Chapter 269: Holy Protection

Whoosh!

The electromagnetic projectile carrying the thousand-paper-crane summon soared past the hovering Divine Eagle gunship, flew over skyscrapers, and arrived above the city.

Ichigo Kurosaki and others in the subway station realized the danger; disregarding everything else, they immediately unleashed skills like the Tailed Beast Ball, Getsuga Tenshō, and Gum-Gum Gatling at Li Cheng.

Alas, it was too late.

Li Cheng snapped his fingers; just before being engulfed by the Getsuga Tenshō and Tailed Beast Ball, he activated the Familiar Swap skill, teleporting directly to the city center filled with towering buildings.

Here, a hundred meters above ground, vehicles flowed endlessly below, looking as tiny as ants.

He scanned the surrounding skyscrapers; the information-integration glasses perched on his nose operated at full capacity, working in tandem with his Multi-threaded Brain Domain Technique to sweep across pane after pane of glass.

Found you.

Behind a certain window on the middle floor of an office building, that Eugene stood dumbfounded, staring at Li Cheng who had appeared out of thin air; instinctively raising his wand, he prepared to cast the Apparition spell to flee far away.

Li Cheng naturally would not give him such a chance; instantly raising his electromagnetic cannon, he loaded an electronic pet egg and pulled the trigger.

Bang—

The electronic pet egg shot forth like lightning, shattering the building's glass; under the impact force, it automatically opened.

Hui Yu, who leaped out of the pet egg, spotted Eugene immediately; grinning viciously, he drew his Skull-Crushing Hammer and swung it in a full arc toward Eugene's skull.

Eugene, with bandages still wrapped around his head, knew clearly the power of this hammer strike; unable to cast Apparition in time, he urgently changed tactics, flicking his wand to release the Levitation Charm, propelling himself backward.

Boom!

The Skull-Crushing Hammer missed Eugene by a hair's breadth, smashing into the load-bearing wall instead, crushing the wall as if it were tofu.

Eugene's scalp went cold; he unleashed various dark curses like a machine gun.

Judging solely from the original novels and movies, the "power level" of the Harry Potter world isn't particularly high; Voldemort, the final villain whom the protagonist group treated as a grave threat, strictly speaking probably killed only about a hundred people, at most qualifying as a slightly more brutal serial killer or gang leader.

However, the mystery level of certain magics within Harry Potter is truly high, with some even approaching conceptual properties.

For instance, the Duplication Charm, Resurrection Charm, Summoning Charm, Legilimency, Enlargement and Shrinking Charms, and so on.

Armed with experience, Hui Yu this time activated the 【Spectral Ambush】 skill in advance, merging more than half his body into the wall to evade the various dark curses.

He then violently hurled the Skull-Crushing Hammer, interrupting Eugene's attempt to cast Apparition once again.

Simultaneously, Li Cheng utilized the temporary skill 【Leopard Leap Double Jump】, kicking off twice in mid-air before diving into the office corridor; gripping his right wrist with his left hand, he gathered and fired a mid-tier auto-targeting gravity energy sphere from his right palm.

Trash cans and potted plants along the path were sucked up by the anomalous gravity, flying chaotically in all directions.

The black energy sphere, like a leech clinging to bone, flew toward Eugene; due to its auto-targeting nature, it maneuvered flexibly, dodging obstacles and spells.

In a flash of wit, Eugene pointed his wand at the wall to his right; the entire wall section abruptly shifted sideways, blocking the corridor and cutting off the gravity sphere's path.

The gravity sphere smashed into the wall, finally halting its flight; yet upon contacting a solid object, its gravity increased rather than decreased, pinning Eugene firmly against the spot through the wall.

Just like the cat stuck to the wall by a magnet in the cartoon "Tom and Jerry."

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Heavy footsteps rang out from behind the wall, growing closer and closer.

With hands and feet firmly pinned by the anomalous gravity, Eugene broke out in a cold sweat, scanning his inventory back and forth, searching for a way to escape.

Found it!

The Arrow of Abaris.

The first three golden arrows—the Commandment of Irreversible Difficulty, the Commandment of Earth Binding, and the Commandment of Cursed Killing—

had all been used by Eugene to kill Frankenstein (or rather, Joker).

The fourth, named the Commandment of Hunting, had just been used by Eugene in an attempt to snipe Gouchen.

This fifth golden arrow was named the Commandment of Holy Protection.

Focusing his mind on his inventory, he retrieved the fifth golden arrow, held the arrow's tail in his mouth, and with considerable effort, poked himself with the arrowhead.

Hum—

The effect of the Commandment of Holy Protection manifested instantly; a golden light covered Eugene's entire body, making him suddenly feel light, no longer affected by the gravity sphere.

The next instant, the Skull-Crushing Hammer at full power smashed through the wall, striking Eugene squarely on the top of his head without deviation.

Clang!

The sound was crisp and pleasant; a hammer strike capable of crushing the frontal armor of a main battle tank was actually deflected with ease.

"Hm?!"

