her abdomen.

[Life Value -53562]

The sensation of her health bar emptying washed over her. Nivea’s movements froze. Recalling what Yu Zhun had just said, her expression turned into one of horror.

She thought, "Open and Aboveboard... One-Hit Kill..."

Everything before her eyes rapidly darkened. Before her consciousness completely faded, Nivea had only one thought in her mind. She thought, "How wonderful it would be if I could replicate such a powerful talent..."

Watching Nivea dissipate into motes of light, Yu Zhun shook his head speechlessly. Prior to this, he had already deduced the three trigger conditions for [Open and Aboveboard].

First, he had to state his name and announce the assassination.

Second, he could only use Profession-exclusive weapons to carry out the assassination.

Third, he must never leave the target’s perception throughout the entire assassination process.

For so long, Yu Zhun had followed these three conditions, and there had never been a mistake in his countless kills. This made him always believe that there were indeed only these three conditions.

But now, it seemed he had discovered a new one.

Fourth, during the assassination process, he must not deceive or refuse to answer any questions actively asked by the target.

Concealing the answer to a question was not an [Open and Aboveboard] approach.