Hui Yu widened his eyes; refusing to believe it, he struck repeatedly, while Eugene merely stood in place, grinning broadly, "Hahahaha! Is that all?"

There were people on this office floor; despite the terrorist attack and the shocking scandal at City Hall over the past twenty-four hours,

the miserable office workers had not received notification allowing remote work from home and still had to come to work obediently.

At this very moment, hearing the deafening commotion, they poked their heads out from their cubicles one after another, peering into the corridor, only to see that "terrorist" in the damaged hallway being struck repeatedly by a large iron hammer yet remaining completely unharmed.

"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt at all,"

Eugene stood in place, calmly adjusted his clothes, and taunted, "Did you not eat enough?"

How could Hui Yu, with his explosive temper, tolerate this; spinning twice on the spot, he swung the hammer in a full arc at Eugene's chest, only for it to be deflected again; the Skull-Crushing Hammer flew off with a "thud," embedding itself in the ceiling of the floor and shaking down a cloud of dust.

The office staff on the floor belatedly realized what was happening, understanding that a terrorist attack was underway, and immediately scattered in all directions, crying and wailing.

Amidst the chaos, Li Cheng stepped into the middle of the corridor; his first words were, "You are not Eugene."

A person's appearance can be disguised, but expressions, subtle twitches of facial muscles, and unconscious movements of hands and feet are difficult to conceal.

The man before him merely wore Eugene's appearance; the aura and temperament he exuded were completely different.

His second statement was, "This golden light is some kind of protective barrier with quite a high degree of mystery, capable of blocking external damage; as the price, you can only stand in place, unable to move, attack, or use items and skills."

【Apparition】 is one of the most valuable spells in the Harry Potter world; it has short casting and recovery times, relatively low thresholds and consumption, and an extremely long teleportation distance.

If escape were possible, Eugene would have long since used 【Apparition】 to flee.

"So what?"

Eugene, or rather Joker who had possessed Eugene's body, crossed his arms, a confident smile on his face, his legs stuck to the ground as if glued, "No matter who I am, you cannot pierce my defense, and reinforcements from City Hall can arrive at any moment."

The Holy Protection Decree is a conceptual defense, impervious to blades and bullets, immune to water and fire, so he was completely unfazed and had time to spout nonsense.

"You're called Master Pi Fu, right? Kneel down and call me Grandpa, and I'll spare your life."

"At the peak of immortals, ruling the world, where I, Eugene, am, there is heaven. Dare to oppose me, boy, and your old age will be cursed."

"Everyone who's seen me fight is dead. Are you also going to dance?"

"**, ***? ****! **."

Li Cheng practiced multi-threaded brain domain techniques daily and had long since become immune to mental attacks.

Hui Yu had grown accustomed to singers cursing profusely and pianists typing ten lines per second during gaming, and paid no mind.

The two circled Eugene, who shone golden like an Oscar statuette, twice, exchanged a glance, and immediately devised a plan.

They immediately pulled from their inventory a thick black plastic trash bag and, with practiced ease, slipped it over Eugene's head.

"Hey, hey, I came here for a death match! What are you doing?!"

Eugene finally panicked, struggling to break free, but his strength was no match for Hui Yu's; his arms were twisted behind him, the plastic bag pulled tight over his head by Li Cheng, air squeezed out and the opening cinched shut.

Indeed, the Holy Protection Decree possessed extremely high mystery and priority—it withstood Skull Crusher hammers—but suffocation from lack of oxygen was not a direct attack.

"Huh, huh."

Eugene, gasping for air like a stranded fish, trembled violently, shaking like a sieve, "I, I can't breathe."

Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds.

As the plastic bag emptied of air, Eugene's trembling grew weaker—but he still didn't die, leaving Li Cheng utterly baffled.

What's going on? Is he the ultimate breath-holding champion?

Or does this guy, outwardly respectable, secretly enjoy suffocating himself and has trained up resistance?

As Li Cheng tightened the bag's opening, he rummaged through Eugene's body and found several fresh needle punctures on his shoulders.

The Info-Synthesis Glasses scanned clearly: these punctures came from the latest injection by Company Product, which greatly enhances bodily regeneration and impact resistance—essentially a substitute for life potions.

Its drawback: extremely severe side effects that intensify and rebound on the user within hours.

No normal person would inject themselves with so many doses. Li Cheng gripped the bag's opening and raised an eyebrow. "You're not Eugene."

"Correct. Too bad no prize."

Eugene grinned, voice hoarse. "Every player who enters this death match has two tricks up their sleeve. You thought killing me this easily would work? Too naive."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Hui Yu lift the Skull Crusher again—not to strike him, but to smash the floor around him with heavy, clanging blows.

A strong unease rose in Eugene's chest. "What are you doing?!"

"Breaking the floor."

Hui Yu said as if it were obvious. "Break through the ceiling, drop you into the septic tank below—I don't believe you can breathe in shit. Only Big Yellow down there can handle that."

So what the hell is Big Yellow anyway? A maggot?